Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1860-03-09

,remity Of our lard Bv the canal, the
telegraph and the railroad she has
brought under subsection anI chained to
her side this vast country and NEST re
galy she sits there now on her Island
throne and lcvies her subsidies on all the
land; the flags of every nation float IN
her breezcs; in her marts are gathered
the products aud the handy-work OF eS-
cry cline, and along her strec'srun ana
throb the pulses OF the world :.
SO too IN all the various branches OF
;ri. science and literature our native
State has attained a deserved emincnce;
on every arena OH which human &C
tivl,y is exercised, and in every avenue
into which human thought penetratcs,
she is found among the foremost; her
school system is surpassed by no other
in the country, and no where else is so
much expended, or 50 judiciously, as in
the Empire State. A very few details
on this important subject may not be
unintercsting: In the year 1858 the
aggregate expenditures in the State of
New York for school purposes were
So 3,995.23; during that year there
were employed in her common schools
20, 1913 teachers aud there were taught
57,73l pupils; there were l53 private
schools, in which there were taught 49,
49, pupils the Normal School at AL
banv has been established an! in opera
ton about fourteen years and during
that time 3,O5s pupils have received di-
plomas. most Of whom have become
teachers; there are in the common
school libraries of York l,4O2,253 vol
umes and experience has shown these to
he impcrtan aids to the cause OF edu-
cation.
OF the Colleges and Universities Of
New York | shall not now speak, nor OF
her philanthropic institutions, her great
libraries, or her galleries OF art, for all
these have attained wide renown.
We should remember, and reverence
too, our great men-those gifted sons
who have given our State place in
history,-men who on the battle fields
of our country have achieved imperish
able renown, and who in the Councils of
the State and Nation have left splendid
traces cf their ability, their enterprise
and their patriotism.
The sons and daughters Of New York
have done much in the formation Of an
American literature. Upon this subject
should delight to dwell, but the occa
sion will permit me only passing glance.
Years hence, as the Pilgrim wanders
over our native State, he will stop to re-
trace the scenes made famous by our
great novelist and as he stands on the
shores of Champlain he will see-more
beautiful than the verdure, brighter tho
the sunshine, the magnificent and gor-
geous drapery thrown over those scenes
by the genius of Cooper; and for gener-
atons to come from out those untamablc
wiIds will come the voices of those i'm
perishable characters he conjured into
being; and that other gentle, genial and
gifted one, who SO lately at Sunnyside,
launched his barque in his serene even
ing-time, and moved off from earth His
works have outlived him, and are the
pride Of this age, land will be the classics of
other ages. Washington Irving is dead!
but the productions OF his genius remain
to attest his greatness. From out the
gloom they come those strange crea-
tons of his fancy. and stand before us
as distinct and historic as any of those
characters he has so delightfully."- por-
trayed in his charming biographies, and
these will remain an everlasting possess
ion to humanity The smoke which en-
velopes them, will sometimes roll away,
and reveal to us the burly forms of those
three Dutch Governors, over whose un-
utterabIe ponderings, disastrous projects,
and chivalric achievements, as recorded
by the fancy and the humor of Irving, we
have SO often fingered, and forth from
the mists which envelop the hills, will
sometimes stalk the tall gaunt form of
Ichabod Crane, and listening there in the
quiet summer evening, you will still seem
to hear his voice in the distance. chant
ing melancholy psalm.tune among the
tranquil solitudes of Sleepy Hollow.
have thus attempted to gather up
some few facts connected with the State
of New York. 1t is necessarily an i'm
perfect sketch, but it is sufficient to
show that we have some reason to be
proud of our native State, and to incite
us to cherish and revere her memory.
Many of tho evils of western life might
be corrected if these home-feeliugs were
more cherished. Patriotism is a noble
virtue, and with it are linked all the vir-
tues. A great poet indeed tells us of
one:
"Who left Corssir's namo to other times,
Linked with one virtue and tn ousand crimes"
But nevertheless it is true, that if one
great vice be permitted to take possess
ion of our hearts, it is apt to pervade and
faint our whole being.
1t is common accusation that the
emigrant from the old States to the new
somehow loses has conscience on the way
and that he does things here he would be
ashamed to do in his old home. This
may be only pleasant satire, but no
doubt there is some foundation for the
accusation. Away from the restraints Of
home, on the lookout for fortune, with
glittering temptations all around him,
and these beautiful prairies spread before
him, as a great gambling board ; too
often he has been tempted to stake for
tune and reputation on the hazard, and
has lost his all at a single throw. This
mania for speculation is confined to no
one class. The farmer the merchant,
the artiZan time and again, have neglect