If, in the days of the witty Swift, we find It has not been our motive in writing this doare for door; auntient, ancient ; cleere, article to exalt the phonetic cause above all clear; schole, school; tweye, too; and so on, things else, to make it a hobby and claim for it ad finitum, how will « future generations” supreme importance, as that would be imperfind our present orthography? One hundred tinent, nor would we be considered a deluded years hence, our present print will be perused enthusiastic theorist, guilty of rearing airy with a curiosity akin to that which we expe- castles ; indulging in speculative impossibilirience in reading that of Shakspeare's and ties and impracticable undertakings. We Sheridan's days, or even, in our own “ Colo- speak as one who is proud to venerate the nonial Records.” History tells us, that the Ital- ble English language, the inexhaustable treas. (ans have changed from the Latin to their ury of a world's literature, and eternalized by present language, and the spelling, it seems, earth's noblest — as one who would consehas followed the transition, yet the treasures crate its orthography to a truthful, harmoni. wrapped up in their primitive language are ous system of representative characters for its accessible to all who would possess them. sounds, some scientific, indivisible alphabet Were phonotypy in vogue, there would be a that would divest our great language of its great many more readers than now, because present lawless orthographic incongruities ; learning to read - at present the most difficult give it a cosmopolitan basis, pave its way to of human attainments --- would be rendered universality, and make our speech and writing easy and attractive, consequently, for books, one beatific link of truth and joy for time past, demand and supply would be greater, and present, and to come.

TEACHER the profit on the increased number of new works would more than counterbalance the

Buncombe. loss on old ones. In a “ leader” to the “ N. Y. Tribune,” the writer says, “ We deem the This word has acquired quite a notoriety recurrent saving to the Anglo-Saxons, by this cently, and has become a fixed fact in our lanreform alone, would not fall short of five guage. We are happy to present to our readmillions of dollars per annum.”

ers its origin, It is often argued that phorotypy has a Joseph Tinker Buckingham, in his “Pertendency to corrupt one's spelling - an asser-sonal Memoirs,” (Boston, 1852,) vol. 1, page tion whose denial is corroborated, not only by 207, in speaking of Mr. Culpepper of North our own experience, but by the experience of Carolina, who “ voted for the Compensation thousands of others. Were this the fact, how Law,' and suffered the penalty of his indepenever, we should infer, from the disgraceful, dent votes, adds this note : egregious blunders committed by some of the “Buncombe County, in North Carolina, teachers, in spelling, at the institute, that they was a part of the district which Mr. Culpepwere thoroughly phoneticised! Be those teach-per represented, and the place of his residence. ers, who missed to spell, correctly, the few, In advocating the • Compensation Law,' he simple, daily occurring words which were dic- said he was not merely speaking for Buncombe, tated, phonoticians or not, they certainly exhi- but for the nation. Hence the phrase, 'speakbited an orthographic proficiency that no ing for Bunkum,' when reference is made to a common school boy would be over anxious self-electioneering speech, has grown into a to possess.

proverb."

year.

FIRESIDE DEPARTMENT. Aristotle ; 4. Truth; 5. Ideas; 6. Science; 7.

Terms ; 8. Hydrogen ; 9. Euclid; 10. SocraChat with the Young Readers.

tes; 11. Oxygen ; 12. Unity ; 13. Locke. My

whole - WHAT 19 THE Sott? The Editor's compliments to his young

Answers to the Transposition from A. E. friends who read the Fireside Department.

and M. E., Wickford; K., Raymond, Talbot, He is happy to announce to them that he has

and M., Providence ; Lizzie, Phillipston, Ms. secured the assistance of Cousin WILLIE

G. and M., Warren. Answer.-— And God Wallace, who will have the general care of

sħall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and this department of our journal for the coming

there shall be no more death, neither sorrow

nor crying, neither shall there be any more Cousin Willie is a young man, a great read

pain.”-REV. XXI: 4. er, constantly poring over books of travels, biography, history, and the like, together

Cousin Willie wishes us to say that he with a great pile of children's papers, which

shall be happy to receive questions, puzzles, he takes for his own benefit, and we have no

and enigmas from our young readers. He fears of our young friends' suffering by the

will be glad to receive letters from any of them. change. On the contrary we feel assured from our personal knowledge of Cousin

The Home Wreath. Willie's qualifications and popularity among the young people of his acquaintance, that! Ir is the ora

IT is the practice in many district schools, he will furnish something unusually interest-Las well as in coram

as well as in grammar schools and academies, ing and instructive for our young friends of

to publish a paper. In cities and large towns, the Fireside Department.

where the high school or academy is large, the We are happy to say that we have received

paper — which generally consists of original a good number of answers to the Transposi

articles entirely - is printed and circulated tion in the last number, but not many of the

of the perhaps once a month. Where the paper canPhilosophical Enigma. We guess the boys

The boys not attain to a regularly published, subscripfind them difficult, - [we do not know but

tion paper, and where it cannot be printed and the girls do, but perhaps it is not best to tell

circulated in type, the school can have their them so.) But if they were easy you would

paper with at least equal pleasure and profit have no interest in them. So don't be dis

to themselves. We know of scarcely an excouraged, but work the harder over them.

ercise which, judiciously managed, will furEasy enigmas won't help you think. The Ed

nish a greater amount of pleasure to any itor of The Home WREATH requests us to

school, or be productive of more profit, than say that the answer to the Enigma in his pa- this of maintaining a regularly issued paper. per may be sent to our address.

We insert the following as a specimen. We

are indebted for a large portion of the paper Answers

to a little book from which we have before To the Philosophical Enigma in our last have quoted, published by Messrs. Gould & Linbeen received from A. E. and M. E., Wick-coln, of Boston, which, together with the othford ; and K., Providence. K. does not agree ers which comprise the series of Aimwell with the author of the enigma in respect to 1 Stories, we wish were in the school library of and 13. Answer.1. Watts ; 2. Harvey; 3.' every district in Rhode Island.

VOL. I.

HIGHBURG, DECEMBER 4, 1858.

NO. 1.

THE HOME WREATH:

pendance. To detale his conduct in the yeares

which followed would be butt to relaite the A Weekly Journal for Home Improvement. hystery of the American war. It may be said PAGE & Co., PUBLISHERS.

generaly that wethin a verry short peeriod af

ter the declarashion of indipendance the affairs Permi, - - - - - - - Gratis. of Amerrica were in a condishun so desparate,

that perhaps nothing but the piculiear carac

ter of Washington's genious could have reFor the Home Wreath.

treaved them. It required the consumate LINES,

prudence, calm whisdom, the inflexable firm

ness, the modaratc and well-balenced temper INSCRIBED TO RONALD D. PAGE.

of Washinton to imbrace such a plann ot pol

licy and to pursivere in it: to resist the tempI'm twelve! I'm twelve to-day!

tations of entreprize, to fix the confidance of Hurrah, boys! let us shout!

his soldiers without the attraction of victery : Come, leave your work and play,

to support the spirit of the armey and the And kick old care away;

peopel ammidst those sloe and caushious Ye gloomy thoughts, get out!

planns of dfensive warfare wich are more deWe'll have no mopes about

spereting than defeate itself: to restrain his I'm twelve! I'm twelve to-day!

owne hambition and the empettuosity of his troupes : to indure temparary hobscurity for

the sallvation of his contry and for the atI'm twelve! I'm twelve to-day!

tanement of solled and imortal glory : and to A dozen years have fled

suffer even temparary reproach and oblaquy, Since first the morning ray,

sapported by the hapbrobation of his own All sober, cold and gray,

conscience, and the applaus of that small Stole in upon my head;

number of wise men whose praise is an earn

est of the hadmeration and grattitoode of How fast old Time hath sped !

possterity. Corage is enspired by succes, I'm twelve! I'm twelve to-day!

and it may be stimulated to dasperate exir

tion even by callamity, but is generally pallI'm twelve! I'm twelve to-day!

seyed by inactivity. A. sestem of caushous Then help me to be glad!

defence is the severest tryal of human fortiCome all, and let's be gay

tude and by this teste the firmness of WashThere's nothing more to pay

ington was tryde."
For being bright than sad;
Cheer up, then, lass and lad!

AN ECCENTRIC CLOCK.
I'm twelve ! I'm twelve to-day!

John Hatfield, who died at the age of one

hundred and two, a soldier in the regiment of AN EXERCISE FOR SCHOLARS.

William and Mary, was tried and condemned

by a court-martial for falling asleep on his In England, young candidates for appoint- duty upon the terrace at Windsor. He absoment in the civil service are subjected to rigid

lutely denied the charge against him, and

“solemnly declared that he heard St. Paul's examinations, designed to test their abilities

ied to test their abilities clock strike thirteen, - the truth of which and acquirements. The following extract, was much doubted by the court, because of which we have somewhat abridged, shows the great distance. But whilst he was under one of the methods adopted for securing this

sentence of death, an affidavit was made by

several persons, that the clock actually did end. It is said to be a literal copy of a doc- strike thirteen instead of twelve ; whereupon ument which a young applicant for a govern- he received his Majesty's pardon. ment clerkship was required to correct while undergoing his examination. We wonder how | HAT. Hannah More said : “If I want. many of our young readers could put it into led to punish an enemy, it should be by fastproper shape without consulting the dictiona- ening on him the trouble of constantly hating ry. - ED.

somebody." “CHARACTER OP WASHINGTON. – At the braking out of the revolushonery war in Possunt, quia posse videntur : They are Amerrica, Washintop joined the caus of indi. 'able because they seem to be able.

THE HOME WREATH. That boy is now a young man, but he is an

ignorant, idle, and shistless fellow, and, we SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1854.

| fear, will never be of much use either to himself or to the world.

Commend us to the boy or girl who never NOTIIING INSIGNIFICANT.

says “I can't,” except when enticed to do Our humble sheet is a very small affair; wrong. “I can" does all things; “I can't," but if any stern critic is disposed to despise it nothing. on that account, let us remind him that there is nothing so small as to be wholly insignifi

TO CORRESPONDENTS. cant, when viewed in all its relations. We

Several articles intended for this number everywhere find little things linked with

| are crowded out. We shall probably have to greater, and thousands of minute and hidden

issue a double number next week, to accomcauses are constantly interlocking and work

modate our friends. We observe that some of ing together, to bring about those events which impress us with their vastness and im

our correspondents occasionally apply the

| pronoun thou, and the pronominal adjectives portance. A spark of fire may set in train a conflagration which will lay waste thousands

thy and thine, to plural nouns. This is wrong.

You and yours may be used either in the sinof acres. Large and populous islands in the

gular or plural number; but thou, thy, and Pacific ocean owe their origin to very small insects. The great globe itself is made up of

thine are always singular. You cannot say

to a father and mother, as a poem which we little particles — the universe is but an aggregate of atoms. The astronomer finds it ne

lately saw in a newspaper, (not in the

« Wreath,") said, cessary to note the minutest fractions of time

" Thy darling is in heaven.” in observing the transit of a star whose age is perhaps measured by thousands of centuries, and whose revolutions extend through

EDUCATIONAL LECTURE. infinite space. Thus are moments linked with Hon. Joux KINGSBURY, LL. D., our excelages in the economy of nature, and thus are lent School Commissioner, delivered an elowe reminded that nothing is so minute as to quent and able lecture to the people of Highbe insignificant.

burg in the Academy last evening. The

house was filled to its utmost capacity with I CAN'T.

| an audience who exhibited their interest in edThis phrase is always in the mouth of someucation by their presence on such a cold evechildren when requested to do anything. We ning, and their appreciation of the lecture by once knew a boy who was greatly addicted to their earnest and unwearied attention for an its use. He wanted to learn to skate, but af. hour and a half. The lecturer gave a very ter one unsuccessful attempt, he gave it up, interesting account of the progress and pres. saying, “I can't.” The next summer sever-ent condition of popular education in our al of his playmates learned to swim, and he state, comparing the present with the past, also wanted to learn ; but after getting his and exhorted the people of Highburg to press mouth and ears full of water, one day, he forward in the noble work of giving such an cried, “I can't," and that was the end of education to their children as shall fit them swimming experiments. If his class had a for whatever station in life their talents and dificult lesson, he never learned it, and his ex- the necessities of the community shall call cuse was always the same - "I can't.” We them to occupy. We hope the suggestion once set him a copy in his writing-book, and that the town more completely grade their told him that if he could not imitate it per- schools and establish a high school, will be fectly, he must write as well as he could. "I soon carried out. Why should we not have can't," was the ready reply. " What !" we a high school as well as Freetown? . We have exclaimed, “ can't you write as well as you one hundred more population. The school can?" He looked ashamed, but made no re- should be established at once. A house can

be erected in the spring.

ply.

NEWS ITEMS.

Correspondence.
T The Winter Term of the Highburg
Academy commences on Monday next, and

For the Wreath. will continue eleven weeks. Robert Upton,

SMALL BEGINNINGS. A. M., Preceptor; Mr. Marcus Page, Assist - A gentleman was once examining a very ant Teacher ; Miss Martha D. Tillotson, large and fine library in Boston, when the la

dy who had introduced him, asked hi n if he Teacher of Drawing and Music.

would like to see the “nucleus” of the colF It is reported that traces of wolves have lection. (If you do not know what “nucle

us" means, you will have to turn to the dicbeen seen recently near Turkey Hill, in the

tionary, as I can think of no simpler word to eastern part of Highburg. Several wolves have substitute for it.) "Yes, I should like to see been killed this winter in the west part of it,” replied the visitor. She then exhibited to the state, and we should not be surprised if him a Latin dictionary, which she said was

purchased by the owner when a boy, with some of the “ varmints" make us a visit ere

money obtained by the sale of blueberries. long.

The owner was a farmer's boy, and that

is the way he began his fine library. He is 7 A lynx was shot last week in Free

now a learned man, and is well known in this town. The paper from which we glean this country and in Europe. item says : “ The animal is a rare one in this state. It is of a grayish color, with ears end

For the Wreath. ing in tufts of black hair, standing (not the

VANITY - AFABLE. Sears,' nor the hair,' we presume, but the

Two birds, whose plumage was very brillynx) a little more than a foot high, and

liant, and whose song was beautiful, were measuring three feet in length. It subsists on sitting on a tree, singing, when they discoverhares, rabbits, and such small animals, occa- ed a man looking at them very intently. sionally attacking a sheep, or even a deer, by “ There is an admirer - see how we have en

tranced him!” cried one of the birds, and dropping on them [it] from a branch of a.

she put on her proudest air, and warbled her tree.” There, boys, who will correct all the sweetest song. " I do not like to be gazed at errors in this item, and send it to us as it so earnestly by a stranger,” modestly replied should be

the other bird ; " come, let us go and hide

ourselves from the intruder." The modest T Two boys who had been skating in bird flew into a thicket and concealed herself; New York, a week or two since, were attack

but the other, flying to the topmost bough,

began to show off all her airs, when suddened with violent cramps and inflammation, and

and !y the sharp crack of a gun was heard, and one of them died from the effects. It is con- the silly bird fell dead. jectured that they laid down upon the ice MORAL. — “ Pride goeth before destruction, while heated from their exercise. This should and an haughty spirit before a fall.”

KETA. be warning to skaters. The snow which fell Wednesday, tho'

For the Wreath. light, is sufficient to make pretty good sleigh

A CUXXING FELLOW. ing, and every body seems to be improving it.

The summer that I lived in Brookdale, I The proprietors, contributors and subscribers

was one day in the woods, with my cousin of the “ Wreath” took their first sleigh- Jerry, and another boy, named Clinton, when ride, this season, on Thursday. They were we found a fox's hole. We began to dig her all comfortably stowed away in a sleigh and a out; but when we got to the end of the hole,

we found nothing. Cliiton said he had pung!

known a fox to bank herself up in a separate Howard Block and the Museum Build

cell, when her hole was invaded ; and we de

| termined to see if our fox had not served us ing in Providence, were burned about the so. We dug, and soon found eight little ones, middle of last month. The conflagration was all stowed away in a cell by themselves. We visible at Highburg, and we understand at then tried to find the old one, but could not. tracted a crowd of many thousand persons in

So we took the little ones and started off ;

but on looking back we saw the old fox dart Providence, who assembled in the adjoining out of the hole and disappear. We went streets to see the brilliant sight.

1 back to examine the hole again, and found