Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1855-12-08

attractions OF the outward Worlu hrc coul-
plctely excluded. The bleak winds, the driv-
ing snow aud icy mir all point to the refuge
within. The few subjects for study present.
ed by the monotony Of winter leave the mind
comparatively free to draw upon its resources
for topics of study; while the presence of all
the members of the family contributes largely
to the facilities for general culture or social
Improvement. In such circles reading or con-
versation can he conducted with the happest
effects, as all can participate simultaneously
in the advantages to he derived from those
exercises.
The means for study and mental improve
mcnt are so cheap and accessible that no man
in New England can present valid excuse
for not having them constantly at hand. The
school books of the older scholars, the school
and village libraries, and above all the news
paper, wherein nm cpitome Of the present
condition of the whole civilized world Gun be
obtained for few pennies, all afford sources
for instruction and enjoyment every where
abundant anil easily to be obtained. In all
these we find exhaustless supplies of material
for thought and study relating to agriculture
aud other industrial pursuits, politics, history,
biography, travels, geography and finance, to
say nothing of moral and religious instruc-
ton.
Among these many instrumentalites there is
no one that will compare with well conduct
ed newspaper. 1t is readily TO be obtained in
every town aud district in our country. No
hamlet is so remote MS not TO be reached
weekly by this great engine of civilization,
and no poverty is 50 squallid that need deprive
any individual of the advantages ii carries
with it. Aside from the information il con-
veys and the thoughts aud suggestions to
which il gives origin and direction, its perus-
al by the young stimulates their desire for
knowledge and fosters a love for reading
which, when once obtained, will be sure to
open the paths that lend to success If not ia
eminence. The influence of newspaper IN
a family of children is such that any teacher
although a stranger, eau generally deterniiu,
10y the mental characteristics Of his pupils
those who have, and those who have not, en-
ljoyed the benefit of these sheet instructors.
As the long winter evenings have now com,
it would be well for every family TO make i'm.
mediate precision for improving this other
wise uuoccuPied time for the purposes of mu
tunl instruction and Improvement Such
course will more than double the advantages
the children derive from the schools they ai
tend; it will be the means perhaps of keeping
them away from untoward influences, and j
will exert a happy and improving effect upor
every member of the family. Many Of ths
most eminen. men, in every department o
life, that our country has produced, owe al
of their success to the habit they early acquir
ed Of improving their winter evenings in study
As examples in point two of the most promi
nent men in Congress, Lewis ID. Campbell o
Ohio, and n. z. Banks, Jr., of Massachusetts
both Of them prominent candidates for th,
Speakership of the national House of Rep
resentatives-never attended school, one aitei
he was twelve and the other after he wal
fourteen years of age. They both toiled eur
ly for livelihood. and acquired the known
edge which laid the foundation for their pres
ent exalted position, only after the labors ot
the day were concluded. Thousands Of sim.
liar cases might be named, which conclusively
prove tina, their is no situation so humble, n,
means so limited that need deprive any one il
this country--out of the latitude of slavery
we mean--of securing a good education
Then improve the winter evenings.