It has not been our motive in writing this article to exalt the phonetic cause above all things else, to make it a hobby and claim for it supreme importance, as that would be impertinent, nor would we be considered a deluded enthusiastic theorist, guilty of rearing airy castles; indulging in speculative impossibilities and impracticable undertakings. speak as one who is proud to venerate the no We If, in the days of the witty Swift, we find doare for door; auntient, ancient; cleere, clear; schole, school; tweye, too; and so on, ad finitum, how will future generations" find our present orthography? One hundred years hence, our present print will be perused with a curiosity akin to that which we experience in reading that of Shakspeare's and Sheridan's days, or even, in our own " Colonial Records." History tells us, that the Ital-ble English language, the inexhaustable treas fans have changed from the Latin to their ury of a world's literature, and eternalized by earth's noblest -as one who would consepresent language, and the spelling, it seems, has followed the transition, yet the treasures crate its orthography to a truthful, harmoniwrapped 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. the profit on the increased number of new works would more than counterbalance the loss on old ones. In a "leader" to the "N. Y. Tribune," the writer says, "We deem the current saving to the Anglo-Saxons, by this reform alone, would not fall short of five millions of dollars per annum." Buncombe. TEACHER. THIS word has acquired quite a notoriety recently, and has become a fixed fact in our language. We are happy to present to our readers its origin. Carolina, who "voted for the Compensation Law,' and suffered the penalty of his independent votes, adds this note: 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 thousands of others. Were this the fact, how ever, we should infer, from the disgraceful, 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 FIRESIDE DEPARTMENT. Chat with the Young Readers. THE Editor's compliments to his young friends who read the Fireside Department. He is happy to announce to them that he has secured the assistance of COUSIN WILLIE WALLACE, who will have the general care of this department of our journal for the coming year. Cousin Willie is a young man, a great reader, constantly poring over books of travels, biography, history, and the like, together with a great pile of children's papers. which he takes for his own benefit, and we have no fears of our young friends' suffering by the change. On the contrary we feel assured from our personal knowledge of Cousin Willie's qualifications and popularity among the young people of his acquaintance, that he will furnish something unusually interesting and instructive for our young friends of the Fireside Department. We are happy to say that we have received a good number of answers to the Transposition in the last number, but not many of the Philosophical Enigma. We guess the boys find them difficult, [we do not know but the girls do, but perhaps it is not best to tell them so.] But if they were easy you would have no interest in them. So don't be dis Ir is the practice in many district schools, as well as in grammar schools and academies, to publish a paper. In cities and large towns, where the high school or academy is large, the |paper-which generally consists of original articles entirely is printed and circulated perhaps once a month. Where the paper cannot attain to a regularly published, subscription paper, and where it cannot be printed and circulated in type, the school can have their paper with at least equal pleasure and profit to themselves. We know of scarcely an exercise which, judiciously managed, will fur couraged, but work the harder over them. Easy enigmas won't help you think. The Ed-nish a greater amount of pleasure to any itor of THE HOME WREATH requests us to say that the answer to the Enigma in his paper may be sent to our address. Answers school, or be productive of more profit, than this of maintaining a regularly issued paper. We insert the following as a specimen. We are indebted for a large portion of the paper 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. THE HOME WREATH: A Weekly Journal for Home Improvement. Terms, For the Home Wreath. LINES, INSCRIBED TO RONALD D. PAGE. I'm twelve! I'm twelve to-day! Hurrah, boys! let us shout! Ye gloomy thoughts, get out! I'm twelve! I'm twelve to-day! Stole in upon my head; I'm twelve! I'm twelve to-day! Then help me to be glad! - 0· AN EXERCISE FOR SCHOLARS. NO. 1. pendance. To detale his conduct in the yeares which followed would be butt to relaite the hystery of the American war. It may be said generaly that wethin a verry short period after the declarashion of indipendance the affairs Gratis. of Amerrica were in a condishun so desparate, that perhaps nothing but the piculiear caracter of Washington's genious could have retreaved them. It required the consumate prudence, calm whisdom, the inflexable firmness, the modarate and well-balenced temper of Washinton to imbrace such a plann of pollicy and to pursivere in it: to resist the temptations of entreprize, to fix the confidance of his soldiers without the attraction of victery: to support the spirit of the armey and the peopel ammidst those sloe and caushious planns of dfensive warfare wich are more despereting than defeate itself: to restrain his owne hambition and the empettuosity of his troupes to indure temparary hobscurity for the sallvation of his contry and for the attanement of solled and imortal glory and to suffer even temparary reproach and oblaquy, sapported by the hapbrobation of his own conscience, and the applaus of that small number of wise men whose praise is an earnest of the hadmeration and grattitoode of possterity. Corage is enspired by succes, and it may be stimulated to dasperate exirtion even by callamity, but is generally pallseyed by inactivity. A sestem of caushous defence is the severest tryal of human fortitude and by this teste the firmness of Washington was tryde." In England, young candidates for appointment in the civil service are subjected to rigid examinations, designed to test their abilities and acquirements. The following extract, which we have somewhat abridged, shows one of the methods adopted for securing this end. It is said to be a literal copy of a document which a young applicant for a government clerkship was required to correct while undergoing his examination. We wonder how many of our young readers could put it into proper shape without consulting the dictionary. - ED. AN ECCENTRIC CLOCK. John Hatfield, who died at the age of one hundred and two, a soldier in the regiment of William and Mary, was tried and condemned by a court-martial for falling asleep on his duty upon the terrace at Windsor. He absolutely denied the charge against him, and solemnly declared that he heard St. Paul's clock strike thirteen, — the truth of which was much doubted by the court, because of the great distance. But whilst he was under sentence of death, an affidavit was made by strike thirteen instead of twelve; whereupon several persons, that the clock actually did he received his Majesty's pardon." HATE. Hannah More said: "If I wanted to punish an enemy, it should be by fastening on him the trouble of constantly hating somebody." "CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. At the braking out of the revolushonery war in Possunt, quia posse videntur : They are Amerrica, Washinton joined the caus of indi- 'able because they seem to be able. THE HOME WREATH. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1854. NOTHING INSIGNIFICANT. OUR humble sheet is a very small affair; but if any stern critic is disposed to despise it on that account, let us remind him that there is nothing so small as to be wholly insignificant, when viewed in all its relations. We everywhere find little things linked with greater, and thousands of minute and hidden causes are constantly interlocking and working together, to bring about those events which impress us with their vastness and importance. A spark of fire may set in train a conflagration which will lay waste thousands of acres. Large and populous islands in the Pacific ocean owe their origin to very small insects. The great globe itself is made up of little particles the universe is but an aggregate of atoms. The astronomer finds it necessary to note the minutest fractions of time in observing the transit of a star whose age is perhaps measured by thousands of centuries, and whose revolutions extend through infinite space. Thus are moments linked with ages in the economy of nature, and thus are we reminded that nothing is so minute as to be insignificant. I CAN'T. THIS phrase is always in the mouth of some children when requested to do anything. We once knew a boy who was greatly addicted to its use. He wanted to learn to skate, but af. ter one unsuccessful attempt, he gave it up, saying, "I can't." SEVERAL articles intended for this number are crowded out. We shall probably have to issue a a double number next week, to accommodate our friends. We observe that some of our correspondents occasionally apply the pronoun thou, and the pronominal adjectives thy and thine, to plural nouns. This is wrong. You and yours may be used either in the singular or plural number; but thou, thy, and thine are always singular. You cannot say to a father and mother, as a poem which we lately saw in a newspaper, (not in the "Wreath,") said, HON. JOHN KINGSBURY, LL. D., our excellent School Commissioner, delivered an eloquent and able lecture to the people of Highburg in the Academy last evening. The house was filled to its utmost capacity with an audience who exhibited their interest in education by their presence on such a cold evening, and their appreciation of the lecture by their earnest and unwearied attention for an hour and a half. The lecturer gave a very interesting account of the progress and presThe 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—"6 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. ply. be erected in the spring. A house can NEWS ITEMS. The Winter Term of the Highburg Academy commences on Monday next, and will continue eleven weeks. Robert Upton, A. M., Preceptor; Mr. Marcus Page, Assistant Teacher; Miss Martha D. Tillotson, Teacher of Drawing and Music. It is reported that traces of wolves have been seen recently near Turkey Hill, in the eastern part of Highburg. Several wolves have been killed this winter in the west part of the state, and we should not be surprised if some of the "varmints" make us a visit ere long. A lynx was shot last week in Freetown. The paper from which we glean this item says: "The animal is a rare one in this state. It is of a grayish color, with ears ending in tufts of black hair, standing [not the 'ears,' nor the hair,' we presume, but the lynx] a little more than a foot high, and measuring three feet in length. It subsists on hares, rabbits, and such small animals, occasionally attacking a sheep, or even a deer, by dropping on them [it] from a branch of a tree." There, boys, who will correct all the errors in this item, and send it to us as it should be? Correspondence. For the Wreath. SMALL BEGINNINGS. 66 A gentleman was once examining a very large and fine library in Boston, when the lady who had introduced him, asked hi n if he would like to see the "nucleus" of the collection. (If you do not know what "nucleus" means, you will have to turn to the dictionary, as I can think of no simpler word to substitute for it.) Yes, I should like to see it," replied the visitor. She then exhibited to him a Latin dictionary, which she said was purchased by the owner when a boy, with money obtained by the sale of blueberries. The owner was a farmer's boy, and that is the way he began his fine library. He is now a learned man, and is well known in this country and in Europe. 46 For the Wreath. VANITY-A FABLE. Two birds, whose plumage was very brilliant, and whose song was beautiful, were sitting on a tree, singing, when they discovered a man looking at them very intently. There is an admirer - see how we have entranced him! cried one of the birds, and she put on her proudest air, and warbled her sweetest song. "I do not like to be gazed at so earnestly by a stranger," modestly replied the other bird; "come, let us go and hide ourselves from the intruder." The modest 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, ed with violent cramps and inflammation, and began to show off all her airs, when suddenly 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 while heated from their exercise. This should be warning to skaters. The snow which fell Wednesday, tho' light, is sufficient to make pretty good sleighing, and every body seems to be improving it. The proprietors, contributors and subscribers of the " Wreath" took their first sleighride, this season, on Thursday. They were all comfortably stowed away in a sleigh and a pung! MORAL. Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." KETA. For the Wreath. A CUNNING FELLOW. THE summer that I lived in Brookdale, I was one day in the woods, with my cousin Jerry, and another boy, named Clinton, when we found a fox's hole. We began to dig her out; but when we got to the end of the hole, we found nothing. Clinton said he had known a fox to bank herself up in a separate Howard Block and the Museum Build-cell, when her hole was invaded; and we deing in Providence, were burned about the 80. middle of last month. The conflagration was visible at Highburg, and we understand attracted a crowd of many thousand persons in Providence, who assembled in the adjoining streets to see the brilliant sight. termined to see if our fox had not served us We dug, and soon found eight little ones, all stowed away in a eell by themselves. We then tried to find the old one, but could not. So we took the little ones and started off; out of the hole and disappear. but on looking back we saw the old fox dart We went back to examine the hole again, and found |