Now, the mean average number of children in the United States enrolled in the schools being forty-two to every one hundred adults, what is our surprise to find, in the figures just given, that every New England state, as well as New York, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia, falls below this average, while on the other hand, every northwestern state (including Ohio, Missouri and Kansas), as well as Mississippi, Tennessee and West Virginia, stands above it! That in proportion to the adult population of those states, there are more children at school in Mississippi, Tennessee and West Virginia, than in any of the New England states, is, indeed, an astounding revelation. Supposing, then, the cost of educating a child in those states to be the same, it follows that each one hundred adults in Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia are paying more to educate their children than is paid by the same number of adults in any New England state! At first sight these statistical results fairly stagger one, and give rise to doubts of their accuracy. But a careful examination of them will satisfy any reasonable mind that these developments are veritable facts, if the census returns and the school enrollment reported by the Commissioners of Education are to be accepted—being based upon and directly calculated from them. Even supposing the existence of some deficiencies in the returns or some minor errors in the calculations, the general facts they reveal must be accepted as true. [TO BE CONTINUED.] FOOTNOTES [D] By Senator Butler, of South Carolina. [E] “Notes on Virginia, Fourth American Edition, N. Y. 1801,” p. 241. [F] See Report of Commissioner of Education for 1881, page 49. [G] The surplus of percentage being due doubtless to the attendance at school of some children beyond the school age prescribed by law. THE PARSON’S COMFORTER. BY FREDERICK LANGBRIDGE. The parson goes about his daily ways With all the parish troubles in his head, And takes his Bible out, and reads and prays, Beside the sufferer’s chair, the dying bed. Whate’er the secret skeleton may be— Doubt, drink, or debt—that keeps within his lair, When parson comes, the owner turns the key, And lets him out to “squeak and gibber” there. It seems a possibility unguessed— Or little borne in mind, if haply known— The he who cheers in trouble all the rest May now and then have troubles of his own. Alas! God knows, he has his foe to fight, His closet-atomy, severe and grim; All others claim his comfort as of right, But, hapless parson! who shall comfort _him_? A friend he has to whom he may repair (Beside that One who carries all our grief), And when his load is more than he can bear He seeks his comforter, and finds relief.