of this establishment was, at present, a fellow whose mind, manners, qualifications, and general character, admirably fitted him for such a station. He wrote himself Manlius C. W. Tilden, Professor of Elegant Literature; and taught crowquill penmanship, drawing sundry problems in geometry, French, fashionable pronunciation, and the whole round of what he designated belles-lettres accomplishments, including music upon the piano, flagelet, &c., if required. The tendency of this school had been, as might be expected, to create envy, as little as there was reason for it, towards the favored few who attended it, and to cause the common schools to be neglected and looked upon with contempt. And Dr. Lincoln, who was a man of science, and an abominator of every thing of the tinsel order, was the first man to whom it occurred that it was a matter of importance to attempt to elevate the character of the common schools of the place, both to counteract the influence we have named, which he considered in all respects baneful, and to make those schools what they should be for public benefit. Towards night on the day previous to the one appointed for entering upon his engagement, young Amsden arrived in the village to which we have just introduced the reader, and immediately repaired to the residence of his employer, Dr. Lincoln. "Your arrival just now is most opportune, Mr. Amsden," said Lincoln, shaking the other heartily by the hand; "for I hope to have the remainder of the afternoon to myself, uninterrupted by professional calls, to enable me to spend a little time with you, in introducing you at your boarding place (for we have concluded to board you at one place), visiting with you our school-house, and in apprising you, in some measure, of the difficulties you will have to encounter, if you earn your money, as I intend you shall. But, come, sir, walk into the house first - you will stay with us through the night, and we will talk over these matters at our leisure." The doctor then ushered the other into his house, and introduced him to his wife, a highly intelligent and agreeable lady, who, with her husband, they having no children,and a domestic of each sex, constituted the whole family. After a pleasant half-hour spent in general conversation, the doctor and his guest set forth to visit the school-house, as the former had proposed. "You have rather a large proportion of fine dwellinghouses in your village, have you not, doctor?" said Amsden, as they gained the street, and proceeded on their way. "It may be so," replied the doctor. "Some ambitious people, in times past, erected several expensive buildings; since which many others, having imbibed the idea that social happiness is dependent on the size of the house where it is to be enjoyed, have followed the example; less for their own good, in some instances, I believe, than the good appearance of the village." "Quite possible. But to whom belongs that large house, up yonder, observed Locke, pointing to a castle-like building, standing on an eminence, a little aloof from all others. "O, that is the residence of the Carter family," answered the other. "This village took its name from the father of the owner of that house. The old gentleman was a stirring man, in his day, and died very wealthy. And his son, who built that fabric, is esteemed by some to be now equally rich; though he built, as some shrewd ones would have it, not so much according to his own judgment, as on his wife's somewhat different scale of greatness." "It is a showy thing, indeed," rejoined the former; "but still I fancy it less than that much smaller, but more truly elegant house, as I should esteem it, standing within the bor ders of that beautiful farm, lying to the east of the Carter establishment." "Ah! that was built by a man of true taste, and one of the finest of gentlemen," said the doctor, warmly. "He married the daughter of the elder Carter, and received that farm as her dowry. But he got entangled by his profligate brothers-inlaw, and lost the whole establishment, which went into the hands of city creditors, while the unfortunate debtor was left to shift for himself, and, finally, to go to foreign lands, and there die, as is now generally supposed." By this time they reached the school-house, which was situated in a noisy business corner, about ten paces from the street, with a blacksmith's shop on one side, and a cooper's on the other. "Here is your palace, my lord of the birchen sceptre," said Lincoln, giving the other a good-natured slap on the shoulder. 66 Ay, but it is rather near the street here; is it not, doctor?" remarked Amsden. "True," replied the former, ironically; "but do n't you perceive the wise design of that? It is to inure the children to the danger of being run over, and horses to the danger of being frightened, to the peril of the necks and limbs of their drivers." "You succeed so well in reasons," observed the other, laughing, "that I will hear you tell why the house is made to stand between two such noisy shops." "O, the idea,” answered Lincoln, in the same strain, “the idea must have been taken from the classics; as you scholars, I think, should at once perceive. Demosthenes, you know, practised oratory amid the roar and racket of waterfalls. And who knows how much the future orators, that shall have been educated in this school, will be indebted for their good articulation to the clinking of these hammers, of which you appear so disposed to complain?" They then entered the house for an inspection of the interior, whose miserable construction and arrangement were the same as are still a greater part, perhaps, of common schoolhouses at the present day. "I had looked to see things different here," remarked Locke, glancing round the room, as they entered it. But you have the same construction of seats as is seen so generally elsewhere- close, narrow, and all of an equal height; so that, while the limbs of the larger pupils are cramped up, and otherwise rendered uncomfortable, the feet of the little ones are left dangling in the air.” 66 Why, the object of that plan doubtless is," said the doctor, "to train the legs of the large ones to occupy a modest space in this world, and to cause those of the little ones to become so benumbed by hanging over the corners of the seats, which will thus impede the circulation of the blood in the arteries and veins, as to take away the troublesome desire of the restless creatures to run about, and go out of doors. And is not the custom sanctioned by that old and refined nation, the Chinese, who cramp the feet, &c., of their children? And are not the modern corsets of the intelligent and fashionable ladies of our own enlightened land, used on the same principle?" "And then these seats," resumed the former, without replying to the comments of the other, whose ironical meaning he perfectly understood; "these seats, as usual, rise from the front here, where we stand, like the seats of an old amphithe-rise one above another, till the last one, yonder, is nearly half way up to the ceiling; so that the pupils on the upper tiers of the seats will be uncomfortably warm, in the heated air which always occupies the upper portion of the atre - room, while the pupils on the lower seats will be, at the same time, perhaps, as uncomfortably cold." "Very true," rejoined Lincoln, "very true; but then the object in this, also, is perfectly plain-it is to have the softest heads in the school placed up there to be baked over, so that they may be on a par with the others." "Well, I wonder," remarked Locke, now laughing heartily at the satirical hit of the other, "I wonder, in view of the other conveniences of the house, how the matter of ventilation came ever here to be thought of, as it appears to have been, by that contrivance for lowering the upper sashes of the windows?" "You remember the lesson you formerly received, I see," replied the doctor, assuming a serious air. "These windows were altered to admit of ventilation, at my own suggestion, some years ago. An opening might be made in the ceiling, as was done in your school-house, if thought necessary; but as this building is so old, and full of crevices for the admission of fresh air, perhaps it will be hardly worth the while to do this." 66 'Perhaps not, in this old house," said Locke; "but in a new one, which you will build here soon, I conclude, you will probably have this attended to, as well as several other improvements, which should be made in the interior of most of our school rooms; for I think you must agree with me, doctor, in the opinion that our school-houses are, generally, but illy adapted to the purposes for which they are, or should be intended." "I certainly do, Mr. Amsden," answered the other. "And the reason I treated the defects you have here pointed out, in the manner I did, was because I thought with old Horace, "Ridiculum acri Fortius ac melius, plerumque secat res,” — |