Seeing only what is fair, Sipping only what is sweet, Leave the chaff and take the wheat. THE RHODŌRA.* RALPH WALDO EMERSON (1803-1882). (On being asked, Whence is the flower?) In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes, Made the black water with their beauty gay; This charm is wasted on the earth and sky, Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing, Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose! I never thought to ask, I never knew; But, in my simple ignorance, suppose The selfsame Power that brought me there brought you. AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS OF SWEDEN. PAUL DU CHAILLU (b. 1835). Among the most useful institutions of Sweden are the agricultural schools. There are twenty-seven of them (Landtbruks skolor) distributed over the country, besides two agricultural *Rhodora Canadensis (Greek, rhodon, a rose), a low but handsome shrub of the heath family, bearing showy clusters of rose-purple flowers, in advance of the leaves. During May, it may be found blooming in our swamps and in damp cold woods. colleges. These schools have greatly contributed to the development and improvement of agriculture, and they are looked upon with much favor by the people of the country; which popularity they certainly deserve. The object of these institutions is to elevate the standard of agriculture, and to teach the sons of farmers how to improve their farming. The students are required to remain under instruction for two years: the course of study comprises the principles of agriculture and horticulture, the care of domestic animals, the improvement of breeds, drawing, surveying, drainage, carpenter and smith work, carriagemaking, forestry, mathematics, agricultural chemistry, meteorology, veterinary surgery, botany, a little of zoology and geology, butter and cheese making, the art of building and of making fences and walls. Connected with some of the principal schools are dairy-schools for women, where they go through a year of butter and cheese making. The students after passing their examination may, if they like, go to an agricultural college for two years more; but most of them return to their parents' farms with a practical knowledge of farming. : In the schools the instruction is free, but the students give their labor the expense is borne partly by the province, and partly by the state. The cost at the college, including board and lodging, amounts to about 600 kronor-$175- —a year. There is also a forest institute, with six lower schools, for the training of practical foresters. The most northern agricultural school is on the banks of the Lule River; each government (län) generally has one, and in the south, where the population is denser, sometimes two. I had come to Umeå [pr. Oo-may-ō] with Herr Dannfelt, who was on a tour of inspection of the agricultural schools of the north. He was an excellent English scholar, and also spoke French and German perfectly. I was indebted to him for many acts of kindness during my sojourn in his country. He was sent by his Government as Royal Commissioner for Sweden at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, where many have had occasion to appreciate his courteous manners. In com pany with him, the governor of the län, and other officials, we drove to the agricultural school at Innertaflë, a few miles from the town. Though it was morning, all were in evening dress, and wore their decorations. *The agricultural school would thus be within three degrees of the Arctic Circle. The director of the school, Herr Dr. U- had received his degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Upsala: that far-famed institution does not confer degrees unless the recipient of the honor has proved his capacity by passing a searching examination, no exception being made in the stringent enforcement of this wise regulation. The school at Innertaflë, which was but a few years old, had under cultivation a little more than one hundred acres of land ; but there were about eighteen hundred of unimproved land and forest which were to be gradually reclaimed for tillage, and the rocky and swampy nature of the soil offered to the students excellent opportunities for learning the art of drainage. Blacksmith and carpenter shops were in full operation; the barn was large, and all the out-buildings were very fine. The live stock of the farm consisted of about thirty head of cattle, besides horses, sheep, and swine, of different breeds; and the results of the intermixture of blood were being observed with great care. Experiments were also made with wheat, which did not seem to flourish well so far north: in Norway, it thrives farther north than in Sweden. We were warmly welcomed. I was struck by the appearance of home-comfort of the house, where one could easily see that a woman presided. The parlor sofas and chairs were covered with white linen; the windows were adorned with flower-pots; the floor was so clean that a stranger might almost have been afraid to walk upon it; there was a piano, with a pile of music near it; an American sewing-machine stood near one of the windows; engravings hung upon the walls; little porcelain figures were scattered here and there; on the table were illustrated newspapers and books; in a bookcase were French, English, German, Greek, and Latin works; and among the practical books in English were essays on the "Art of Taming Horses," and "How to Farm." From the rear windows there was a view of a garden filled with flowers, strawberries, raspberries, currant - bushes, peas, carrots, and potatoes, with a stretch of green fields beyond. Vegetation was far more advanced here than in Luleå [pronounce, Lu-lay-o], though the distance was only about seventy miles. The strawberries were quite large, and, with the currants, were ripening; cauliflowers, cabbage, and lettuce, had headed; the peas were bearing fully, and melons were growing under glass. When the examination of the school was ended, we were entertained with a bountiful repast, the lady of the house doing the honors with a peculiar grace and kindness which made every one feel at home, and the remainder of the day was spent very sociably. Land of the Midnight Sun (1882). DRYDEN'S "ODE FOR ST. CECILIA'S DAY." [Written for November 22, 1687, and set to music by a composer named Draghi. It first appeared in the third volume of Dryden's Miscellanics. E. W. GOSSE.] Second Stanza. What passion cannot music raise and quell? His listening brethren stood around, And, wondering, on their faces fell To worship that celestial sound; Less than a god they thought there could not dwell That spoke so sweetly and so well. What passion cannot music raise and quell? Among the writers of irregular odes, next to Wordsworth stands Dryden. The second stanza of the Ode for St. Cecilia's Day is a great triumph. It has a Coleridgean sweetness. After a line ending in -ell (where the "quantity" is made up by the liquids rather than by the "close vowel" preceding them) there is nothing so grateful to the ear as a line ending in -ound where the vowel power is so great; and to run on for nine lines with these sounds beautifully interlaced, and yet to clearly and poetically say the thing which has to be said, is a feat worthy of the greatest master. Dryden, in truth, had the deep delight in rhyme known only to the very few. Leigh Hunt charges him with "beating on his rhymes" over much. It is the weak man who seems to beat too much upon his rhymes, not a strong man like Dryden. The reaction against rhyme-emphasis exemplified in Keats' Endymion, and carried to excess by certain of his followers, has spoiled much of the poetic work of our own day. Athenæum (May 7, 1881). THE MAKING OF ENGLAND. JOHN RICHARD GREEN, M.A., LL.D. (Examiner in the School of Modern History, Oxford.) [The historian would recognize three great eras in the national life of England:-1. The making of the nation-the age during which the soil of Britain was conquered and settled. 2. The centuries of administrative organization which stretch from Ecgberht to Edward the First. 3. The age of full national development, which extends from Edward's day to our own.] 1. Death of Bada. No story even of Bæda's telling is so touching as the story of his death. Two weeks before the Easter of 735, the old man was seized with an extreme weakness and loss of breath. He still preserved, however, his usual pleasantness and good-humor, and, in spite of prolonged sleeplessness, continued his lectures to the pupils about him. Verses of his own English tongue broke from time to time from the master's lip. The tears of Bæda's scholars mingled with his song. "We never read without weeping," writes one of them. So the days rolled on to Ascension-tide, and still master and pupils toiled at their work, for Bæda longed to bring to an end his version of St. John's Gospel into the English tongue, and his extracts from Bishop Isidore. "I don't want my boys to read a lie," he answered those who would have had him rest, "or to work to no purpose after I am gone." A few days before Ascension-tide his sickness grew upon him, but he spent the whole day in teaching, only saying cheerfully to his scholars, "Learn with what speed you may; I know not how long I may last." The dawn broke on another sleepless night, and again the old man called his scholars round him and made them write. "There is still a chapter wanting," said the scribe, as the morning drew on, "and it is hard for thee to question thyself any longer." "It is easily done," said Bæda; "take thy pen and write quickly." Amid tears and farewells the day wore on to eventide. "There is yet one sentence unwritten, dear master," said the boy. "Write it quickly," bade the dying man. "It is finished now," said the little scribe at last. "You speak truth," said the master; "all is finished now." Placed upon the pavement, his head supported in his scholars' arms, his face turned to the spot where he was wont to pray, Bæda chanted the solemn "Glory to God." As his voice reached the close of his song, he passed quietly away. |