tirely ceased to be a power for good. Once it flourished like the bay tree; but, for the last few years, it has withered like the fig-tree which Jesus cursed. In its earlier days, it worked with a will, and accomplished much good. But, of late, it has done little, except once a year, to make a public exhibition of premature age and feebleness. It may be well to inquire the cause of this decline and decay. When the Association undertook the establishment, endowment, and management of a Normal School, it assumed very heavy pecuniary responsibilities. The trustees were mostly teachers, scattered from Dan to Beersheba, i. e., from Ashtabula to Cincinnati. They could not often meet for the transaction of business, and the institution was left to drift with adverse currents. Debts accumulated, and the cry "Give! give!" was continually heard at all meetings of the Association. This remorseless dunning at length became a disagreeable amusement to many of our teachers, whose salaries left them no surplus funds. They found little pleasure and less profit in such meetings, and abandoned the Association. Other causes may have operated to this end, but pecuniary embarrassment has been the chief trouble." "We trust that our State Association is about to arise and come up to the help of our school system. The causes of its backset no longer exist. It has no Normal School to provide for - no Journal to support. Both Hopedale and the Monthly depend upon Providence and themselves for a living. Both are better off without than with the guardianship of the Association, and that, in turn, ter off without their care. bet The next meeting of the Association will, we trust, be of interest and profit to all who attend. It will be held in the central and pleasant city of Newark." The grounds about Antioch College are to be laid out in the finest style of landscape gardening, according to a plan drawn up by a gentleman from Boston, well versed in the business. Commencement was to occur on June 20th. Twentyone gentlemen and seven ladies constitute the graduating class. NEW YORK. Mr. Matthew Vassar has determined to establish and endow an institution for the education of young women in a course of study similar to that pursued in the leading colleges, to be located in Poughkeepsie, and to be called the Vassar Female College.- -From the last Report of the Hon. H. Van Duck, New York State Superintendent of Public Instruction, we make the following extract : 'Twenty-three schools for Indian children are now in operation in various sections of the State. Though laboring under the disadvantage of teaching a language diverse from that usually employed by the pupils, they are making satisfactory progress. Several of the schools are under the direction of native teachers, who discharge their duties with a fidelity and ability highly creditable. Did the funds provided by the State warrant such an expenditure, a number more might be qualified for this duty, and thus afford additional incentives to improvement, as well as enable them to render valuable service to their race. The expenditures during the last fiscal year, for teachers' wages, books, repairs of schoolhouses, superintendence, etc., have amounted to $4,742 88. Additional accommodations are required in several sections: and a strong desire for educational privileges is becoming more prevalent, especially among those who have heretofore looked upon the instruction of their children with disfavor, as calculated to draw them away from the faith and practices of their fathers. A DARK SPOT IN NEW YORK CITY. - A Report made some time ago to the Trustees of the Five Points House of Industry, by Mr. Halliday, shows that, on the block where the house is located, there are 46 front and 13 rear buildings, which contain 382 families, and 1,520 persons, viz. : 906 adults, and 614 children; of these, are 812 Irish; 218 Germans; 160 Italians; 159 Poles; 12 French; 9 English; 7 Portuguese; 2 Welsh; and 10 Americans; besides 36 colored per sons. sons. Roman Catholic families, 1,062; Jewish, 287; Protestants, 113. Out of the 614 children, but 166 attend school; and, of the adults, 605 can neither read nor write. The number of prostitutes is about 50, and are nearly all Irish and colored, not a white American. The number of floors in the 59 buildings, is 171, having 738 rooms, arranged into 381 apartments. In many instances, two families occupy one suit of apartments, and, in several cases, three Italian families, consisting of from 10 to 15 persons, were found occupying a small room for all purposes except sleeping, the bedroom being only 8 by 10 feet. In one case, 11 adults and 9 children were found in an apartment but sufficient for four perThere are 33 basement tenants, most of them 8 or 10 feet below the sidewalk. Liquor is sold in at least twenty places. One of these, corner of Cow Bay and Worth Street, is represented as the most infamous den on earth, except its duplicate at Crown's Corner, opposite. On Sunday, January 22d, between 10 and 3 o'clock, 547 persons entered the first place, and 509 the other, making in all, 1,054, viz. Men, 450; women, 445; boys, 82; girls, 68. Many, of course, entered more than once, and were counted each time. The entire assessed value of the property, (not including the house,) is $176,300, and the gross rental is $31,103 44. The assessed value of one building, is $7,800, and it is rented for $135 25 per month. In one house on Centre Street, the property is assessed at $4,000; the owner rents it for $500; the tenant sublets it for $68 50 per month, or $822 per year. Of the persons in the houses, 550 were under 15 years of age; 143 between 15 and 20; 350 between 20 and 30; 195 between 30 and 40; 125 between 40 and 50; 55 between 50 and 60; 35 between 60 and 70; 1 of 72; 1 of 74; 1 of 82; and 1 of 100. MR. JOHN PERLEY, of Georgetown, recently deceased at New York, bequeathed the sum of $40,000 to the town of Georgetown, for a free school, to be called the Perley School. The New York Tribune says: "The Webster and Worcester Fight of the Dictionaries rages here with so much fierceness, that comparatively little attention is paid to the forthcoming edition of "Dr. Johnson's English Dictionary," on which Dr. Latham, the well known philologer and ethnologist, has been engaged for some years for Messrs. Longman. £1,600, or $8,000, was the editor's compensation at first agreed upon; but, from the unexpected time required, this is probably increased. It will be published in parts, and may soon be looked for. NORTH CAROLINA.-According to the General Superintendent's Report for 1859, the whole white population of the State is possibly from five hundred and seventy-five to five hundred and eighty-five thousand. There are, in the State, from 222,000 to 230,000 children between the age of 6 and 21 years, and of these at least 175,000 attend the Common Schools. The average length of the schools was about four months, and the average salary of teachers, at least $28 per month, a material advance on former prices. There were, in 78 counties, 2,758 schools, and, according to the imperfect returns, there were licensed teachers: Males, 1,843: Females, 156; and 67 whose sex is not distinguished. The whole amount of taxes reported in 59 counties, was $73,160 19; and the reported receipts of school moneys (State aid) for 70 counties, amount to $379,842 614. Great efforts have been made to induce the Legislature to place the North Carolina Journal of Education, in the hands of every district committee in the State.. MISSISSIPPI.· The Board of Trustees of the University of Mississippi held an extraordinary session on March 1st, for the purpose of investigating the following charges preferred against the President of the Institution, F. A. P. Barnard, by Dr. H. R. Branham: 1st. That Dr. Barnard offered the statement of a negro as evidence against a student of the University, (Mr. Humphreys.) 2d. That, after the Faculty refused to sustain the charge upon the testimony adduced, Dr. Barnard, without the authority of the Faculty, wrote to his guardian a letter, which resulted in the withdrawal of Mr. Humphreys from the University. 3d. That Dr. Barnard interposed and objected to Mr. Humphreys' readmission into the University at the opening of the next session, and thus prevented his return. The examination of witnesses lasted two days, after which the Board rendered their decision, which was that of acquittal. The Oxford Mercury states that the "feeling of the citizens amounts to a perfect storm of indignation against the Northern born Professors engaged in the Institution, while not a few impugn the motives of the Trustees." Several Professors sent their resignation to Governor Pettees on the 5th of March, which left only one Southerner in the Faculty Prof. J. M. Phipps. GEORGIA. From the Governor's last message, we learn that only from one hundred and two counties, school reports have been received. Whole number of children between the ages of 8 and 18107,825. Number between 8 and 18 taught in 1859-67,155; total of all persons taught, 79,922; of these 45,090 are males, and 34,832 are females. Whole number of males taught in the elementary branches, 29,238; number of females, 22,681. Whole number of males taught the higher branches, 8,032; females, 7,613. Average tuition, per annum, in the elementary branches, $15 50; in the higher branches, $26 00. Whole number of schoolhouses, 1,775; number of schools, 1,777. Number of Methodist Male Colleges, 4; in which there have been taught 358 pupils; Methodist Female Colleges, 4; pupils, 524; Baptist Male Colleges, 3; pupils, 297; Baptist Female Colleges, 4; pupils, 322; Presbyterian Male Colleges, 1; pupils, 97; Presbyterian Female Colleges, 3; pupils, 325; Colleges and High Schools, not sectarian, male, 16; pupils, 773; females, 16; pupils, 1,222; number of Academies, 57. Out of the one hundred and two counties, 99 have appointed boards to examine teachers, and 1,297 teachers have passed an examination. The existence of most of the schools depends mainly on the annual distributions from the State Treasury, and in thirty counties no additional school-tax was raised during the last year. Thirty-four counties raised, for school purposes, the aggregate amount of $64,997, a sum less than five per cent. upon the State tax. It is proposed to alter the laws, so that the governor can withhold, from each county in the State, after this year, its proportion of the State fund, till its proper authorities shall have levied and collected a tax of at least twenty-five per cent. upon the State tax, to be added to the amount which it receives from the State for educational purposes. The message closes its educational section as follows: "Probably, no State in the Union is now in a condition to do so much for the advancement of education, with so little of the burdens of taxation to her people. The incomes from her public property, if wisely expended, will enable her to build up a magnificent school fund, while her people pay a smaller tax than the people of any State in the Union." NEW HAMPSHIRE. · The Teachers' Conventions or Institutes have been abolished, and an appropriation has been made to several academies and seminaries, in consideration of which they are to sustain a normal department for two terms in the year, under the general direction of the Superintendent of Education. The April number of the N. H. Journal of Education, in an article headed “Make Yourself Worth More," says: - "Teachers' wages are low enough, but, if we examine our common schools, we shall find that most teachers get all they earn. They are worth little because they never tried to be worth much. They cannot take a Teacher's Journal, because they could not afford it. They cannot write for one - they are not used to composing. They cannot go to teachers' meetings or Institutes, that takes time and money. They cannot own the books which will give them solid learning; their wages require them to economize. There is a plausibility in this reasoning, but it is short-sighted. A man must serve his apprenticeship to any trade, and, during his first few months or years, must give his time in order to secure his trade. Those who stint themselves in means of self-improvement save a few dollars at the outset, but lose the chance of going up higher. It is a false economy, sure to end in mediocrity or inferiority. The movement recently made in Massachusetts leads us to hope that teaching may become a regular profession, and that we may have licensed teachers as well as licensed preachers. Let this occur, and the salaries of teachers will be sure to rise; for a more thorough education of teachers would lead them to value their services higher. It would keep out the ignorant and the undeserving, who get schools by underbidding, and degrade the profession by their incapacity. There must be a vast improvement in public sentiment, before such a movement could be properly appreciated, but teachers ought to be in the van of public sentiment on such matters, and it is their duty to lead the way." CALIFORNIA. - The Pacific, a weekly paper, very ably conducted by Rev. J. H. Warren, in an article headed "Better Days By-and-By," says: "It needs but a few strokes to paint an intensely dismal picture of California. The most hopeful look on with fear. We are getting worse and worse. Since October last, dark clouds have thrown their pall upon us, and more are gathering from the East and West. "A judge of the Supreme Court murdered a United States Senator. The legislature passed a law for his relief, virtually to ignore the claims of justice. His trial is postponed for the next term, and the ermined duellist is off for Carson. There is not a soul in California that dreams that so much as a hair of his head is in danger. The atrocious massacres of Indians committed in the name of the Stateconverting our 'Mendocino war' into wanton slaughtering of human beingsthe Humboldt foray of inhuman tigers, leaping in midnight darkness on helpless, utterly helpless, women and children, nor staying in their riot till the blood of one hundred and seventy, or more, slaked their fiendish thirst. This alone lifts an awful cloud above us, and in it most surely slumbers, (how soon to burst forth we know not,) the justice of Him to whom innocent blood never cries in vain. Our acts of oppression, and cruelty even, in numberless instances, towards the Chinese, add a long, dark list of deeds to our shame and dishonor. In the halls of the Capitol, Assemblyman Bell is shot and knifed till he dies, for no offence; the odor of corruption is rank all through the precincts of the Senate and the Assembly; the petitions of thousands for a Sabbath law, not for the first time, or second or third time, utterly disregarded-one pulpit saying amen to its rejection we have not the heart to say a word about our over-full prisons, our intemperance, divorce laws, nameless legion of crimes; the picture is dark enough without it.”. An Organic Basis of the College of California was adopted by the Board of Trustees on March 1st. It is as follows: "THE COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA is an institution designed by its founders to furnish the means of a thorough and comprehensive education, under the pervading influence and spirit of the Christian religion. "The bonds which unite its friends and patrons are a Catholic Christianity; a common interest in securing the highest educational privileges for youth; the common sympathy of educated and scientific men, and a common interest in the promotion of the highest welfare of the State, as fostered and secured by the diffusion of sound and liberal learning. "In accordance with these considerations, and in order that the institution may never come under the control of Church or State, or any branch of the one or denomination of the other, they adopt the following ORGANIC RULES, and to the observance thereof they publicly commit themselves, and, so far as is in their power, they commit their successors to the end of time. "RULE I. Such Trustees shall be elected, from time to time, as shall fairly and equally represent the patrons and contributors to the funds of the Institution, provided, and 1. A majority of them shall always be members of evangelical Christian churches, 2. Not more than one-fourth of the actual members be of one and the same Christian denomination. "KULE II. In the election of Professors, preference shall always be given to men of Christian character, and the President and a majority of the faculty shall be members of evangelical Christian churches. "RULE III. Founders of Professorships shall have the privilege of naming them, and defining the branches of learning to which they shall belong, and prescribing the religious belief of the incumbents, subject always to the acceptance of the Board of Trustees." ENGLAND. Oxford University seems to be very prosperous this year. Its Calendar for 1860 shows an increase in the number of students, (399 in 1859, and 419 in 1860); of Bachelors of Arts, (277 against 300,) and of members of Convocation, (3,659 against 3,828). A meeting has been held in Derry, Ireland, for the purpose of coöperating with the Ulster National Education Society in upholding the principle of national education, and opposing denominational grants in Ireland. The Bishop of Derry and Raphee declined to take part in the proceedings, because he is a commissioner of national education; but he expressed his approval of the "good and righteous cause; " for he said he was thoroughly persuaded that the national system has already been productive of great good to the country at large, and that it is founded on the righteous principle of "doing to others as we would they should do unto us.” BELGIUM. Mr. Rogier, Minister of the Interior and of Public Instruction, announced to the House of Representatives, during a debate on the subject of public instruction, that it was the intention of the government to increase the professors' salaries, with a view to raising the standard of studies, and to induce learned foreigners to repair to that country. RUSSIA. The University of Moscow, founded in 1755, celebrated its annual festival January 24th. It has four faculties: History and Philology, Natural Philosophy and Mathematics, Law, and Medicine, and employs sixty-one professors |