according to its assessed valuc, and opening the school to the children of all without exception. The latter mode is likely to supersede both the others; but its existence and operation, in connexion with each school, depend upon the annual decision of the inhabitants of each school section at a public meeting called for that purposo. The duties of Teachers are prescribed by law, and their rights are effectually protected. No teacher is entitled to any part of the school fund who does not conduct his school according to law, and who has not a legal certificate of qualifications from a county Board of Public Instruction; nor is any school section entitled to receive any aid from the school fund in which a school is not kept open six months during each year by a teacher thus recognized as to both moral character and attainments. The law also requires a public quarterly examination to be held in each school. The inspection of the schools is made by local Superintendents, who are appointed annually by the county councils, and who may be appointed one for each county, or one for one or more townships, at the pleasure of each county council. Each local superintendent is entitled to at least one pound (four dollars) per annum for each school under his charge. He is often allowed more. He is required to visit each school at least once a quarter, and to deliver a public lecture on education in each school section once a year, besides apportioning the school moneys to the several school sections within nis jurisdiction, giving checks, on the orders of trustees, to qualified teachers upon the county treasurer or sub-treasurer, aiding in the examination of teachers, deciding various questions of dispute and reference, corresponding on school matters, and reporting annually to the Chief Superintendent according to the forms prepared and furnished by him. Besides the local superintendents, all clergymen recognized by law, judges, members of the Legislature, magistrates, members of county councils, and aldermen, are school visitors, to visit all the schools, as far as practicable, within their respective charges and municipalities. Their visits are voluntary; they are desired "especially to attend the quarterly examination of schools, and at the time of such visits to examine the progress of the pupils, and the state and management of the schools, and to give such advice to teachers and pupils, and any others present, as they may think advisible, in accordance with the regulations and instructions which shall be provided in regard to school visitors according to law." The law also authorises the holding of general meetings of school visitors in any municipality, on the appointment of any two visitors, "to devise such means as they may deem expedient for the efficient visitation of the schools, and to promote the establishment of libraries and the diffusion of useful knowledge." The school visits of the clergy in Upper Canada amounted last year to 2,566 ; the number of visits by the other school visitors was 9,970; and 5,852 visits were made by local superintendents, being an increase of 2,879, over those of the preceding year. There is a Board of Public Instruction in each county, consisting of local superintendents and the trustees of grammar schools in such county. These county boards consist largely of the clergy of different religious persuasions, associated with some of the most intelligent lay gentlemen in each county; so that the country has the best guarantee that its circumstances will admit for the moral character and intellectual qualifications of teachers. The teachers are examined, and arranged into three classes, according to a Programme of Examination prepared and prescribed by the Council of Public Instruction for Upper Canada. The Municipal Council of each county is responsible for raising at least an equal sum for salaries of teachers in the several townships within its jurisdiction with that which is annually apportioned to them out of the parliamentary appropriation by the Chief Superintendent of Schools. The county councils also appoint the local treasurers of the school fund, and the local superintendents of schools, and provide for their salaries. Special provision is also made for the security of the school fund, against the diversion of any part of it, and for the prompt payment of it to teachers at the times specified by law. Both the county and township councils have authority to raise any sums they shall think proper for public school libraries under general regulations prescribed according to law. A parliamentary appropriation has been made for the establishment of school libraries, to be expended on the same conditions with the appropriation for the support of schools. The law also provides a system adapted to the circumstances of cities, towns, and incorporated villages. In each city and town there is one board of trustees for the management of all the schools in such city or town-two trustees elected for each ward, and holding office for two years-one retiring annually. In each incorporated village not divided into wards, there is a board of six trustees elected -two retiring from office and two elected, each year. These boards of trustees, thus constituted, appoint the local superintendent, and determine upon the number and kinds of schools, the employment of teachers, and all the expenses necessary for the schools in each such city, town, or incorporated village; and the municipal council is required in each case to raise the sum or sums estimated by the board of trustees for all their school purposes, and in the manner that they shall desire. There is also the same provision for the establishment of libraries in each city, town and village, as exists in respect to their establishment in each township and county. At the head of the whole system we have a Council of Public Instruction and a Chief Superintendent of Schools, both appointed by the Crown. The Council has the entire management of the Provincial Normal and Model Schools, recommends the text-books for the schools and books for the school libraries, and makes the regulations for the organization, government and discipline of common schools, the examination and classification of teachers, and the establishment and care of school libraries throughout Upper Canada. The Chief Superintendent, who is ex-officio member of the Council of Public Instruction, and provides accommodations for its meetings; apportions the school fund to the several municipalities throughout Upper Canada, prepares the general school regulations and submits them, as well as that of text and library books, to the consideration of the Council; prepares the forms of reports and modes of all school proceedings under the act, and gives instructions for conducting them, as well as for holding teachers' institutes; decides questions of dispute submitted to him; takes the general superintendence of the Normal School; provides facilities for procuring text and library books, and provides and recommends plans of school-houses; prepares annual reports; corresponds with local school authorities throughout Upper Canada, and employs all means in his power for the promotion of education and the diffusion of useful knowledge. He is responsible for his official conduct and for all moneys that pass through his Department. Such is an epitome of the system of public elementary instruction in Upper Canada. The foundation may be considered as fairly laid, and something has been done towards rearing the superstructure. In 1846, provision was made for the establishment of a Normal School, and the sum of £1,500 a-year was granted towards its support. The school was opened in the autumn of 1847, and, since then, 618 teachers have been trained, a longer or shorter time, by able masters, including practice in teaching in a Model School established for that purpose. Last year, a grant of £1,000 per annum was made to facilitate the attendance of teachers-in-training at the Normal School, and £15,000 for the erection of buildingsfor particulars respecting which the reader is referred to the engravings in this number, to the Address to the Governor General, and HIS EXCELLENCY'S Reply. The number of schools in Upper Canada under the care of the Department is 3,059; the amount of money available during the year for the salaries of teachers, besides all other expenses connected with the schools, was £88,536; tho number of pupils in the schools reported, was 151,891. There has been an annual increase in the statistical returns of each branch of the common school system during the last five years. The system is to a great extent voluntary. Each municipality exercises its discretion as to whether it will or will not accept the parliamentary appropriation upon the conditions specified; and each school section does the same in regard to the terms on which aid is offered in support of its school. The general regulations and oversight are such as merely to secure a fulfilment, in each locality, of conditions which are required by the Legislature-the collective wisdom and voice of the country-and to maintain a standard of teaching that will prevent funds provided for the promotion of knowledge, from being prostituted upon ignorance and vice. The working of the common school system is a great social development-yet in its infancy, but instinct with life and energy, and fraught with results which can be more easily conceived than describod. Miscellaneous. CHILD OF THE ANGEL WING. BY MRS. R. S. NICHOLS. "O, sing me a song as I fall asleep," In the bright green woods that reach the sky; Who walks in the garden of Paradise !" I sang him the song-I told him the tale, And watched by his couch till we thought he slept, For his brow was white as the moonbeams pale That stealthy and bright near his pillow crept : Then my words grew few, and my voice sunk low, And I said thy dreams may the seraph sing, But he whispered soft as I rose to go "O tell of the child with the angel wing!" Then I sang again-but he restless grew, And tossed his young arms as he wildly spoke, And a burning red to his forehead flew, As the moon went down and the morning broke : But he spoke no more of the spring's bright flowers, And he thought no more of his sister's eyes: One name alone, in his feverished hours, Was breathed in a whisper that pierced the skies. "My mother!" he said-and his eyes waked dim, For the scenes with their wavering lustre fled, And he never knew that she knelt by him Whose sun went down at his dying bed! NEVER GIVE UP. Never give up 'tis the secret of glory, SEA WEED. Oh, call us not weeds, but flowers of the sea ; Are nursed by the ocean and rocked by its storms! THE SEA AND ITS PHENOMENA. Among the many subjects which have attracted the attention of both ancient and modern philosophers, and at times been discussed with great ability and zeal by De Mellet and others, is the constant and certain diminution of the sea, or the observable decrease of the waters of the ocean. Facts can be produced to show that the ocean line of coast has freqently altered, projecting itself into the sea; and that rocks have appeared above the water which were known in former days to have been considerably immersed. These facts have been attributed by some to volcanic action, and by others to the gradual rising of the land by interior heat, expanding beneath and forcing the mass above to rise. But we propose to show that all these phenomena of the change in the ocean line of seacoast, and appearance of rocks above the water, is caused by a constant diminution of the waters of the ocean; and that a process is at all times going on by which the substances held in solution in the ocean waters are converted into solids. In order to make this subject plain and lucid, all technical scientific nomenclatures will be avoided, and even the names of the busy and different classes of architects in the great work of consolidation of the vast unfathomable ocean will be called by simple names. The object of a scientific knowledge is not to cover up science by names which can be only translated by the learned, but simply to make smooth the paths of Nature, and open her deep resources of knowledge and Nature's facts plainly and concisely. The sea, or the waters of the sea, are composed partly of solid substances, held in solution. Some of these are salt, soda, and lime. It is with these three we have principally to deal. From these are manufactured shells, concealed coral reefs, islands, and banks, throughout the ocean depths. The Florida reefs, Antilles, coasts of Mexico, and all Polynesia, or nearly all, are taken from the solid substances held in solution by the waters of the ocean. The formation of coral islands in the ocean is most singular, curious, and wonderful. The little busy scientific workmen employed in this species of architecture are so very minute that it requires a powerful microscope to show even the semblance of some of them, while others can be detected by the naked eye. They are divided into separate classes, and each class is perfectly master of his business. We find them not only practical workmen, but scientific architects and chemists. Let any one who feels an interest in this subject take up a few shells, a single valve, a double and triple valve; examine them closely; he will find the interior of the shell is composed of lime mixed with a large proportion of soda, and, as he approaches the exterior, it will be seen to be mixed with the three substances-lime, soda, and salt-that it is as hard as the most durable stone. These substances are taken from the waters of the ocean, separated by the animal formed in the waters from whence they are taken, and made insoluble in the same substance in which they were held in solution. This peculiar chemical separation—the precipitation of each substance, in the singular manner performed by shell fish in the fabrication of their domicils-has never yet been attained by the most learned and practical chemist. The little coral insect, which silently, surely, and industriously builds up from the ocean depth his tree house, is, equally with the shell-fish, an accomplished architect and scientific chemist. He selects his materials from the ocean, separates them, mixes them in proper proportions, and forms them into solids, in the same medium from which the materials were taken. Each workman performs his part, abandons it when finished, and gives place to another set, as systematically as the others, and more so than even the bricklayer, the carpenter, or plasterer in a modern building. These submerged land-ocean mechanics and chemists never fail in their work, nor interfere with each other. We never see a univalve attempting to fabricate a bivalve's mansion; nor do we see a tree-coral working on the mansion of a mushroom; but each builds his own structure, and then gives place to another character of workman at the moment he is required to commence. The first mechanic in this great work of diminution of the ocean is the tree-coral. This little insect generally (I may say always) selects the deepest water of all his tribe to work in; his foundation requires a flat surface; here he fastens his base, and commences the superstructure. The whole body commence their work at the same time, and continue increasingly until their forest city is completely built. No mistake is made; not one is out of its proper position, but each regularly and beautifully arranged, and in such a manner that neither storms, waves nor other causes can displace or throw down their mansions. Here, then, is a foundation laid for an island or continent. These habitations are now abandoned, and the little chemist and mechanic drifts off to some other bank, there again to form his forest house. He is now replaced by another, who subtracts from the liquid ocean his materials, passes them through his laboratory, and forms another species of mansion, uniting in a solid mass the forests of his predecessor, abandons it and crawls off to another forest. He then is succeeded by another, and another succeeds him, until the reef becomes an island. Salt, soda, and lime are the principal ingredients which compose this solid base on which there is to be formed earth trees and other vegetation. This superstructure now becomes the home of innumerable tertaceous migratory fish, which form their coat or shells from the same source as the coral insect. Let us illustrate the formation of shells, coral, &c., and show the diminution of the ocean by this process. Let us box up a certain space in the ocean, say about one thousand pounds of water. Within this space all the varieties of coral insects can perform their work; and all the numerous shell-fish take their place and abstract from the waters the materials for their domicils; when all have finished, let us weigh the water, and we will find it has lost in weight the amount of material required to fabricate each and every style of building, and the waters would not occupy as much space. If transferred to another box, the waters would be found to have diminished. This, then, is the process by which the waters of the ocean are slowly but certainly diminishing on the earth. The waters are becoming solids. But other causes are aiding in this great work, such as the ocean plants, such as kelp, and particularly the Saragosa plant, or gulf weed. These materials grow either on the surface of the ocean, deriving all their substance from it, or adhere to the coral formations and assist in forming islands. This process of island-forming is uniting in one great mass all the Antilles, the great mass of islands in the Pacific, China with Japan, and finally will unite the whole of the Pacific isles with the continent of Asia, diminishing the ocean by this accumulation of solid, and in fact diminishing the waters of the earth by many millions of square miles. This theory is no wild and visionary speculation. Already have topographers and surveyers discovered that their sea line of modern date does not correspond with the sea line of ancient times. The vast accumulation of coral reefs and islands in the Pacific, and on the coast of North and South America, has diminished the ocean liquid sufficiently to alter the sea coasts of Europe-projecting them further into the sea. One remarkable fact in this diminution of the shores of the Mediterranean, which appear to be higher now than they were formerly, is particularly shown in the Straits of Giberaltar and the passage of the Dardanelles. De Mellet noticed these facts over sixty years since, but attributed them to very different causes from those herein stated. This process of island-making is among the most wonderful and simple of Nature. We first perceive an innumerable and almost imperceptible number of minute insects forming a solid mass, which in time reaches the surface of the ocean. This coral rock reef now becomes the home of multitudes of shell-fish, that die and deposite their shells and fill up the reef compactly, even with the water; kelp attaches itself to the rocks, and the action of the sea during gales tears much of it off and deposits it among the crevices, where it decays. The Sargossa plant finds its way by the innumerable currents of the ocean to these islands, and is thrown upon them in vast quantities, forming a temporary soil, the sea-bird seeks the place for food, as the sea-weeds contain many myriads of little marine insects. The birds enrich the deposits already there; and now comes the everlasting mangrove, seizing hold with its tendrils of the sharp points of coral, and firmly attaching itself to them. Here, then, is an island, the whole of which has been formed from the solid centents of the ocean, which had been held in solution from the beginning of creation, nothing of which can be returned to it, as the whole substance has been rendered insoluble in water by the peculiar chemical process which rendered it solid. Here is a process which must, in time, enclose the Carribbean sea and Gulf of Mexico, making them lakes; abstracting from the gulf and this sea nearly all their salt, soda, and lime, and leaving fresh water lakes, similar to these of Erie, Ontario, &c., which at some former period may have been salt. And by this process the Pacific Ocean will be narrowed into a mere strait, or not wider than a few days' sail from continent to continent. This stupendous work of continent-making is one necessary to the future wants of man, who must eventually increase in numbers to populate all the known arable lands now awaiting his increase. These forming-lands are situated within those parallels most conducive to productiveness, where the materials required for the sustenance of the human race are easily grown, and distant from the inhospitable soils and climates of the extreme North or South; where they can be rapidly created, and vegetation brought forward as much by the aid of climate as soil. Our attention is drawn to the numerous shell-fish principally from their beauty, and we use them mostly as a mere ornament for the parlor table. But, when we examine them closely, how admirably do we find all their parts arranged-nothing wanting, no extra space, no departure from scientific principles; their architecture beautiful; their colouring and ornaments exquisite; strength perfect. And these little animals, with barely enough life and motion to enable them to move slowly from place to place, are the architects employed in forming numerous islands and extensive continents for the future use of man, and slowly but surely diminishing the vast unfathomed ocean to the narrow measure of a mere strait-possibly to a rivulet. Whilst man is filling all the earth with his progeny, the little cora! insect and its adjuncts are filling the ocean with islands and continents for man's inheritance.-Lieutenant W. D. Porter, in the Washington National Intelligencer. A SCIENTIFIC ANCHORITE. He Of the great atomic Chemist and Philosopher Cavendish, the rival of James Watt for the honour of priority in the discovery of the gaseous elements which constitute water, his recent biographer Dr. George Wilson presents the following character-which perhaps, is an ethical impossibility. Whatever Cavendish may have finally made himself, it is very unlikely that a being of so high an intellectual capacity should have come from the hands of his Creator with only a blank in the place of moral, religious, and even sensuous susceptibilities. Such development of mind and a congenital atrophy of soul, are scarcely compatible ideas in any scheme of Providential superintendence and human responsibility. Dr. Wilson says "He did not love; he did not hate; he did not hope; he did not fear; he did not worship as others do. He seperated himself from his fellow men, and apparently from God. There was nothing earnest, enthusiastic, heroic, or chivalrous in his nature, and as little was there anything mean, grovelling, or ignoble. was almost passionless. All that needed for its apprehension more than the pure intellect, or required the exercise of fancy, imagination, affection or faith, was distasteful to Cavendish. An intellectual head thinking, a pair of wonderfully acute eyes observing, and a pair of very skilful hands experimenting or recording, are all that I realise in reading his memorials. His brain seems to have been but a calculating engine; his eyes inlets of vision not fountains of tears; his hands instruments of manipulation which never trembled with emotion, or were clapsed together in adoration, thanksgiving, or despair; his heart only an anatomical organ, necessary for the circulation of the blood. Yet, if such a being, who reversed the maxim nihil humani a me alienuin puto,' cannot be loved, as little can he be abhorred or despised. He was, in spite of the atrophy or non-development of many faculties which are found in those in whom the 'elements are kindly mixed,' as truly a genius as the mere poets, painters, and musicians, with small intellects and hearts and large imagination, to whom the world is so willing to bend the knee. He is more to be wondered at than blamed. Cavendish did not stand aloof from other men in a proud or supercilious spirit, refusing to count them his fellows. He felt himself separated from them by a great gulf, which neither he nor they could bridge over, and across which it was vain to stretch hands to exchange greetings. A sense of isolation from his brethren, made him shrink from their society and avoid their presence, but he did so as one conscious of an infirmity, not boasting of an excellence. He was like a deaf mute sitting apart from a circle, whose looks and gestures show that they are uttering and listening to music and eloquence, in producing or welcoming which he can be no sharer. Wisely, therefore, he dwelt apart, and bidding the world farewell, took the self-imposed vows of a Scientific Anchorite, and, like the monks of old, shut himself up within his cell. It was a kingdom sufficient for him, and from its narrow window he saw as much of the Universe as he cared to see. It had a throne also, and from it he dispensed royal gifts to his brethren. He was one of the unthanked benefactors of his race, who was patiently teaching and serving mankind, whilst they were shrinking from his coldness, or mocking his peculiarities. He could not sing for them a sweet song, or create a thing of beauty' which should be 'joy for ever,' or touch their hearts, or fire their spirits, or deepen their reverence or their fervour. He was not a poet, a priest, or a prophet, but only a cold, clear intelligence, raying down pure white light, which brightened everything on which it fell, but warmed nothing-a star of at least the second, if not the first magnitude, in the intellectual firmament." Cavendish was descended on both sides from high aristocratic families, and inherited at length prodigious wealth, which, to a being of his restricted sympathies, was only a worry, and worse than useless. The bankers where he kept his accounts, we are told, in looking over their books on one occasion, found that Cavendish had an enormous sum in their hands: "Some say nearly eighty thousand pounds; and one of them said, that he did not think it right that it should lay so without investment. He was therefore commissioned to wait upon Mr. Cavendish, who, at that time resided at Clapham, Upon his arrival at the house he desired to speak to Mr. Cavendish. The servant said, 'what is your business with him.' He did not choose to tell the servaut. The servant then said, 'You must wait till my master rings his bell, and then I will let him know.' In about a quarter of an hour the bell rang, and the banker had the curiosity to listen to the conversation which took place. 'Sir, there is a person below, who wants to speak to you.' Who is he? Who is he? What does he want with me? He says he is your banker, and must speak to you.' Mr. Cavendish, in great agitation, desires he may be sent up, and before he entered the room, cries, What do you come here for? What do you want with me? Sir, I thought it proper to wait upon you, as we have a very large balance in hand of yours, and wish for your orders respecting it.' 'If it is any trouble to you, I will take it out of your hands. Do not come here to plague me.' 'Not the least trouble to us, sir, not the least; but we thought you might like some of it to be invested.' Well! Well! What do you want to do? Perhaps you would like to have forty thousand pounds invested." Do so! Do so, and don't come here and trouble me, or I will remove it."" The favourite residence of Cavendish was "a beautiful suburban villa at Clapham which, as well as a street or row of houses in the neighbourhood, now bears his name. The whole of the house at Clapham was occupied as workshops and laboratory.' 'It was stuck about with thermometers, rain-gauges, &c. A registering thermometer of Cavandish's own construction, served as a sort of landmark to his house. It is now in Professor Brande's possession.' A small portion only of the villa was set apart for personal comfort. The upper rooms constituted an astronomical observatory. What is now the drawing-room was the laboratory. In an adjoining room a forge was placed. The lawn was invaded by a wooden stage, from which access could be had to a large tree, to the top of which Cavendish in the course of his astronomical, meteorological, electrical, or other researches, occasionally ascended. "The hospitalities of such a honse are not likely to have been overflowing. Cavendish lived comfortably, but made no display. His few guests were treated, on all occasions, to the same fare, and it was not very sumptuous. A fellow of the Royal Society reports, 'that if any one dined with Cavendish he invariably give them a leg of mutton, and nothing else.' Another Fellow states that Cavendish 'seldom had company at his house, but on one occasion three or four scientific men were to dine with him, and when his housekeeper came to ask what was to be got for dinner, he said "a leg of mutton!" "Sir, that will not be enough for five." "Well then, get two," was the reply.'" Into this sanctum woman was never admitted. In fact, Cavendish's sentiment towards the sex was by no means a negative one, for it manifested itself as a thorough aversion. It was a manservant who was alone permitted twice to approach-but even he only to approach, not to attend him-on the last day of his brief mortal illness. As might be expected, it was a strange end which this inscrutable being made; and Dr. Wilson adopts the following narrative respecting it. "He went home one evening, (Mr. Lawson believes from the Royal Society,) and passed silently as usual to his study. His man servant observed blood upon his linen, but dared not ask the cause. He remained ill for two or three days, and on the last day of his life, he rang his bell somewhat earlier than usual, and when his valet appeared, called him to the bedside, and said, There were four good habits which a wise and good man carnestly recommended in his counsels and by his own example, and which he considered essentially necessary for the happy management of temporal concerns: these are punctuality, accuracy, steadiness, and despatch. Without the first, time is wasted. Without the second, mistakes the most hurtful to our own credit and interest, and that of others, may be committed Without the third, nothing can be well done; and, without the fourth, opportunities of advantage are lost which it is impossible to recall. READERS.-Readers may be divided into four classes. The first may be compared to an hour-glass, their reading being as the sand; it runs in, and it runs out, and leaves not a vestige behind. A second class resembles a sponge, which imbibes everything, and returns it nearly in the same state, only a little dirtier. A third class is like a jelly-bag, which allows all that is pure to pass away, and retains only the refuse and the dregs. The fourth class may be compared to the slave in the diamond mines in Golconda, who, casting aside all that is worthless, preserves only the pure gem. Coleridge. AFFECTION.-Oh cast thou not affection from thee ! In this bitter world hold to thy heart that only treasure fast. Watch, guard it suffer not a breath to dim the bright gem's purity. In early life, aim at the mastery of the mind: give earnest attention to the trains of thought encouraged, as habit may be thus unconsciously formed, the influence of which may be permanently irremediable, and peril the happiness of life and the immortal interests of the soul. The influence which woman exerts is silent and still, felt rather than seen, not chaining the hands, but restraining our actions by gliding into the heart. When we are in a condition to overthrow falsehood and error we ought not to do it with vehemence nor insultingly, and with an air of contempt, but to lay open the truth, and with answers full of mildness to refute the falsehood. Open your hearts to sympathy, but close it to despondency. The flower which opens to receive the dew, shuts against rain. A kind word will often tell more than the severest reproof, and a sigh of sorrow makes a far deeper impression than an open censure Educational Intelligence. CANADA. Items.--A bill to incorporate "Trinity College, Church University," in the City of Toronto, has passed the Legislature. Measures have also been taken to establish a Normal School in Lower Canada. A very interesting meeting of the County of Middlesex Teachers' Association was held in Delaware, on the 5th inst. Various resolutions were passed, and valuable essays read before the association. Meeting of the Teachers' Association, Whitby.-The meeting of this Association took place on Friday, the 27th of June, in the Rev. Mr. Thornton's chapel, and, as we understand, was most creditable to all concerned. Our readers will doubtless be taken by surprise when it is stated that little short of a thousand persons, juvenile and adult, were congregated on the occasion. Mr. Alexander was present for Brooklin, together with the most of his pupils. All, or nearly all, who compose the various schools in Oshawa were also in attendance. We learn that there were a number of speakers who addressed the members of the Association and the assembly, among which we may mention Mr. Thornton and Professor Hind, from Toronto. Much satisfaction has been expressed relative to the whole proceedings. [Oshawa Reformer. Common School Examination and Competition, Port Hope.-A public examination of Mr. Spotton, and Mr. Boate's pupils, took place on Tuesday last, and was conducted by the Rev. W. Ormiston in his usual happy and skilful manner. The subjects chosen for examination were English Graminar, Arithmetic, Geometry, and Algebra. The competitor were, three from Mr. Boate's school, and three from Mr. Spotton's. We were much pleased with the manner in which the contending parties acquitted themselves in the various exercises of the day. The examination commenced at 11 o'clock, and with the exception of an hour's intermission, it was continued until 6 o'clock in the evening. The examination was carried on with much spirit and emulation throughout, and the greatest interest was felt and manifested during the whole time.-(P. H. Watchman. Mount Elgin Industrial School.-It will be seen by the following extract of a letter from the Rev. Enoch Wood, General Superintendent of Missions in Western Canada, addressed to the Rev. Dr. Alder, that the authorities of Canada have recently furnished a most gratifying proof of the high estimation in which they hold the society and its labours, and of their earnest desire for the welfare and happiness of the aborigines under their care. Mr. Wood, under the date of the 9th of the last month, thus writes from Toronto:-"I yesterday concluded an agreement with Colonel Bruce, at the head of the Indian Department, with the approbation of his lordship the Governor General, to receive £800 per annum for two years, on condition of maintaing fifty Indian youths at Alderville Industrial School. At the end of this period we are to make another arrangement, founded upon what our experience may teach us. The documents shall be forwarded. In this business I have been very cordially sustained by the Rev. J. Ryerson, Co-Delegate, and the board of management. By unremitting perseverance I have at length accomplished what I have for so long a time had in view -the entire control of that institution by the Missionary Society. The buildings, (which cost about £1,800,) and the new farm of 200 acres, are all placed in our hands, with the £800 per year, for the benefit of the Indian tribes. His Lordship and Colonel Bruce have acted in the most generous and confiding spirit. I am certain you will be delighted to know that persons occupying so eminent a position, whose observations upon the society have been made in different parts of the world, express their respect and confidence both in its agents and managers."-[London Watchman. BRITISH AND FOREIGN. Items. The subscription for a free library in Manchester amounts to nearly £9,000.—The pupils of the Yorkshire school for the blind, several of whom (both male and female) have attained a proficiency in music truly astonishing, last week gave a concert in the festival concert room. The Pope and the Queen's Colleges.-The correspondent of the Chronicle, writing from Dublin, says :-"I have ascertained to a certainty, that the decrees of the Thurles Synod, condemning the Queen's colleges, as institutions dangerous to faith and morals,' have been sanctioned by the Pope, without any change or qualification. Some slight alterations have been made in the statutes of the Synod, respecting matters of ecclesiastical discipline in the various dioceses; but those which refer to the colleges have been approved without any modification whatever. The counter memorial, forwarded to Rome by thirteen of the Roman Catholic prelates, has, consequently, been altogether unavailing. After the promulgation of the rescript announcing this decision, any clergyman remaining in connection with the colleges would be suspended ipso facto. As regards the attendance of the Roman Catholic laity at the colleges, no change is necessarily made by the Papal sanction of the decrees of the Thurles Synod. There is no actual prohibition, but after the withdrawal of the Deans of Residence from those institutions, the prelates opposed to them will exercise their utmost influence in preventing the children of Roman Catholic parents from attending." Parliamentary Statistics of Crimes and Education.-According to returns to Parliament, the commitments for crimes in an average of nine years, in proportion to population, are as follows:-In Manchester, one in 140; in London, one in 800; in all Ireland, one in 16,000; and in Scotland, (celebrated for her learning and religion,) one in 20,000! Thus it will be seen that in Manchester, the crimes and commitments are six times more numerous than in the crowded city of London, and one hundred and fortythree times more than in Scotland. Ireland, at large, compared with Scotland, has more than twelve times the amount of crime, which shows most conclusively that poverty and a want of education are prolific sources of crime and misery. Who is answerable to God and the human race for that erroneous system of government which crushes a whole nation in the dust beyond the hope of a better condition, entailing upon millions the same degredation, ignorance, and vice, that now is appalling to the civilized world? Literary Pretensions to the Franchise.-We are given to understand, on what we deem reasonably good authority, that the measure which Lord John Russell proposes to introduce next year for the extension of the parliamentary franchise, will recognize education and literary standingapart from all other considerations-as electoral qualifications.-(Athenæum. Science at Oxford.-At the convocation, held on the 17th of June, an increase of the stipends of certain of the professors of physical and natural science was proposed, and partially agreed to; but the scheme of a new university museum was non-placeted, by a majority of nearly two to one. Dr. Pusey spoke in Latin against the proposed museum, urging that to extend the advantages of the university to a larger class of students, is at present the chief object to which the available funds should be devoted. The proposal negatived was to grant £30,000 stock in three per cents. from the press account towards a fund for building a new university museum. The professorships increased in stipend are, Camden Professor of History from £140 to £300; Reader in Mineralogy from £100 to £250. UNITED STATES. Items. In New York colleges and universities are usually sup. ported by legislative grants. The college bill which passed the third reading in the Senate, on Wednesday, appropriates $5,000 each to the University of Rochester and Genesee Collge; $1,000 each to five Medical Colleges, and divides $17,000 among the colleges in the State, except Union and Columbia, according to the number of students in them respectively.—A law has been passed in Kentucky, which gives to widows having children of the proper age to attend the public schools, the right to vote in the election of school trustees, &c.-The usual annual college commencements are now being held at the seats of most of the American universities and colleges in the United States. Literary and Scientific Entelligence. Items. The meeting of the British Association for the advancement of science took place this year at Ipswich, commencing on the 2nd of July. Prince Albert and Prince Lucien Buonaparte were present, The usual time of meeting is not till September, but it has been arranged to take place earlier this year, to give foreign scientific men who come to England to see the Exhibition an opportunity of attending.--In the French Academy of Sciences, some interesting experiments have been made in producing mineral coal by an artificial process. Wood is put into an iron or glass cylinder, and closed against any escape of air, and applied to a heat of 660. The result has been, that the wood was melted and reduced to mineral coal. Old wood of dry fibre produced dry coal; but young wood, or that which was put in wet, produced a glutinous coal. It is expected that this class of experiments will throw much light on the subject of geology and the production of mineral coal in the earth.From Berlin we learn the death of the well-known sculptor, Christian Frederick Tieck, aged 74. Herr Tieck was a pupil of the illustrious Schadow, and Germany owes to him some of the best of her modern works. Among these are mentioned the monument of the late Queen Louisa, of Prussia-the statues of Marshal Saxe, of Lessing, of Erasmus, of Grotius, of Herder, of Burger, of Walstein, and of William and Maurice of Orange -all at Munich; the sculptures of the pediment and friezes of the Theatre Royal at Berlin; the full-length statues of Necker, of the Duke de Broglio, of Augustus William Schlegel, and of M. de Rocca, made for Madame de Stael; the front gate of the cathedral at Berlin; and the bronze equestrian statue of Frederick William at Ruppin. The deceased sculptor was brother to the celebrated poet of the same name.- -Rauch's equestrian statue of Frederick the Great was unveiled on the 31st of May, the one hundred and tenth anniversary of Frederick's ascension to the throne of Prussia amid great pomp, and in the presence of vast multitudes.Perthes, the publisher of Hamburg, paid Neander on the sale of a single work, more than $20,000, exclusive of the interest his heirs have in it Poets like Uhland, Frelligrath, Lepau, Geibel, have also received as much as $6,000 or $12,000 on the sale of a single little volume.From the catalogue of the 51st Leipsic book fair, we learn that the number of books printed in Germany in the six months since the last fair amounts to 3,681, and 1,136 more are in the press.At the suggestion of Sir John Herschell, the new planet just discovered by Mr. J. R. Hind, is, in allusion to the tranquility now reigning in Europe, is to be called Irene, properly, Eirene, peace. -Mr. Fox, one of the partners in the firm that erected the Crysta Palace, was formerly a teacher in the Liverpool Mechanics' Institute.The successful candidate for the Great Exhipition Prize Essay, given by the Rev. Dr. Emerton, of Manwell College, is the Rev. I. C. Whish, K. C. B., of the Bengal army-the hero of the Moultan.-It has now been ascertained that the waters of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea are exactly on a level.—Alfred the Great learned his alphabet at 12 years of age; Moliere could hardly read or write at 14; Dr. Carter began his studies at 19; Volerinus learned to read at 15; and Sir Isaac Newton, according to his own avowal, was inattentive to study, and ranked low in the school till the age of 12.—By the census of the populatian of Antigua, just taken, the totals are, males, 17,616; females, 19,520. Total, 37,136. Excess of female population over the male, 1,914: an increase of |