At one moment, the Archbishop would give Protestants credit for their "keen and delicate perception," and at the next slur over their noble deeds, which in itself is the more base in this connection, for the reason that it is in council, seeking good government to their fellow-man, and not in war or the camp, that the true religious principles of the earlier Americans are brought plainly in view. We have embodied in the latter quotation, however, an admission that the Catholics in the country had no influence upon the character of the Constitution; and the Archbishop frankly remarks thus:

"But it may be said that even the Constitution itself is a spontaneous concession for which we [Catholics] are indebted to Protestantism. If I had proofs to the contrary, what I consider due to the propriety of the occasion would prevent my making use of them."

This is another characteristic remark; but it stands for a tacit admission that the reverend prelate has no proof to the contrary of such indebtedness on the part of Catholics.

He quotes thus from the Constitution: "Congress shall make no law on the subject of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

of the Constitution the very clause which I have cited, and which guarantees to all the people of this widely extended Union the perfect and perpetual equality of religious rights, and freedom of conscience."

There have undoubtedly been constitutional alterations, but, according to the Archbishop's own showing, some of the States took a long time to make what he deemed necessary changes. The probability is that the States knew what the law was or should be, without advice from a Catholic Archbishop; and New-Hampshire undoubtedly comprehended that which she suggested, and truly aimed at keeping Church and State for ever separate; that religion should be free to be exercised by the people, not free to exercise a political control over them. It is not giving this State, "the last rose of summer," too much credit to say that she perceived the duality of the Church of Rome; that, while willing to grant a perfect tolerance to its religious feature, she could not recognize the necessity of granting like tolerance to its political one.

Had the Catholic Church in the United States thrown off her allegiance to Rome immediately after the Revolution, as did the Episcopal Church in relation to England, there then could have been no after-diffi

Then was the time for a Catholic proof of attachment to civil and religious liberty; for, in the language of the Archbishop,

"It was a period in which the great men of the country, of all professions, brought their sentiments, their conversation and actions, nay, controlled and brought even the very prejudices of their youth and education into harmony with the new order of civil, religious, and social life."

Now, we can but regret that the few Catholics in the country at that time could not have proved themselves equally great with their fellows by casting off the prejudices of their education, and bringing themselves into harmony with the " new order" of liberty,

since even they could have done so by renouncing allegiance to the authority of Rome.

The Constitution provides for a uniform naturalization law; the latter, for a solemn

oath in renunciation of "all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty." Now, the Pope of Rome is a sovereign pontiff-a potentate possessing great power and sway within his own territory, and over the temporal affairs of Catholics at large. The Constitution, therefore, clearly requires a renunciation under oath of all allegiance to such a power; and if Catholics in process of naturalization do not feel that they renounce such allegiance, then, truly, the day has arrived when, by judicial decision, we must have the matter settled, and put a stop to the exercise of such practical perjury in our courts. We quote again:

"It is stated by one of our historians that, at the commencement of the Revolutionary War, except in the city of Penn, there was hardly another place in the colonies in which, by authority of the laws of the land, a Catholic priest could celebrate mass. Now, there is no law against it any where."

The Archbishop does not state his author, and the whole passage is equivocal. There could be no need of passing laws authorizing that which would be freely tolerated. We enter the quotation, however, as pat evidence against himself, that if the city of Penn was the only place where mass could be said at that time, why, then, Maryland must have been Protestant at the Revolution.

"It is equally out of place, and altogether untrue, to assert or assume that this is a Catholic country, or a Protestant country. It is neither. It is a land of religious freedom and equality; and I hope that in this respect it shall remain just what it now is to the latest posterity."

The facts of history have been so entirely against the Archbishop, that the conclusions must be also. This is a land of both civil and religious liberty, and as such must necessarily be a Protestant one, because the government as instituted derives its just "powers from the consent of the governed," and not through assumption of divine au

thority. It therefore is an anti-papal, antimonarchical government; in other words, it is a republican government. But, says the Archbishop,

"The rights of property and of religion were secured to all the inhabitants of the territory ceded by France to England."

Well, grant it, and even that we were

"bound in honor to respect the clause which had secured the rights of property and religion to the inhabitants;" that "Louisiana was acquired directly dition. Florida was bought from Spain within my from France by purchase, subject to the same conown recollection. Texas at a period more recent golden region of California.... In all these Territostill; and now, last of all, New-Mexico, and the ries and States, the rights of property and religion have been guaranteed to the inhabitants."

Now, does not the Archbishop know that all the treaties made by the United States with Catholic powers, ceding to her territory, have not only the clause securing the rights of property and religion to the inhabitants, but also another clause, providing that the inhabitants thereof "shall be incorporated into the Union of the United States as soon as may be consistent with the principles of the Federal Constitution," thus requiring a season of probation and a declaration of allegiance through the process of naturalization! The Americans, however, are the Protestant purchasers, and we think we have shown that their country is, and ever has been, a Protestant one, the Archbishop to the contrary notwithstanding; and he may rely npon it that Americans of this day cannot and will not suffer foreign jesuitical cunning to inveigle from them their inherited positive Protestant rights. They cannot suffer a Roman Papa or his emissaries to assume either temporal or spiritual control over a people "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights," the greatest of which is an entire independence of the one man power."

66

I love to look on a seene like this,

Of wild and careless play,

And persuade myself that I am not old,
And my locks are not yet gray;

For it stirs the blood in an old man's heart,
And it makes his pulses fly,

To catch the thrill of a happy voice,

And the light of a pleasant eye.-N. P. WILLIS.

THE numerous readers of this magazine must be perfectly familiar with a scene which has been admirably pictured by the ingenious artist, of the "Village School in an Uproar." It is an amusing sight to be hold. The unruly children, taking advantage of the absence of the tutor, strew the books, the maps, the slates, in all directions, spreading dire confusion every where around. Some of the mischievous boys are romping on the floor, some are playing at ball, others are spinning their tops. One little boy has seated himself very comfortably in the chair of state, placed the schoolmaster's spectacles on his nose, taken in hand the whip, and at the very precise moment that he is about inflicting summary punishment on a shy urchin, standing in front of him, with "fool's cap" on, who should enter at this identical moment but the venerable instructor in the extreme of anger, who in reality gave the unlucky boy striking proofs of his affection, and sent him home with the marks of "good behavior" on his back!

I recently visited the school of Miss Elizabeth Boehm, at the quiet and retired village of Port-Richmond, Staten Island, and the order and regularity which there prevailed was strangely in contrast with the picturesque scene I have described. In this village school, there was no "uproar," no loud talking, no playing at ball, no romping on the floor, no "fool's cap" visible, no "rod" in sight, but every thing harmoniously blended with the tranquillity of the scene; and so far from my excellent friend,

Miss Boehm, being in an angry mood, that lady, comparatively speaking, treated me with the most superlative politeness, and I positively passed a most agreeable time.

The little girls were all dressed with extreme neatness, and were uncommonly attentive to their studies; but there was one among these who interested me more than any of the others. I felt an uncommon degree of interest in the welfare of this young lady, for from her babyhood she had been motherless, and well stood in need of her instructress's good counsel and vigilant care.

"What ho! my little girl;" and with light step a fairy creature hasted towards her sire.

Much depends upon the proper training of children in their youthful years: "Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined." Oh, what a holy, a sacred duty is confided to the task of the teacher! A fearful responsibility is on her head. Unto her hands is confided the blessed privilege of sending her pupils forth among their fellow-creatures for better or for worse; of fitting them for a faithful discharge of the manifold and arduous duties of life, placing them before the world with the seeds of virtue deeply implanted in the human heart, educating them for wives and mothers-a glorious and brilliant example of goodness and morality, and eminently worthy of the imitation of others. I have but recently asserted that in Miss Boehm's school there was one scholar that had no mother's feeling bosom on which to repose her aching head in the hour of trial and anguish; no mother's hand to bathe her temples when fever wrings her brow, for motherless she had been for eleven long years. The silent tomb holds the ashes of that dear departed parent, who, had Heaven

but spared her life, would have this day gloried in the estimable traits of character of that sweet girl.

There is something extremely beautiful in visiting, during school-hours, a seminary for young ladies; something peculiarly delightful in contemplating the becoming demeanor of the scholars, their cheerful aspect, their neat attire, the alacrity with which they pursue their studies, and their ardent thirst after knowledge. Who can estimate the happiness or misery which in after years may be the portion of this innocent group, now so bright and joyful? All is now animation and life; no care for the future dims the lustre of those eyes on which I gaze. Happy, happy childhood! Oh! carry me back to those days of merriment and of joy when, with satchel on arm, I bended my steps to the Mount Vernon Collegiate Academy," and hastened, at the sound of the "bell," to rehearse my morning task, and strive for a "reward of merit." Happy, happy childhood! Since then, manhood has dawned upon my brow, and twenty years have been subtracted from "threescore and ten." Ay! carry me back to my village school, and seat me by my little desk. Come back again, ye schoolboy days, and give me once more my top, my ball, my kite and marbles.

"The brook

That by our door went singing, where I launched
My tiny boat, with my young playmates round,
When school was o'er, is dearer far to me
Than all these bold, broad waters."

Again and again I would recite my lessons, and wander amid the broad and lovely fields of knowledge. My village school! Oh! how beautifully it looked as it gradually became lost in a distant view. From that eminent institute there have come forth boys who now are MEN of distinguished literary, legal, and mercantile attainments, whose then unknown names have become celebrated at the bar, in the pulpit, in the legislative hall, in the field of letters, in science, and in the commercial arena; men who are an ornament to society and an honor

to their country. I well remember one, who was a stubborn and unruly lad, an annoyance to the entire school. Five years ago, he finished his earthly career, and when the tomb closed on him, it confined within its limits a vagabond and a drunkard! Oh! the curse of the inebriating draught, how has it blighted the most promising prospects, and conferred eternal misery on the once pure spark of immortality within! But for THIS, that boy might have been a man of standing and influence in society, for he always knew his lessons, possessed a quick intellect; and, had it not been for his stubborn and unruly disposition, he would have headed us all in scholastic triumphs, and become the pride and ornament of the village school. Alas! alas! his race is run. Peace, peace to his ashes. Hic jacet.

I have asserted that a fearful responsibility rested on the head of her (Miss Boehm) who had charge of the village school at Port-Richmond; and yet it must be a pleasing and respectable occupation to teach the young, although an occupation not so liberally remunerated as it should be, and which its vast importance demands. Parents do not fully appreciate the teacher's toil and care, and how she labors, day after day, through summer's heat and winter's cold,

to rear their children unto virtue and to truth!

Lady, when those little girls now under your vigilant care and kindly protection shall have completed their studies, and have gone forth into society as well-educated and refined young ladies, an ornament to the feminine sex and an honor to human nature, who can have the heart to say that there will be none among the number whose now uncared-for and unknown names will at some future day be inscribed in golden and imperishable letters on the broad and beautiful banner of FAME? God grant, in his infinite mercy, that among these there may be more than one, or two, or three, or four times three, who may attest the blessed benefits of a thorough education, and evi

dence to that Master Intellect that the glorious gift of mind had not been bestowed upon them in vain. Lady, from your little circle you cannot send, armed for the contest, the warrior to the seat of battle, neither can you replace the statesman in the halls of legislation. Nay, nay. It is man's right to be foremost amid the strife for liberty and justice, to protect the stars and stripes of Columbia, and "to command the applause of listening senates;" but to woman the task is given to bind up the bleeding wounds of the heart, and wreathe a chaplet of comfort and of hope to place on the brow of the wretched, the forgotten, and the despairing. Lady, perhaps there may arise another Davidson, or Hale, or Ellet, or Aguilar, to illume this dark world with the dazzling brightness of splendid genius; or it may be that from your juvenile arena of learning you can present to the world another Dix, to plunge into the infection of hospitals, dive into the depths of dungeons, visit the sick, attend the neglected, remember the forgotten, brighten the face that is overcast with sorrow, wipe the tears from the cheek of the widow, spread bread on the empty tables of the famishing, and to change the notes of wo into those of joy.

"How lovely in the arch of heaven

Appears yon sinking orb of light,
As, darting through the clouds of even,
It gilds the rising shades of night!
Yet brighter, fairer shines the tear

That trickles o'er misfortune's bier."

It is from knowledge alone that the greatest and the best have even found solitude and retirement so singularly charming, and that the decline of life, with all its infirmities, so frequently glides away amidst the sweetest endearments and the serenest hopes. It is this which constitutes the only real and lasting distinction which can subsist between mortals of the same species, which neither rank, nor title, nor fortune, however high or splendid, can destroy or confer, and which, on every emergency, gives an obvious and decided superiority to wealth, or power, or grandeur. By knowledge, women, as well as men, share the prerogative of intelligence, hold the dominion of the world, boast the lineaments of divinity, and aspire to an imitation of Him who made them!

Knowledge improves the human intellect, and endows it with all its excellence. It unmasks to our view our own natures; it shows us what we are, and discloses all that can be hoped or dreaded from the circumstances we are in. By the regulations it prescribes, and the delicacy it inspires, knowledge improves our taste for society, and imparts a finer relish to all our mutual attachments. It is the inseparable handmaid of happiness; opens a thousand avenues to indulgence of the purest and most exalted kind; unlocks to human view the mysteries of Providence; creates a heaven on earth; adds to the joys of the present the hopes of world expire on the senses, fills the whole futurity; and, when the objects of this heart with the glorious and animating pros

I allude to the lamented and uncommonly talented Miss Grace Aguilar, a distinguished lady of the Israelitish faith, whose brilliant writings have been read with thrilling delight in the gor: geous palaces of kings and in the rude hut of the peasant. Her name is immortal.

Without knowledge, the possessions of time were imperfect, and the presages of eternity unsatisfying. Speak, ye who are old and ignorant; do not all things appear insipid! Your passions have lost their fire, your feelings their edge, your very senses the natural relish of their respective objects. Worse, not better, for all you have seen and heard in the various stages of life, your every thought must be as insipid to others as it is to yourselves.