sive we now aim to make it universal; and while the few are reaping the reward of industry and skill, we seek now to bring the great mass of mind into competition, so that the honors that now fall upon a few shall ennoble the race. 4,246 The aggregate number attending the past do Having determined that I will not be a candidate for the office of superintendent another term, I cannot withhold my acknowledgments to the present Council as well as to the last, for the uniform kindness and support they have ex- Increase in aggregate attendance,. tended to me while in the discharge of my offi cial duties; and humbly hope that the same Pro-Average number in attendance the past vidence who has thus far sustained this great moral enterprise, will not withdraw his countenance from it, and that the hearts of the people may incline towards wisdom and not turn Increase in average attendance, therefrom." SCHOOLS OF ROCHESTER. Extracts from the Report of I. F. MACK, city superintendent, for 1843. "In an enterprise which claims for its object the education of every child in this city, signal results cannot reasonably be expected in a single year; I come, however, to exchange congratulations with you, on the successful and progressive operations, for another year, of a system of 'Free Public Schools,' which had its origin in an enlarged and liberal principle of benevolence, and in the prosecution of which, we are impelled forward by the divine command, to love our neighbor as ourselves. year, do 792 2,684 do in 1842, 2,433 251 "It is seen, therefore, that not only the num"Were our greetings at this time unmixed ber, but the proportion of children attending no with regrets, the occasion would furnish an school is greatly diminished. This circumanomaly in the history of human life. Were the stance alone gives cheering evidence of the hap. operations of that system, which has existed but py results of our system, and should encourage a little more than two years, already harmoni- and stimulate its friends to continued effort." ous in all its parts, were there no errors uncor"The entire number of volumes in all the rected-no defects uncured-no prejudices unal-District Libraries is 5,000. These can be made, layed-no selfishness unrebuked-no untoward by proper management, the means of an imcircumstances yet to be overcome, then indeed mense amount of benefit, not only to the rising might our salutations at this time be without generation, but to the adult population. The alloy. books have been, in most instances, well select"Were such results, however, so soon real-ed, and are generally (as they in all cases should ized, would not the system of free public in-be) unexceptionable in their character, to all struction be in imminent danger? A growth so classes and sects. By a wise and liberal provirapid, to full maturity, of an institution so be- sion of the State, the DISTRICT SCHOOL JOUR nevolent in its object, so at war in principle NAL, published at Albany, and edited by Franwith selfishness, and depending for its support cis Dwight, Esq., is furnished gratuitously to on the free will of the people, might have an every school district. In addition to the varied ephemeral existence. But that system, having and rich fund of knowledge with which its papassed the ordeal of a rigid public scrutiny, ges abound, this journal is the legal exponent which shall triumph over the strongest prejudi- of the school laws of the State, and the organ ces, and most bitter opposition, will take deep of communication between the State Superinroot in the affections of the community. tendent and all other school officers. It is not "The promise of increased interest in the only entitled to a place in every District Libraschools, among all classes, and of their continu-ry, (where the laws of the State require its voed progress in improvement, given in my last lumes, when bound, to be placed,) but to the annual report, has been in some measure ful-notice of every citizen. filled. By its operations for the last year, the "Of the 4,246 children attending the public friends of the system have been encouraged, schools the past year, more than 2,800 are unand many of its former enemies disarmed. And der the charge of female teachers. This ciralthough little more has yet been done, than to cumstance exhibits one of the prominent benebring order out of confusion, and form out of fits arising from the present admirable school chaos, yet enough has been developed to enable system in this city. By the organization of its friends to view in prospect a rich and an large districts, collecting under the same roof abundant harvest, if they faint not.'" from 150 to 300 pupils, classification is render. "Whole number of children in the city, Dec.ed perfect, and the services of female teachers 31, 1843, between 5 and 16 years of age, as has permanently secured. The juvenile and senior of time, nor place, nor rank, nor circumstance ;' that 'it asks but freedom and requires but light,' and that difficulties do but stimulate its vigor. female departments, embracing in the aggregate nearly three-fourths of all the scholars in the schools are in this way under the instruction of qualified ladies. The employment of the same order of talent and acquirements can be obtain- The system of free schools is one, then, which ed at a much lower cost in them than in males. commends itself to the kindest regards of every But this is far from being the only motive which philanthropist, patriot and Christian. It should should induce their employment. Woman, with draw to its halls the children of all. It furnishher innate attractiveness-her patience, persees a place where the rich and the poor may meet verance-her taste-her natural 'aptness to together, where the walls of partition, which teach,' and withal her native devotion to virtue circumstance may, for a time, seem to have and intelligence-is. from the nature of things, raised between them, may be removed-where (if properly educated,) pre-eminently fitted to the kindlier feelings between children of all fill the office of teacher. It is her peculiar pro- classes may be enkindled-where the indigent vince to captivate and interest the youthful may be excited to emulate the cleanliness, decomind, to chasten and subdue its passions and corum, and mental improvement of those in betcorrect its waywardness, to teach it to loathe ter circumstances-where the children of our and abhor everything that is mean, low, sensu-wealthier citizens may have an opportunity of al, and grovelling, and to love, admire, and imi- sympathising in the wants and privations of tate all that is lovely and of good report.' their fellows of the same age-where both in"Of the entire number attending the schools, sensibly forget the distinctions which difference 2,085 are females. This fact should gladden of circumstances would otherwise have created the heart of every philanthropist. When we and where all feel the conscious dignity of rereflect upon the nature and sphere of female in-ceiving their instruction as a right, to which, as fluence that she stamps, in the nursery and in children of citizens, they are entitled, and which the family circle, the earliest and most lasting should not be denied them." impressions upon the mind and heart-when we "In conclusion, I would commend the inteconsider that her pure and enlightened influence rests of education to the GREAT AUTHOR of inis indispensable to the progress of religion, ci- telligence and virtue, and to the watchful care vilization and refinement-the importance of and generous liberality of the citizens of this universal female education must be admitted. thriving city. I ask for the schools a liberal peNapoleon, deeply impressed with the impor- cuniary provision; for the children, that domestance of an improved system of education in his tic interest and attention which will secure to realm, once said to Madam Campan, (a cele- them, through prompt and regular attendance, brated teacher,) 'The old systems of instruc- the blessings of such provision; for the teach tion are worth nothing. What is wanting, in ers, that respect, confidence and hearty co-opeorder that the youth of France be well educa-ration to which both their talents and their reted?' 'Mothers,' replied the lady. The Em-sponsible calling so justly entitle them; and for peror, struck with the remark, exclaimed, Here is a system of education in a single word!' The senior female departments of many of our schools reflect great credit, not only on the teachers and pupils, but on the city, and would suffer little in comparison with the best female academies in the land." "Is there still in our city, a man who doubts the justness and utility of free public schools, but would prefer to create the invidious distinction between innocent and unoffending children, by the establishment of free charity schools for the indigent; I can no better answer him than in the language of another: 'I utterly repudiate as unworthy not of free men only, but of men, the narrow notion, that there is to be an education for the poor, as such. Has God provided for the poor a coarser earth, a thinner air, a paler sky? Does not the glorious sun pour down his golden flood as cheerily upon the poor man's hovel, as upon the rich man's palace? Have not the cottager's children as keen a sense of all the freshness, verdure, fragrance, melody and beauty of luxuriant nature, as the pale sons of kings? Or is it in the mind, that God has stamped the imprint of a baser birth, so that the poor man's child knows with an inborn certainty, that his lot is to crawl, not to climb ? Let any one pass through the halls of our public schools; contrast the exhibitions of mind and intellect in those of the most indigent parents with those of our wealthiest citizens, and they will soon learn that mind is not only imperial and immortal, but that 'it bears no bound those who, by the votes of this community, are appointed to the care and supervision of the schools, that sympathy, aid and candid consideration, without which these nurseries of intelligence and virtue must languish, and the benefits they are designed to confer be defeated. YOUTH'S MISCELLANY. KNOWLEDGE. BY L. H. SIGOURNEY. THERE has never been a period, in the history of the world, when knowledge was so highly prized, as in the present age. Neither has there ever been a country, where it was so universally diffused, as in our own. Some degree of it, is surely within the reach of every person. Have you ever thought much of the evils of ig. Dorance? Have you observed how narrow and prejudiced the uneducated mind becomes ?-how credulous and superstitious?-how prone to mistakes, with regard to the nature of duty, and the nature of happiness? The poor Burman's highest idea of happiness, is to be turned into a buffalo, and lie down in a field of high grass, where there are no musquetoes to annoy. "We want nothing but healthy bodies, and plenty of seals to eat," said the Greenlanders to the first missionaries who sought them out. Ignorance augments the value of the things of sense, and substitutes low appetites for the pleasures of intellect. A right education is not merely the reading of Being told that it belonged to his gardener's many books, but the ability of making knowledge son, a youth of eighteen, he said, how came useful to ourselves, and others. It is not simply you to a knowledge of these things?" Edmund to acquire influence over our fellow-creatures, replied, "a servant taught me to read, ten years but to make that influence subservient to moral ago. Does one need any thing more, than the excellence and piety. twenty-six letters, in order to learn every thing else that he wishes?" To have a knowledge of our duties to mankind, and not perform them, is injustice; to endeavour to discharge them to mankind, and not to God, is impiety. So that a good education, comprises right motives, as well as good conduct. Some minds have found such delight in knowledge that they have conquered many obstacles, and endured great hardships, to obtain it. They have never felt that they paid more than it was worth. Let us select a few such instances; for a philosopher has truly said, that we "yield to facts, when we resist speculation." The celebrated Ben. Johnson, was a bricklayer and mason. While he worked with his trowel, he carried a book in his pocket, and the labor of his hands did not hinder the improvement of his mind. "Let not those blush, said the historian Fuller, who have, but those who have not a lawful calling, by which to earn their bread." Thomas Simpson, an able English scholar, Professor of Mathematics and Fellow of the Royal Society, was the son of a weaver. His father, who took him into his shop, when a boy, and tried to repress his fondness for reading, at length forbade him even to open a book, and insisted upon his confining himself the whole day to the loom. But Thomas Simpson could not give up his love of knowledge. So his father accused him of obstinacy, and turned him out of his house. He maintained himself for a while, in a neighboring town, by working at his trade, and thought himself very happy, to be able to devote a few spare moments to a book whenever he could borrow one. He was young when he went to London, and entered that great city, an entire stranger and without a single letter of recommendation. Neither had he any thing of value, about his person, but a manuscript of his own, on Fluxions. This was pronounced superior to any other treatise on that subject in the English language. and his proficiency in science, gained him high reputation and respect. William Hutton, was the son of a wool-comb. er, in Derby, England. "More than once, he says, my poor mother, with an infant on her knee, and others hanging about her, has fasted a whole day, and when food, at last came, divided her share among them." From his seventh, to his fourteenth year, he worked diligently in a silk-mill, and was then bound apprentice to a stocking-weaver. Under all these discouragements, he cherished the lov and pursuit of knowledge. He became at length. a respected member of the Antiquarian Society, and author of the History of Birmingham, and other publications. Edmund Stone was born in Scotland, more than a hundred years since. His father was gardener to the duke of Argyle. One day. thi nobleman found on the grass a volume of "New ton's Principia," in Latin, and was much aston ished to find that any of his laborers could read it. In our own country, are many instances of those who have resolutely sought knowledge, amid difficulties and obstacles, and while earning a support, by the labor of their hands. Governor Everett, in an eloquent speech on the subject of education, communicated a remarkable letter from Mr. Elihu Burritt, a blacksmith, of which the following is an extract. "I was the youngest of many brethren, and my parents were poor. My means of education were limited to a district school. These again were circumscribed by my father's death, which deprived me, at the age of fifteen, of the scanty opportunities which I had previously enjoyed. A few months after his decease, I apprenticed myself to a blacksmith, in my native vil which I had previously acquired through the me Thither I carried a taste for reading, lage. dium of a society library: all the historical works in which, I had at that time perused. "At the expiration of a little more than half my apprenticeship, I conceived the idea of studying Latin. Through the assistance of an elder brother who had obtained a collegiate education by his own exertions, I completed Virgil during the evenings of one winter. "After devoting some time to Cicero, and a few other Latin authors, I commenced Greek. It was now necessary, that I should devote every hour of day-light, and a part of the evening, to the duties of my apprenticeship. "Still, I carried my Greek grammar in my hat, and often found a moment, while heating some large iron, when I could place my book be. fore me, against the chimney of my forge, and go through with the conjugation of a verb, unper. ceived by my fellow apprentices. to the Iliad of Homer, twenty books of which, "At evening, I sat down unassisted and alone, measured my progress, in that language, during the winter. I next turned to the modern languages, and was much gratified to find, that my knowledge of Latin furnished a key to the literature of most of the languages of Europe. "This circumstance gave a new impulse to the desire of acquainting myself with the philosophy, derivation, and affinity of the different European tongues. I could not be reconciled to limit my self to a few hours, after the arduous labors of the day. "I therefore laid down my hammer, and went to New-Haven, where I recited to native teachrs in French, Spanish, German, and Italian. I rearned at the expiration of two years to the fo ge, bringing with me such books in those languages as I could procure. "When I had read these books through, I "ommenced the Hebrew with an awakening desire of examining another field; and by assiduous application I was enabled in a few weeks to read this language with such facility that I al. 'otted it to myself as a task, to read two chap. ers in the Hebrew Bible before breakfast each norning; this, and an hour at noon, being all the time that I could devote to myself during the day. "After becoming somewhat familiar with this language, I looked around me for the means of initiating myself in the rich fields of oriental literature, and to my deep regret and concern, I found my progress in this direction hedged up, by the want of requisite books. "I immediately began to devise means of obviating this obstacle; and, after many plans, I concluded to seek a place as a sailor on board some ship bound to Europe, thinking in this way to have opportunities of collecting at different ports, such works in the modern and oriental languages as I found necessary for this object. "I left the forge and my native place, to carry this plan into execution. I travelled on foot to Boston, a distance of more than a hundred miles, to find some vessel bound to Europe. In this I was disappointed, and while revolving in my mind what steps to take, accidentally heard of the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester. "I immediately bent my steps towards this place. I visited the hall of the American Antiquarian Society, and found here to my infinite gratification, such a collection of ancient, modern, and oriental languages as I never before conceived to be collected in one place, and, upon evincing a desire to examine some of these rich and rare works, I was kindly invited to an unlimited participation in all the benefits of this noble institution. 66 Availing myself of the kindness of the directors, I spent about three hours daily at the hall, which, with an hour at noon, and about three in the evening, made up the portion of the day which appropriated to my studies, the rest being occupied in arduous manual labour. Through the facilities afforded by this institution, I have been able to add so much to my previous acquaintance with the ancient, modern, and oriental languages, as to be able to read upwards of fifty of them, with more or less facility." Is there not something like sublimity, in the perseverance by which knowledge is acquired, amid difficulty and discouragement? It surely must give great delight, to be able to uphold the mind under such severe exertions, as have been exhibited, in the various examples, of which we read and hear. The possession of knowledge, should lead the young to adopt high and noble motives of action. The ancient republic of Sparta, had an interesting custom, which was calculated to produce such a result. On a certain day, the inhabitants formed a procession, divided into three companies, the old, the middle-aged and the young. Before the festive sports and exercises commenced, the hoaryheaded men, sent from their ranks a speaker, who said, "We have been, in days of old, Wise, generous, brave and bold." Those in the prime of life, then put forth their orator, who addressing the aged fathers of the people, replied, "That which in days of yore, ye were, Lastly, from the blooming troop, a boy advanced and expressed in a clear, audible tone, the spirited resolution, "Hereafter, at our country's call, hope, catch the spirit of this Spartan promise. If you cannot surpass the great and the good who have gone before you, study their excellences, walk in their footsteps, and God give you grace to fill their places well, when they are mouldering in the dust. Remember that knowledge of the right kind leads to humility. The fully ripened ear of wheat, bends downward. It is the little blade, that holds itself up so pertly. It is the shallow brook that makes the loudest babbling among the pebbles. True learning and goodness bow the soul in adoration, before a Being of perfect wisdom. The higher you ascend in knowledge, said a philosopher, the wilder is the region you see beyond you ;-Alps upon Alps, which no human intellect has surmounted. Let me address to you the words of Alcuin, who wrote in England, more than a thousand years ago: "Oh ye, who enjoy the youthful age, so fitted for your lessons,-Learn!-Be docile! Acquire the conduct and manners so beautiful in the young. "Let your early days be adorned with the study of the virtues, that your age may shine in honor. For remember that the passing hour, like the receding wave, never returns again." CONVERSATION OF THE VULTURES. BY DR. JOHNSON. A shepherd in Bohemia has, by long abode in the forests, enabled himself to understand the voice of birds. At least he relates with great confidence a story, of which the credibility is left to be considered by the learned. "As I was sitting," said he, "within a hollow rock, and watching my sheep that fed in the valley, I heard two vultures interchangeably crying on the summit of the cliff. Both voices were earnest and deliberate. My curiosity prevailed over my care of the flock; I climbed slow. ly and silently from crag to crag, concealed among the shrubs, till I found a cavity where I might sit and listen without suffering or giving disturbance. "I soon perceived that my labor would be well repaid; for an old vulture was sitting on a naked prominence, with her young about her, whom she was instructing in the arts of a vulture's life, and preparing, by the last lecture, for their final dismission to the mountains and the skies. "My children,' said the old vulture, 'you will the less want my instructions, because you have had my practice before your eyes: you have seen me snatch from the farm the household fowl, you have seen me seize the leveret in the bush, and the kid in the pasture; you know how to fix your talons, and how to balance your flight when you are laden with your prey. But you remember the taste of more delicious food: I have often regaled you with the flesh of man.' ""Tell us,' said the young vultures, 'where his flesh is surely the natural food of a vulture. man may be found, and how he may be known: Why have you never brought a man in your ta lons to the nest?' 66 "He is too bulky,' said the mother: 'when we find a man we can only tear away his flesh, Dear sons of my country, her pride, and her I and leave his bones upon the ground.' "'Since man is so big,' said the young ones, 'how do you kill him? You are afraid of the wolf and the bear; by what power are vultures superior to man? Is man more defenceless than a sheep?" "We have not the strength of man, return. ed the mother, 'and I am sometimes in doubt whether we have the subtilty; and the vultures would seldom feed upon his flesh, had not nature, that devoted him to our uses, infused into him a strange ferocity, which I never observed in any other creature that feeds upon the earth. Two herds of men will often meet and shake the earth with noise, and fill the air with fire. When you hear a noise and see fire, with flashes along the ground, hasten to the place with your swiftest wing; for men are surely destroy; ing one another; you will then find the ground smoking with blood, and covered with carcasses, of which many are dismembered and mangled for the convenience of the vultures.' "But when men have killed their prey,' said the pupils, 'why do they not eat it? When the wolf has killed a sheep, he suffers not the vulture to touch it till he is satisfied himself. Is not man another kind of wolf?' FECUNDITY OF PLANTS. THE rapidity with which individual species have the power of multiplying their numbers, both in the animal and vegetable world, is well worthy of observation. "During the past season a single grain of potato oats, on the lands of the Rev. Mr. Mills, Ballywillan, near Coleraine, Ireland, produced thirty-two stalks, all growing from the same root, and containing in all nearly 5,000 grains of corn." If each of these 5,000 grains were, in the ensuing year, endued with the same power of fecundity as the parent seed, 25,000,000 grains would be produced; and these multiplying once again, in the same ratio, would yield a harvest of oats which would amount to nearly 30,000 quarters. But though this be a remarkable instance of fruitfulness; there are cases on record which af ford still greater evidence of the prolific properties of the grain-bearing plants. Of these, seve. ral examples are to be found in the volume on Vegetable Substances used for the Food of man." We select the following quotation from Sir Kenelm Digby, who asserted, in 1660, that "Man,' said the mother, 'is the only beast" there was in the possession of the fathers of who kills that which he does not devour; and this quality makes him so much a benefactor to our species.' "If man kill our prey, and lay it in our way,' said the young ones, 'what need shall we have of laboring for it ourselves?' "Because man will sometimes,' replied the mother, 'remain for a long time quiet in his den. The old vultures will tell you when you are to `watch his motions. When you see men in great numbers moving close together like a flock of storks, you may conclude that they are hunting, and that you will soon revel in human blood.' "But still,' said the young one, 'I would glad. ly know the reason of this mutual slaughter. I could never kill what I could not eat.' the Christian Doctrine, at Paris, a plant of barley which they at that time kept as a curiosity, and which consisted of 249 stalks, springing from one root or grain, and in which they counted above 11,000 grains or seeds of barley." In the same volume there is another well au thenticated fact relative to the power of increase The seeds of many kinds of vegetables are so plant were put into the earth, and again this second produce were made to yield a harvest, and so on, in a very few years the entire surface of the earth would be too limited for the sowing of the seed thus abundantly supplied. The hyoscyamus, or henbane, which, of all known plants, produces the greatest number of seeds, would for this purpose require no more than four years. According to some experiments the hyoscyamus produces more than 50,000 seeds; but assuming the number to be only 10,000, the seeds would amount, at the fourth crop, to 10,000,000,000,000,000, and as the quantity of solid land on the surface of the globe is calculated to be about 1,400,350,599,014,400 square feet, it follows that each square foot must contain seven plants, and therefore the whole earth would be insufficient to contain the produce of a single hyoscyamus at the end of the ""My child,' said the mother, 'this is a question which I cannot answer, though I am reck-numerous that, if the whole produce of a single oned the most subtle bird of the monntain. When I was young, I used frequently to visit the eyrie of an old vulture, who dwelt upon the Carpathian rocks; he had many observations; he knew the places that afforded prey round his habitation, as far in every direction as the strongest wing can fly between the rising and setting of the summer sun; he had fed year after year on the entrails of men. His opinion was, that men had only the appearance of animal life, being really vegetables, with a power of motion; and that as the boughs of an oak are dashed together by the storm, that swine may fatten upon the fallen acorns, so men are, by some unaccountable power, driven one against another, till they lose their motion, that vultures may be fed. Others think they have observed something of contrivance and policy among these mischievious beings; and those that hover more closely round them, pretend that there is, in eve-fourth year. ry herd, one that gives directions to the rest, and seems to be more eminently delighted with a wide carnage. What it is that entitles him to such pre-eminence we know not; he is seldom the biggest or the swiftest; but he shows, by his eagerness and diligence, that he is, more than any of the others, a friend to the vulture.'" COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS. County superintendents will please forward promptly the names, towns, and post office address, of the newly elected town superintend ents, as directed by Col. Young's circular. |