At Almond, over 1500 persons were in attendance the right spirit prevailed-the hospitality and kindness of the people of that place, were fully evinced by an excellent report, and after the exercises at the grove, departed for their several homes, determined (I am willing to believe) to have better schools. These Celebrations have already done much goodthe right feeling is aroused. No other subject can call people out in such numbers, in this County, as the subject of Common Schools. They rush to these meetings in such vast numbers, that in all cases we have been obliged to take to the grove. The worst evils we encounter here, are small inefficient districts.-Will you point your artillery at this subject;-our people are nearly ripe for consolidation. Yours truly. H. WILSON, Co. Sup't. of Southern District. Little Genesee, September 14, 1843. CONVENTIONS TO BE HELD IN OCTOBER, DUTCHESS Holds her county convention on the 14th inst. ALBANY On Thursday the 5th of October. A TEACHERS' DRILL will be held at Bethlehem, on Friday, the 6th at Sloansville for Guilderland; on Saturday the 7th, at West Troy, for Watervliet on Monday, the 9th, at the Hol. low, for Coeymans; on Tuesday, the 10th, at Chesterville, for Westerlo; on Wednesday, the 11th, at Rensselaerville; on Thursday, the 12th, at Bern; on Friday, the 13th, at Knoxville, and on Saturday, the coamy meeting will convene at Bradt's, in New-Scotland. The drills will open at 9 A. M. On each evening there will be a meeting of the trustees, and inhabitants of the several towns, and addresses may be expected. Professor Davies, of West Point, has kindly offered bis aid to make the Drills useful to our winter schools, Normal Schools Will be opened by the superintendents of the follow. ing counties, to continue from two to four weeks, to aid the teachers in acquiring a knowledge of their duties. FULTON AND TOMPKINS Open their schools in October. CAYUGA. The school will be opened on the 3d of Oct., at Auburn, for two weeks, by Hon. Salem Town, J. B. Thomson, Esq., and Mr. Storkes, the County Supt. ORLEANS. On the 4th of October, for two weeks, by the Rev. Messrs. French and McHarg, E R. Reynolds, Esq., County Superintendent, Messrs. W. Tillinghast, N. W Bates, S. Bates, S. B. Taylor, W. Reynolds, G. H. Stone, A. Thomas and H. C. White. A visiting committee also appointed. WASHINGTON. At Cambridge for the Southern section on the 10th of Oct., and at West Granville for the Northern Division on the 3d of Oct. The former to continue three, the latter two weeks, by the able County Superintendents, the brothers Wright. Has not an educational movement began? Will not every lover of his country wish it God Speed? Youth's Miscellany. ELEMENTS OF COMPOSITION. [Composition, orthography and grammar, are all agreeably and successfully taught by the following method: we have tested it. Let the pupils parse what they write, and they will thus learn both to analyse and compose sentences. It is not enough to know how to take the watch to pieces-the watch maker is able to put it together.-ED.] Mamma.-I have thought of an amusing and improving exercise for you to-day, my dears; and you must each try to make the best choice of words, and do it as well as you can. Fanny.-Do tell us what it is, mamma. Mamma.-I will give you six substantives, and you must form them into sentences. I leave' it to yourselves entirely to choose the subject on which you write. Albert. I think we shall like that very much; but do, dear mamma, write also, because we shall then see how we should have expressed ourselves. Mamma. I will do so, my dear, with pleasure. The nouns I give you are, friend, wool, inkstand, weather, yesterday, and picture. Fanny. Really, mamma, there does not seem much connection between those words, but we will try. After some time the children produced their slates. Mamma.-Now, Lucy, you are the youngest, read your sentence aloud first. Lucy. I am afraid you will think it very badly done, mamma, but perhaps I shall write the next better. Mamma.-When I see you give your mind to any thing, Lucy, I am never dissatisfied, even if you should not have succeeded to my wishes :read it, my love. Lucy-Yesterday, the skies were the picture of bad weather; and I put wool into my friend's inkstand, to prevent it from spilling. Mamma.-That will do, Lucy; I see you understand what I meant you to do. Albert, what have you written? Albert.-The wool was yesterday brought in. my friend, for it would have been a sad picture to see the sheep, from the bad weather, as black as my inkstand. Mamma.-Right, my dear; but try in future not to introduce any substantives, but those I have given you. Now, Fanny, what have you for me? braved the weather, unless he was clothed in Fanny-No friend, yesterday, could have wool, for the skies were the picture of my inkstand. Mamma.-You have all fallen into the same mistake, by introducing a substantive too much; but our next sentence will be better, I have no doubt. I will read you mine. Yesterday, being rather rainy weather, I took my inkstand, and wrote to a friend, of whom I have a picture, worked in wool. Albert. Oh, mamma, that is much better than ours; do give us some more words. Mamma.-Here hand, truth, person, flower. Let us try again are six,-head, thought, what we can make of them. Lucy. We have done now, mamma; we have not been so long as we were before. Shall I read mine? Mamma.-Yes, Lucy. Lucy-My hand, and head, and person, and every thought, as well as every flower, are made by God; this is a truth. have not avoided the error I pointed out to you Mamma.-Very well, my dear; but still you in the last sentence. Let me hear yours, Albert. Albert-Every person who plucks a flower, and lifts it, with his hand to his head, will find it a truth, that is worthy of thought. Mamma. That is better, Albert; what have you written, Fanny? Fanny. It is a truth, that my hand, and my head, and indeed my whole person, resembles a flower, which fades away as swift as thought.Now, mamma, let us have yours. OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK. Mamma. Every person of thought, on taking a flower in his hand, will be convinced of the truth, that the head which contrived it was divine.-Shall I give you six more words? Fanny.-Pray do, mamma. Mamma.-I have thought of some; perhaps you will find them more difficult to form into a sentence than those I have given you before. They are pardon, birds, air, wilderness, bread, and world. Lucy-Really, mamma, that is difficult; but I have I do not despair of making a sentence. just thought of something. Pray do not speak, sister, till I have written it down. Mamma, I shall soon have done. Lucy shortly produced her slate with great complacency, and her mamma read aloud:~ Air is as necessary for birds, as bread is for for us in this world; pardon me, but I should not like to live in a wilderness. Mamma. My dear Lucy, here is an error I should like you to discover for yourself. What parts of speech were those which I gave you? Lucy. Substantives, mamma. Mamma. Then read your sentence, Lucy, and stop at each of the six words, and ask your. self if they are substantives. Lucy. No mamma; pardon is a verb, as I have used it. Mamma. It is so, my dear; how can you correct the sentence? He could Lucy. Will this do, mamma? scarcely obtain pardon, who should prefer to live always in a wilderness. Mamma. That is better, certainly, Lucy; but I should have liked the different members of the sentence to have been more connected than they are. Albert, are you ready? Albert. Yes, mamma, I have written: Some birds live in the wilderness, their world is the air, and they need no pardon for taking their bread wherever they can find it. Mamma. Very well, my dear; what has Fanny written? Fanny. The world is surrounded by air, the birds fly through it, even across a wilderness; they never want for bread, nor need ask for par don. Pray, mamma, read us what you have writ ten. Mamma. The world is a wilderness, bread is provided for us whilst we are in it, and pardon is offered, free as the air, through which birds fly. Albert.-How much I like mamma's sentence! Is it not strange, that though we have all had the same words, we have none of us written at all alike. pliers of 9, (viz. 405) when divided by 9, gives Multiply any row of figures either by nine, or by any one of the products of nine multiplied by one of the digits, as by 18, 27, 36, 45, 54, 63, 72, or 81, and the sum of the figures of the product added together will be divisible by 9. Multiply the 9 digits in the following order. 123456789, by nine, or by any other of the products of nine mentioned in the last paragraph, and the product will come out all in one figure, except the place of tens, which will be an 0, and that figure will be the one which multiplied into 9, supplies the multiplier; that is, if you se lect 9 as the multiplier, the product will be (exOmit the cept the place of tens) all ones; if you select 18, all twos; if 27, all threes, and so on. 8 in the multiplicand, and the 0 will also vanish from the product leaving it all ones, twos, threes, &c. as the case may be. MUTATIONS OF THE ALPHABET. As this volume may be often used in schools, it is but fair that we should give out an exercise in arithmetic, occasionally, for the older children in schools and families. In many schoolbooks on arithmetic there is a rule laid down by the name of Permutation of Quantities. It is a mode of ascertaining how many different ways any given number of things can be so changed, as to stand, at every change, in a different position with respect to each other. Thus the figures 1, 2, and 3, may staud in six different ways with respect to each other; as follows. 1. 2. 3 1st. 2d. -1. 3. 2 3d. -2. 1. 3 4th. -2. 3. 1 -3. 1. 2 5th The number increases surprisingly at the addition of every figure; for though 1, 2, and 3, and 1, are susceptible of but six mutations or changes, 1, 2, 3 and 4, can be changed 24 times; 2, 3, 4, and 5, no less than 120. The nine digits can be changed 362,880 times. The same is true of anything else, as well as the nine digits. Take the twenty-six letters of the English Alphabet, for example. We find, in the same manner, that a, b, and c, are susceptible of the six following mutations. b a с Will also give you the changes of the first four Mamma.-Because, my dear, our minds are All this is plain; and there is nothing very startling about it. But when we come to ascertain the changes of which a much larger number of letters or figures is susceptible, the results are more surprising. The number of changes any given number of things will undergo, is found by multiplying all the terms of the given series of numbers continually into each other. Thus 1 the first of the series, is multiplied by and the product by 2 the second of the series, 2 EDUCATION IN KING HENRY THE EIGHTH'S REIGN Before the Reformation, young men were educated in monasteries, and women in nunneries; where the latter were instructed in writing, drawing, cookery, and needle work, and what were then regarded as female accomplishments, in physic and surgery. The acquisitions of the former, were limited to writing, and a tincture probably of barbarous Latin; but ignorance was so common, that Fitzherbert recommends to gentlemen unable to commit notes to writing, the practice of notching a stick to assist their mem3 the third of the series, &c. ories. When removed from these seminaries to the houses of their parents, both sexes were 6 treated in a manner that precluded improvement. Domestic manners were severe and formal; a haughty reserve was affected by the old, and an abject deference exacted from the young. Sons when arrived at manhood, are represented as standing silent and uncovered in their father's presence; and daughters, though women, were placed like statues at the cupboard, nor permitted to sit and repose themselves till their mothers retired. If we have made no mistake in multiplying, the mutations or changes of the twenty-six letters of the Alphabet are no less than 139,421, 257,797,501,000,840,000,000. Now suppose these changes all to be made out, as we made out those of the first three or four, and those let ters, either printed or written, were so placed that each should take no more space than the 1-100 part of a square inch, which would be somewhat more close than the printed lines of this page. As the square inches in a square yard are 1,296, this number, multiplied by 100, would give the number of letters which would stand on a square yard, viz. 129,600. Divide the whole number of changes of the alphabet, by this last number, and you have a quotient of 1,075,781,310,165,902,784,259; the number of square yards of space which these changes would require. But the whole earth's surface is said to contain no more than 617,197,435,008, 000 square yards; and if so, it would require 1,759,213 such globes as this, on which to write all the changes of the twenty-six letters of the alphabet! We confess that we are almost startled at the result, ourselves; and we beg our readers in the schools, to repeat the process, and see if we have made no mistake, A very small mistake only, in the early part of the process, would lead us very far from truth in the end; just as a small departure from the path of virtue, in early life, may lead us—we know not whither-be fore we are old. a THE LAW OF KINDNESS. "Don't speak so cross," said one little boy yesterday in the street to another. Don't speak so cross-there's no use in it." We happened to be passing at the time, and hearing the injunction, or rather exhortation-for it was made in a horatory tone and manner; we set the juvenile speaker down as an embryo philosopher. In sooth, touching the point involved in the boyish difficulty which made occasion for the remark, he might probably be considered as at a maturity. What more could Solomon have said on the occasion? True, he hath put it on record, that "a soft answer turneth away wrath," and this being taken as true-and everybody knows it to be so-it is evidence in favor of the superiority of the law of kindness over that of wrath. But our young street philosopher said pretty much the same thing substantially, when he said, "don't speak so crossthere's no use in't." No indeed, there is certainly no use in it. On the contrary, it invariably does much harm. Is a man angry? it inflames his ire still more; and confirms in his enmity, him who by a kind word, and a gentle and forbearing demeanor, might be converted into a friend. It is in fact an addition of fuel to a flame already kindled. And what do you gain by it? Nothing desirable, certainly, unless discord, strife, contention, hatred, malice and all uncharitableness, be desirable. He speaks the "words of truth and soberness." Don't speak so cross-there's no use in't." There is one moral consideration to which this subject may lead us, independent of its value as a lesson in arithmetic. Many have wondered that among so many millions of the human race, there should be so few whose features are exactly or nearly alike. Now it seems to us wonderful, on the contrary, that we see so many striking resemblances. Think of the various parts, if we may so say, which go to make up face! Why, there are vastly more of them than of the letters of the alphabet. Then why should we not expect as many mutations ?-Think of the shades of the complexion, the eyes, and the hair; the many forms and relative distances of the eyes, eyebrows, cheekbones, nostrils, lips, &c; the various forms of the chin, and various Is published on the 1st of each month-Office New degrees of prominence of the different muscles of the face, which last are very numerous ;and shall we not wonder, rather, that any law of the Creator should bring the features to resemble each other as much as they often do in families? If chance gave direction, (for even chance is subject to laws) should we ever witness any such results? District School Journal. State Hall For a single copy for one year, ..... $0.50 0 38 0 25 12 copies to one order, for one year, each....... Steam-Press of C. Van Benthuysen & Co. DISTRICT SCHOOL JOURNAL, OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK. VOL. IV. ALBANY, NOV., 1843. STATUTES RELATING TO COMMON SCHOOLS. No. 8. [Pursuant to the directions of the 43d section of the No. 7-5. If an increase of the school moneys to be act of May 26, 1841, there are inserted in this publica-distributed, shall take place in any other year, than one tion, all acts and parts of acts relating to common immediately following a census, the superintendent schools, which are now in force; and where the provi- shall apportion such increase amongst the several sions of that title have been altered by subsequent acts, counties, cities and towns, according to the ratio of the such provisions have been varied in order to conform apportionment then in force.(1) them to such alteration. The original number of each section, is in all cases, retained, whether it was a part of the Revised Statutes or was taken from some session law passed since 1828. In the latter case, there is a reference to a note at the foot of the page, which gives the particular chapter from which the section is taken, and its number is inclosed within brackets, in order to designate it more distinctly from the sections of the Revised Statutes which are printed with the section mark only.] ARTICLE FIRST. school moneys: 3. Plans for the improvement and management of the common school fund, and for the better organization of the common schools: and, 4. All such matters relating to his office, and to the common schools, as he shall deem expedient to com. municate. No. 2-41.] The superintendent of common schools may designate and appoint any one of the clerks employed by him to be his general deputy, who may per form all the duties of the superintendent in case of his absence or a vacancy in his office.(1) No 8-6. When the census, or returns, upon which an apportionment is to be made, shall be so far defective, in respect to any county, city, or town, as to renner it impracticable for the superintendent to ascertain the share of school moneys, which ought then to be apportioned to such county, city, or town, he shall ascertain, by the best evidence in his power, the facts upon which the ratio of such apportionment shall depend, and shall make the apportionment accordingly. No. 9- 7. Whenever, in consequence of the division of a town, or the erection of a new town, in any county, the apportionment then in force shall become unjust, as between two or more of the towns of such county, the superintendent shall make a new apportionment of the school moneys next to be distributed amongst such towns, ascertaining by the best evidence in his power, the facts upon which the ratio of apportionment as to such towns, shall depend. No. 10-8. The superintendent shall certify each ap. portionment made by him, to the comptroller, and shall give immediate notice thereof, to the clerk of each county interested therein, and to the clerk of the city and county of New-York; stating the amount of money's apportioned to his county, and to each town and city therein, and the time when the same will be payable to the treasurer of such county, or to the chamberlain of the city of New-York. No. 11- 9. The superintendent shall prepare suitable forms and regulations for making all reports, and conducting all necessary proceedings, under this Title, and shall cause the same, with such instructions as he shall deem necessary and proper, for the better organization and government of common schools, to be transmitted to the officers required to execute the provisions of this Title throughout the state. first six Articles of this Title, with the forms, regula No. 12-10. He shall cause so many copies of the tions and instructions prepared by him, thereto annex No. 3-[9] The superintendent of common schools may appoint such and so many persons as he shall from time to time deem necessary, to visit and examine into the condition of the common schools in the county where such persons may reside, and report to the superintendent on all such matters relating to the conditioned, to be, from time to time, printed and distributed amongst the several school districts of the state, as he of such schools, and the means of improving them, as he shall prescribe; but no allowance or compensation shall deem the public good to require. shall be made to the said visiters for such services.(2) No. 4-[7.] Copies of papers deposited or filed in the office of the superintendent of common schools, and all acts and decisions by him, may be authenticated under the seal of the office of secretary of state, and when so authenticated shall be evidence equally and in like manner as the originals.(3) No. 5-5 2. In every year, immediately following a year in which a census of the population of this state shall have been taken, under the authority of the state, or of the United States, the superintendent shall apportion the school moneys to be annually distributed, amongst the several counties of the state, and the share of each county, amongst its respective towns and cities. No. 63. Such apportionment shall be made among the several towns and cities of the state, according to the ratio of their population respectively, as compared with the population of the whole state, according to the last preceding census. No. 13-11. All moneys reasonably expended by him, in the execution of his duties, shall, upon due proof, be allowed to him by the comptroller, and be paid out of the treasury. ARTICLE SECOND. Of the distribution of the Common School Fund.. No 14.-12. The sum annually to be distributed for the encouragement of common schools, shall be paid on the first day of February, in every year, on the warrant of the comptroller, to the treasurers of the several counties, and the chamberlain of the city of New York. No. 15- 13. The treasurer of each county, and the chamberlain of the city of New York, shall apply for and receive the school moneys apportioned to their respective counties, as soon as the same become payable. No. 16-14. Each treasurer receiving such moneys, shall give notice in writing, to some one or more of the commissioners of common schools of each city and to (1) Amendatory act of 1830, chap. 320, § 5, and by ◊ 6 of same chap. the orig. 4 is repealed. the town superintendent of common schools of each in by the supervisors of such county; and in such case the balance so withheld shall be added to the principal of the common school fund.(1) No. 23 (a)- 2. There shall hereafter be annually elected in each of the towns of this state, at the same time and in the same manner that other town officers are chosen, an officer to be denominated "Town Superintendent of Common Schools," who in addition to the powers and duties hereinafter conferred and imposed, shall perform all the duties, and be subject to all the restrictions and liabilities now by law imposed upon commissioners and inspectors of common schools, except as otherwise herein provided. It shall be his duty, within ten days after his election, to execute to the supervisor of his town and file with the town clerk, a ed of by said supervisor by endorsement over his signature on said bond, in the penalty of double the amount of school money which his town received from all sources during the year preceding that for which he shall have been elected, conditioned for the faithful ap plication and legal disbursement of all the school money coming into his hands. In case such bond shall not No. 19-17. It shall be the duty of the supervisors, be executed and filed within the time herein prescribed, at such meeting, and at every annual meeting thereaf-the office of such town superintendent shall be deemed ter, to add to the sums of money to be raised on each vacant, and such or other vacancy shall be filled in the of the towns of the county, for defraying the necessary same manner as vacancies in the office of commissionexpenses thereof, a sum equal to the school moneys ers of common schools are now by law directed to be which shall have been apportioned to such town; filled. Such town superintendent shall be entitled to a which moneys, so added, together with the fees of the compensation of one dollar and twenty five cents for collector, shall be levied and collected in the same every day necessarily spent in the discharge of the dumanner as other moneys directed to be raised in the ties of his office, to be audited and allowed as other town charges. No. 18- 16. Whenever the clerk of any county shall receive from the superintendent of common schools no-bond with one or more sufficient sureties, to be approv tice of the apportionment of moneys to be distributed in the county, he shall file the same in his office, and transmit a certified copy thereof to the county treasurer, and to the clerk of the board of supervisors of the county; and the clerk of the board of supervisors shall lay such copy before the supervisors at their next meeting. town. ARTICLE THIRD. No. 20- 18. The supervisors shall cause and require The Powers and Duties of the Town Superintendent of No. 21-19. If there shall not be any town superintendent of common schools in such town when the moneys are collected, the collector shall pay the same retaining his fees for collection, to the county treasurer, to be by him apportioned among the several cities and towns in the county, and distributed in the manner provided in the fifteenth section of this Title. No. 24-24. It shall be the duty of the town superin 1. To divide the town into a convenient number of school districts, and to regulate and alter such districts as hereinafter provided: 2. To set off by itself any neighborhood in the town adjoining to any other state of this Union, where it has been usual, or shall be found couvenient for such neighborhood to send their children to a school in such adjoining state. to deliver the description and numbers thereof, in wri3. To describe and number the school districts, and ting, to the town clerk, immediately after the forma tion or alteration thereof: 4. To deliver to such town clerk a description of each neighborhood, adjoining to any other state, set off by itself: No. 22-[ 2.] Whenever any board of supervisors shall hereafter omit, at their annual meeting, to add to the sums of money to be raised on the towns of their county, an equal sum to that apportioned to such towns by the superintendent of common schools in any year, it shall be their duty to hold a special meeting for the purpose of adding the sum that may be deficient, when6. To apply for and receive from the county treasurer ever it can be done in time to allow such deficient sum to be collected with the other taxes of the county; and all moneys apportioned for the use of common schools such special meeting shall be notified by the clerk of in their town, and from the collector of the town, all the board of supervisors on receiving notice of the de-moneys raised therein for the same purpose, as soon as ficiency from a majority of the board of supervisors of said county; and in case such deficient sum shall not be directed to be raised at a special meeting, it shall be the duty of the supervisors of such county, at their next annual meeting, to add the amount of such deficiency to the sums to be raised on each of the towns of the county; which, with the fees of collection, shall be levied and collected in the same manner as other moneys directed to be raised in the town, and shall be apportioned among the school districts therein according to law.(1) such moneys shall become payable, or be collected. 6. To apportion the school moneys received on the first Tuesday of April, in each year, among the several school districts, parts of districts, and neighborhoods separately set off, within the town, in proportion to the number of children residing in each, over the age of five, and under that of sixteen years, as the same shall have appeared from the last annual reports of their respective trustees: school moneys of the town, and all the reports from the 7. If the town superintendent shall have received the several school districts therein before the first Tuesday of April, he shall apportion such moneys as above directed, within ten days after receiving all of the said 9. To sue for and collect, by his name of office, all penalties and forfeitures imposed in this title, and in respect to which no other provision is made, which shall be incurred by any officer or inhabitant of their town. and after deducting his costs and expenses, to add the sums recovered, to the school moneys received by him, to be apportioned and paid in the same manner.(2) No. 23-3.] It shall be the duty of the clerk of the board of supervisors in each county in this state, on the last day of December in each year, to transmit to to the superintendent of common schools certified cop-reports and the said moneys: ies of all resolutions and proceedings of the board of supervisors, of which he is clerk, passed or had during the preceding year, relating to the raising of any money for school or library purposes, and to report particularly the amount of such money directed to be raised in each town of such county; and in case it shall not appear that the amount required by law to be raised for school and library purposes has been directed to be raised during the year by the board of supervisors of any county, the superintendent of common schools and the comptroller may direct that appropriated by the state and apportioned to such county, be withheld until the amount that may be deficient shall be raised, or that so much of the money apportion. ed to such county be paid to the treasurer thereof, as shall be equal to the amount directed to be raised there-tendent is also to take charge of the "Common School (1) Laws of 1839, chap 330, § 2. the money No. 24. (a)- 3. In the erection or alteration of a school district, the trustees of any district to be affect ed thereby, may apply to the supervisor and town clerk to be associated with the town superintendent; and their action shall be final unless duly appealed from; (1) Laws of 1839, chap. 330, § 3. (2) By laws of 1829, chap. 287, the town superinten Fund" of the town, created by a vote appropriating surplus poor moneys. See the act, post. |