being offered in exchange for them the ascetic, materialistic worship and the soulless pageantry of other sects, whom we are about being taught to imitate. But it is not in place here to make further allusion to that topic, and we will adhere to the branch of the subject we have taken in hand. The religious festivities of our rural communities have ever given a pleasing tincture to the education of our people, and the pupils of our schools have, at all times, felt their influence. We perceive this in the strong recollections of those, who return to us in the maturity of years, revisit the old haunts of youth with the most endearing reminiscences, and feel the re-awakening of the early religious emotions with which our primitive festivals inspired them. In literary instruction our schools have not been accustomed to make a show of much pretension, permanent educational principles lying at the basis of their system: but although they do not assume to do it, they in fact, effect a great deal. The youth who are there placed in charge are sent between the ages of ten and twelve years, at the most plastic period of life, when the sinews of the passions bend to restraint, and a preceptor's voice can exercise its fascinations. At this point of boyhood, it is the mode and process of tuition, and not the subject inculcated, that decide, in a great measure the destiny of the mind; and so deeply laid is the whole scheme of Moravian education, that this design becomes apparent in all branches of instruction. We allude more particularly to what has been, as we regret to say modern improvements have made their innovations among us, and thus deteriorated the cause of true education, and we should like to see, that, where this has been done, the old system should be recalled in all its strength and utility. One of the most indefatigable, useful and devoted teachers, who went through a ten years' martyrdom at Nazareth Hall, who was guided by the most scrupulous exactness in literary instruction and the greatest vigilance in the enforcement of rules of conduct, adopted the standing motto, "What is worth doing at all, is worth doing well."-Resting upon this maxim, he rectified his pupils' tasks with such nicety, and was so cautious in expunging error, so punctilious in all his inculcations, that the disciples who drew their knowledge from such a source could not fail to become correct. Correctness is, therefore, one of the great principles laid down in our literary instruction: it is a principle which lies at the root of all instruction and the want of its inculcation in our national schools forms the most serious impediment to their success, and renders a large portion of their labors abortive as far as true education is concerned. The old manner of instruction, and still to some extent prevalent, of teaching by lecture, is the best method we can conceive, * and we can imagine no better trial of the pupil's memory and the test of his capacity than by teaching to him with oral explanations, or going through a mathematical or grammatical exercise, and then demanding a repetition of what he had heard. The whole time spent at our schools, with the exception of the very moderate portion devoted to recreation, is occupied by study, and, considering that the object is to instill knowledge in the most thorough manner, and with a view to the most permanent results, we effect all that can be effected with the human mind, during its plastic years. That very extensive ground is not gone over is essential to the wisdom of the scheme. A very considerable portion of the attempted knowledge and literary graces, which form the programme of our popular national seminaries, prove the bane of what is intrinsically education, since the very species of knowledge aimed at can only be the deliberate work of after life. The scheme of education among us embraces a silent and subtile process. Some parents who receive these children back from a three years' training in our schools, who sent them there under a vague impression of their excellence, often perceive no salient traits of scholarship, little or no external accomplishment, and deem the time lost, and that their offspring might have done better at other academies. But in most of such instances the actual history of development has not been traced, nor do they discover how their children have progressed until the maturer moral character unfolds itself. The pride of the parent turns irresistibly to the visible accomplishment of his child, without reference to the actual growth of the mind in fixed moral power. In the majority of cases, those who have gone through an academical course in our schools have become reputable in character and deportment, and the cases are rare in which no sympathy ever sprung up between our institutions and the pupils. We should not forget to bear in mind the strong hold which musical instruction has ever had upon the emotional sensibilities of our pupils; and the tones of the old classical compositions, mingled with the unrivalled Moravian hymn, come up with all the recollections and associations of the past. Within the walls of our institutions music is a ceaseless theme, and the influence it exercises upon the formation of a cultivated mind is known, and acknowledged, but cannot be described. The love of the art itself is of German extraction, and is inseparably connected with the highest mental and religious culture. That the youth should become musicians is by no means a necessary result, not even a desirable one; we would only insist that music should have its sway in the whole formation and refinement of mind and heart. We have no room in these pages to explain in detail the real merits of our schools, but we would recommend to those in whose hands are placed their control and government, to forbear falling in with the popular mode of thought, that modern improvements should be tried in every new phase, and every new educational suggestion be adopted. In our own peculiar case there could be no greater fallacy.Our old mode of tuition is so deeply grounded and the first principles sought after of such ancient origin, that no room is left for modern invention there. The youthfulness of instructors has been a subject often commented upon, but owing to the peculiar organization of our society, this could not be remedied. It is a sine qua non that a teacher should have been reared within the walls of our own schools; as this alone will fit him to carry out, and be the instrument of the system of which the teachers form a part. It is a prominent mark of Moravian Christianity that self-sacrifice should impel all ulterior motives; hence the phe nomenon of this church, having, in the light of self-sacrifice and philanthropic devotion, no equal in modern history, stands out in strong relief.. Preceptorship is but one of the stages of its martyrdom, and to what extent self-sacrifice is undergone during a five to ten years' service therein, none but the initiated can conceive. No bought services could ever be applied here. It has been repeatedly tried and the inefficiency of the teacher, on the score of want of training, always became obvious. - We close these cursory remarks on the merits of our boarding schools, and trust our views will meet with a ready response from all who have made the subject a study. J. H. There is, beyond the tomb, a happy home; Once there, thou wouldst not from, its pleasures roam; Adorn'd in it thou couldst not know distress; There is a harp, which shall for ever be, Tun'd to the strains of heaven's melody; BITUARY. Fell ́asleep in Jesus, on the 20th of July last, at Salem, N. C., br. BERNHARD E DE SCHWEINITZ, minister of the Moravian congregation on Staten Island, in the 26th year of his age. He had left his home, the wife of his bosom and his infant child, in order to celebrate, at Salem, with his mother and his three brothers, a family reunion. On the first Sunday of his visit the sacrament of the Lord's supper was administered, his eldest brother being one of the officiating ministers. He partook of it with his two other brothers at his side. This was the solemn preparation for his departure. A few days after he became indisposed, and soon his indisposition grew into an intermittent fever; yet not the slightest danger was apprehended, in fact he was, to all appearances, almost convalescent, when in the night of the 19th to the 20th of July, a sudden change took place in the nature of his disease, and, in five hours, his spirit had fled to the communion of just men made perfect, to the marriage-supper of the Lamb. It would ill become him who pens these lines, to write a eulogy on the departed one. Yet, when recording so mysterious a providence as this, when telling of a dispensation, which has not only bowed a young wife, an aged mother and three brothers to the very dust with sorrow, but has also caused sympathizing tears of friendship to flow in almost every part of our American Church, who will forbid a mourning brother to speak out of the fulness of his heart? He who hath gone unto his Father's house, and unto the rest in his Saviour's presence, was an ardent, faithful servant of that Saviour. At an unusually early age, he went forth to labor in the vineyard of the Church. The abilities which God had given him, he applied to God's honor and glory, preaching the word boldly, fully, earnestly. A depth of Christian experience beyond his years, a simple, childlike faith, conceived in the very spirit of the early days of the Brethren's Church, and a strong, patriotic love for the Zion of his fathers, belonged unto him. The writer of these lines has more than once been directed and comforted in the performance of his own ministerial duties by letters received from this his younger brother, has more than once heard him extolling the grand simplicity of the gospel in its operations upon the heart, and will ever remember a delightful conversation, in reference to the weal of the Moravian Church, which they had together in the first night of their journey to Salem, whilst sitting on the deck of the Chesapeake Bay steamboat. The sound views which the departed one then expressed, the zeal which seemed to fill his heart to aid in furthering Jerusalem's peace, gave promise of future usefulness within Jerusalem's walls; whilst the bloom of health mantling his cheeks, and the full vigor of manhood knitting his frame with unusual strength, appeared to indicate that his usefulness would continue for many years. Behold! the Lord, whose thoughts are not our thoughts, nor His ways our ways, had other purposes in view. Two short years were the space of time which He gave unto this servant for his work-and then He took him away to another sphere, to another service, to the companionship of those "ministering spirits." who are "sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation." And because "the Lord hath need of him," therefore, we who sorrow, "sorrow not even as others which have no hope." but kiss our Saviour's correcting rod, and say, from the very bottom of our hearts, "Thy will be done!" Fellow laborers in the vineyard! The youngest member in our ranks has most unexpectedly been called away--who will be the next? O! let all, but let us younger ministers especially, listen to the solemn voice of this dispensation, so that, in whatever hour the Lord may come, every one of us may be found at his post watching : Watch 'tis your Lord's command; O happy servant he, In such a posture found! He shall his Lord with rapture see, And be with honor crown'd. EDM. LETTER FROM BR. P. RICKSECKER. Mission Station near Fort Leavenworth, July 3rd, 1854. DEAR BROTHER, We arrived here on last Wednesday the 28th of June, and I will endeavor to give a short description of our journey from Bethlehem to this place. On the 8th of June we left Bethlehem for Philadelphia, and had the good fortune to be the only stage-passengers all the way. It was rather late when we arrived in the city. The following morning we took the Railroad to Lancaster, where we arrived about noon. Monday the 12th, we left Lancaster and a number of our worthy friends accompanied us to the depot, and at halfpast ten the train started for Pittsburg, which we however did not reach till next morning near 2 o'clock. We went to the Monongahela-House which is near the wharf, where we met with the Rev. Mr. Meyer from Philadelphia, and the Rev. Mr. Passavant; it was a rainy day, and in the afternoon we went on board the Steamboat "Cuba" for Cincinnati, but the boat did not sail till the following day the 14th, about 2 o'clock P. M. Our moving on the river was rather slow, the water being low, and the stopping at so many places made it somewhat disagreeable, particularly as the boat was not kept clean. At Pittsburg we expected to find our boxes, but were disappointed; br. Smith then wrote to A. W. of Bethlehem, concerning them, and gave orders at Pittsburg to send them as speedily as possible, such orders were also left at |