The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1864-08-19

qulre conformity to these regulations sew
enth, "to have generally the same authority,
and perform the same duties that assessors.
supervisors and trustees have in the North
ern States in the matter of establishing and
conducting common schools"
The remaining sections empower the Board
to assess and levy school tax upon real
and personal property, including crops of
plantations, in each school district sufficient
to defray the annual expense of sustain
ing the schools, to be collected from the
persons in occupation of the property as
sessed by the Parish Provost Marshal and
to be paid over to the Board by him within
thirty days after the tax list is placed in his
hands.
Then follows clause which looks pretty
enough on paper, but which, in transmitting
from theory to fact, affords job as uphill
as the task Of Sisyphus. "The Parish Pro-
vost Marshal shall forthwith report to the
Board whether there are in the districts of
his parish any buildings available and suita-
BILE for school houses, and shall at all times,
when required, assist by his authority the
Board in carrying out the spirit of this Or
der" What charming provision, provided
also that all provost marshals were the soul
of honor and moral courage, and devoid of
avarlce, intemperance, lazlness or vanity.
Your humble servant after doing busines, as
an agent of the Board with nearly all of
these, will not venture to pronounce more
than half of them to be either angels or men.
l refer not to any ambiguity, although in
one case it actually existed,-that of one
who left the pulpit for the captaincy of a
company of Massachusetts, patriots, but
whom | have always found either playing
euchre, drinking Scotch ale, or gossiping
with squad of dandy leutenants. The
ambiguity in this case was very unlike that
implied by the late writer who divided the
world into three great theological classes,
namely, saints, sinners and the Beecher fam
lily. The captain may be a good soldier,
Methodist minister and provost marshal
but when he told me he had found no vacant
buildings suitable for the purposes of the
Board, owing to the fact that his time had
been all engrossed with other business and
duties, concluded that euchre, prayer, ale,
and preaching may all be very good, but
each only in its own way,-the whole of
them bad, when preventing one from doing
greater good. But through the aid of col
ored coadiutors found some buildings to
my purpose, called the reverend captains
attention 20 their seizure (also to little fact
that neighborng provost marshal in Pla- /.
queG,ine Parish had been dismissed by the
Provost Malshal General for not finding
time to cooperate with the Board,) and he
has since served US very faithfully insomuch
that we have six teachers and 800 pupils in
his parish, (county,) and shall double the
number at the end of the hot season.
But must not monopolize your space by
attempting to describe the non-committai
wavs by which some Of the younger provost
marshals who profess to do all in their pow
er for the objects of the Board, cunningly
manage to cater to the wishes and prejudices
of the loyal rebels at whose luxurious
mansions, especially in the case OF "con-
federate widows,"0 they are welcome visitors.
Yet, in the face Of these and myriad
other obstacles the Board has established,
and are now keeping in successful operation,
sixty colored schools, containing an aggre-
gate of 1000 pupils, and giving employment
| to 100 teachers. The American Missionary
/ Association, of whose good work in the Cult
! Department Mr.. Hubbs, the civilian member
of the Board, is the superintendent, is
great co.workel with the Board, especially
in the item of supplying teachers, and upon
the arrival of its bevy of recruits at the
end of the hot season, the magnitude of the
field of labor under the Boald will be nearly
doubled. In fact, Gen. Bank educat onal
system may be called the child of the A. Nj.
A. and MIR. H. its godfather, for, as | am in
formed, the General freely availed himself of
the educational and missionary experience
and counsels of MIR. H. in making up the
above order No. 3S.
Nine-tenths of our teachers are females
and of the ten males, six are the respective
; husbands of six of the former. The wages
of lady teacher is sixty dollars per month
!: "a rate which may seem high to some stln-
gy-souled school committees in Vermont, but
which is not very high in consideration that
her board is from five to six dollars per week
and other expenses at corresponding figure.
| Of the tour-ffths of our schools outside CT
New Orleans, few are in localities where a
, loss of caste if not actual personal danger
would accrue to any lady volunteering to
board the teacher. Southern danes cannot
I understand that woman who condescends
f to teach "niggers can be "lady." But
if there is not a score or two OF genuine
t ladies among those OF the teachers under
t the Board with whom my duties have called
me into business intercourse, God never
: made lady. Mark my prophecy these
g pioneers will, in less than decade, SO revo
: lutionize public opinion here that every wo
man of Intelligence will be ashamed of 1
y Marie St. Clair as lady.model, and the
.ao. arisirn frnm the isorahIa stnno