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6 ESPABTKSHT Organ of the Georgia Teachers Association- Crgan of the State School Commissioner, G. J, Orr. W.B. BONNKLL, Editor. EDUCATION AND LAROR. An Address Delivered Before the Georgia Teacher’s Association August the 1st, 1887. By W. H. Fleming, Superintendent Public Schools Augusta, Georgia. As cc-workers we have met again at our Teacher’s Association. The warm reception al ways tendered ns wherever we convene, the hearty grasp from the hands of former friends and tbe pleasing acquaintance of new ones, our delightful social intercourse reviewing the past in the present and laying in store for future re miniscences fresh incidents from the presen these, and many other circumstancis combine to make our gathering an occasion of enjoyment But our chief object is, not that we eDjoy our selves, but that by taking counsel together we may the better advance the true interests of our common cause. The sul j9ct appropiate for discussion at such conventions as that which now calls us together, are naturally divided into, first, those pertain ing to the work of teaching as such; and second ly, those pertaining to the relations of that work to external matter. In directing our attention to the absorbing interest of the tormer we should not over-look the grave importance of the latter. All who are connected with education in any form, and esptcially those of us who are ideati fled with public education, should recognize the fact that our work is not confined to the school room; but that, at least in this democratic oouDtry, public opinion must be taught and di rected. Before that tribuLa' the practical ends of education must be continually presented, and the fallacies oi the short-sighted, thesslfish, and the demagogical overthrown by the convincing power of logic. With the humble hope of con tributing something to the general good in this broader sphere, your attention is asked to a dis cussion of ‘Education and Labor.’ At the outstart, let us state that in the argu ment, where the contrary does not manifestly appear, we mean by education intellectual educa tion, and by labor, physical labor. It does not require the gift of inspiration or the searching eye of omniscience to perceive that in this age the reciprocal relations ot educa tion and labor form one of the most vital ques tions of political economy: vital—because labor must always precede and continually sustain true progreis; vital because education is in many ways an essential factor in true progress; vital be cause with tome classes it is not an uncommon belief that education undermines labor; vital because labor represents physical power and when roused into passion uses it with cruelty and blindness as too plainly attested by the horror of the French Revolution and the outcroppings even in this country of the hydra-headed Com mune. Morover, there are few subjects about which there seems to exist a greater variety of opinions, or perhaps it might with more propriety be said, greater doubt and confusion. ‘Ignorance is the curse of the country,’ says one. ‘You are educating people above themselves,’ ex claims another. ‘We need skilled workmen,’ urgts a third. ‘We have too many educated mendicants,’ insinuates a fourth. ‘The capital of the country, cannot bear the burden of public education,’ pleads a fifth. ‘Education increases and gives security to capital,’ argues a sixth. And so on ad infinitum: some holding that educa tion is a panacea for all human ills, and others that it is necessarily antagonistic to labor and will therefore, if encouraged among the masses, gnaw into the very vitals of the body politic. In a question of such complexity and scope it will only be possible at this time to bring out some of tbe more prominent truths which, it is hoped, will be found to contain the essence and pith of the subject: 1. Our first proposition is that in the past there has been k a lack of harmony between education and labor. Labor can create nothing; it can only place materials in position for the forces of nature to operate upon. The workmen who handle the clay and other ingredienis do not create the , brick that are produced. They s’mply put the materials in such position and under such cir cumstances that the force of heat may slowly drive off the moisture, and the force of cohesion bind the particles together in a compact form. Therefore, knowledge, scanty thugh it be, of the forces of nature must always precede and guide labor. To this extent labor and knowl edge (which for all the purposes of argument at this point is synonymous with education) have always co-operated. The intellect has pried into nature's secret armory, and muscle, under the guidance of intellect, has brought out the hidden forces and put them to practical use. But eliminating this and other issues, the truth still remains that there has been an abseco3 of harmony between education and labor, to the extent that the one has not aimed, as it should have done, at the advancement of the other, that the two ideas have been represented by sep arate classes of people, removed from one an other, and ttat, in general, to be educated or possessed of knowledge, was to be above labor ing. Now some one may suggest that education is here charged with the crimes of wealth. But making all due allowance for tbe co-operating, and perhaps more powerful, causa of wealth, a calm reflection will show that the pride of intellect has conspired with the pride of purse in withholding from labor the honor due its Gad- given dignity. A few illustrations will render the matter clearer: In ancient Egypt knowledge and edu cation were confined almost exclusively to the priests and a chosen few. So closely did they draw the cloak of conceit and self-importance about them that a general diffusion of knowledge among the laboring classes was rendered impos sible. Classes and casts assumed a fixednesses and rigidity that in after years made Egypt herself, as someone had said, little more than a mummy. Greece, the home of philosophers and sages, forms no exception to the rule. Her grand pbi- 1< sopher Aristotle, announced it as a principle in his system of education for the free-born youth cl Athens, that every kiDd of menial It bor as me dlar ical work was to be av« ided. Ti e Spartans, at first bold warriors pushing forward their con quests, afterwards aristocratic lords keeping in s*ut jection conquered peoples, form an illustra te n scarcely less striking. The constant strife between the patricians and plebeians of Borne, the exactions which the lords made from their feudal subjects, and the Church from her foliow- ets in the middle ages, point moie or less dis til c' < y to the Sf.me general truth. But a detailed recital of examples is rendered unnecessary by the simple announcement of the wellkuown fact that human s'avery legalized is interwoven with the past history of almost’every people; a feet wliob is ample proof of the prop osition under consideration. It will be observed that no inquiry has yet been attempted into the causes of this lack of har mony, how it arose,why it continued,whether it gradually decreased or increased. Tbe bare his torical fact is all that we have endeavored to sub stantiate. So much for our first proposition. 2. There does not at present exist the proper har mony between education and labor. That the ten dency has been, and still is, to more nearly har monize them is not only willingly admitted but proudly asserted. Nevertheless, the proposition as stated needs no extensive array of authorities to prove its truth. It will not be disputed. Universal public education is of modern growth. Some of the states of Greece had pub lic education but it was not univeisal, that is it did not apply to a'l classes. The slaves who per formed the labor of production were not entitled to its benefi.s Even now, in many quarters where tbe teasibility ot public education for all is admitted, i'.s expediency is denied. Lord Ba con, in his day turned the stream of thought into a new channel. He announced that the true object of science was ‘the relief of man’s es tate.’ This was a great step toward making the edheated b ain ass st and relieve the laboring muscle. In its true sense it does not involve the degrading of esthetic culture ioto brutish ap petite, but it does turn barren speculation into fruitful discovery. But still, in England and all the countries of Europe there exist undue class distinctions. Dot only between the nobility and the people, the rich and the poor, bat also between the educa‘ed and the ignorant laboring. In this republic where all men must be born equal (whether the saying be true or false) and where education is impartially bestowed and la bor is in a measure honorable, the breech has been grr atly narro wed but the union not entirely consummated. In the learned professions there are unlearned crowds, while acres of land invite to manual labor; in commercial circles men will be defaulters rather than laborers, aDd in some classes of what is known as fashionable society, a soft hand and an unburnt face form a sine qua in general can profitably take, is not on this ! score incompatible with the requisite physical exertion for ordinary labor afterward. So there is no insurmountable obstacle here. Secondly, as previously intimated, the aspira- i tion of the soul for higher achievments need i not antagonize labor, sis to materially aid it : Free labor is weak without energy. Aspiration is the parent of energy, of the world. Where do you find the greates activity? Not among the ignorant, but among j the educated. Nor will the facts warrant the i conclusion that the education is entirely the result of native vigor, instead of being in part j the cause of increased activity. Again, consid- j ered even from an individual point of view Let us not be accused either of promul gating the doctrine that higher education is of no benefit to labor. But we had better meet the issue fairly. Nothing can be permanently gain ed by dodgiDg it We have only shown that to give this higher education to those who are to labor all their lives will not materially increase their efficiency. High education and efficient motives must be aroused. Mr. Herbert Spen cer, one cf the mest comprehensive and pene trating minds of the age, lays dowD the ’propo- Lit us now investigate tbe causes that have operated in producing the effects we have been discussing, and ascertain if possible how far they are inherent, which are permanent and which are temporary only. Oue universal, permanent cause is that in the processes of education and labor different facul ties are employed; that of (mental) thought on the one hand and bodily action on the other. There seems to be a general law throughout ani mated nature that a special adjustment of one faculty involves, more or less, a non-adjnstm6nt of other separate faculties. Thus we have the foundation of the evolution of species in the an imal kingdom. Notwithstanding ihe fact that the grea’est combined energy results from a strong mind sustained by a strongbody, it oiten happens that the development or special adjust ment of one is sscured at the expense of the other. It would seem that each person has so much potential energy to expend upon body and mind. A fair proportion must be given to each in order to sustain its health and vigor. But if more than a certain amount is expended upon the mind, bodily activity is lessened and vice versa. The great intellects of the world have not, as a class, been in a condition to boast of the phys ical strength of their earthly tabernacles, Dor have the victors in the athletic sports of the an cient Olympic games and the more modern college regattas been renowned for their intel lectuality. Practice makes easy; and we are all inclined to perform those things whicn we can do with perfect ease and skill. Fatigue and hardship are never sought alter as au end, though endured as a means to an end. The habits acquired in searching after knowledge and in undergoing the processes of education render it muoh easier and pleasanter for an ed ucated man to tax his mind than his body. The opposite holds, in a measure, of the habitual laborerer, a carpenter accustomed to ply his trade every day would find it less irksome to handle his hammer and shove his plane for a number of hours than to be engaged for the same time, if such a thing were possible, on a difficult subject of thought. Hence arises a tendency in each person to rely on those facul ties that have been most developed or best ad- justed. Therefore, an eduoated person has more or less a tendency to avoid labor. Let us bear in mind, however, that it is only a tendency, only an influence that is constant but not impossible of being overcome by other influences that may be brought to bear. An arrow is aimed upward. Gravity constantly acts upon it to bring it down to earth. But the force from the tension of the bow overcomes gravity temporarily, and the ar row mounts upward. Just so moral influence and other forces may, and do, often overcome the tendency of the general law we have an nounced, Nevertheless the law acts. Another permanent cause would seem to lie in the deeply rooted conviction of the superior ity of the mind over the body and the longing and yearning of lofty souls after something higher. ‘To scorn the promise ofthe seal, To seek and not to find, Yet cherish still the fair ideal. It is thy fate, ohl restless mind!’ This second oause which is the maia-spring of progress, though permanent, is not so wide spread as the one first mentioned. The aristoc racy of learning created by such a commenda ble desire, while partly excusable for erecting a bar to free social intercourse because of an absenoe of congeniality, has looked with too little sympathy upon the mass of fellow beings below them. This aspiration, the lingering essenoe of the creator’s breath, is permanent, but its forms of action may be modified, and it is not impossible to thus eliminate whatever evil tendencies, if any, it generates. The local and tempoary causes that have oper ate! in conjunction with the permanent ones pointed out in producing a non-adjustment between education and labor, are manifold and need not be enumerated. Chief among them are special forms of government and peculiar social customs depending upon changeable public opinion. 3. We are now in a position to take up our third and most important proposition, that there is no inherent, fundamental reason why education and labor can not be fully harmonized. This may at first appear to involve a negation of some of the principles already announced. But not so. Eduoation and labor, viewed as mere isolated processes, can not be es c entially unified, but considered in their general bear ings and praotical relations, they may be brought into harmony as one note of music blends into another. The confusion upon this subject arises chiefly from the faot that the two ideas are studied rather in their isolated singleness than in their manifold relations, not only to one another but to the various offices of life. There is not an atom of matter in the universe that does not act upon every other atom; and in the complexity of human society a similar law ob tains. Man can not be an isolated being. He is a member of society. In considering sccic- logicil questions the proper conclusions can not be reached by following the course of a single thought. Let us refer baek for a moment to the two permanent causes we have assigned for the lack of harmony between education and labor. What are their necessary results? F.ist, as to the sooial adjustment of one faculty involving the ncn-adjnstment of separate faculties, we should observe that it obtains with appreciable effect only a’ter continued praotioe has produced settled habit. The extent of education which the state is asked to afford to her citizens in sition that utilitarian ethics will alwavs fail of regulating human conduct because of the fee bleness of the motive upon which they rely. And so with labor. Its utility will not suffice, the^aitions I labor may not well be united in the same indi- ; It must have social sanotion. That this sanction didual. But that is no sufficient argument j by the cultivated and refined can never be com- against high education itself by the state. It is , plete while labor is ignorant, uncouth, and vul- of incalculable benefit to productive labor. j gar, is too plainly true. But labor as it now is John Stuart Mill, one ot the foremost political ! deserves a better recognition than it now re- eoonomist of the age, says: ‘No limit can bs set i ceives and labor as it ought to be will be elevat- to the importance, even in a purely productive j ed and in a measure refined by education, and material point of view, of mere thought.’ This is a grand cause to the advancement of labor is often the means of securing other me | Again he I ££*£“?££ SS^STUSSL^SSS f b u 7 tu W re: Ch The r iSSXtYS i BhJt.onr point of view 7 and ’colder not only < — — — moderate draughts from the Pierian Spring is °«r individual acts and the motives by which not to enervate but to energizs. : th ?y determined but national and umver- An illustration will serve to make clearer one , sal results, intellectual specu a.ion mus. be general proposition to which we will now return. upon as a most influential part ot the We Lave a youth before us who is to follow the productive labor of society, and the portion of trade of a blacksmith. Tae no-educationist 1* revenues emp oyed in carrying on and in re- This man will have certain mechanical munerating such labor as a highly productive -- - 1 part of its expenditure. The opponents ot dream and say. operations to perform with his mucles. He is endowed with sufficient native sense to use them. To educate his biain will not increase his phys ical strength or endurance. Do not waste time and money in bestowing an eduoation where it will do no good.’ These remarks would be very pertinent if urged against a steam engine or force-pump. Working by f xed rules, unfeeling, untiling, nn-social, irresponsible, inanimate, they have no need of an educated brain. But not so with tbe man before us. We will grant that educa tion, in the sense in which we are considering it, wili not increase his physical strength, but may even diminish it. Yet, while no greater, force will be added to the blow of the hammer the man’s educated brain will, after practice, increase the skill with which the hammer is handled; the knowledge of the properties of hia tools and materials and of the forces of nature employed in his work, will lead him to improve his methods and make new inventions which will relieve him of much of his drudgery. Such has been the history of past, and snch will be the experience of the the future. Thus the direct efficiency of labor is increased, and these s’:ill remain as a balance to the credit of educa tion, its indirect effects upon judgment of the everyday affairs ot life, increased prudence and forethought, better morality, and broader use fulness in other relationship of society. Again, the prime object of labor is not to work, but to produce. What effect has edu cation upon production ? Scientific discoveries and enventions in the last three hundred years have doubtless increased the productive power of the world’s labor an hundred fold. That there improvements could not have been made by the ignorant and untutored is too plain for argument. From the foregoing considerations it would appear that there is no fixed, absolute, philo sophical reason why education and labor should not be fully harmonized. But if thi3 be true, how comes it that educa ted people seem so anxious to avoid physical labor and follow intellectual pursuits? In the first plaoe, brains rule the world and command a higher price than mere physical labor. It is, therefore, but natural and commendable that one should make the best of his circumstances. The demand creates the supply, and the supply goes where the demand is best. Moreover, ed ucation in most countries is so scantily diffused that physical labor being generally performed by the ignorant and vulgar, the educated do not fancy the association. When, however, the pressure is increased and education becomes more general muoh of the work now left exclusively to the ignorant will be done, nd better done, by the educated. The aversion that exists to many kinds of work will thus gradually die out. Hence this class of evils attributed to general education is due, in fact, to a lack of general eduoation, and will disappear as education becomes more general. To come nearer home, the pride which once kept so many of the young men of the South from honest labor was the immediate offspring of the system of slavery that existed among us. The degredation of labor was sealed by law, while society scaroely allowed a gentleman the privilege of occasionally shining his own boots. There did, however, flourish under that system some splendid specimens of men and women— the one class unswerving in their integrity, the other unapproachable in their purity; the one generous and brave, the other lovely and true. But out of that noble raoe a better womanhood and a broader manhood will yet arise. The tran sition from comfort and ease to hardship and toil was sudden and severe. But sustained by a pride that was too proud to yield to misfor tune, the people of the South have cast aside the golden fetters that bound them and have gone earnestly to work. Where slavery exists labor can never rise to its proper dignity, and therein lies it3 greatest political curse. To educate slaves is suicide. The higher classes of the Southern people as distinguished from the slaves, were wealthy and prosperous; but the country, taken as a whole, had reaobed before the war the highest pitch of prosperity attainable under her insti tutions. Future growth would have been im peded by existing organization, for growth in human society depends upon organization just as it does in the vegetable and animal kingdoms. However fertile the soil,the fern cannot be made to overtop the pine. A wren, though placed in the bowers of EJen, oouid not match the eagle. Organic structure itself may be slowly altered, but not without the consumption of force that might otherwise be expended in growth. The change of the South’s organic structure was not effected without suffering and loss; but now a ju .ter, stronger and more glorious future awaits her. But again, education considered as a purely intellectual development may produce two clas ses of resulls. First, it enables the mind to evolve thoughts out of itself and reason upon abstract questions;secondly, it enables the mind to guide and direct the physical powers in the various relations of life. * From the former we have the philosopher, from the latter the educa ted workman. If there be any rightful limit at all to the education of labor, it lies just here. All labor should be educated to tbe extent of imparting to it quickness and skill, prudence and forethought in its application. Beyond that, the effect of education upon labor teoome less direct, though by no means unimportant. The fundamental principle of popular educa tion, so far as it btars upon the laboring masses, is to cultivate common sense, or, in other words, to teach people to think about their daily affairs. Half the ills of life befall us because we will not think, because we fail to apply to our daily duties the logic of common sense. We persist in groping our way by chance in the dark in- fct.-ad of using the meaDS which God has given us of lightening our paths. We have thus struck upon a principal that should always be remembered in constructing a coarse of study for the schools. For this rea son, scientific studies should be introduced as early as possible. Far be from us to join in the cry of the literary rabble that essays to make light of classical studies. They impart a refine ment and culture that will in vain bs sought f r elsewhere. But from the necessity of the case, their benefits must be confined to a compara tively few. Yet, beyond all question, the best possible advantages should be given to those general, or which on the other hand her citizens : few. The yield will be ten-fold in profit. higher education who think and muse and fret about economy will find no reluge here. Culture ever improves and elevates not only the individual but the state. But there is another way in which education substantially aids and benefits labor. Industry is limited by capital, and for the increase of capital security must be afforded. Capital re quires protection not only by the government but against the government,’ to borrow the phrase oi‘another, f That there is greater secur ity, ceteris paribus, where the masses are educat ed than where they are ignorant will surely not be disputed. Physical power in the hands of ignorance is an almost unmitigated evil. Among an ignorant people protection to capital and property may be enforced, as between man and man, by tbe strong arm of the government. But the experience ot the past teaches us that under such circumstances .he government itself be comes rapacious and preys upon property and capital by burdensome taxation, if not by open seizure. Extensive labor must be forced into subjection by the bayonet or elevated into a proper conception of its relations to the body politic by education. To take the first horn of the dilemma, would be to insult the very genius of our American govsrnmeat, and thus we are thrown perforce upon the other. How impor tant a part then must education play in the drama of our future progress ! Washington presents the thought in these vigorous words: ‘In proportion as the structure of a government gives foroe to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.’ So far, in considering labor, we have directed our attention to phj sical labor alone. But there is another very interesting aspect of this sub ject. As previously stated, the objeot of labor is production. Actual work is only a means to that end. Therefore he who by toiling with his brains produces tenfold more than he could have done with his hands is a tenfold more valu able laborer in its true economic sense than he would have been had he labored only with his hands. The architect who plans the building for a cotton factory is as truly a productive laborer as those who put tbe mortar and bricks together, or those who weave the fibre into doth. Those comparatively few minds that by mere thought have discovered the expansive proper ties of steam and invented processes for its prao tical application have probably added as much to the material produce of the civilized world as is represented by half its laboring popula tion. Mental work directed in the popular channel is as truly productive labor as manual work. Manual labor should not therefore, as is sometimes the case, arrogate to itself the exclu sive credit of production. A broader view should bs taken and the truth recognized that the distruction between manual and mental work, when directed to production as a common 6Dd, rests upon the well formed principle of the division of labor. Labor of the one kind or the other is the foundation of national wealth and progress. In the ideal state there will be no drones. All will work, save those who are unable to do so and those who have earned rest by previous work. The censure of public opinion will fall with overwhelming disgrace upon him who consumes in idleness what others produce in toil. All the inhabitants oi the perfect state will be laborers in this broader sense. So much then for our third proposition that there is no inherent, fundamental reason why ed ucation and labor cannot be fully harmonized. But he is a poor physician who having made the diagnosis of a case and found the symptoms favorable can yet offer no remedial measures. By what measure can a just combination of these two forces in society be most practically and speedily effected ? We have investigated the what and the why; let us now look at the how. I. The plan that first suggested itself is the es tablishment of industrial schools and of colleges far instruction in practical agriculture and the mechanic arts. Herein we have a direct urion or compromise—the shortest route to the ulti mate good. Whatever of actual work is accom plished in these schools and colleges is, by its surroundings, lifted up and dignified, while the students who go out from them into the world soon beoome employers and leaders in the various branches of industry in which they engage. The only limit to the profitable employ ment of this means of harmonizing education and labor is the one prescribed by economy of money and economy of time. Experience shows, if we have read aright, that such institutions are not self-supporting. It would seem that as a rule, the mental and physical energies can not at the same time bear to be so severely taxed as to enable one to take a full course of study and earn a livelihood. The comparatively limited time of tuition in the public schools renders it imposible that a full course of practical instruc tion in the industrial arts should be engrafted upon them. Everything oan not be done at once Already the objection has been raised that too much is being crammed into the schools. The number of books and variety of subjects should not be increased at the expense of thorough knowledge and mental discipline. Further more, the cist of such a scheme would be more than the capital of the country, and particu larly of the South, could bear. This consider tion should ever be present in our minds when developing plans for the advancement of public education. Admitting and upholding as we do the perfect right of the state to tax for educational purposes, there are two points of prime import ance to be examined: first the necessity, which exis's for it; and secondly, the abilily of the state to afford it. Too heavy a taxation upon capital paralyzes the very industries by which it must be repro duced, if reproduced at all. It is safe to say, however, that in the vast majority of cases the cry of ‘halt’ comes up from the money holders long before the paralyzing limit is reached. II. If direct instruction in the industrial arts cannot of itself meet the demand, what else can be done ? A healthy public sentiment should be. and can be, created that will remove the withering curse from labor and elevate it into social recogni tion. All persons are influenced more or less by public opinion. The leve of approbation and its opposite, the fear of censure, Bre deeply rooted in the human breast. It is not sufficient merely to show that labor is useful. Stronger Parents should instill into the minds of their children the truths that labor is honorable and and that to be useful is a virtue. The press should teach the wholesome lesson and the pul pit too .proclaim it. The women of the land should not give to tops the smile that, of right, belonging only to men. But above all, the schools in which the mind and character of the coming generation are beiDg moulded should studiously inculcate the doctrine. The atmos phere of the school-room should be untainted with the noxious breath of a false pride that looks with contempt upon any honest work. The public schools cannot all be converted into industrial schools, but they can all exert a wholesome, moral and social influence in be half of industry. Voluntary industrial exposi tion among the pnpils might be encouraged as is done in some of the western states. And par ticularly the selections in the reading books and the precepts of the teacher might be made with a view of creating, cultivating, and developing the proper sentiment upon this subject. A healthy public sentiment in behalf of labor would be a wondrous power in the nation's progress. ‘Honor and shame from no condition rise. Act well your part there all the honor lies. But finally, wealth is uot the only element of a glorious state; and if, in the field of argument we have sustained the causa of education in its bearing upon labor, the patent of wealth, the battle of the public schools has been won against all foes. If education is beneficent to labor, it is beneficent to every public interest. Among all the elements that make up the perfect state, there is not one other that it can by any possi bility antagonize. Neither aristocracy of rank nor of learning nor of wealth has ever been able to disoover another. Educition incieases power and enlarges the scope of public opinion. It promotes obedience to law, and surely the fires of patriotism will burn the brighter in the soul fiom the recollection of parental ble-sings be stowed by the State. It is the. foundation, aye the stream itself of literature, science and art on whoso placid bosom we rest with sweet and quiet joy as we glide down the current of time Wm. H. Flemming. July 25, 1878. ♦The Study of Sociology, page 311. Youn Sou sal ionul Shooting. Girl Seriously Wounded by voted Female Companion. De« Baltimore, Md., Deoember 7.—The particu lars of the singular and mysterious circumstan ces attending the shooting of a young lady at Pocomoke City, Md., by a companion of the same sex, comes from that place. About a month ago Miss Ella Hearn, of Pocomoke, was shot, as supposed, accidently, by Miss Lilly Dner. On the day in question, Mr. Clarke, a resident of the town, while passing the house of the Hearn family, was startled by a report of a pistol, fol lowed by the piercing shrieks of a woman. Clarke nntastened the garden gats and entered the house. On the floor, at full length, was the fig ure of Miss Ella Hears, while standing directly over her, her face wearing an expression of ter ror, mingled with surprise and grief, was her friend and constant companion, Miss Lilly Duer. In ner right hand sbe held a pistol, still smok ing. As soon as Miss Duer saw Clarke she seem ed to regain her selfpossessioD, and asked him, in a trembling voice, to run for the doctor, and leaning over her prostrate friend, wept bitterly. Mies Duer gave the following explanation of the affair: She and her friend were sitting to gether in the room, talking, when she, holding the pistol carelessly in her hand, accidently touched the trigger, causing it to go off. The contents of the pistol struck Miss Hearn in the mouth, the ball takiDg an upward course and lodging somewhere in the head. Miss Hearn was supposed to have been fatally wounded, but lingered, and during unconsci ousness, charged Miss Duer with shooting her intentionally. The latter is described as a mad cap, independent sort of a girl, a good shot, and exceedingly excentric. She is described as beau tiful, and a singular characteristic with her is her evident dislike to male company. She was devoted to the wounded girl, and since the charges of the latter have been made public, is supposed to have shot her in a fit of jealousy, caused by the intimacy of Miss Hearn with an other lady. The affhir having been mooted abont, Mits Dner disippeared a few days ago, and is supposed to have fled to escape the con sequence of her act. * Mill’s Political Economy, page 'Zl. f John Stuart Mills. SCOURGING A NAKED WOMAN. Is Civilization Played out in Virginia! In the Police Court here, yesterday, a woman named Mrs. Nancy Lynch was sentenced to re ceive twenty-five lashes for stealing some pieces of iron from the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company. Soon after she stood in tne yard of the city jail, with her ejes fixed upon the whip ping post, a stout brown post about seven feet in height and three feet in circumference. An official m the yard called to an attendant: ‘Throw me down that tickler,’ whereupon a cowhide about half an inch in diameter at the butt and tapering down to a point, was tossed into his hand. Nancy shuddered. The official said: ‘Take down your clothes, Nancy, and hug the widder.’ ‘Must I take all off?’ ‘Yes, and hurry up.’ Nancy unbuttoned her dress in front, and stripped to the wais;, her upper clothing falling down over her hips and exposing to the gaze of the few bystanders a glossy skin from shoul ders to waist. In a moment more she had embraced the ‘widder’ or whipping post. She gripped the post, her head turned toward the official, and, as he raise! the cowhide, seem ed to nerve herself for the lashes. Rapidly the twenty-five stripes were lain on, each makiDg a horrible murk on the skin. At first the victim did not move; but as the remainder descended in rapid succession, sue writhed and twisted in agony, and the tears ponied down her cheeks. Mixed Sentiments. —There is a revival going on at Dry Creek, Kus. One of the ministers, an unmarried man, went around and talked very pretty to all the youDg misses, and got them in turn to get up aDd say, ‘I love Jesus.’ There was one who was overlooked. She evidently felt slighted, and rising, said very snappishly, at the Bame time bringing her fist heavily down on the back of the seat, 'I love Jesus, too.’ Ministers should be careful and nss all the t«rs alike.