faiiows lopics 
GHwrational 
Written for Moore's Rural New-Yorker 
HINTS TO TEACHERS.—No. I 
GOSSIP ABOUT AUTHORS 
We find this little gem of beauty quoted by the London 
Spectator, from a little book of Poems written for a child, 
by Two Friends; 
Spring is growing up, 
Ie it not a pity f 
She was such a little thing, 
And so very pretty 1 
Summer is extremely grand, 
We must pay her duty. 
(But it. is to little Spring 
That she owes her beauty!) 
All the buds are blown. 
Trees are dark and shady. 
It was Spring who dressed them, though 
Such a little lady!) 
And the birds sing loud and sweet 
Their enchanting bist’ries. 
(It was Spring who taught them, though, 
Such a Binging mistress 1) 
From the glowing sky 
Summer shines above ns; 
Spring was such a little dear, 
But will summer love us ? 
She is very bcantiful 
With her growu-np blisses, 
Summer we must bow before; 
Spring we coaxed with kisses! 
Spring is growing up. 
Leaving us so lonely, 
In the place or little Spring 
We have Summer only t 
Summer, with her lofty airs, 
And her stately paces, 
In the place of little Spring, 
With her childish graces 1 
This well known songster of the North reed 
bird or ortolan of the Middle States, and rice bird 
of the South—is abundantly distributed throughout 
most sections of the continent, rangiug from the 
latitude of Quebec in Canada to the Middle States 
in summer, and from the Southern States to Cen¬ 
tral America, and even the Southern continents, in 
winter. 
Early in the spring it makes its Northern migra¬ 
tion, moving leisurely through the Southern and 
Middle StateB, and arrives in New England and this 
latitude about the middle of May. During this 
Northern passage the birds depend for a subsistence 
very greatly upon the newly sown fields of grain, 
and the havoc they inflict is quite considerable. 
The male birds arrive at the Northern breeding 
grounds several days before the females, during 
which interim they frequent meadows and fields in 
cultivated districts, in preference to thinly-settled 
localities, and soon become very tame and familiar, 
notwithstanding the severity with which they have 
been pursued by the inhabitants of all the countries 
they have had to traverse in their migrations, by 
whom they are regarded only as a pest and nui¬ 
sance. The bobolink knows when he has arrived 
among his friends; and the 6ame bird who would 
Col. A. J. H. Duganne, author of several miscel¬ 
laneous works, but better known as a poet, is now 
political editor of the New York Dispatch. His 
forty years, or thereabouts, sit lightly upon him; 
and, judging from his latest effusions, his poetic 
fancy is yet in all the freshness and beauty of early 
youth. Years ago he was styled "The Iron Poet,” 
on account of the ruggedness and force of his style, 
but such a xobrvput is no longer applicable, for, 
though he has lost little in expressiveness, his veri¬ 
fication has acquired a polish that is seldom met 
with. One of his early ventures was a Bcatbiog 
satire,—the best, we thiuk, ever produced in this 
country,—entitled " Parnassus in Pillory,” in which 
American poets and many prose writers were cap¬ 
itally and even severely discoursed of. It was 
heartily eDjoyed by those for whom its lines con¬ 
tained no sting, and also by some of the less fortu- 
Published anonymously at fir3t, its 
Observation has taught ns that teachers in the 
school-room are too careful to follow out a certain 
routine of duty. This regularity we do not object 
to, nor do we complain about the care that is usu¬ 
ally taken in the execution of duty. It is the nar¬ 
row limit,—the contraction of these labors, the dose 
confinement to the text-book in recitation, and the 
requirement (in every case) of literal definitions,— 
that we ask teachers to avoid. 
Now, Teachers, do not follow beaten paths. Get 
out of the old rul occasionally. If you are tied and 
hampered by cord- of formality, either break or 
lengthen them. The human mind desires variety. 
It is similar to the stomach. One kind of diet 
will not answer the purpose of many. In countries 
where the inhabitants live entirely on one kind of 
food, < rice, for instance,) the people are dwarfish, 
inactive and sluggish. It does not afford the nour¬ 
ishment that the body requires. Undoubtedly the 
article contains the stimulus, but the digestive 
organs become weakened from want of proper ex¬ 
ercise. They lose part of their power, and conse¬ 
quently do not extract the entire strength of the 
material subjected to them. Precisely so with the 
mind. One kind of food will not suffice. Give it a 
variety, and if dainty, the most stimulating obtain¬ 
able. These various dishes of mental food will not 
be found in the school-book altogether. The teacher 
will be obliged to look out for matter almost foreign 
to the common text-book of district schools. 
This inspi- 
,u, ‘ 
nate ones, 
authorsirip was duly acknowledged soon after,—on 
the appearance of a second edition, if we remember 
rightly,—and a laughable incident occurred on the 
same day the acknowledgment was first publicly 
made. Mr. Duoanse was walking down Broadway 
and met Bayard Taylor. Said the poet traveler: 
"You’ve made a capital hit, Duoanne; I congratu¬ 
late you. That is a very good thing on Lyon— very 
good!” Ten minutes later the eatirizer met Lyon 
—Caleb Lyon, who had a slight taste for poesy and 
statesmanship. "Ah! Duganne, good morning!'' 
said the author of Californian epics, in !bland 
manner. " Your ‘ Parnassus’ is exgellcn' >ud he 
added, with a peculiar relish, " You have ha IayLOk 
capitally /” Col. Dcganne is genial and courteous, 
and a gentleman of varied accomplishments. The 
fine old-style madrigal, beginning— 
" I know a little foot, 
And so connimriy ’tia put,’’— 
which is generally supposed to be of English au¬ 
thorship, was penned by him. 
Mrs. Charles, the author of the Schonberg-Cotta 
series, has been tbus spoken of by a correspondent 
of the Evangelist“ She is a lady still young, and 
eminently English; of small, slight figure, whose 
modest, almost timid manners at once engaged our 
interest and sympathy, It needed but a glance to 
recognize a pure, transparent nature in this true 
Englishwoman. Mrs. Charles is a native of Dev- 
PLYMOUTH ROCK MONUMENT 
Our illustration represents the monument erected 
on the site of Plymouth Hock. It was completed 
only a few mouths ago, the last Btone being laid 
on December 7, 1807. The complete structure is 
15 feet square and 38 feet high. The corner-stone 
wue laid on the 1st of August, IS59, with appropriate 
ceremonies, and it is expected that the coming sum¬ 
mer will witness its dedication. In connection with 
the deposit of the cap-stone, on December 7, an in¬ 
teresting event occurred. The Pilgrim bones, which 
were exhumed on Cole’s Hill in 1855, during the 
construction of the water-works, and afterward de¬ 
posited in a brick vault on the Burying Hill, were 
again removed from their resting-place, and carefully 
inclosed in a box lined with lead were placed in the 
open chamber m the attic between tbe cap-stone and ] 
the dome. The following inscription on the outside 
of the box containing the remains is an authentic 
record: 
About fifty of the Pilgrims died during the winter of 
1020 and 1021, and were buried on Cole's Hill. This 
number included Governor John Carver, William 
White, Elizabeth Winslow, wife of Governor Edward 
Winslow; Rose Standish, wife of Captain Miles Stan- 
dish; and Mary Allbrton, wife of Isaac Allerton. 
On the 22d or May, 1865, workmen, while excavating a 
trench for the pipes of the Plymouth Water Works, built 
during that year, fonnd on the hill, a Untie south, of Mid¬ 
dle street, nearly alHhe bones belonging to three skele¬ 
tons. The skulls were submitted to Dr. John C. Warren 
and Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes of Boston, for the 
purpose of ascertaining whether they were skulls of 
white persons or Indians. Their decision that the skulls 
were those of white persons made It certain that they were 
those of some of the Pilgrims who died in 1820 and 1821 
The bones ere soon after placed carefully In a van It on 
th6 Burying Hill, prepared for the purpose, and were ex¬ 
humed and placed In the canopy over the Rock where the 
Pilgrims lauded, cm the 30th day of November, 1807, the 
day of the completion of the canopy. 
First, then, it is your duty to inspire. 
ration is made in many ways, some of which will 
nearly contradict the term. To illustrate: If you 
have a scholar possessed with more self-esteem 
than is profitable to him, or sufferable by you, the 
only way to advantageously inspire that scholar is 
to show him, frequently, that he knows almost 
nothing. (In this some teachers will disagree with 
me, but I write from experience, and as a successful 
teacher.) That scholar is not what he thinks he is. 
He is a perfect epiphyte. He stands upon an inse¬ 
cure and groundless foundation,—absorbing the air 
of popular applause, until he has imbibed so much 
as to make himself disproportionally large. Now, 
as au honest teacher, it is your duly to place such 
a pupil upon a natural and sure platform. Place 
him upon something, where he will feel, and will 
be, Bafe when the test comes. But in order to ac¬ 
complish this you will be called upon to shake his 
tottering structure, until he himself feels unsafe 
upon it. 
Some teachers at this point will remark,—“I 
guess the writer is not a student of human nature. 
He is not aware that scholars have l weak sides:”' 
Are you, then, so uufair as to sacrifice your pupils’ 
future usefulness, for the sake of their friendship s’ 
Are you willing to take the menial office of mis¬ 
representation, in order to avoid a just but un¬ 
pleasant task ? If so, then labor for " weak sides;” 
Halter and applaud those who are willing to receive 
flattery and applause, and you can accomplish your 
purpose- But I hope your conception and appre¬ 
ciation of honesty will prompt you differently. 
If you have scholars of an opposite disposition, 
anti naturally timid, the whole modus operandi 
should be reversed. The proper inspiration must 
be given in such cases by encouragement. Daniel 
Webster claimed that it was owing to a word of 
encouragement from his teacher, when a very In¬ 
ferior scholar, that he became what he was. Ben¬ 
jamin West said—“My mother’s kiss made me a 
painter.” It was the encouragement of that moth¬ 
er’s affectionate kiss that caused the zeal on the 
part of the youthful West. 
Do uot be afraid of that dirty, ragged little boy 
whom you find not infrequently trying to hide his 
embarrassment, when one of his mates appears be¬ 
fore him better clad. Take hold of the little fellow; 
raise him up; whisper an encouraging word in his 
ear. What a consolation it will afford you (if a 
lover of your vocation,) as you observe his face 
brighten with gladness and joy. Test him, and you 
will find that the unalloyed metal is there. Follow 
this course, and you know not but you are encour¬ 
aging a WEB 3 TEK, or a greater than West. There 
are greater men than they, yet unborn. o. k. 
Honeoye, N. Y., 1868. 
TALKS "WITH OUR BOYS AND GIRLS 
BY UNCLE PAUL. 
LITTLE IVIINSTRELS. 
Young friends, fancy yourselves away off in some 
strange country, far from home, and with no kind 
father or mother near to love you and care for you. 
It would seem very lonesone, would it not V Don’t 
you think you would get homesick, sometimes, and 
maybe cry a little ? How would you manage to get 
food and clothes, and where would you sleep V 
We suppose our boys seldom go a great ways 
from home, and never find themselves in a foreigu 
land among total strangers. There is no reason 
why they should seek another country. America 
is the best country under the sun, and is just the 
place for boys to grow up in. Here they can be¬ 
come great men and good men, and can prosper in 
anything they undertake if they will only do right 
always. Thi6 is the reason, perhaps, why boys in 
Ireland and England and Italy, and other countries, 
want to come here. They hear about free America, 
and think they can grow rich and be happy under 
its laws. Many of them do come, and realize all 
they hoped to. 
The other day we heard music, and saw a group 
of men and boys assembled, on tbe street, so wc 
went to see what was attracting attention. What 
we saw would have pleased you all, we think. Two 
little boys were playing, one upon a violin and the 
other upon a harp. They were very little fellows, 
indeed,—not over eight or nine years old,—but 
they played quite well, and many pennies were 
thrown to them. One of them sang a song, but 
it would have sounded very strangely to you, for 
it was not in oar language, and you couldn’t have 
understood a word of it. These little minstrels 
were Italians, and they could talk no language but 
that spoken away in sunny Italy. They had black 
hair and bright black eyes, and were quick and 
in their motions, just like nearly all 
The Bullock press is certainly a most remarkable 
piece of mechanism. This machine was introduced 
into the Government printing office about a year 
ago, and Mr. Defrees, the Superintendent of Public 
Printing, and the foreman of the press-room, speak 
of it In the highest terms. In a given time, with 
two hands, it did the work of twenty Adams presses 
and thirty-five hands. The cost of the Bullock press 
$25,000, 1111(1 of the Adams press, $8,000. The 
blotches of umber, of different shades. During the 
season of incubation, and until the young birds 
leave the uest, Bob lias but little to do with his 
neighbors; but when the young are turned aside to 
shift for themselves, the members of different fami¬ 
lies unite into a large scattered flock and roam 
through the neighborhood, feasting on all the good 
things available. 
It is at this period that the male exchanges his 
uuptial suit, for one more in keeping with his "old- 
folks ” condition; and he arrays himself in a dress 
very similar to the sober one of his mate, dropping 
at the same time his jolly song, and uttering ouly a 
single note, like the syllable “chink.” At this 
tune it is almost impossible to distinguish the male 
from the female or young bird, us they fly away 
from you in the field, so much, do they resemble 
each other. 
Early in September the bobolinks begin to move 
southward; and although they obtain a great por¬ 
tion of their sustenance from fields and meadows, 
gleaning seeds of grasses, and weeds and insects, 
they make ?ad mischief in the fields of late grain 
and rice; an the firing of guns during the passage 
through the Middle and Southern States, not only 
by farmers and planters, but by sportsmen, who 
shoot them for the table and market, is at some 
seasons almost incessant .—Oliver Optic'6 Magazine. 
them is wonderful. William W rit Sikes, if we 
may credit the Herald of Health, claims to have 
edited no less than twenty-three publications in the 
space of one year; and the same authority says that 
Miss Olive Logan runs a pen race with Sikes. 
Jean Ingelow is one of a family of eleven chil¬ 
dren. Concerning her, her mother said to a visitor 
recentlyYou have probably noticed that Jean 
is very shy and reserved, and I thiuk that only 
through her finger ends could she have given vent 
to her heart and soul; for I have learned more 
of her life and tastes through her writings than 
through years of companionship.” 
Thomas Bailev Aldrich, the poet, edits Every 
Saturday. He is said to be just such a genial, warrn- 
souled young man as his poems would make bitu. 
His little house is furnished in exquisite taste, aud 
his “wee wife” is pretty enough to compensateJfor 
the loss he laments in h: 
sprightly 
Italians. 
We wondered if they had any father or mother 
anywhere, or if any brothers or sisters ever spoke 
of the wanderers and wished they would come 
home; and very much wished we could talk with 
them so as to learn how they came to leave their 
native land while so young. Neither of them look¬ 
ed happy and light-hearted, as you do, while one 
bad a sad face that was really pitiful. You are apt 
to think that making music is a pleasant thing, and 
we presume some of the little boys who heard the 
minstrels had a notion that 'twould be real fun to 
, travel about and sing and play as they were doing. 
They would find it different, though, after a little, 
and would :ong for the shelter of the home-roof 
and the kind care of parents. Playing and singing 
for pennies, upon the street, is not like singing 
sweet songs now and then in the parlor, with 
mother and the girls to sing with you. 
Yesterday we saw another little minstrel, carry¬ 
ing his small harp along the street, and stopping 
at times to play a tunc or two. His harp appeared 
to have been carried about a great deal, for it was 
and defaced and did uot sound very musicaL 
was 
Agricultural report, 189,550 copies, was the hrst and I 
only book yet printed on this press. It has run 
more cousccutive hours than any press known. In 
less than four months, at eight hours a day, with 
two men and a laborer, it printed eight millions of 
distinct impressions, without any effort to crowd Us 
cajiacity. The paper for the use of this press comes 
from the mill in rolls containing thousands of sheets 
when cut into proper size. The roll is placed on a 
reel, and the press started; it unwinds the paper, 
cuts off the required size, prints it on both sides at 
one operation, counts the munher of sheets, and de¬ 
posits them on the delivery board ready for folding, 
at the rate of from eight to fourteen thousand per 
hour, or, counting both sides, from sixteen to twen¬ 
ty-eight thousand impressions. —Chicago Tribune. 
Flight of the Goddess, 
The Massachusetts Board of Education have sub¬ 
mitted their thirty-first annual report to the Legisla¬ 
ture, in which they call attention to the growing 
evil of constantly changing text books, which so far 
from benefiting the schools, is a serious damage to 
g an unwarranted sonree of ex- 
them, besides bein 
penseto parents and guardians. For want of time 
i say the Board, which is letting them off easy,) to 
thoroughly examine the multitudinous number of 
school hooks yearly issued from the press, school 
committees and teachers are much at the mercy of 
publishers aud book agents. Bad books, or inferior 
books, which are issued by a wealthy and energetic 
business firm, will often drive out better ones, whose 
authors or proprietors have relaxed their efforts. It 
would seem desirable to have a judicious board or 
commission, wholly independent of authors or pub¬ 
lishers, to examine all the text books in use and 
publish a list of the best, describing them and point¬ 
ing out their characteristics. By all means let this 
recommendation of the Board be adopted, and let the 
power of "feed” school committees to change text 
books every term, be vetoed. 
The humanity of Lord Erskine is perpetuated in 
his bill “ For the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,” 
in one of his speeches upon which measure he 
observes:—"I never knew a man remarkable for 
heroic bearing, whose very aspect was not lighted 
up by gentleness and humanity; nor a kill-and-eat- 
him countenance that did not cover the heart of a 
bully or a poltroon.’’ Of many quaint stories 
illustrating his fine tenderness for the mute creation, 
oue may be inserted in this paragraph. Having ex¬ 
postulated with a ruffian for violently beating a 
worn 
When we saw him last he was^iu^ front of a hotel, 
playing" rad singing a song, and his shrill young 
voice raDg out the words just as loudly and lustily 
as though he had been somewhere in his own Ital¬ 
ian land. We hope the little minstrels will find 
good friends wherever they go, and will get pen¬ 
nies enough to buy them plenty to eat and wear 
and comfortable lodging places; and may every¬ 
body be kind to them! 
The Volcanic Eruption in the Sandwich 
the Hawaiian volcano which 
Islands. —Manna Loa, 
has recently caused so great destruction to life and 
property in the Sandwich islands, is an old offender. 
It, Is situated in the interior of Hawaii, and is 13,70S 
feet high. It was active in 1855 and in 1859, but on 
those occasions its exploits wer4 by no means so 
dreadful as during the fortnight commencing on the 
27th of March. The whole numbbr of lives known 
to be lost is eighty. The sufferer) were all natives, 
Mauna Loa having spared the Whites with a dis¬ 
crimination in their favor that iidieates conserva¬ 
tive instincts. The eruption continued at last 
accounts w’ith unabated vigor, and there were fears 
that its demoralizing influence iwould extend to 
Edmund Andrews was well known as a cruel boy. 
Cockchafers, butterflies and birds, frogs and toads, 
dogs and cats, had all been ill-used by him in their 
turn; and many a reproof had he received for his 
cruelty. 
As Edmund was passing by Burlton’s barn, he saw 
Wilkinson, the old shepherd, with his pitch-kettle 
and iron, marking the sheep which had been lately 
shorn, with the letters J. B. for John Burlton. 
" So yon are putting your master’s mark on the 
sheep, are you?” said Edmund as he walked up to 
the shepherd. 
"1 am, Master Edmund,” replied Wilkinson; 
English Schools.— It appears from a report just 
presented by examining commissioners, that there 
are about 3,000 endowed schools in England. Of 
this number 782 are called classical, and the remain¬ 
der, non-classical schools, being devoted to the 
education of the laboring classes. Some of the 
classical institutions have annual incomes exceeding 
$10,000. King Edward's, at Birmingham, ha= a total 
of yearly stipends of §00,000, which sum it expects 
to have increa.-ed to $250,000 during the next thirty 
years. The total income of all these schools amounts 
to over §1,500,000. They educate on an average 
thirty-seven thousand pupils. In addition, there are 
some ten thousand private schools in England. 
The American Lakes.— Lake Superior is the larg¬ 
est body of fresh water in the woad. It has an area 
of upwards of thirty-two thousiad square miles, 
and a mean depth of 1,000 feet. is apparently fed 
by a few insignificant streams, tlA:* largest of which 
are the St. Louis and the Ontontgon. Lake Mich¬ 
igan has a area of 24.000 miles, and a mean depth of 
900 feet. This lake only receives a few streams, and 
yet Lake Michigan furnishes a lirge proportion of 
the current that flows oyer the St.. Lawrence into the 
ocean. These great lakes must get supplies from 
subterranean sources. It is well) known that large 
rivets on the western plains suddenly disappear 
through fissures and chasms uevei again to re-appear 
on the surface. 
Popular Instruction.— From Georgia to Japan, 
from Australia to Austria, the claims of popular 
instruction are coming to be recognized to a de¬ 
gree never before known. The narrow, 6eliish In¬ 
terests of peculiar institutions, whether social, po¬ 
litical, or religious, are everywhere giving way to 
that broader, nobler impulse which demands that 
all the rising generation shall be taught the ele¬ 
ments of knowledge, rather than that a few be 
trained never so thoroughly in the doctrines of tki6 
or that political or religious school or creed .—Aew 
York Teacher. 
EXCUSES FOR DRINfilNO. 
One drinks because he's very hot as We are often told; 
Another must a tankard take because he’s very cold; 
Another drinks because he’s wet, its benefits to try; 
Another, sure, a tankard gets because he's very dry; 
Another must a bargain make, and have a glass to 
strike it! 
While one and all the liquor take because, in fact, they 
like it. 
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