OG! 27 
720 
THE RURAL «EW 
CONCERNING COLLEGE EDUCATION. 
MARY WAGER-FISHER. 
Many persons who have neither been to 
college, nor associated much with college- 
bred men, entertain a feeling that college 
training in some peculiar way sanctifies, or 
sots a man apart from his uu-college-bred 
fellow men. And the idea seems to be a 
K-owing one that if a man is to succeed in 
lil'b and have social position, he must go to 
college and be baptized in the mysterious 
glamour that is supposed to glaze over the 
alumui of colleges and universities. 
The circumstances of my life have been 
such that my associations have been in a very 
large degree with college-bred men and 
women, and while I thoroughly appreciate 
the advantages of college training, 1 am not 
blind to its disadvantages, and recognize 
what I have often heard a college-bred 
man call its “ humbuggery,” for there 
is a vast amount of humbuggery and pre¬ 
tense in the educational world as elsewhere. 
As thorough education as one can rightly 
get is always desirable. But many a young 
man goes to college at the almost vital ex¬ 
pense of his family, who deny themselves the 
comforts of life in order to send him, aud in 
such cases, the education is unrighteous. If 
one will contemplate the long list of men, 
who, as lads* never saw the inside of college 
walls, but who have won undying distinction 
because of their usefulness in life, it would 
seem that colleges have little if any thing of 
need to confer upon the human race. Half 
of the public men in this country, have been 
in fact half educated, so far as “school harn- 
ing” goes, and 1 douot if any man owes any 
valuable success in life solely to college 
training, while many a one has been unfitted 
by it for earning his living. He has formed 
while in college dissolute and extravagant 
habits, a distaste for labor, and has come to 
constitute himself one of that great and ever- 
increasing body of elect, who are on the look¬ 
out for employment that is “light, genteel, 
and highly remunerative” of which there is 
never a plenty. 
If people would everywhere regard educa¬ 
tion in its true light, as a disciplinary mental 
process to help men and women the better to 
do whatever their hands find to do, then 
higher education would be productive of less 
mischief, and it does produce mischief when 
it unfits its recipients for everyday, practical 
affairs—when it unfits men for agriculture, 
for commerce, for the shop, and shapes their 
ends solely for “professions” which have for 
them neitner room nor need, and which are 
already crammed to bursting with rued, 
tocrity. 
When a young man (and man means woman 
as well), is born for any special line of work— 
for potters as well as poets are born—he is 
very apt,even if not altogether so, to reach and 
to work out his life work, however adverse 
circumstances may be, aud he will neither 
ask nor accept any body’s charity to help 
him along. There are scores of young men 
every year, who are the recipients of charity 
in one way or another—in being educated for 
the ministry, or for mission work, or for 
teaching, who are good enough in their way, 
but who would unquestionably serve their 
generation better if forced to paddle their 
own canoes. Then possibly, they might be¬ 
come good carpenters, blacksmiths, or stone¬ 
masons. One reason why really able aud 
large-minded men hold themselves aloof from 
public affairs is because of tne mediocrity they 
find in high places—the constant up pushing 
ot men who have neither merit, nor mouesty, 
but who have wonderful capacity aud en¬ 
durance for wriggling themselves through the 
chinks of society into places of notoriety, if 
not of power. 
I think the tendency of the time is toward 
over-education to too much mental restriction 
aud direction in fixed lines. Nowhere is this 
more apparent than in the work of our so- 
called “poets.” Spontaneity, naturalness of 
leeling as well as of expression are sacrificed 
to certain fixtures ot form and style, when 
■one touch of honest, out-spoken nature is 
worth a ton of what goes as “polished verse”— 
n.ere words with no heart throbbing through 
them. I neither aim nor wish to discourage 
college training. I think about the best thing 
to be said of it is that it often endows a pupil 
w ith associations that are of life-long value 
mid charm. But it is a mistake to regard it 
as the door-way to success in life, and .that 
every one who hopes to make his mark in the 
world must enter in thereat. The college 
does not make the man, and the education 
taut comes from experience in the world is in 
nine cases out of ten more valuable to the av¬ 
erage man than any that a college could give 
him. There is such a thing as paying too 
dear for the whistle, and before spending four 
years in college it is worth one’s while to 
count the cost and the probable outcome. So 
far as the refinement and elevation of society 
through higher education are concerned, there 
is undoubtedly more to be gained by bestow¬ 
ing it upon women than upon men. 
DISTRICT SCHOOL MATTERS. 
In our district the complaint most heard 
from the pupils during the summer is that 
“that old school-house is the hottest place in 
the town,” which may be nearly true as there 
is not a tree uea* - it Nor is the ground sur¬ 
rounding the school building inclosed—noth¬ 
ing to prevent stray cattle and pigs from graz - 
ing at their own sweet will, and destroying 
whatever decoration in the way of flower-beds, 
etc., pupils or teachers may attempt. Of 
course, these are just complaints, and the 
simple remedies, shade trees and a tidv r fence. 
From many of the tax payers the complaint 
comes that “this school costs too much.” As 
but few of them send children to school, either 
having none, except those beyond school-age, 
or sending them to a high school in a neigh¬ 
boring town, I cannot tell how to interest 
them. Ours is not a model school, but it has 
greatly improved during the past few years 
under the wise supervision of an excellent 
County School Commissioner who fully re¬ 
alizes the importance of a teacher’s work, and 
allows no lack of conscientious painstaking in 
the teachers under bis charge—who believes 
that 
“Every sower must one day reap 
From the seed he has sown. 
How carefully, then. It. becomes us to keep 
A watchful eye on the seed, aud seek 
To sow what Is good, that we may not weep 
To receive our own.” 
A teacher's qualifications, in my opinion 
must be genuine love of children, and good 
common sense, book-knowledge, aud an in¬ 
teresting way of imparting instruction. 
One born in the country, or at least one 
who knows country life well, will be 
most apt to succeed in an ungraded district 
school. 
As to “ boarding around,” I don’t believe in 
it to “save the district money". A teacher 
worth employing, deserves a steady boarding 
place, but it is a good plan for a teacher to spend 
a few days with each pupil’s family; know¬ 
ing the home-life of a pupil helps much to¬ 
ward understanding the peculiarities of each 
individual. The parents, too, are moreiinter- 
terested m both teacher and school, if there is 
a personal acquaintance between them. 
That’s a partial answer to “how to interest 
parents.” It might be a help too, if the tax 
payers, who send no children to the district 
school, also received occasional visits from 
tne teacher. 
Three different teachers during a year 
cannot accomplish as much as one can, 1 think 
—they must so soon leave after getting both 
themselves and pupils interested in their work. 
Besides, each teacher has her own methods, to 
which pupils must get accustomed; and gener¬ 
ally her own views as to ttx.-books, and that 
brings me to the question of text-books. Not 
being “in the harness”, I will not venture to 
suggest favorite authors. The selections 
should in great part be left to the School 
Commissioner of each county, who of course 
ought to be posted as to the best text-books, 
aud ought, if possible, to keep at least a limit¬ 
ed supply as he is in a position to buy, and 
therefore to sell cheaper . than the books can 
be procured by the average dweller in rural 
districts. 
It does seem a pity to me that some know¬ 
ledge of natural history and botany is not 
more often given to country children, who 
have such rare opportunities for studying il¬ 
lustrations from life. Expensive text-books, 
except in the teacher’s hands for reference, are 
not necessary; the instruction can be oral. 
How much more pleasure country children, 
and grown people too, would get from the 
long walks and drives their occupations ren¬ 
der necessary, aud that aie so often consid¬ 
ered monotonoas, if they were taught to ob¬ 
serve intelligently the habits of “our friends 
in feathers aud fur” aud the growth of our 
common forms of vegetable life. John Bur¬ 
roughs is a country boy who learned to use 
his eyes well out-of-doors, aud is one good 
author from whose works extracts can be 
read to children to open their eyes to the cur¬ 
ious and beautiful things about them, and to 
create a desire to know more of the subjects 
of which he treats. 
EI.IEGER BEECHER. 
RURAL SHADE AND SUNSHINE. 
Dyspepsia 
Poets in all ages have sung of the beauties 
of the country, and artists have endeavored 
to paint its glories, and yet it is not all beauty 
aud delight. We read the poems, gaze at the 
pictures, aud take an occasional drive through 
the quiet valleys and over the sunny hills, 
past well-kept farms, stately homesteads, and 
vine-wreathed cottages; we view the placid 
waters of lake or river, and we fancy that 
country life is all sunshine and enjoyment 
and farming a very interesting pastime. We 
forget that “ ’tis distance lends enchantment 
to the view;” but when we have once tried 
such a life the romance vanishes and we real¬ 
ize that, although the country may be bright 
and fair, still there are enough unpoetic and 
inartistic things connected with it to fill vol¬ 
umes of unreadable prose. Instead of the 
“love in a cottage, meadows and buttercups, 
purling streams and warbling birds,” that we 
read about, there is only, as one has .said, 
1 happiness in an old farm-house, cow pastures 
milk pails, muddy brooks—where the geese 
and ducks feed—and noisy chickens.” 
Ever since our first parents, having tasted 
of the forbidden fruit, were driven out of the 
Garden of Eden, and the curse was pro¬ 
nounced, “ In the sweat of thy face sbalt thou 
eat bread,” thorns and thistles has the earth 
brought forth and by hard and almost con¬ 
stant labor has the farmer earned his daily 
food. Every season of the year has its own 
difficulties to be overcome, its duties to be 
performed, and its trials aud petty annoyances 
to be borne. Stern, cold Winter lingers long 
with his icy $dnds and drifted snows, aud 
' though bonnie are the snow-flakes,” still we 
are glad when they disappear and Spring 
approaches, singing 
“I come, I come, ye have called me long, 
I come o’er the mountains with light and song. 
Ye may trace my steps o'er the wakening earth 
By tne winds that tell of the violet’s birth, 
By the primrose stars in the shadowy grass, 
By the green leaves opening as I pass.” 
Thus may poetic Fancy seek to trace her 
footsteps, but stern Reality easily finds them 
imprinted in other things, prominent among 
which is the mud, mud, mud that is every¬ 
where. In the golden summer time the wav¬ 
ing grain and the rustling corn are indeed 
beautiful, aud “in poetry’s jingle ’tis nice to 
tell,” but there is a great deal ot unpoetic work 
to be done in plowing, planting, sowing, cul¬ 
tivating aud hoeing, before they reach the 
rustling and waving period, aud by the time 
they have been rustled aud waved into the 
barn, all the poetry has disappeared. Then 
the “meadow sweet with the new-mown hay” 
is noticed, and the “loaded wain” as it is driv¬ 
en homeward; but when the loaded wain up¬ 
sets aud the small boy who is driving the 
weary horses is thrown against a tree with 
force enough to break his arm, be, at least, 
fails to appreciate the lovely picture; and the 
tired men who have that wain to icloaddo 
not, usually, grow very enthusiastic over the 
beauties of the scene: aud the real Maud Mul¬ 
ler is far too tired for idle dreaming. 
Tne small brown cottage on the hillside, or 
the white house nestling among the trees, with 
its porch covered with honeysuckle, climbing 
roses and clematis is “a poem in itself;” but 
the broken door-step, the slanting, slippery, 
cellar stairs around the corner, the worn-out 
pump, the empty wood-house, and the smok¬ 
ing stove are hard, unbending pr. se. 
Some pleasant afternoon we set out for a 
quiet walk to a high hill about a mile away 
We follow the path as it winds through the 
green fields and the shady woods. At length, 
after a toilsome climb, we reach the summit 
of the hill. We turn our eyes toward the 
west and view the picture Dame Nature has 
painted for us. A friendly cloud floats lazily 
between us and the sun, but does not prevent 
the latter’s rays from falling on the lake below^ 
whose every tiny ripple reflects the golden 
light. At our left are the chestnut woods 
through which we have just passed, and 
farther down a little stream bursts forth, aud 
singing softly to itself, makes its way, with 
many a graceful curve, to the lake before us. 
At our right in the distance rise other hills 
clad in robes of living green. Sheep aud 
cattle are feeding on the hillside. Rich fields 
of waving wheat and corn stretch out before 
us. Here and there, half hidden by the trees, 
a handsome house is seen. Flowers are 
blooming on every side. Birds are flitting to 
and fro. Out upon the water a steamer 
freighted with happy youth is gliding swiftly 
by, and from its deck strains of joyous music 
float upon the breeze. In admiration of the 
beautiful scene we say, “Surely the Happy 
Valley is before us!” But is it so? This home 
you so much admire was indeed a happy one> 
but the light has gone out, for Death entered 
Does rot get veil of itself; it requires careful, 
persistent attention and a remedy that will assist 
nature to throw off the causes and tone up the 
digestive organs till they perform their duties 
willingly. Among the agonies experienced by the 
dyspeptic, are distress before or after eating, loss 
of appetite, irregularities of the bowels, wind or 
gas and pain in the stomach, heart-bum, sour 
stomach, etc., causing mental depression, nervous 
irritability and sleeplessness. If you are dis¬ 
couraged be of good cheer and try Hood’s Sar¬ 
saparilla. It has cured hundreds, it will cure you. 
Hood’s Sarsaparilla 
Sold by all druggists. $1; six for $5. Made 
only by C. I. HOOD & CO., Lowell, Mass. 
lOO Doses One Dollar 
Regulate the Regulator with Warner’s 
Log Cabiu Sarsaparilla, manufactured by the 
proprietors of Warner’s Safe Cure. Largest 
bottle in the market. Sold by all druggists. 
Th« WITTIEST, PRETTIEST JUVENILES 
QUEER PEOPLE i’almer Cox 
GIANTS A WINGS A/ 
GOBLINS 
$1.00^ 75c. 
By Mail'. 
PAWS A 
CLAWS 
$1.00 
(TCI op fin cut of the. Frog find the Mouse.) 
Full of the oddest pranks. clinriniiiK stories and 
luiiKli-provokinw illustrations by the l’rince of 
Juvenile artists. Selling immensely. Critics 
.say ot* it : " It sets my little folks wild with delight .— 
Hob. ( lintonB. Fisk. "Hon'l tend me another for Ican't 
get th- , hi dren to bed."— R. H. Conwell. I) D. "Incom¬ 
parably neat and elegant."— Hon. S. S. Cox. u Fascinat¬ 
ing a. /F.sop and Uncle Kemue."— Hon.Howard Crosby. 
ACF.NTS WANTED. HUBBARD BROS. 
v bilndel»liia, C liicngo, or Kansas City. 
60L» MEDAL, PARIS, I87S, 
BAKER’S 
_ Warranted absolutely pure 
Cocoa, from which, the excess ot 
Oil has been removed. It has t y -te 
times the strength, of Cocoa mixed 
with Starch, Arrowroot or Sugar, 
and is therefore far more economi¬ 
ca coating leas than one cent a 
cuf. It is delicious, nourishing, 
strengthening, easily digested, and 
admirably adapted tor invalids a* 
well as for persons In health. 
Sold by GrocerVeve rytnrhere. 
f. BAKER & CO., Dorchester, Mass, 
WORK 
FO It A T,L 830 a week and expenses 
paid. Samples worth $5 and particulars 
free. P. O. VICKERY, Augusta, Maine. 
PEACH TREES, 
ALL THE LEADING VARIETIES. 
Apple Trees. 
Varieties for all sections North and South. Special 
colled ion of winter ke pers for sections where North¬ 
ern varieties do not succeed. Pears, « berry and 
Quince Trees, Grape Viiien. *lia«le and Or¬ 
namental Trees. For sale Cheap. 80 page Cata¬ 
logue free. The RANDOLPH PETERS NURSERY Co. 
Mention Rural New-Yorker. Wilmington. Del. 
THE WEEKLY 
COURIER-JOURNAL 
-AND THE— 
R. N.-Y. 
TRIAL TRIP. 
A SAFE TRIP. 
Both Three Months for Only 
The character of the Courier-Journal 
under the editorial management of Henry 
Watteiison is thoroughly known. 
Under this Unusual Offer all Sub¬ 
scriptions must be sent to the 
COURIER-JOURNAL, 
Louisville, Ky. 
