The Portland daily press., 1870-02-05
e'"'s $500 per annass,e, Ia, adrance.


or,, oo,,,o,. oV"'"ot Of Education for Febru
| aiJ contains an article on VI 1.,,,,
Dy u b. stetson, Androscogo;, g. : taos'ons
VISOR IN which the author epaaa1~l"" S"pei-
simple formula TO explain the wbo,o a. ~ 70"
mystery of vulgar fractions" In ' ana
thing from MIR. Stetson's pen it supres,, ,
that is valuable. A. z. Stone. The aoaeNN NcA
plished master of our Portland High seboo,
| has two articles, one on Reviewing Historv,'
and the other on Teaching the Geography os
Maine. The latter article contains sugoes.
ton which is so obviously just that we wonder
it has never been made before. OBSERVING
the dense ignorance of the geography Of Maine
that often exists in a mind crammed with gen.
eral geographical knowledge, Mr.. Stone says:
A geography for use in the schools of Maine.
should have iu addition to what is usually de-
voted to our State, the following: l. Several
pages of text describing with much minute
ness the face of the country, and indicating
the different kinds Of soil and their adaptation
for the various agricultural products; the
course and size of the rivers, and their fitness
for navigation and manufacturing purposes; !;
the lakes, bays, gulfs, and inlets, and the ex-
tent to which they can be used for commerce
and trade; the situation of the prln-
cpal cities and towns, and their chief busi-
ness; the location of the various institutions,
such as literary, reformatory, charitable, etc;
occupations OF the people; the mineral wealth
of the State, and much other kindred informa'
tlon which we need not here specify. 2. A
township map showing every town and plan
tauon IN the State, and made legible enough
to be read, which is more than can be said OF
any pocket township map which has ever
iaiien under our notice. 8 A railroad and
steamboat map, showing the courses of inland
and coastwise travel
G. G. Rounds of the Western Normal
school has practical article on "Oral Teach
ing. The Resident Editors department. is
wholly devoted to report of the late meeting
of the Board OF Education at Augusta. The
Journal is published by Brown Thurston,
Portland. Terms, $3.50 per aanum.
One of the pleasantest books we have met
with is The Life and Letters of Mary Russell
Milford, published by the Harpers from the
English edition, and for sale in Portland by
Loring, Short & Harmon. 1t appears in two
neat volumes of about 375 PIP. each, without
illustrations. The work is almost an autobi-
ography, told in her own letters to different
correspondents, and Mr.. L Estrange, who has
edited it, has done little more than arrange
the letters in chronological order. They ex-
tend from 1883, when Miss Milford was a
schoolgirl of twelve, to January 1855, ono
week before her death. They are written with
ease, grace and abandon, and are full Of genial
gossip and shrewd rewarks. From them we
get many bright glimpses of the artists and
literary men and women with whom she was
contemporary, such as Coleridge, Lamb, Tai
fourd, Sir William Elwood, the poet, lawyer
and painter, Mrs. Jephson, who afterwards
became Mrs. Hoare, Hayden, the painter, Miss
Barrett, the poetess, and other gifted people.
The book leaves very pleasant impressions of
the quiet useful life which Miss Milford led
in the English village she described so faith
fully. We extract her expressed opinion of
Byron:
Shall 1 confess to you that. except his jeu1
deSprit, which are capital, L am no admirer OF
that dandy song writer? And-I am half
afraid to say it-but was no very ardent en-
thusast for Lord Byron. L admit his stupen-
dous powers-hs exquisite nlorceau1, but he
was too melancholy; too morbid, too sneering
He attacked Napoleon; he failed in the dra-
ma, and did not find out that he had failed
And the want of purityi God forbid that l
should be canter; but the want of purity
the harm that both he and Mr.. Moore have
done to the youhg men and women OF the
day-must not he overlooked. though 1 trust 1t
is forgiven. After all it is great light that is
queDched-a most powerful instrument for
good and for evil; and the evil will pass away,
and the good will remain. Peace to his spiritP