sires on our behalf both with respect to Land and Trade. The Great God be with thee Amen Letter Written by William Penn. WM. PENN. PHILLIP THEODORE LEHNMAN, Secre's. London the 21st of the ffourth month called June, 1682. DURING a visit to the land department we were shown the annexed copy of a letter written over one hundred and seventy-five years ago by William Penn, the founder of our State. It appears to be the credentials of an agent of the Society of Free Traders, an organized body of merchants which once exist--Harrisburg Telegraph. ed in London, whose objects were trade with Canada, at that period a comparatively unknown country. The "Emperor of Canada' was supposed by the company to be a celebrated Indian chief. The letter is written on a piece of parchment two and a half feet wide by three feet in length. The letters are about an inch in length, slightly inclining to the right, bold and of very symmetrical formation. The first letters of the first and second lines are large and highly ornamented, a style which is yet kept up by some of our first-class publishers, who introduce ornamental initial letters to chapters in their books. The signature of Penn is nearly an inch long, with the same inclination to the right, but the letters are not quite so bold or gracefully formed as those in the body of the document. How Hindoo Schools are Governed TO THE EMPEROR OF CANADA. The Great God that made thee and me and all the world Incline our hearts to love peace and Justice that we may live friendly together as becomes the workmanship of the Great God The King of England who is a Great Prince hath for divers Reasons granted to me a large Country in America which however I am willing to Injoy upon friendly terms with thee And this I will say that the people who comes with me are a just plain and honest people that neither make war upon others nor fear war from others because they will be just I have set up a Society of Traders in my Province to traffick with thee and thy people for your commodities that you may be furnished with that which is good at reasonable rates And that Society hath ordered their President to treat with thee about a future Trade and have joined with me to send this messenger to thee with certain presents from us to testify our willingness to have a fair Correspondence with thee And what this Agent shall do in our names we will agree unto I hope thou wilt Kindly Receive him and comply with his de THE schoolmaster is always armed with a long cane, which he applies to the perhaps naked backs of his pupils with terrible energy and surprising frequency. If a boy plays truant, he is forthwith fettered by the leg. An iron ring is fixed a little above the ankle; to that ring an iron chain is attached; and at the end of the chain a heavy log is fastened, which the culprit has to drag after him wherever he goes. Very bad boys are obliged to wear this fetter day and night for a week, or a month, and sometimes even longer. Other punishments to which evil doers are subjected are such as these: A boy is condemned to stand for half an hour, on one foot; and should he shake or quiver, or let down his uplifted leg before the time, he is severely flogged. Or a boy has his hands and feet bound with cords, and is hoisted and tied up to the beams of the school. Or he is made to hang for a few minutes with his head downwards from the branch of a neighboring tree. very strange practice exists in some heathen schools. The boy who comes second in the morning, gets one stroke of the cane on the palm of his hand; the next receives two strokes, and so on each, in succession, as he arrives, receives a number of strokes equal to the number of boys that have got there before him, the first boy being allowed to administer the stripes to all the rest.—Juv. Miss. Mag. A "ISN'T it strange," asked a friend the other day, "that Sir Isaac Newton should ever have indulged in clownish freaks?" "Freaks? What do you mean?" "Why, when he was dividing the rays of light to be sure-for wasn't that cutting up shines ?" Idle Curiosity Cured. What Makes Waves. FBOM WEEMS' LIFE OF FRANKLIN. On his first trip by land, to see his father in Boston, he was worried almost to death by the abominable inquisitiveness of the New England tavern-keepers. "What makes waves, Frank?" asked Mr. Kent. "I'm sure I don't know." "Can you tell, Charles? The subject has been treated in your Natural Philosophy." "The friction of the wind as it acts upon the water ? Friction of the wind!" repeated Frank, Certainly," added Mr. Kent. "What is friction, Frank?" Neither man nor beast could travel among them in comfort. No matter how wet or weary, how hungry or thirsty, the poor trav-with astonishment. eller might be, he was not to expect an atom of refreshment from these silly publicans until their most pestiferous curiosity was first gratified. And then Job himself could not stand such questions as they would goad him with; such as, where he came from-and where he 66 Why, rubbing two things together." Doesn't the wind rub against the water?" "Yes, sir; but the water isn't rough." "It is rough enough to produce friction. It has been said, that when oil is poured on the windward side of a pond, the whole surface will become smooth. The oil protects the water from the friction of the wind. It is said, also, that boats have been preserved in a raging surf, in consequence of the sailors having emptied a barrel of oil on the water, which has thus been protected from the friction of the air. A very high wind moves at the rate of forty-five miles an hour, and exerts a force of about ten pounds to the square foot." might be a-going-and what religion he might be of-and if he was a married man-and so on. After having been prodigiously teazed in this way for several days, until at last the bare sight of a public house almost threw him into an ague, he determined to try the following remedy at the very next tavern, Soon as he alighted from his horse he desired the tavern-keeper to collect his whole family, wife, children, and servants, every soul of them; for that he had something vastly important to communicate. All being assembled and wondering what he had to say, he thus addressed them. "My name is Benjamin Franklin. I am a printer by trade. I live, when at home, in Philadelphia. In Boston I have a father, a good old man, who taught me, when I was a boy, to read my book and say my prayers. I have, ever since, thought it my duty to visit and pay my respects to AN unstable man, who does not know such a father; and I am on that errand to which way to take or how to act, is one who Boston now. This is all that I can at pres-fears ghosts at the front door, and thieves ent recollect of myself that I think worth telling you. But if you can think of anything else that you wish to know about me, I beg you to out with it at onee, that I may an "That would not make a wave a hundred feet high, such as a sailor told me he saw off the Cape of Good Hope. He said the waves run as high as the vane on our meetinghouse."-Student and Schoolmate. at the back." HUMAM EXPERIENCE, like the stern light of swer, and so give you opportunity to get me a ship at sea, illumines only the path we have something to cat; for I long to be on my jour-passed over.-LONGFELLOW. ney that I may return as soon as possible to my family and business, where I most of all delight to be." Forty thousand sermons against idle curiosity could hardly have driven it so effectually out of New England as did this little squib of ridicule. Do GOOD with what thou hast or it will do thee no good. THE first and worst of all frauds is to cheat ourself; all sin is easy after that. The Close of the Volume. couraged us to persevere in our efforts to furnish food for thought and motive for action to the teacher, the parent and the little ones. We have now completed our arrrangements for another year. The day of publication will be changed from the fifteenth to the first of each month. This we think will be more acceptable to our readers generally, and they may rely on having the journal ready for delivery or for mailing, providential hindrances excepted, on the first day of the month. This change will take effect with the April number. We have now made arrangements for a fine steel-plate engraving of BROWN UNIVERSITY, to accompany a historical sketch of the college, in our March number. This engraving is executed from a photograph by Messrs. Manchester & Chapin, of this city, and is engraved expressly for the SCHOOLMASTER. It gives the best view of those stately buildings which has ever been taken. We trust it will prove acceptable to our subscribTo insert this engraving the March number will be delayed a few days, but may be expected by or before the fifteenth of the month. ers. We have now to write the last article for Vol. 3d. Another year has gone by, and we come again to a mile-stone. It will be well for us to sit upon it awhile and recall the past, and then gather up our garments for the farther journey. These mile-stones, whether in the journey of an individual or a journal, are of great value to us. They tell us what we have accomplished, how far we have travelled, and are convenient stoppingplaces for refreshment and preparation for the onward march. We have toiled hard during the last day's march, for it has been up the side of a steep and rocky hill. We are glad however that we are not yet near the summit, for we confess ourselves not quite ready for the down hill side of our march. We hope that if we are permitted to reach the summit of this hill,-the summit of which is not yet within the range of our vision, but is lost amid the clouds which shut out the distant prospect, we shall find only a plain extending a little way to the foot of another hill, which it will be our pleasure to climb, and so on and on, until we reach the high precipice which overhangs the sea, dividing this country from the better land to which we shall then be carried on swift wings of messengers sent by the king for our conveyance thither. For it is more pleasant to toil up the hill-side encouraged by many a kindly word and friendly cup of cold water and to look back upon the path already trod, and to think of the labors performed and the task accomplished, than to be hurrying down from the summit to the plain below, howbeit the descent may be with less toil and fatigue. The volume now closing has had a change of admin-ually, "I am not." We would call upon you istration, and we cannot be expected to look back upon it with the same feelings which we might be supposed to have under other circumstances. We assumed the charge of the Schoolmaster when the volume was half completed, and have labored steadily and faithfully to improve the character of its pages. We have labored under many disadvantages, but still hope we have not labored entirely in vain. The words of encouragement and cheer which we have received from various quarters have en We are able to state to our readers also, that we have materially increased the number of our correspondents and contributors, and hope to improve the character of the Schoolmaster from month to month. We would again invite our friends, and especially the teachers of Rhode Island, to send in communications for its pages. We think if the question were asked of many teachers in our state:-"Are you sustaining, by your pen and your pennies, your state journal?” the answer must come, and would come event then, and upon all to whom it comes, who con- THE R. I. SCHOOLMASTER. Self-Made Men. People are very apt to think that there is some wonderful difference between what are generally called "self-made " men, and men who have received a "liberal" education. Self-made men are men, and men whose fathers gave them a college education, are nothing but men. By that class of men, who are ordinarily styled self-made, we understand to be meant those who have acquired an education by themselves,-by laborious study in private rather than at the college or at the university. They have had the energy to study while others have been idle. They, have become intelligent men, learned men, useful men, simply by industry, and by this means alone men can become intelligent, learned and useful, whether they have the advantage of a "college education" or whether they get the same knowledge, or its equivalent, and discipline the mind by getting it, at the forge, in the machine shop, or behind the counter. A man in our country takes the place which is given him; and that place is usually given him which he is capable of filling. brought up to the occupation of a mathematical instrument maker. Nathaniel Bowdich, the distinguished mathematician and navigator, was in youth an apprentice to a ship chandler, and there commenced that course of study, which has been of such incalculable service to the world. He learned latin in order to read Newton's But Principia, and French that he might have the studies to a faithful improvement of their time The principal object of this article is to call attention to the means by which knowledge must be acquired, if acquired at all. Perhaps this can be accomplished as well by an example as by any dissertation on the abstract principle. HON. GEORGE S. BOUTWELL. The present excellent Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education and ex-governor of the state, is an example of a self-taught man. One of the Secretary's former schoolmates, who has been his neighbor ever since their schooldays, recently told the writer of this article that "Governor Boutwell was always a faithful schol Many a boy is sent to college by his father, gets a love for study and a thirst for knowledge, and becomes a learned, useful and honored man, who never would have risen above a common day laborer at the humblest occupation, had he been obliged to acquire his knowledge by laborious study in private. In this consists the principal difference between the man who has been l'berally educated and him who is called "selfmade; "that the latter usually has more energy of will, firmness of purpose and perseverance in labor, than the former. By these qualities he has been able to raise himself from some hum-ar and an industrious man." His early educabler sphere in life, to take a position by the side of his neighbor who has been more highly favored by the easier means of acquiring knowledge. The man of liberal and systematic culture may have a more evenly balanced mind,-may have the various faculties of his mind more systemati-He has always, as the above mentioned neighbor cally developed, but the man who has had the energy and perseverance to educate himself, generally has a stronger intellect, a broader grasp of principles, a keener perception and a more prac tical mind. tion was acquired at the district school in one of the farming districts of northern Massachusetts. What he has learned since the time of his attendance upon that country school, has been by himself, in persevering, laborious private study. informed me, been an early riser. He has never been a school-teacher. Nor has he been, as many have supposed, a lawyer. He was merely a country merchant, when elected by the people of his native state to preside as chief magistrate over It is rather remarkable, but nevertheless a fact, the ancient and honorable commonwealth of that nearly all our inventions have been by self- Massachusetts. His sign may still be seen over made men. Sir Humphrey Davy's invention of the door of a little variety store in Groton the the Safety Lamp has been quoted as a noticeable town of his residence. exception to this principle. Yet he was emphatically a self-educated man. James Watt of such world-wide notoriety for his improvements upon the steam engine, was A few years ago a teachers' institute was held in that town, when, one morning, one of the instructors stepped into the village store, and purchasing a sheet of paper and an envelope, asked Letter from Prof. Robert Allyn. WE have the pleasure of presenting to our readers this month another letter from our good friend Prof. Allyn. We know it will be read with We hope interest by all as from an old friend. Prof. Allyn will find time some of these winter evenings by the genial influence of that "coal fire," to give us another still "of the same sort ;" and tell us more of that fireside and of the fam WILLOW GROVE, NEAR ATHENS. Dear Schoolmaster : if he could step to the desk and write a letter. "Certainly," says the storekeeper, "step this way; you will find a more convenient place here." Saying this, he opened the door into a little back room, which proved to be a compietely furnished library; the table covered with papers and the walls hidden by the well filled bookshelves. The gentleman looked around him in astonishment. "What is this," he thought to himself, "where am I? Is this the library of a country merchant? Am I in a little village store?ily. See these books! Cyclopædias, Histories, Biographies, Works on Law, on Education, on Government, English as well as American books, and all apparently well read!" Yes; he was in a village store, and this was the storekeeper's library. That country merchant was the present Secretary of the Board of Education of Massachusetts, the Hon. George S. Boutwell, LL. D. In that Library, opening out of his store, he had spent his leisure hours-the hours of the morning while many were yet asleep, the intervals of business during the day, and the evenings after the day's business was over and the store closed; and there he acquired that knowledge which fit-an improvement-you need not grow proud nor ted him to discharge his duties subsequently as chief magistrate of the state, and at the head of of the educational department. I am once more at home, in a similar place to that in which St. Paul was permitted to dwell"in his own hired house"-but with a very great difference," a soldier kept him "—but a family keeps me-and makes me so busy that I find I am near neglecting, if not forgetting thee. I think I said in a note, written some days since, but not yet mailed, that I was pleased with thine altered appearance, and now I have had time to These are most decidedly read thy contents. anything of that kind, for I am not going to flatter you. I only want to do justice to my own feelings, which I should not do, did I withhold a What a lesson for the young! What a rebuke good word when it is really deserved. So, MR. to idleness. Let every young man who reads SCHOOLMASTER, you need not take on a single this, learn a lesson from the story of Gov. Bout-new air. I speak for myself not for you, when I well's Library. Credits. If we were to enter the office of the State Teachers' Journal of some Western, or Eastern state, and take therefrom an article written for its pages and insert it in the Schoolmaster, we might be detected, and if so we should surely be punished. But if one of these brother (?) editors takes an article which has been written for the Schoolmaster, and published in it, we have no redress but to tell of it. This we now proceed to do say how greatly I am pleased with your good looks and pleasing words. But let me have a little room to talk right on of anything that "turns up." Now, as the Schoolmaster proposes to pay attention to the family as well as the School-let me say a few words about the scene before me as I write. I am in the midst of my little family-no matter how many or how old-We are sitting around a bright coal fire-not such a fire as that "stone," called "Anthracite coal" or still worse. Rhode Island coal" will make-now don't be provoked; you can't box my ears if I am impertinent; so keep your temper-but a fire "as is a fire." None of your wood fires, that "keep snapping," like a succession of an infinitesimal "fire-crackers," and scattering sparks and coals all over the car On reflection however, we will let it pass without giving particulars, or calling names. Suf-pet. fice it to say, that the articles in the Schoolmaster, both original and selected, are considered so good that they get quoted in a great many journals, magazines and papers, and it is not seldom that they fail of being credited. In two cases quite recently as many as three or four articles have been purloined and republished without credit. Brother, remember the eommand"Thou shalt not steal." 66 Nor, worse still, such a fire as "soggy wood" only makes, where the smoke is very mighty and the fire very weak. But such a fire as you might imagine a young sun or a "full grown star" would make. Of course, in speaking of a young sun or a full grown star, you will not understand me as speaking for Professor or Dr. Caswell, or for any of the learned savans. I am only speaking in imitation of the little girl, who wished one day that she could have a |