St. Croix Avis (Christiansted, St. Croix [V.I.]) 1844-Current
November 21, 1865

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s 4 l'/ "RERTNY —T 'M‘: \4 5 :o e Bl 3 ea g X RR R SRR o/ A ?‘{}l}: Tk 8 H-“‘ sAR PRV e T oy Vel S S&3 R et /I e 2325 gAy 'fi,r%: 2308 A ‘\&\‘&Y o 2 ey X o e oA B W G oo wUB3 .il g SRy Aol =g LENE Sl 5% i o&- .\'.‘\3 o ;,fi.'.lt'" PP ot e=) R ~€;“1"" s o TR RN L TRh Rff s rhf‘é"’:i;:z" 5 S b O .f-;,-{ s .*.fg. .fi‘f.\::}v, BN AL s %.y JER esy G e 7o) 5 YR TR o X SR DX —tEi G Ekz‘é'(;%:?"{: o ATEI R S SERE e PR ity e o e e Pk 3 )fit\i SSO 1 PR R THE Ape e TR N STy A Ty SR 7 CERE B A 2. e Y UDGIVER: BANS HATCHETT. TRYKT I ENKEN HARRIET HATCHETT'S BOGTRYKKERI 21de Aarg.] The “AVIS” ISEDITED BY HANS HATCHETT; AND PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY. for the Proprietress, Terms of Subscription.—Sßix Dollars per an num, payable quarterly in advance. Sinele numberto non-advertisers——lo cents. gay- Partics desirous of withdrawing their subscription to the Avis’’ are required to sive three months previous notice. ‘Terms of Advertising, Approved by Government, 25th June, 1855. Woran advertisement of S lines, or under,one to s three insertlons—— 5 e Small Type (Brevier) Ito 81ine5....%1 00 Uver 8 lineso e- .0y 16 Larger Type (Long Primer, Small Pica, Pien, Columbiat) 1 $o Bilinos 1 00 Cvee 8o lines nr, 1 .00 0 10 ‘f Yor 4 line of largest Type ..00..ns 12 IZ&° IFor 1 to 3 subsequent insertions, the Lialt amount of the first charge will be made, Ali advertisements for insertion must be delivered at this Oftice on Mondays and Thursdays, not later than 4 o’clock M. accompanied with the CASII, as otherwise insertion \\'xllfllm refused. The Postageon lettersto this Office from West End ar St. Thewmnas must be prepaid, or no notice will be taken of them. i

THE QUEEN INBURANGE UOMPANY il Liverpool Office—Queen Insurance Buildings. London Oficc—Queen Insurance Buildings, Gracechurch-street, E.C T the ANNUAL MEETING of PROPRIETO"S, h&"l(l on the 26th October, 1865, BERNARD HALL, Esq. (‘h'llvl“m:_m of the Company, in the Chair, the DIRECTORS' REPORT for the year stated That the fire preminms for the year Y. 1 amounied to e (Ll 15928') That 529 Life P'olicies were issued insur- 6 tinee Tt i &'go 1’777 TV TR R S ife Premiums amounted ..n.:n.h- Ln‘, lx.‘ nm.m B.m 1.1 l« £B9OO§S i That the Life Income was £2 7,7@)6 And that wpneards of 57 per’ cent of the en- tire Net Premiums had been added to the t Life Fund, That the Subseribed Capitalamounted to 8 ,sfi‘ 33220 That the Paid-up Capital was £l s.:}gg A vt 10 wserve Fu S 2 S And that the Reserve Funds amounted to *l 4 7,(,38 THE LIFE BONUR of this Company averaged 46 per cent. of the Premiums paid, in some cases rising to £65, 70, and even 70 per eent. Substantiel benefits have therefore been conferred on its Assurers, and as the Life Liabilities are valued on the principle of Net Premiums, assuming omly 3 per cent intercst— (the outside expenses chargeable to the Life Department for the Gene ral Management of the Company being specially limited by the Decd of Settlement to 10 per cent. of the net Life income)—there is every rea son to expect equally good Bonuses in the future, HOME AND FOREIGN FIRE AND LIFE INSURANCES AT RATES AS MODERATE AS THOSE OF OTHER FIRST CLASS OFFICES. The Directors invite applications for Agencies, The undersigned is prepared to issue Policies for Damage by Fire on favourable terms. M. R. OMALEY, Agent Queen Insurance Company. Bk 7 Se e e e ‘BN or AIC L& 3§ On moderate terms to an approved purchaser Estate Clif hill iftonhill r s T'he undersigned is authorised to en ter into a final agreement. E. MONEFELDT. N 20th November 1865. D BDIAITIAIN executed at this Office with neatness and des W% patch. CHRISTIANSTED, TIRSDAGEN den 21de NOVEMBER 1865. A 7 i St. Croix Races WILL TAKE PLACE ON Saturday 30th December 1865. THE CARLTON CUP, value SIOO, added i to a Sweepstakes of $25 each, halt forfeit, for Ponies under 14 hands high; 112 Ibs. each—4 Ibs. aliowed for every inch below the standard height—Winners of any public race previous to carry 10 Ibs. extra—one mile—heats. THE ST. CROIX STAKES of SSO each, half forfeit, for 3 years old 123 lbs.; 4 vears 140 Ibs 5 5 and upwards 150 lbs. To start at the Dridge and run round and in—heats. _ THE LONG POINT STAKES of $25 each, half forfeit, for 3 years old 123 Ibs.; 4 years old 140 Ibs. 5 and upwards 159 Ibs.—Last half mile—no heats. THE SELLING STAKES of $5 cach with s—added by the Fund, for all Ponies under 14 hands. The winner to be sold by auction immediately after the race and the surplus over the selling price for which the Pony is entered to go to the Race Fund. It entered to be sold for $l5O. to carry 112 Ibs. $l3O to carry 100 lbs.—sloo, 92 Ibs.—sßo, 78 Ibs.—Bso, 6Slbs —s£3o,'6olbs.—One mile—no heats. THE SCURRY STAKES of $5 each, for Ponies under 14 hands high that have never won a public race—From the Bridge in—catch weights—no heats. The entries for the two first races to take place on the race course on Saturday the 2nd December between 3 and 5 p. M., when the Ponies for the Carlton Cup must be shown and measured by the Stewards or by whom they may appoint, and any objection as to height or weight must be there and then made and no other weight be entertained. The name, age, and colour of the Horse or Pony, and the eolours to be worn by the riders, to be declared at the time of entry, and half the Stake to be paid at the same time. The usual conditions mist also be sign ed by each person entering a Horse or Poney. Wuy. PEEBLES, A. DAM, §Stewar_ds. Wx. McEVOY, NOTICE. THE undersigned offers for sale on easy terms the fast sailing schoon er “MAGGIE,” coppered and cop per fastened, in perfect order, and with first rate accommodations for passengers. For particulars apply to Messrs. Roche Bros. Co., Bassin or in West End to i ROBERT FLYNN: St. Croix 14th November 1865. ROUTE OF STEAMER “Cl R slara Rothe, From 11TH NovEMERR TO 2XD DECEMBER. Saturday .llllßemains in St. Thomas. Sunday ..|l2Leaves St. Thomas for Bassin ad AN, Do .!l:!slmaw-s DBassin for St. ''homas at i SP. M. Monday 113 Remains in St. Thomas. Tuesday .14 Leaves St. Thoias for West End at«( .M. Do.....|llLeaves West End for St. Thomas ls at sp. M. Wednesday|ls Remains in St. Thomas. Tliursdav ‘h‘}‘ Awaits arrival of Kuropean ],l_li"l"‘\(, &y ;1) Steamer and conveys Mails o o Bassin. Saturday .18 Awaiizarrival of luropeanSteam er in case not arrived on 17th. Bhaday 190 5. o« ok A s Mohdoy 2011 Remains in St. Thomas. Tuesday _{l73l;]‘(':l\'o.\‘ St. Thomas for Bassin at P 730 A. M. Do.....|2l{Leaves Bassin for St. Thomas at 5p M Wednesday [22/Remains in St. Thomas. Thursday -;7.’2;"14.-11\'05 St. Thomas for West lind l t at 730A, M, D0.....[23/Leaves West End for St. Thomas 1 at SP. M., Friday ...[24/Remans in St. Thomas. Saturday ..25|Leaves St. Thomas for Bassin at 730 am e '2,3,l,ea\'us Bassin for St. Thomas at o 5 P, M. Sunday ../26{Remains in St. Thomas. Monday .|27 Leaves St. Thomas for Porto Rico at SP. M. Tuesday ..[2B|Leaves Perto Rico for West i lond at BA. M., and conveys Muils to St. Thomas. Wednesday 29/ Arrives at St. Thomas at 2 in i the morning. Thursday .[3O/Remains in St. Thomas. Friday 1| Conveys Mails to West End Saturday .-1 2| and St. John’s, (Porto Rico.) Christiansted 10th November 1865. JULIUS KNUTHSEKEN, Agent. BEG leave to intimate to my friends and customers, the arrival of my vessel “HANS,” with an as serted Cargo, of Dry Goods Pro visions. St. Croix November 15, 1865. J. BALZER. Fresh Garden Seeds, at Christiansted’s Apothecary Hall. AUCTION AT Golden Rock. Remember Saturday 25th Inst.! Sales commence precisely at 12 ik o’clock. Purchasers and Securities must be on the spot, or represented by writing. 4 B St. Croix 16th November 1865. R. J. Robinson, p Auctioneer. [Nr. 93.

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Gummuniraiions, To the Editor of the St, Croix Avis, DEAR Slg, The latter time has been much devoted to ihe investigation of the state of the public education in this island. Much has been pub licly said about our public instruction, and the worth of it has been tried by examinations in all the public schools. Some reflections rela tive to this subject have forced themselves upon me, which I hereby take the liberty to lay before you. If you should think them worthy of public notice, I have no doubt, but you will give them a room in the columns of your paper. Os “our enormous public expenditure’ about %12,000 are annually expended on the public educational affairs of onr island. Os this amount about SSOOO are assigned to the in struction of the children of our rural popula tion the balance, upward of S7OOO, must con sequently be the amount appropriated to the support of the two public towr -chools, the «Danish’ schools in Christiansted and Frederik sted. Little has been known about the use fulness of either town—or country —instruction, except by rumors, till the interesting elucida tions, given in articles lately published in your paper about the affairs of the country-schools, attracted public attention to this matter. About the town-schools, however, as yet noth ing has been said, and little more is known about them than what 7s shown at the perform ance of the public annual examination; but to know, what real fruit these establishments give to the public in return for their immoderate cost mizht be just as interesting as to know what is the fruit of the omtlay to the country schools. I, the suheeriber, having had the honor—in consequence of the then Danish Parson, Revd. Bagger’s, recommendation, thai «y man of scientific attainments ought to be at the head of scientific inatitutions” —to hold constitutions, given to me by Gov. Gen. v. Scholten, as principal teacher first at the public school in Christiansted, and, after I had passed a half year in this capacity, in a similar capacity for more than two and a half years in Frede riksted, may perhaps be considered ¢nalified to make some remarks, more particularly about the latter school, partly because I had time enough allowed to me to see the fruits of my’ exertions as a téacher showing themselyes be fore my dismissalfrom it, partly also hecause, liv ingin Frederiksted since my dismissal fromit, I have been enabled to follow with steady atten tion the innovations made in the school, and the merits of it, since that time. I shall there fore endeavor to point out, in the first place, what requirements are to be found in one, who is to act as a teacher in such a school, and, in the second place, partly, what a school, so li berally endowed, ought to accomplish for the benefit of the inhabitants, partly, what good, even under its present imperfect constitution, b has been able to accomplish. 1. About the qualifications of a teacher. The first thing required in a teacher is know ledge. A person, in order to be a competent and efficient teacher, say—to give an example —of Danish, for children, whose mother-lan guage is Knglish, should not have only a smat tering and superficial knowledge of both lan guages, SO that, at most, he can chat a little in both of them, but such a thorough acquaint ance with the grammar of both languages as will enable him to explain any difference and consequent grammatical difficulty between them, and thus to lay the foundation of a lin guistic knowledge in his pupils counsisting in conscious light, mot in parrot-like jabber. This, however, is not ad he should also have a mind so cultivated and clear, that he can understand the various spiritual peculiarities of his pupils, and accommodate himself in his instruction to the comprehension of every one of them individually. And finally, in addition to these two qualifications in a good teacher, there should also be found in him such an in terest in his calling, that he will not, as a hire ling, make his task as easy as he can do with out risking to lose his situation, but that, as a a man, who does “not live by bread alone,” he considers the good result of his efforts as his ST-. G RBROLDX AV S, greatest gain, and that he just takes his pay as the necessary means of his subsistence. But, Mr. Editor! I am sure, that there are “teach ers” in this island, who, when tried by this criterion, are, as “lucus a NoN lucendo,” only negatives of their own names. In all other vocations of life we only find men, who are educated and trained for a certain kind of bu siness, employed in carrying it out: taylors, shoemakers, carpenters, coopers, smiths, plan ters, merchants, lawyers, physicians, divines, all are limited to their own sphere of husiness; but to the teachers’ profession —a profession of such a paraniount importance, that, where it is properly and successfully carried out, it must be the means of the greatest secular and spiri tual blessing, and even favor the greatest res trictions in the hmmense outlay to support the many departments (judieial, prison,—military, etc.) of our public administration —though it is properly only appertaining to students and pupils of a seminary, such persons have here been deemed fit, as had not even been compe tent {o fiil situations as private clerks in an office here tho trite adage: “Ne sutor supra crepidam has lost its validity. It is, how ever, quite natural, that such, as are unable to obtain a comfortable livelihood in their own original calling, like to get one by being placed in a public teaciier’s position, if they can ob tain it :no one will hlame an ass, when placed by the ccachman before his blind masters car riage, for parading there and eating oats. Nor will 1 deny, thaf there may be men not origi nally trained as schoolmasters, who may fill a public schoolmaster’s situation with eredit to themselves and henefit to the community where they are appuinted to act as such; but in that case their preferment should be founded ot a general acknowledenent of their worth, not on personal favoritism. Ounly in nununities wanting boih a free press and a strong publie opinion ignorant adventurers will succeed, through favoritism, in getting themselves stuck up as luminaries, whence the censequenee will be, that “/ights,” il found must be put “wnder a bushel.”’ 2. What the two “Danish” schools ought to be to the istand. 4t shall now be the subject of my reflec tions to consider, what a school, so munificent ly endowed as each of the two publicly sup ported town-schools are, ought to accomplish for the benefit of the inhabitants. It is an ob vious conclusion, that a comunily sustaining a pedagogic institution with an outlay of be tween three and four theusand dollars a year, should derive a corresponding benefit from this outlay but I can boldly assert, that itis the notion of the publie, that this is not the case. The great desideratum for the inhabitants here is, that there should be such a pedagogic insti tution as could, like a kind of an academy, give a liberal education to those, who are aiming at a higher position and usefulness in society; but the “Danish” schools do not satisfy that want. The Danish school in Westend, at least, is, in reality, both with regard to what it is calculat ed to do and with regard to what it is actually doing, in no essential point superior to either the Roman Catholic or even the Moravian school in that town; still there is that great difference between their cost, that the two lat ter schools,-——supported, as they are, by the respective congiegations, to which they belong, —subsist by their own funds, whereas the Danish school sucks at least S3OOO annually from the public treasury, which seems to be a rather heavy disbursement for to support a school only suited for the lower classes The so called burgher-schools, in its present state, is therefore a perfectly useless and, at the same time, even cumbersome hunch on the back of the public, who, as taxpayers, are compelled to support it, but still, if they want to give to their children a tolerably scientific education, are under the necessity ei‘her to send them to some other country, as to Denmark, Germany, England or the United States, or at least try, if possible, to get them instructed by private tuition, which also, to many, may be entirely too expensive and inconvenient. The only branch of learning, which the Danish school has above its rivdls, is Danish, which, at pre sent at least, is taught in such a manner, that most persons, who havae for years together been students of that language at that school, are, if they have been unaided from other quarters, unable either to read and understand a Danish book, or to speak two words with any one, who may address them in Danish. It may then well be asked What good is such Danish stu dy bringing its votaries? But even with a good acquainfance with the Danish language young men would, in our time of general learning and proficiency, have a poor chance when compe ting with others, if they are entirely unac quainted with Irench, German and Spanish. An introduction into these languages should therefore also be part of the instruction given in an improved “Burgher school:” nay even the rudiments of Latin ought to be taught as being the foundation of all linguistic study, and all this, without excluding Religion, Arith metie, Geography and History, might easily be realized by the -pecuniary means now so unse lessly spent, if a competent man were appoint ed to give instruction in these hranches of learning to cortain pupils forming a higher class in the school, and it is more than probable, that such an arrangement would ‘be a great gain even te the school itself, as thereby young aspiring persons would be enabled to get a good educdtion here, and therefore might bo expected to take the advantage offered here at a cheap rate rather than to go abroad to obtain it at a dearer rate; it is, however, reasonable, that the payment for instruction in the higher class .should he at least twice as high as that for instruction in the other classes, those of the so called “Lancasterian” school, where, for in struction now similar to that given in the Bur gher-school, the same payment must be suppo sed to be given. Such an increased pay for a higher instruction must even be congidered quite low, and, on the other haud, it may also be salutary as being the means of forming anc-, cessary selection of the pupils and limitation of their number.—My remarks hére aroe only an exposition of complaints and+hints made to mo by various persons aind at various times: my own concurrence with these views is my reason of representing them here, but,’df course, as) seen by me in their various bearings, and I fee convinced, that the Public will recognise them and endorse them as spoken out of their own hearts. But there is yet another reflection with re gard to the vapidness and inefficiency of th: burgher-school, and the necessity of its thorough reformation, which has just now forced itself upon me. When the emancipation of the ne groes was to take place, a time to train them for the proper use of their hew freedom was appointed in other words: that spiritual and moral tie, which more or less binds,all civilized men, should also be laid, as much as possible, upon them, instead of that material and com pulsory tie the slavery, which was to be loosed. A proposition to redace the military force and to lay down tho forts in both of our towns, founded on very good reasoning, has lately been laid before the present Colonial Council, thongh not at present carried but also, in case of an eventual realization of such a plan, a spi ritual force ought to be substitated for the ma terial one, the abandonment of which has been proposed instead of the matérial strongholds, which were proposed to be given up, thero ought to be spiritual strongholds, which could supersede them, by putting down barbarism, the great enemy in our very midst, and the two expensive town-schools might fitly be converted into such forts, if only the right kind of spiri tual force could be made to animate them, and, through them, by degrees, the whole population, so that intellectual light and moral strength, which are unfortunately signally wanting in our island, might—like the “leaven hid in threo measures of meal”—leaven the whole mass of our people, and that industry, order and hones ty, and their lovely and blissful offspring plenty, comfort and peace, might displace idle ness, disorder and dishonestg, now so rife among us, as well as their ugly, baneful brood want, wretchedness and malice. I féel convinced, that thereis sound sense in this suggestion for, in spite of what secular sensualists and egot ists,—often renegades from their own professed sacred choice,—may think, say or do to estab-. lish a contrary scope, it will still be unrefuted for ever, that «Iz is the Spirit that quickeneih.” Under fhis head it is now also to be shown, what good has onice been accomplished by the Danish school in Frederiksted under the pre sent form of the burgher-school.

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1 have censured the present burgher-school as a useless and even cumbersome hunch on the back of the Publie, and I had previonsly said, that frnits of my exertions as a teacher at tha t very school had shown themselves before my dismissal from it. It is now my duty to prove, that the latter statement is correct, and, having done that, shall endeavour to explain the seeming contradicton between this and the former opinion. When, on the accession, on Friday the 25th of Febrnary 1848, of my successor Revd. Brandt, was, as may say, expelled from the }' declare, with that clear and full acknowledgment, with which a person necessarily is impressed in his riper years, that I, for one, owe to the ability and conscientious exertions of that worthy gentle man the foundation of my knowledge particu larly of Danish and of grammar, and that, in fact, T am indehted principally to him for that spiritnal development, which 1 obtained by frequenting the Danish School in Frederiksted when under his direction. Est. Slob, March 21st 1865. Perer DIDRICHSEN.” «I the undersiened, who have also been pupil of the Danlsi school in Predriksted, un der the tuition of Mr. Mossin, Revd, Hanschell, Revd, Beandt and Mr. Ripperger, do hereby conseientiously endorse the above statement of Mr. Peter Didrichsen, adding, that, of these four mien, he is the only one, from whom I, at least, feel having learnt something more than to recite a lesson mechanically after the book and that I know, a similar opinion is entertain ed by all his former pupils. Frederiksted, April sth 1865. Ber Tram M. RoBERTSON.” The above statements may serve as a proof, that my endeavors as a public teacher have not been fruitless. And why have they not been fruitless? The answer might be: If the two above statements prove the presence in me of the two first requirements in a good teacher, I myself can solemnly declare, that the third one was also found in me in an eminent degree but that my endeavors were not fruitless may simply be accounted for by the two facts, that I kept a strict discipline in the school both with rerard to attendance, order and study, and that—unlike many a’ “teacher,” who ceases to be one the moment his book is taken from him —II only valued and practiced the method of teaching and examining the pupils without taking assistance from the book. And these very two levers for the school were also the cause of that bitter malice, slander and perse cution, which burst over me in the beginning of theryear 1846, not a year after my accession to the school; for maintenance of necessary dis cipline in two classes of 30 pupils each was, in the mouths of the slanderers, converted to un warrantable tyranny, and my denunciation of instruction, consisting in mechanical recitation of the text of a book,—which practice must have kept itself in force from these very days of yore, since, at the last public examination in $Te CROLX AVI S the burgher-school, the pedagogue examined with the open book before him—instead of “pox vira,” proceeding from the teacher’s own knowledge, of course brought on me the bitter est hatred of those, who-e capacity as teachers or appreciation of such teachers’ worth was thereby denounced too, and they were, unfor tunately, ‘“Legion” against me. Itis natural, that, under such circumstances, I, when dis missed, embraced, and contented myself with, a private teacher’s unassuming and peaceable sit uation, nor have I often since been a very eager petitioner for another situation as a pub lic teacher; but with all my resignation I never could help thinking, that, when a worthy public teacher is, through bias superseded by a less worthy or less qualified person, such an act is plain injustice to both, which is bad enough, and a dishonest waste of public money, which is worse, and even an unconscientious play with the highest spiritnal and secular in terests of the rising generation, which is plainly eriminal. I have many times been encouraged to establish a private school, which, by a pri vilege granted to me by Governor P. Hansen, I have a right to do; but the overwhelming odds, I would have against me: an excellent large schoolbuilding free of expense, against a little schoolroom, which I would have to pay rent for myself, a handsome regnlar income, with a corresponding position and authority, against a perfectly precarious existence, and then the right of having the schoolmoney en forced by levy, against a dependence for pay ment on persous, whose poverty or dishonesty has no law, the consequence of which has been, that, for years, I have had and have yet money due me for private tuition, all this has hitherto deterred me; but having had lately a repeti tion of that flattering request from various per sons, I shall no longer decline making an ex periment. If even some high folks should look down upon it with contemptuous pity, it shall be my consolation, that “T'hat, which is highly esteemed among men, is an abomination in the sight of God.” Here I may consider that task finished, which I had proposed to myself; I shall, how ever, also in a few words, express my humble opinion about the country-schools. I have, during my whole stay in this island, only been present at one examination in a country-school, viz. that beld on Friday the 29th of September this year at the school of Mt. Victory, and I actually left the examination with much higher rotions about the merits of the school than I had had before, and with that impression, that Mr. Browne isanable and efficient teacher, who is trying to do justice, after the best of his ability, to his widely scattered flock of pupils, many of whom could read and write quite well; but, on the other hand, I must confess, that my acquaintance with the capacity of many of our rural population, who have frequented the country-schools, has led me to that very same conviction as has been expressed by the Revd. Mr. Dußois, that the fruit generally obtained by them is equal tonothing, and that, after hav ing gone to school for many successive years, they cannot even read. What may be the cause of this, I am not able to say; but it is ciear, that, where no fruit springs from exer tions made, itislabor lost, and here money lost too. Iflshould venturetogive a general hint, it would be, with regard both to townschools, and covatry schools, that less time should be spent on com mitting mechanically to memory words and their explanations from the definers, verses and hymns, and even passages from the Scripture, and more time be devoted to the acquisition of positive knowledge, especially of rational read ing and understanding of the text,—in other words there should be more spirit and less form. As to the application of the phonetic system in learning to spell and read, it is cer tainly more inapplicable on English than on any other language, that I know for it is im possible for a learner to form, with any degree of certainty, the compound sounds, or syllables, from vowels, the three first of which have two distinet sounds, that can only be known when the meaning of the werd itself is known, on which its proper pronunciation depends. An example is the noun “wind” and the verb “wind.” That “one ewe” is to ba pronounced “wun yu" is also an example, among many, that pronunciation and spelling (orthography) are in English two widely different things. But though inapplicable on introduectory spell ing, and undoubtedly retarding the progress of beginners in reading, it may perhaps be very applicable on teaching correct spelling in writ ing English, where the analytic task of spelling in reading becomes synthetic. Now, Mr. Editor! I shall conclude, with many thanks to you and to the Public for pa tienca manifested in going with me on my long, though, as I hope, not tedious discussion. 1 am sure, that you agree with me in thinking it desirable, that all, who feel themselves com petent to give clucidations about important public matters by discussing them publicly, should do so. We may be said to have only a Landsthing” here, as only moneyed interests are represented in our Colonial Couneil it might do much -good, if a self-consiituted “Folkething,” with yourself as their President, would publicly discuss our spiritual interests, and thus form a clear and strong public opinion. That there are gross defects in our publie in straction, no sensible and unbiassed man will deny. The usual way of excusing such things, if they are admitted at all, is to say “To err i Juman.” We all know and admit that, and so did Cicero, when he wrote “Cujusvis hominic est errare but he adicd: “Newlliv: nist in siplentis est in errore persceerare.” 1t will now be seen, whether those, who are abla to carry out “that immediate and thorough reformation of our educational affairs,” which is so impera tively “demanded,” are “wsipientes” or even something worse. I am, dear Sir, Your obdt. servt, JOHN NICOLAS MOSSEEN. Frederiksted, the 14th of November 1865. To the Editor of the St. Croix Avis, DEARr Slr, I see from the St. Thomee Tidende of the 11th instant that attention is being called to the probability of anewoutbreak of Cholera in that island, and that the Au thorities are requested to take precaution ary measures against such a possible cala mity. The chances of such an outbreak seem to me very great. Is our Island likely to be exempted from such a visitation 7 do not see why it should be. Should Cholera break out in this Island what then 9—l shall only call attention to one fact which on reasons independent of the outbreak of aun epidemic, may perbaps be considered worthy of notice. In case of such an outbreak it would become of para mount importance. There are about 23000 persons in this Island,and, to attend them, 7 {\hysicians; that is, each physi cian is called upon to attend upwards of 3000 individuals. Os the 7 physicians on ly one is a young man, the others are all gentlemen far advanced in life; they are no doubt all very skillful, but are they sufficient for the work to be done. Do we not require more physicians If we can not get a suflicient number from Denmark, why not admit graduates from foreign uni versities? Among the physicians in St. Thomas two have graduated at the Paris University, one of them however, having, after receiving a diploma in Paris, to go to Kiel and take out one their. The idea! If such liberality works well in St. Tho mas, why should it not here? From the Jamaica Colonial Standard, Nov. 3 HAITI Engagement with the Batteries of Cape Haitien, and blewing up of Her Ma jesty’s Steamer *Buil Dog.” The following narrative of this event above mentioned, has been kindly fur-

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