THE CULTIVATOR. 
159 
aaa 
his elbow being placed upon a stepping stone. Mr. Brush had for some time 
been silent, absorbed in deep thought, which lie relieved at intervals by spit¬ 
ting through his leetn, forlornly into the gutter. At length, heaving a deep 
sigh, he spoke 
“ They used to tell me—put not your trust in princes—and I hav’nt. None 
of’em never wanted to borrow nothing of me, and I never see anj of them to 
borrow nothing of them. Princes ! pooh ! put not your trust in politicianers ! 
them’s my sentiments. There's no two mediums about that. Hav’nt I been 
serving my country these five years, like a patriot; going to meetings anti 
buzz dog my daylights out, and getting as blue as blazes; hav’rtt I blocked 1 
the windows, got licked fifty times, carried I don’t know how many black eyes 
and broken nose--, for the good of the commonwealth, and the purity of our 
illegal rights, and all for what? Why for nix. If any good has come out of. 
it, the country has put the whole of it in her pocket, and swindled me out of 
my earnings. I can’t get no office ! Republics is ungrateful ! I did’nt want 
no reward for my services. I only wanted to be took care of, and have no¬ 
thing to do ; arid I've only got half nothing to do ! Being took caro ol was the 
mam thing. Republics is ungrateful, I’m s aaggered if they ain’t 1” 
“ Come with me,” said Charley, helping him along. “ I’ll take care of 
you. But w hat made you a politicianer—hav’nt you got a trade ?” 
“ Trade ! yes ; but what’s a trade, w hen a feller’s got a soul—a whole soul? 
Trade! I loved my country, and I wanted an office—I did'nt care what, if it 
was fat and easy. I wanted to take care of my country, and I wanted my 
country to take care of me. Head-work is the trade I’m made lor—talking, 
that's my line. I alking in the oyster cellars—in the bar-rooms, any vvhete. 
I can talk all day, only stopping for meals, and to wet my whistle. But par¬ 
ties is all alike. I’ve been on all sides—tried’em and I know—none of’em 
gave me any thing, and I’ve a great mind to knock otf and call it half a day.” 
Pleasures and advantages to be derived from the study of Natural History. 
“Natural history, though it holds out no splendid reward to those 
who pursue its studies, will not fail to supply its fair proportion of con¬ 
tributions to thfe general welfare. Natural philosophy has furnished its 
light-houses and life-boats for the ocean, its lightning rods and steam- 
engines for the land, and its safety-lamp for those who explore the re¬ 
gions below. Chemistry has supplied its bleaching inventions and its 
medicines, not to speak of the more questionable blessings of dry bone 
soup, linen rag sugar, and saw-dust bread. Natural history, though 
it seems to content itself with simple descriptions of nature, forbearing 
to investigate its laws or the action of its powers upon each other, will 
continually unfold new productions and properties in all its depart¬ 
ments ; new uses for animals, vegetables, and minerals, and ways in 
which they can be applied to the benefit of man. It will teach men to 
employ nature against itself, and to neutralize many of its evils, shew¬ 
ing how it furnishes the antidote as well as the bane; shewing, in fact, 
that it never puts difficulties in the way of man, without some corres¬ 
ponding advantage which it rests with them to discover. Of course it 
will exact something in return; it will require men to look round them 
with observing eyes, anltopayat least sufficient attention to nature, 
to know how to estimate the blessings which it bestows. But, for all 
this it will abundantly reward him; it will make him happy, by afford¬ 
ing something to fill up the vacancy of his mind and his heart. If the 
mind ever rests, its calm is not clear, transparent repose, but corrupt 
and unhealthy stagnation, and this is a danger to which men are expos¬ 
ed much oftener than they know. We are unconscious of our inaction 
of mind, because revery is taken for thought; a man never looks so 
profoundly intellectual as when he is thinking of nothing. A solitary 
walk,—a seat by the evening fire, are said to be favorable to thought, 
when sometimes, on such occasions, not a thought passes through the 
mind for. hours; thought being the action, not the dreamy repose of the 
mind. Now when this science changes the thoughtless into observers; 
when it teaches them to look with interest upon the insect, whose in¬ 
stinct is so perfect and sure in all its operations; when it makes them 
see beauty in the frail loveliness of the flower, which now they crush 
beneath their feet; when it leads them to examine the rich plumage, or 
listen to the song of the bird, instead of destroying it with wanton cru¬ 
elty, it renders them a service which cannot be over-estimated; it opens 
fountains of enjoyment for them, which will never cease to flow. 
In this point of view, we have no doubt that these studies might be 
employed as an efficient instrument of moral reform. For it cannot be 
questioned, that most men are driven to their lawless indulgence, not 
by their love of it,—not by the strength of the temptation,—but by the 
horrors of a vacant mind, which induce them to seek this relief from 
themselves. The force and resistlessness of the temptation consist, not 
in its own attraction, but in the unhappiness of a mini preying upon 
itself, which eagerly catches at any means of relief for the moment, 
without thinking ofthe consequences. It is in such vacant and unguard¬ 
ed hours, that the evil spirit of sensual indulgence attracts and secures 
its victims. Now those pursuits, which furnish an excitement to the 
mind, will arm it against such fascination, by keeping it in that action, 
which is as essential to virtue as it was to eloquence in the opinion of 
the great master of the art. Moral reforms are apt to resemble those 
of political parties, which remove one set of evils by substituting an¬ 
other ; but whoever supplies subjects of engaging intellectual interest 
to the minds of men, goes to the root of the evil, while others are hew¬ 
ing at the branches, which spring again as fast as they are cut away.— 
North American Review for October. 
_ TO IMPROVE THE.SOIL, A ND THE AIIND. 
COMMON SCHOOL LIBRARIES. - 
The utility of common school libraries, in promoting the best in- 
terests of society, is manifest to every man who knows the advan- 
I tages of acquired knowledge. But as a portion of the community 
J are hardly supposed to appreciate this advantage, it is doubtful 
whether the law which provides for the establishment of these li¬ 
braries, will not remain, to a great extent, a dead letter. Those 
who cannot read, or do not read, mu>t be incompetent judges of the 
pleasures and advantages which books afford. Where libraries 
have been established, they promise the happiest effect-, in induc¬ 
ing a taste for reading, not only among the children of the schools, 
but among their parents, and consequently are converting to use¬ 
fulness, much time which was wont to be spent in indolence, if not 
in vice. If then these libraries are calculated to benefit the chil¬ 
dren which have access to them, and to increase the measure of 
public knowledge, virtue and happiness, why not make their provi¬ 
sion mandatory ! There are a great many people in the communi¬ 
ty, who would not, if the matter was left to their option, expend 
their money in repairing the public roads, or in maintaining com¬ 
mon schools at all; yet the law compels them to do it, because the 
public good requires it. And would not the public good be sub¬ 
served, also, by the intellectual and moral culture of the rising ge¬ 
neration, who are soon to be the masters of the land? 
We have noticed, in our late readings, two instances, where men 
who became distinguished for literary acquirements, dated the com¬ 
mencement for reading, and the abquisition of knowlege, to the ac¬ 
cidental perusal of Robinson Crusoe. Cobbett, who wrote more 
perhaps than any man now living, and who is now, on the score of 
talents, compared to Pitt, by someof the British reviewers, ascribed 
a like influence to his early perusal of the Tale of a Tub. The 
predominant passion of youth is curiosity. If we can blend useful 
knowledge with the gratification of this predominating passion, 
we bend the twig as the tree should grow—we plant seeds which, 
like the acorn, may spring up, and spread branches far and wide, to 
refresh and beautify the land. The nursery and the school are parti¬ 
cularly adapted to this species of training. If the habit of reading 
is postponed to manhood, or is only enforced as a task, the mind 
either does not imbibe a relish for it, or rejects it with disgust. 
But if the habit is acquired in youth, as it generally will be where 
opportunity is offered of acquiring it voluntarily, it becomes a com¬ 
panion in manhood, and a solace in old age. At present, the op¬ 
portunities for reading, to the young, are extremely limited in most 
parts of our state. There are few social libraries, and very few 
bookstores except in the cities and villages. The meagre supply 
of other than school books and btbles, which reaches the interior, 
principally passes through pcdlers and chapmen, and are of doubt¬ 
ful character. It certainly becomes the guardians of the public weal, 
to take these matters under their special cognizance, and to see 
that the young mind is furnished with food adapted to its capaci¬ 
ties, and calculated to promote its health and usefulness. 
A series of well written numbers, ascribed to a late superinten¬ 
dent, has lately appeared in the public journals, showing the neces¬ 
sity of a reform in the management of common schools, and recom¬ 
mending that their supervision, together with the selection of school 
books, should be confided to the care of a competent superintendent, 
who should devote his whole time to the matter. The suggestion 
is worthy ol legislative consideration. No branch of the adminis¬ 
tration is more important to the future welfare of the state, than 
that which has cognizance of the education of youth. It would 
present great advantages on the score of economy, if the superin¬ 
tendent should be also authorized to buy for the schools, as the works 
selected might be stereotyped, and bought, at wholesale, 20 to 50 
per cent below retail prices, and charged to the districts at cost, and 
given in lieu of their equivalent value of school moneys. And there 
certainly would be no impropriety in providing by law, either that 
each distract shall provide school libraries, or that a part of the ap¬ 
propriations for schools shall consist of books, to be selected by a 
superintendent, to constitute one. We verily think that a portion 
of the public school moneys could not be better appropriated. 
