HE OLUR PtR ANNUM INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
TOWANDA :
Thursday Morning, March 28, 1861.
jMtttti Poctrn.
'TIS SWEET TO BE REMEMBERED.
BY JAMES G. CLAKS.
IWe Sail the following song going the rounds j
„ f our Western EXCHANGE Us author. JAMES G-CLAHE,
wei; known throughout New England, by h.s Old lloun-
U'a Tree," -Rock of Liberty." "Mountains or Life. ■
other beautiful lyric poems, ,s m our opinion. ,
,'neqoalW by any other song writer in the New ;
&jtton Journal.]
0 ! 'tis sweet to >e remembered
In the merry days of youth.
While the world seems full ot brightness.
And the soul retains its truth.
When our hopes are like the morning beams
That flash along the eea.
And erery dream we know of life
It one ot purity.—
•Tis sweet to be remembered
As the Spring remembers earth.
Spreading roses in our pathway.
Filling all our hearts with niii.h.
0 1 lis sweet to be remembered
In the summer time of life.
Ere we reach the burning summit
With our weight of woe and strife.—
To look backward through the ahadowe
Where our journey first begun.
And ih' z*dtn flotccrt cf mrm'ry
Turn htir fu-tt •'<> tht Su.n,—
Tis sweet to be rememi>ered
As the breeie remembers day,
i", j; , ; j a - ward f*om the valley.
O'er the pilgrim's weary way.
0 'tis sweet to be remembered
Won o„r life has lost its bloom,
AaJ erery morning sun we meet
Vfav ,eae us at tke tsiab.—
When our youth is half forgotten.
And we gaxe with yearnings loud.
From a world where all are dying
To a deathless world beyond.
"Tis sweet to be remembered
As tke stars remember night.
Bhining downward thro' the darkness.
With a pure and ho.y light.
gtlttlG tali.
A Fleet M-drriaje.
RY AS IRISHMAN.
LaJv C was a beautiful woman, bet Lady
C sis an extravagant woman She was still
tingle, though rather passed extreme youth.
l Lie most pretty females, she hail looked too
It; aid estimated her u*u loveliness too
ivr. and now she refused to believe liiat
sn tas not as charming as ever. So, no sou-
Icr <be still remained unmarried.
Lsdr C. had about five thousand pounds in
tic world. She owed about forty thousand
wc>bt; so w itli all her wit and beauty, she
ic. it* the Fleet, and was lkeiy to renain
t'.fTf.
X iv in the time 1 speak of every lady had
' her heal dressed by a barber; and the barber
" the Feet was the handsomest barbarof the
city ot London. Pat Philan was a pre at ad
tr. rer of the fair sex; and where's the wonder?
here, l'at WAS an Irishman. It was one very
C:.s morning, when Philan was dressing her
captivating head, tiiav her ladyship took it in
-10 her rninrt to talk to him. and Pat was tll
{ tor Lady C's teeth were the whitest,
and her smile the brightest in the world.
"So you are uot married. Pat." said uhe
" XiTer an inch your honor's ladyship,"
fays he.
" And wouldn't TOO like to be married ?**
ijain asked she.
" Would a duck swim V
I "Is then- any one you'd prefer?"
I ' Maybe," madam.'' said he. ' Von r*ver
k'.ttrdof Kathleen O'Reily,down beyond Don
ex"? Her father's cousin to O'Donagliow,
H 1 s own 'toward to Mr. Marj iv, the uuder
■ xrt to my Lord Kingston, aud
■ Uush 1" says she; "sure I don't want to
I t:: who she is. But would she bave you if
I pe i'sed her ?"'
Ah. thin, I'd on'y wish I'd be after trying
I £'. same."
* And *liv don't yon ?"
Sire I'm too poor. And r'uilon heaved a
I furious sigh.
" Would you like to be rich ?"
" Does a do? bark ?"
If I make vou rich will TOO do as I tell
I T en
M le-oarthes ! your honor, don't be tan-
I t .rrg a p<v> r boy"
I ludee j,|l am not," said Lady C. So listen.
I bow would TOQ marry rae V
I " Ah. thin, my lady, 1 believe the King of
I fovea himselt would be proad to do that same
I 'i*; alone a poor divil like Pat Philan."
" Well, Phi! an, if yon"! marry me to mor-
I p.; one pounds "
"0, whilabaloo 1 wtilabaloo ! snre I'm mad
I <* enchanted by the good people," roared Pat,
I Cia- - j round the room
Bat there are conditions," says Lady C.
After the srst dav of onr nipuals you must
It'ver see me again, nor claim me for vour
I I don't l.ke that." said Pat, for he had
I Ctf - °gkng her lady ship roost desperatelv
I , Bat remember Kathleen O'Reiiey. With
w oooey I'll pj ve TOO TOU maT go and mar-
I her."
I Tnat's tiirne," savs he. " But, thin, the
I n=T *
I . • a "cr appear against yon," says her
I *J?sa p "Only remember yon must take an
I i?" - s<Tfr 10 me your wife after to-mor-
I IJ * and never to go telling ail the story."
I TER ' w od I'll iver say."
I & s *f " there's ten pounds
I '""j a ' l **ose, and leare the rest to
I kljerplaioed to bim where he
I l 0 when he was to come, and all
- r. day Pat was tree to his wppoiol
THE BRADFORD REPORTER.
ruent, and fouud two gentlemen already with
her ladyship.
" Have you got the license?" says she.
" Here it is, my lady," says he; and he gave
it to her. Sne handed it to one of the gentle
men, who viewed it attentively. Then, calling
in her two servants, she turned to the gentle
man who was reading.
And sure enough, in ten minutes Pat Philan
was the husband, the legal husband of the
lovely Lady C.
" That will do," says she to her husband, as
he gave her a hearty kiss; "that'll do. Now,
sir, give me my marriage certificate." The old
gentleman did so, and bowing respectfully to
the five pound note she gave him, he retired
with his clerk; for sure enough, I forgot to
tell you that he was a parson.
" Go and bring me the warden," says my
!ady to one of her servants.
"Yes, my lady," say she; and presently the
warden appeared.
" Will you be good enough," said Lady C.,
in a voice that would cull a bird off a tree,
"will you be good enough to send and fetch me a
hackney coach? I wish to leave this prison im
mediately."
*' Your ladyship forgets," replied he, " that
you must pay forty thousand pounds before I
can let you go."
" I am a married woman. You can detain
my husband, but not me." And she smiled at
Philan, who began rather to dislike the ap
pearance of tilings.
" Pardon me, my lady, it is well known you
are single."
' 1 tell you I am married"
" Where's your husband?"
" There sir !" and she pointed to the aston
ished barber,"there he sands. Here is my mar
riage certificate, which you can peru-e at your
leisure. Mv servants yonder were witnesses
of the ceremony. Now detain me sir, at your
peri!.
The warden was dumb founded, and no
wonder. Poor Philan would have spoken,
but ueitker party would let him. The lawyer
bel nv was consulted The result was evident.
In halt an hour Lady 0. was free, and Pat
Philan. her legitimate husband, a prisoner for
debt to the amount of forty thousand pounds.
Well, sir, for (*>me time. Pat thought he
was in a dream,-and the creditors thought they
were still worse. The following day they had
a meeting, and finding how they had beeu
tricked, swore they'd detain poor Pat forever.
But as they well knew that he had nothing,
and wouldn't feel much shame in going through
the Insolvent Court, they made the best ola
bad bargain, and let him go.
Well, vou niiist know, about a week after
this, Paddy Philan was sitting by his lutie
fire, and thinking over the wonderful things
he had seen, when as sure as death, the p >-t
-man brought liirn a letter, the first iie ha lever
received, which lie took to a Irieud of his, one
Ryan, a fruit seller, because, you see. he was
no great hand at reading writing, to decipher
for tcra. It ran thus :
"Go to Ih-merde and marry Kathleen 0 -
Ricliv. Tne instant the knot is tied I fulfil my
promise of making V-JU comfortable for jile.—
But as you value your life and liberty, never
breathe u syllable of what is jva-sed. ll.mem
ber vou are in my power if TOU teil your story.
The money ;il ae paid to yuu directly, you
inclose me your marriage certificate. I -end
yon fifty pounds for ; resent expenses. C
O. happy paddy ! D.dn't he s-art next day
for Cork, and didu't he marry Kathleen, and
touch a thousand pwnnds! By the powers he
did And what is more, he took a cottage,
which perhaps you know, uot a hundred m.ies
from Bruffin. iu the county of Limerick; and,
i'taix, he forgot his first wife entirely, and
never told uny one but under the prom
ise of secre>y, the story of ios Fleet Mairiage.
PUK.N-OMF.NAOF G1.1 5 .—In a very interesting
scient tic article on glass the J fair antic Press
sav? ; 'fnat gia>s resists the act on oi mo-t
ac:ds, science ha< proved; its weight is not di
minished ov use or age. It is more capable
than other substances of receiving the highest
degree of polish ; if melted :-evera! times over,
and properly cooled down iu the furnace, pre
senting a polish which almost rivals the diam
ond in brilhauey
It it be made into * phial, with the bottom
much thicker than the sides, and suddenly
cooled in the open air. instead of being tem
pered in the usual manner, the result on its
susceptibility to fracture is the most extraor
dinary. It will bear a heavy blow, or severe
prcs-ure. from any blunt instrument, uninjur
ed; but if anv hard and iduuhir sub-tance,
even so sn: ill as a grain of flint, or sharp sand
be dropped into the phial, the bottom wii,
crack all aroood, and fall off. A sua;, frag
ment of iron has been passed through the
thick bottom with apparently as litt.e resis
at.ee as if dropped through the web o: a spid
er. Instances have occurred in whicn oue o;
these phial* has been struck by a mallet, w ;ih
a force sufficient to drive a nail into some de
scriptions of wood, without causing fracture,
while a small fragment of fl.nt,dropped gent y
into the phial has cracked the glass to pieces
A piece of white Lot metal being dropped
gently into cold water, and taking the form
of a round lamp elongated to a tail, is termiu
ated a cracker. The round part will bear a
heavv blow without fracture: but if the least
part*of the tail be broken off. the whole Ces
into innumerable fragments as Sne as i owder.
If this glass be placed in a wira bottle fill
ed with water, and a small portion of the tad
broken off, by the aid of a long pair of nippers
the concussion by the explosion for it is almost
s ; m ; ar to en explosion) is so violent as to
break the bottle and scatter the water in every
direct.on.
PUNCH says; " Women are said to bave
stronger attachments then men. It is. not so.
Strength of attachment i evinced in little
things. A man is oftain attached to an old
hat ; but did you ever kaow of women having
an attachment for aa old bonnet?"— Echo an
swer—" Meter!"
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY R. W. STURROCK.
The Old Garret.
Sarcastic people say that the poets dwell in
garrets, and simple peopie believe it. And
others neither sarcastic or simple, scud them
aloft, among the rubbish, just because they do
not know what to do with them down stairs
and "among folks," and so they class them un
der the head of rubbish, and consign them to
that grand reception of "has beeus," and de
spised "used to be's," the old garret.
The garret is to the other apartments of the
homestead what the adverb is te the pedago
gue iu parsing. Everything they do uot know
how to dispose of, is consigned to the list of
abvtrbs. And it is for this precise reason we
love garrets because they do contaiu the relics
of the old and of the past—souvenirs of other
and happier and simpler hours.
Tuey have come to build houses now a days
without garrets. Impious innovation.
You men of broase, and "bearded like the
bards," who would like to make people believe
if you could, that you were never a "toddling
wee thing," that you never wore a "riffled
dress," or jingled a rattle box with infinite de
light ; that you never had a. mother, and that
she neve r became an old woman, aud wore
caps and spectucles, and may be took snuff;
go home once more after all these years of
absence, ail booted and whiskered, aud six
feet high as you are, aud let us go up together
into the old fashioned garret that extends from
gable to gable, with its Darrow, oval windows
with a spider web as a sash, through which
steals a "dim, relgious light" upon a museum
of things unnameable, that once figured below
stairs, but were long since crowded out by the
Vandal haud of modern limes.
Tae loose boards of tlie floor rattle some
what as tuey to do—don't they ? wueu
beneath your prattling feet they clattered afore
time, when of a rainy afternoon, "Mother,"
wearied w'th many-tongiK-d importunity .grant
ed the "Let ns go up in tiia garret and play."
And play ? Precious little of play you bave
bad since, we dure warrant,with your looks of
dignity and dreams of ambition.
Here we are now in the midst of the garret.
The old barrel—shall we ruuiage it ? Old
newspapers, dusty, yellow, a little tattered !
'Tis the Columbian Star. How familiar the
type looks I llow it reminds you of old time
when you looked over the edge of the counter
with the letters or papers for father! And
these same stars just damp from the press w ere
carried one by oue to the fire-side, aud {>erus
ed and preserved as they ought to be. hilars?
Damp. Ah, many a star Las set since then,
and many a new turfed heap grown damp with
rain that feli not from clouds.
D.ve deeper iu tue barrel. There ! A bun
dle, up it comes, iu a cloud of dust. Old al
manacs, by all that is memorable, thin leaved
ledgers of time, going back to —let us see how
fur : lil—, 1 S3—, 182—. before our time—
—, when our mothers werechildreu And
the day book—how blotted aud bleared w.lh
many records aud tears.
Taere you bave hit your head [against that
beam Time was w iicu you ran to and fro be
tieath it. but vou are uearer to it uow.bv more
than the "altitude of a chopping." That beam
is strewn with forgottcu papers of seeds for
the next year's sowing; a distaff, with some
new shreds of fl x rem lining is thrust luto a
crevice of the rafters over head, and tucked by
aarav close under the caves is the little w heel
that used tostand by the tire in times long gone.
Its sweet long song lias ceased, and perliaps —
perhaps she drew those flaxen threads but
never mind—you remember the line don't
you ?
• Her wheel at reit. Vhe matron charms no more."
Wei!, Ist that pass. Do you see that little
craft iu that dark corner ! It was red once, it
was the < -'y casket in the house once, and
contained a motlier's jewels. Ttie o;d red cra
dle for ail the world ! Aud you occupied that
once, ave, ureat as you are, it was your worid
once, and over it the only horizon you beheld
bent the heaven of a mother's eyes as you
rocked in that little barque of love, on the
hither shore of time —fast by a mother's lov*e
to a mother's heart.
And there attached by two rafters are the
fragments of an untwisted rop?. Do you re
memher it, and what it was for, aud who fas
tened it there ?
Tw as the childten's swing You are here
indeed, but where arc Nelly and Charley ?
There hangs bis little cap by that w iudow.and
there the little red frock she used to wear.—
A crown is resting upon her cherub brow, and
his robes are spotless in the better laud.
Defl. E lived out West. He had a son,
John. The sovereigns of that section met in
caucus to appoint delegates to a bounty con
vention. Now the Convention would meet
many miles from that, and bow to get carried
there without expense, was a subject of the
graves* importance to the aforesaid sovereigns
in conclave. Finally it was agreed to appoiut
J An, the Deacon's sou, a delegate, thus giv
ing him an opportunity to dbpiay bis patriot
ism by taking his father's horses and wagon to
transport the whole de.egatioa to the county
seat. The thing was done.
It so happened that the Deacon had chang
ed works with a neighbor in thresbicg, only the
Deacou had got the neighbor's help and hadu't
paid it back. Tne day before the Convention,
the neighbor notified him that he should want
hira next day.
" But we can't come."
•• Wbyaotr
"Why, you see, John, be's pinted."
"*Pinied ? how ? what do you mean?"
" You see John he's jiutcd a—a—a—re
r.egude to the County Conception , r
PovrTrrv breeds wealth ; aDd wealth, in its
torn, breeds poverty. The earth, to form the
mour.d, is taken out of the ditch ; and the
higbt of the one is near about the depth of
I theot-.er.
Lad es, prepare for an extreme change in hab
it, f r a Paris correspondent of the New \ ork
Co'* 'ier says the ladies are coming oct with
out l oop?,' bcstles, wadding, "or anything
elee "*
" REGARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER."
A Sad Picture.
The following is an extract from the Vale
dictory address of Prof. Mitchell to the recently
graduating class at Jefferson College, Phila
delphia.
Go with me, in imagination, to the grave
yard of a country poorliouse, in a sister com
monwealth, and the spot allotted to the mor
tal remains of a victim of inebriation, once a
star iu the professional galaxy cf his native
State, will meet your eye. The rank weed
and the rugged brier have well nigh oblite
rated the hillock from the gaze of men, and
these are the only monuments that mark the
spot. Who sleeps there ? Ala 3 ! I tremble at
the reminiscences that cluster around the shape
less heap of earth. Often, during iny residence
in the West, bad I heard the glittering pros
pects that environed the pathway of the young
professor. His eloquence and teaching powers
won for him goldeu opinions. In the walks ol
professional life, too, he met on every side the
approving smile and the salutations of frieuds
who esteemed him a ministering angel iu the
chamber of sickness, and who felt that his
skill had saved their loved ones from the grasp
of death. The gourd seemed to be of vigor
ous growth, aud for a time uoue had a misgiv
ing in respect of the future. But a poisonous
worm was at the root, and it infused desola
tion into every fibre of the plant. This man
had failed in the very outset of life ; he began
wrong. Too soon, alas, was the genteel giass
of wine exchanged for the fiercer stimulus o:
the brandy goblet. The victim was tottering
on a fearful declivity, uncousiconsof the abyss
that might soon eneulf him forever. The stone
rolling from the bill-top, could not be checked
in its rush to ruin by a force less potent than
Almightiness. The warning of dearest friends
was unheeded. Cast, beyond retrieve, was the
die, and the terrible is>ue not far in the dis
tauee. Tue erratic prefessor lo.>t his piace iu
the school ot oiadiciue,because of indiscretions
pierpelrattJ under the sway of the tyrant
whose chains led him in durance vile. The
patrons who once idolized him as their family
visitant in the sick chamber, abandoned him,as
a hopeless outcast, and the tnurky tokens of
poverty speedily fastened their death-gripe on
soul aud body. Did he reform at theeleveutii
hour? On the contrary, he felt that he was a
doomed sot, and very soon all that had once
been luminous and full of promise in intellect,
went out in utter darkness 11$ gave up the
ghost among kindred spirits, aud where is he?
D d any of his early patrons or boon com
panions take the cold clay and honor it with
a spot in some lovely cemetery ? Not at all
Unwept aud a'oue he found a hiding-place iu
a dishohored grave. And iu a weekly sheet
the melancholy record of his doom ran thus :
'Died on the day of in the vear IS,
Dr well known a few years ago,
as the eloquent professor of in
Medical college. He was ruiced Ly intemper
ance, aud his remains repose in a corner of a
graveyard of the county poorhouse."
BARNCM SOLD. —A public j-Ae at P. T. B tr
nuni's expense .3 not an every-day luxury, I*.
T. B for many vears having had the laugh on
the other side." But at length the Prince of
Showmen has been shown a trick that he did
not know before, and the hero of the occasion
has beeu, is very usn il on such occasion", a
son of the Emerald Isle. It seems that B-r
-num, a few day ago, was in a great hurry to
be shaved, and euttred his ordinary place of
tonsoriai reso-t, under the Park Hotel, in
New York; bet all the operatives were engag
ed, and one o'her customer—a great, brawny
Irishman, just landed, and with a beard and
head requiring very extensive attention—stood
between the exhibitor of the "What is-it" aud
his turn as next.
" I am in a hurry, my good man," said
I'hineas T , addressing Pat; "and if you will
give tne your turn I will pay for what vou
want done here."
" All right 1" replied the delighted Irishman
and the showman was soon shaved, and on his
way to keep his engagement —merely saying,
as he left the door, to the proprietor of the
saloon, " Do what this man wants," pointing
to the exile of Erin, "and I will settle it with
vou"
No sooner was he gone than Pat took off
his trusty, and a thick cotton neck tie, at the
same time asking the barber, " Now tell me
a!! you do."
Why, sir," responded the tonsoriai opera
tive, '■ we shave, cut and curl Lair, shampoo,
and bathe."
" All right, the-," said Pat; "do all them
tliicus to tne. Sorra wan of me knows
what thev ma: e, but as he said he'd pay for
them, just do them all, an' God bless yon !
Tile barber saw the joke, and did as re
quested. putting the big Irishman through all
the processes, and bringing him out so p'eas
antlv altered that Pat scarcely knew himself.
We leave our readers to imagine Barnum s
face text morning, when the proprietor of the
saloon handed him a bill—
" F or bathing Irishman, 25 cents ; shaving,
10 cents ; cutting hair, 25 cents ; shampoon
ing, 25 cents ; curling Lair, 25 cents —total
for Irishman, $1.00."
Barnum at once acknowledged the corn—
gave a receipt for the maize : but he is after
the Irish exile, acd swears if he catches him,
that he will place him cneek-by jnw: between
the " what-is it ?" and the Aztec children.
BRIGHT AND GI.OOMT HOURS —Ah ! this
beautiful world. ludeed. I koow not what to
think of it. Sometimes it is all gladness and
sunshine, and heaven itself is not far off
Acd then it changes suddenly acd is dark and
sorrowful, and the cloads shot out the sky. Iu
the lives of the saddest of us there are bright
days like this, when we feel as if we could
take the great world in onr arms. Tbeu come
the gloomv boors, when the fire will neiiher
burn in our hearts nor on our hearths ; and all
withoQt and withio is dismal, cold and dark.
Believe me. erery bean baa its secret sorrows,
which the world knows not; and oftentimes
we call a man cold when be is only sad.—
I lemgftUcw.
Department.
Sending Scholars to Adjoining Districts.
[The following case, lately decided by the
Supreme Court of this State, will be found to
be especially interesting aud iustructive to
School Directors.]
Frcevuin and others against the Directors of
Franklin District.
1. The School Law confers express discre
tionary power on each School Board, in rela
tion to the school, within the- District, which
each pupil shall attend ; and it would be quite
absurd to leave them without such discretion,
when there is a nearer school iu au adjoining
District, to which the pupil wishes to go.
1. Whether distance or difficulty of access
to the uearest school of the pupil's proper dis
trict is great or not, must be left to the sound
discretion of the directors of such district.
3. The Courts will be liberal aud generous
towards directors iu the exercise of this dis
cretion ; and w.ll not remove them for official
misconduct iu regard to it, unless their abuse
of it he very clear.
HISTORY OF TOE CASE.
John Freeman, John li. Rogers, Benjamin
Courson, Andrew Keapper, Joseph McK night
and Jno Robertson, taxable citizens of Frank
lin School District, reside on the border of the
town of Washington, the line of said borough
runiiiDg through the property of some of
them. Previous to the year beginning June,
1559, the said citizens were permitted to send
their children to the L'nion School iu Wash
ington, as more accessible and otherwise con
venient to them, than the school house in the
Franklin District, in pursuance of an arrange
ment made by the Directors of the Washing
ton and Franklin Districts according to the
9th article of the 23d section of the Act of
May Bth, 1854, which is as follows :
" The Directors aud Controllers of the re
spective Districts, shall have power to estab
lish schools of different grades, and to deter
mine into which school each pupil shall be ad
mitted ; and if it shall be found, that on ac
count of great dbtauce from, or difficulty of
access to the proper school house in any Dis
trict, some of the pupils thereof coulu be more
conveniently accommodated in the schools of
an adjoining District, it shall bo the duty of
the Directors of Controllers of such adjoiniug
Districts, to make an arrangement, by which
such pupils may be instructed in the most con
venient school of the adjoining District ; and
the expense of such instruction shall be paiJ,
as may be agreed upon by the Directors and
Controllers of such adjoiniug districts, by res
olution or agreement entered upon the minutes
of the respective Boards."
At the eud of the school year, 1858, this
permission was revoked, and the Directors of
Frank.in District refused to make any arrange
ment, such as had before existed. After re
peated efforts on the part cf said citizens, to
procure the concurrence of the Franklin with
the Washington Directors, iu some equitable
arrangement for their accommodation, aou the
refusal of said Erunkiiu Directors to make any,
they applied to the Court of Quarter ses
sions to remove said Directors froui office, for
a violation of duty iu this regard, under the
9th section of the Act of May S:h, 1854,
w h oh is as hollows :
"If all the members of any Board of Di
rectors or controllers, shall refuse or neglect
to perform their duties bv levying the tax re
quired by law, and to put or keep the schools
iu operation, so far as the means of the Dis
trict will admit, or shali uegieet or refuse to
perform any other duty enjoined by law, the
Court of Quarter Sessions of the proper coun
ty may. upou complaint in writing by any s x
taxable citizens of t:.e District, and on due
proof thereof, declare their seats vacant, and
appoint others in their stead, ualil the aeit
annual election for Directors."
In support of this applicatiou, they exhib
ited to the court abundant proof, that the
school house in Washingtou was nearer to the
most distant of them Ly more tbaa one Lalf
mile, than the Franklin school house, and that
in point of safety and facility of access, the
former was decidediy mi-re convenient to them
than the latter. Indeed, these facts are dis
tinctly alledged in the petition, and are not
deuied in the answer They are therefore to
be taken as fully established by the proof and
by the admission cf the respondents.
The Lonrt, however, refused the relief pray
ed for. for the reasons assigned ia the fo.low
ing opiuioa :
OPINION OF THE COURT OF QUARTER SESSIONS.
GIIAIOP.E, P J.—This application is made
under the Bth section of the Act of Sth May.
authorizing this Court "to declare the seats
ot School Directors i vacant, and to appoint
others in their stead tint;! the next sninna!
election," where they " shall neglect or refuse
to perform any duty enjoined by law."* The
duty, which it is übeged that the D.rectors re
fused to perform, was a refu-al, on the appli
cation of the petitioners, to make arrooge
meats, under the 9th article of the 25d sec
tion of the Act of 1854, by which the chil
dren and wards of the petitioners might be
instructed iu the Union School of the borough
of Washington, that being the most conve
nient school of any adjoining District. Tuis
article ia the 23d section provides, that "the
Directors and Control.ers of the re-pective
Districts, shall bare power loe?tabhih schools
of different grades, and to determine into
which school each pupil shall be admitted :
and if it shad be found, that on account cf
great distance from, or d fficolty cf access to
the proper school house in any District, some
of the popiU thereof could be more •ccuve
ntently accommodated la the schools cf on
adjoining District, it shali be the duty of Di
rectors or Controllers of such adjoining Dis
tricts to make arrangement, by which such
pupils may be instructed ia the most convt-
Tient school of the adjoining District, Ac.
The directors and respondents have assign
ed, in their answer to the petition of the ap-
I plicants, various reasons for their refuse* to
VOL. XXI. —2s O. 43
i comply with the request of the petitioners.—
We shall not consider the reasons in detail ;
but, taking the answer in whole, it more than
covers the ground upon which we feel con
strained to disinis3 the petition.
The law is not obscure ; its meaning and
iuteut arc manifest. It requires the school
directors, uuder a certain state of circumstan
ces, which arc specified, to send pupils out of
their proper District to the most convenient
school of an adjoining District. Whet are
the causes specified ? " Great distance from,
or difficulty of access to the proper school
house of the District" These cau>es are dis
tinct ; the existence of either would be suffi
cient, and combined, it would be doubly so.—
The proper school house might be uear, very
near, and yet, owing to natural or artificial
obstructions, its approach might be both dan
gerous and difficult of access, and, if either,
it would be the clear duty of the Directors, to
make arrangements to send to the adjoining
District. Are there any such obstructions in
this case ? The Directors have decided, that
none such exist, and the evidence satisfies us
iof the correctness of their judgment. But
the distance, say the petitioners, is greater
. than to the Uu on school in the borough of
: Washington. Granted ; this is proved.—■
Without referring in particular to the admeas
urement, it may be said to be a mile and a
half to the proper school house ; it is some
thing thai: a mile to the Union school
bouse In the District. It is also proved, that
the way to the Union school Louse, being
principally on the pavement, is superior as a
walk to the road leading to the proper school
house.
But what is implied from the expressions—
" great distance from the proper school house."
These, it is needless to say, are relative terms;
it ib a great distance, or otherwise, as compar
ed with some other distance. Do they mean,
that because it is one-third nearer to tbs
Union school than the proper school house of
the district, it therefore may be called a great
distance to the latter ? If so, the Legislature
have beeu very unfortunate ia expressing
themselves ; for ad this difficulty might have
been avoided, by simply declaring, that pupils
shall l> sent to the neare-t school, without
regard to District ; that they might be set;
to whichever ;t was most convenient to go.—
We apprehend that such a construction would
violate both the words and the intention cf
the law. In effect, it would be destroying the
system of districting altogether. If this might
be said to be predicating too mcch, it would
surely be safe to aver, that the sub-districts
contiguous to, and lying around a borough
like Washington (having a school house and
appointments, equal at least to the present
necessities of the borough district) would be
deprived of many pupils, thereby diminishing
the resources of the proppr District, and im
pairing to some extent, the spirit and useful
ness of the school. But we cannot admit of
any such construction Jof the law. It could
no: I e allowed, without iu a serious manner
affecting the entire school system. Here is a
District which has recently been sub divided,
after consultation aud consideration, and the
school houses located, so as to accommodate
most conveniently the entire District. This
school house. No. I, we have it in proof, was
located with that intention, aud by and with
the consent of those interested and acquainted
with the wants of the whole territory to ba
served ; a house built cf sufficient capacity,
an-d more than sufficient, to receive all tha
pupils in the subdivision, and with all
the improved appointments. Bat what is
more, this location of No. 1, was not an
independent action, but the situations of the
other five booses iu the Distiict were made,
more or less, to depeud upon the loca
tion of this cue. That is, we are given to nc
derstaud from the evidence, that the location
of one was made dependent upon the other.
Now, is it u : a reasonable inference, that if
i: had been known to the Directors, that these
families residing on the northern boundry
of No. 1, would not have used their school,
that the location of this house would have
been d.fferent, and that this would hare caus
ed a change in the location of the ethers?—
It would certainly either Lave permitted a re
duction of the number, or a clo-er proximity
of the sab-divisions. It will hardly be con
tended that, under these circumstances, an ar
rangement, such as asked for, should be allow
ed for the caere convenience of the applicants.
We agree, that it is not put on this ground
alon*\ tut, in our opinion, the evidence only
goes to this extent.
Bat what is the true meaning of the ex
pressions, "great distance from ' as u*ed in the
Act ? They are relative, ar.d we hold that
their meaning mu-t be measured and defined
from the distinct? which ether families reside
from their respective school boasts, ia the
District. Now, the answer of the respond
ents alleges, that " the petitioners are as well,
if not better accommodated, than a large ma
jority of said No. 1 district, both as to dis
tance and accessibility."
Ties is no r denied ia the replication of the
petitioners, bat is said not to be to the pur
pose. Th* evidence g~es far to sastain the
answer. This i*, we think, the true mode of
ascertaining the meaning of the exgre-siocs,
and was the ground open which the D.rectors
based their action. The interpretation con
tended for by the petitioners, would make it
mere IT an erquiry of convenience, but, mom
than this is required by the iaw.
Again, the Directors are made judges of
the appl cab.ilty of the circumstances to the
requirements of the law. Their dcty is not
bv any means merely ministerial. Now, with
out intending to call in question the appellate
jurisdiction of this court, we think, where the
D.rectors have acted without impeachment of
rootAe,—where the penalty is removal from
office, implying dereliction of du'v. —and
where the power to inflict the penalty is at
best, but inferently conferred, —that belore
giving judgment against the Board, we shonld
be fully sau-fied they have acted, either nader
an trroueoos conception of tha law and the
[tCSCLTZZZ OS TOCKTE FASS-)