1 
ncatiiranl. 
HOW TO 60 TO WORK. 
M asks to be helped to become “ more in¬ 
telligent and well-informed.” All bad sis¬ 
ter ,C Your desire is of the best, and much 
to your credit. I wish to help you, and 
would if 1 knew your mental powers and 
likings Not knowing these it is impossible 
to assist beyond offering a suggestion or 
jf you be uot already mistress of the 
English language, become so. That is, you 
must attain to a clear idea of the meaning 
conveyed by every word you are likely to 
meet with in your course of reading. 1 his 
is all important. Without words one may 
perceive and feel but one cannot think. 
Willi a limited vocabulary thoughts are 
limited. With an expanded vocabulary 
thoughts expand, if one so wills it, and lakes 
the necessary labor. To conceive ideas is 
to an illiterate matt an impossibility. An 
idqa caunot exist for one until it lias been 
put in a form of words. All thought m the 
bumau mind—and all education is good only 
so far as it teaches to think—is conducted 
by means of what may be called silent 
fcneecli. 
Therefore, your first object is to obtain 
the foundation of thought—language. 
In the uext place, you must learn to think 
justly, correctly and scquently. I know ot 
no better means of furthering this end t uiu 
the study of Euclid. Faithful, assiduous 
application to this will give you the power 
of thinking connectedly and well. U it 
does not, nothing on this earth will. 
Here, then, is a foundation for you. llav- 
iu<r attained command of language and 
ability to mark, learn, and inwardly digest 
what'it brings, you may proceed to build 
thereon what you please— a fortress o 
eranite or a summer arbor of flowers. Bu 
you yourself must say which. No ouc can 
choose for you. If you would attain excel¬ 
lence in any department of knowledge you 
must search your own mind, find there what 
most interests you and what you are most 
apt in attaining; then follow out that with 
a syslenuxti* single purpose. Remember that 
leading without thinking is worse than not 
so, and hinted at your present attainments, I 
have no doubt you could be assisted with 
definite advice.— d. f. 
_—-- 
educational notes. 
Finding the IDian.eter of Cylindrical Mens- 
urea. 
ty .^ 
reading at all In the former case the tacul- 
ty of thought is destroyed, in the latter it 
only lies dormant. 
If you are not already tally advised you 
might say what particular branch of knowl¬ 
edge you prefer; whether you like flowers 
(Botany) or rocks and seas (Geology), or 
man’s past and present condition, bis mind, 
his powers, and future destiny. It y° u did 
lx answer to W, 8. ll, in last i o., wi 
say: — Divide the cu¬ 
bical content in inches, 
of the measure you 
propose to make, by its 
bight, which will give 
the area of its diameter 
or bottom; dividing 
this area by the deci¬ 
mal .7854, will give tlie 
square of the diameter, 
the square root of 
which is the required 
diameter of the cylin¬ 
drical cup. For exam¬ 
ple, suppose we want 
the diameter of a quart 
cup, the cubical content 
of which is 57 % inch¬ 
es, and the higlit 8 inch¬ 
es, 57.7o-:-8=7.21875:- 
.785 4 = 9.192 = 3.03 
inches, very nearly — 
J. A. Crawford. 
Since receiving the 
foregoing, we have re¬ 
ceived the following 
from the same source: 
Sir:—I n my answer 
to W. S. IVs inquiry, 
(which you did not 
publish,) [we give it 
above,] I gave what I 
believe to be a correct 
rule for finding the di¬ 
ameter of cylindrical 
measures. One of 
your correspondents 
says, “ The diameter 
must be assumed ;” and 
apparently all of them 
have assumed the di¬ 
ameter, which makes 
the finding of the bight easy—simply by 
dividing the area of the base into the area 
of the required measure. If W- 8. U. finds 
it necessary to make his measures ot given 
bights, he is still left iu the dark, so far as 
lm is enlightened by your correspondents. 
As the usual form of liquid measures is that 
of a frustum of a cone, and as W. S. R. may 
wish to make his in that form, I would like 
to be allowed to ask of your correspondents, 
as well for my own as bis information, a 
rule to find their measurements—J. A. 
Crawford. 
Musical Education in Germany. 
A recent traveler between Dresden and 
Magdeburg saysDuring the journey a 
singular incident occurred, winch showed 
unmistakably how well the musical educa¬ 
tion of tbe young is cared for in Germany. 
At one of the stations (Osclmtz) where we 
stopped for refreshments, a number of boys 
(probably twenty) returning from school, 
a peculiar pakn* of French, spoken by tbe 
colored population, and readily puked u 
by tlie Indian and Chinese immigrants who 
have been brought or come to the island m 
so great numbers of late years. I am not 
aware that any grammar ot this P ,tto ^ ' Ln _ 
been attempted, but some twelve or 1 1 Ueui 
years back copies of ‘ Esop a m the 
dialect could be procured at Port Louis. It 
would be interesting to 
compare this dialed 
with the patois of Trin¬ 
idad and Louisiana. 
There is, or was, also ft 
sort of argot distinct 
from the Creole patois, 
a relic, t presume, of 
the old slave days.” 
HEW YEAR’S MORNING 
BY c. S. N. 
AimwolN to James 
Jr n Kins. 
Having watched the 
columns of tlie RURAL 
New-Yorker, for tbe 
answers to the ques¬ 
tions proposed by «Tas. 
Jenkins, on page 289, 
last volume, and unly 
one of them having 
been answered, I will 
answer them myselt, 
basing my answers 
upon the theories most 
generally received. 
1. The needle of the 
compass points north 
because the earth is a 
great niaguel; the north 
magnetic pole of the 
earth attracting one 
pole of the magnetised 
needle, causing it to 
point toward the north 
2. What are the 
northern lights? Hat 
i. 
Linger we not, in sorrowful thoiiBKt, 
, ’' onorod dCft0 
A Mil MioiiKll we mil) closely olluK . 
To one', urea Past wo must own. at last, 
That tlie Present Is always kluK. 
II. 
Then (/root the .lawn of the Now Year morn. 
VI <1welcome its antics too too- 
not in vain, for lieal l uml hruin 
A waive':» waK.nVna von.• »\«i tubers break, 
In tilt* chill mill nifet-ytime. 
''t’o lh*o l^ht'onhe'Ncw^ Year's Morning! 
ITT. 
Ob tolling man of 1ie.nr|Land brain, 
A ;!hm ^-1VihMtptho New year bells. 
Tbefe^o*i^r'a , *§® , ^^v*pi't<'si , r , ' n ? foes to light. 
n» light* comes 
To soul or iioftft or uitml- 
IV. 
Oh lailv tair, with the Jeweled hair, 
Thn^jXu nine. 
Are costlier than too know • . 
They are red with in 
Wli 
f ft ,„ ,™ woo .fie'hh'od"oV the.oroaturesof GOD, 
u, are dying ot warn and woe. 
b’l t wi t SCKEEN.-^ee L J ;t-e lo.) 
wore met by their companions and also by 
several young girls, whose joy at returning 
home was evidenced in their beaming, happy 
countenances. The whole party quickly 
formed into a procession, and, marching oil 
two abreast with military precision, headed 
by the biggest boy, who played a large ac- 
1 cordion, sang with excellent time and accent 
to appropriate words a pretty and simple 
two-part song.”_ 
A Grammar Wanted. 
A writer in the London Athenaeum 
writes:—“ In the island of Mauritius there is 
tie B. gave a correct 
answer. 
3. The cause of the 
.attraction of gravita¬ 
tion. is iinknow n ; it is 
beyond our compre¬ 
hension, at least for the 
present. 
4. The light and heat of the sun is caused 
bv the condensation of that body. 
5. Same answer ns to the third. M. II. 
Elmira Eree A cadem y ■ __ 
* Quest torn* <»r Holiotavn to Answer. 
FtiuENK Timerman, Steuben Co., N. Y., 
asks scholars to answer the following ques¬ 
tions —“ 1. What is dew? 2. Why is theie 
no dew on a dull, cloudy night? 3. A\ by is 
there no dew on a windy night ? 4. Why 
does a violin siring give a oiusical sound 
5 What is the cause ot echo? ft. Why do 
not birds fall down in sleeping on their 
perch V” Answers to such questions should 
!d ways be concise and brief. 
^sxttsszt'isi ■ 
oil, Indy Dostt*. for lit IJ'Y lcll8L 
TinfeXtT‘,;S 
And richly nurture thee. 
VI. 
Ye men of pold, tjtrmvn hunt arid cold 
\ vour InirotB of unurefotf sin. 
Unlock your wtnrei*. unbar your (loom . 
a mi \vi«lct*iu<! i*ho. poor man id. 
oh, ChriBtlnn praying. uml ever suylnp, 
.»Vhv will on iuniU bu doi\©« 
In Hu* hunny prime of the New Year s time. 
There l* jjorittus work besuu . 
VU. 
The dawn lx brcnkimr. Uio world Is waking 
To tin* work lliat R him to do. 
Tin* inint in (lend nnd111* 0 , l l ?'’ U J' l !! , 1 LV e<J ’ 
With Erccdum'.'i nii'tpealtablc guts. 
VIII. 
Willi hnuo in the (tlentim of its golden beams. 
W ltfcl..a» the earth Will. Its bW{% 
And iiii* stalely dome and the lowly horn . 
Then Welcome tin*'‘Jfl.« Now Year's morn, 
Ko^I.rnl'vr.^.-'^Mhnan 
TIid Year lUUttl work to 00* 
fot‘ |Un‘aU^t 
AGNES BUEMAEN; 
OR, HE AND 
SHE. 
Translated from the Norwegian of Chrtstof J 
for Moore's Rural New-Yorker. 
am EVENING- COUNTRY SLEiaH-RIDINa eaktv. 
chapter I. 
The Party at the Parsonage. 
He was a student, and She was a clergy 
man’s daughter. Jfe was about eigbt-and- 
twenty; She only fifteen. He was tall and 
tbin, wore his hair low over his torchend; 
bis face had a thoughtful and sometimes 
even a suffering expression. She was below 
the middle bight, with soft brown hair, 
combed back from her white forehead, un¬ 
der which were a pair of bright brown eyes 
and two rosy cheeks. 
He was generally carelessly dressed, wore 
an old shabby coat, above which a white 
collar was not always visible. She was al¬ 
ways neatly and well dressed. 
Ho might he seen, when the weather was 
line twice a day wandering along the high 
road under the trees, having generally no 
other companion than his umbrella, and 
looking neither to the right hand nor to the 
left. She, from her childhood, billowed. 
Marie (flic servant) from the kitchen to the 
dairy, &c., or Halsar (the man servant) 
when he fetched the homes from the field. 
Ue, was regarded by the neighbors as a 
misanthrope, for he seldom spoke to any¬ 
one; and although occasionally Invited, 
never paid any visits. He sat early and late 
in his study, and the passers by might see 
the glimmer of his lamp long into the night. 
Rut with the peasants he was much more 
open, and often stood and talked with them 
when they were at work in the fields, or 
rested himself in their cottages. They liked 
him, for he was good to the poor, and 
showed sympathy and interest in their con¬ 
cerns; but for all that, they were somewhat 
shy of him; there was something pene¬ 
trating in his glance, and sometimes he put 
strange questions to them. 
His home was an old gray building, with 
lofty rooms, the walls of which were hung 
with portraits of gentlemen and ladies in 
powdered wigs and brocaded dresses. In 
the winter evenings the wind whistled and 
sighed in the long, empty corridors. The 
ancient trees in the garden were covered 
with moss, and, indeed, weeds and moss 
competed with each other In growth in this 
wilderness, where spade and scythe nevei 
came. That which was inclined to grow, 
grew, and that which was inclined to die, 
died. The owner walked in it often, and 
only smiled at the many stories of trolls and 
evil spirits who were said to fly from branch 
to branch in the dusk. The house itselt 
became more of a ruin from year to year ; 
here a beam gave way; there a water spout 
