Juvenile Miscellany. Vol. V. No. I. ,September and October. The ...

JUVENILEMISCELL‘

ANY.

VOL. V .—NO . I.

, S E P T EMB E R AND O C T OBER .

THE D UTCH FAMILY.

MARIA Voiv VECHT was a healthy littleDutchgirl

,with a short roly-poly figure and a very k ind

heart . Her father was rich . During the sum

mer season,he l ived in a beau tiful country house

,

‘

not far from Amsterdam. A large canal flowed

d irectly in front of the dwell ing,and gardens

,

. ornamented With statues and temples,extended

even to the water’s edge . In summer it was all

great source of enjoyment to Maria and her:‘

brother to watch the canal boats(or tr eckscuz'

ts,

as they are called by the Dutch)drawn over thesmooth waters

,by horses on a slow andmeasured

trot . In winter,it wou ld h ave done your heart

good to see Mari a and her l ittle‘ne ighbors skating

on the canal,sometimes darting forward straight

as an arrow,then gl iding about

,and crossing

2 THE DUTCH FAMILY .

each other’s path,l ike a company of yellowbut

terflies dancing in the air . Maria was a very

swift skater . She often said she could. go toAmsterdam and buy a French doll , and back

again, before mother would miss her , ifmotherwould only allow it . One day

,when she was

skating in front of the house,her cheeks al l of a

g low,and her eyes as bright as diamonds , she

grew so merry,and dodged about so qu ick

,that

she ran against a l ittle girl,and knocked her

down flat on the ice . Maria“

stopped in an in

stant ; for though she was something of a romp,

she was a very gentle,loving child .

“ Have‘I

hurt you said she kindly,as she helped the

little girl to stand on her feet. Oh dear ! I see

ten thousand stars coming and going all the time

and my head aches so 1” repl ied the poor child

Marla was afraid she had hurt her l ittle neighbor

very much and she begged her brother to run and

bring their large red sled down to the canal to

carry Lotte Van Tromp to the hou se . Madame

Von Vecht . washed her ' head with camphorated

spirit,and gave her some warm supper

,and she

soon began to feel better . ThenMaria wanted her

to go and see her l ibrary,and her museum

,and

awonderful pretty l ittle set of china, which a sea

THE DUTCH FAMILY .,3

c aptain,one of her father’s friends had given

her .

Lotte was very bashful ; for she had never

been in such a handsome house before , and in

the simpl ic ity of her heart,she thought the king’s

palace could not be half so grand . When shec rossed the floor to go with Maria she saw her

whole length figure reflected in the pier-glass ;and she stopped and looked round— for she

thought another l ittle girl was in the room,with

just such a short petticoat,close jerkin

,and

green cap as her own ; and she ' did not knowwhat to make of it

,when she saw that the l ittle

girl stopped too,and looked directly at her .

Maria looked at her mother and smiled ; andthen she led Lotte up to the great gl ass and told

her it was her own figure that she had seen.

Lotte was very much surprised at this,for at home

she had never seen a mirror bigger than a common-sized slate .

The l ittle gi rls went into the pl ay-room'

and

had a very good time together and when Lotte

said it was time to go home ,Maria begged permiss ion to go with her . At the farm-house

,

Maria saw’

a great many things that were as newto her

,as the pier-glass had been to her young


‘

visitor. The shelves andwooden ware were as

white as the dri fted snow,and the pewter plates

shone l ike so many mirrors . In the barn there

were cows and sheep,and one beautiful l ittle

white goat,which Lotte milked with her own

hands . Maria returned,very much pleased with

her visit ; and from that time , the two l ittle girls

became great . friends . Maria lent Lotte her

books,and taught her to net pu rses ; and Lotte

showed her how to braid straw,andweave very

pretty,substantial baskets .

The winter passed away very happily ; and

when summer came , it brought new pleasures .

Maria had no sisters,and this made her more at

tached to her l ittle neighbor . Two or threetimes a week

,she would takeher younger brother

by the hand and lead him to the farm-house,

while thelr knowing ¢little dog Frisk,would run

jumping and capering before them. Frisk was a

merry,mlschievous dog . He always made di

rec tly for the barn yard , where he fr ightened the

poultry,and set the geese and hens cackl ing

There was a l ittle Bantam hen among them,

who was very fierce,and she would sometimes

step up to Frisk and offer to fight wi th him.

This made Frederic Von Vecht laugh . The

THE DUTCH FAMILY .5

Bantam hen had feathers growing qu ite down

to her feet ; and when he saw her march up to

the dog ,'

he called out,

“ See, Maria ! why

don’t she have her stockings tied up‘2” But

Maria thought the funniest sight of all was a

churn turned by a large dog , who walked round/

and round , as industr iously as if he expected

nine-pence an hour for his work . Little Frisk

tried to tease this great fellow by barking at

him. For some time the great dog attended

very qu ietly to his business , and treated the

l ittle malapert puppy as i f he were not worth

minding butwhen Frisk sprung up and bit his

ear,he l ifted his paw and knocked him flat on

his back . Whereupon l ittle Frederic raised a

g reat shout .

Maria was an observing chi ld ; and her mother

had taught her to examine everything she did

not know,and inquire about everything she did

not understand. It was a great source of amusem

ment to her to watch the storks bu i lding theirnests in the chimney of the farm-house . Lotte’smother told her that these birds always

iwent

away ' from Holland in August,and returned the

latter part of February . I suppose they do

not love the ice so well as Lotte and I do,sa id

la

6 THE D UTCH FAMI LY .

Maria . As she walked along home,she thought

a good deal about these b irds ; and as soon as

she entered the house,she said

,Mother

,who

teaches the storks to build their nests ? And how

do they know when winter i s coming ?” Her

mother told her they were taught by the same

God,who made her eyes to see and her tongue

to speak .

And will God take care of all the storks

asked little Frederic : And wil l they all come

back to Mynheer Von Tromp’s chimney ?” His

mother smiled,and told him God would take

good care of the storks ; but she - could not tel l

whether they would choose to come back to the

same chimney again.

THE D UTCH FAMILY . 7

One day Maria’s brother Martin went to Am

sterdam in the canal-boat wi th his father . Fred

eric expected they would bring him a new topand Maria asked for a book on

’

Natural History,

withr

c olored engravings . Towards sunset,the

children stationed themselves at the bottom of

the garden to watch for the return of the canal

boat. Little Frederic saw the horses while

they were yet afar off,and he clapped his hands

and rolled over and over on the grass . Maria

was more sober in her deportment ; but as the

boat grew near,her eyes began to g l iste

’

n,and

her heart to throb ; for she saw a beautiful l arge

peacock seated on a barrel-head,and. she felt

almost sure that her father had bought i t for her .

The splend id bi rd was indeed bought for

Mar ia ; and it seemed as i f her eyes could never

be satisfied with gaz ing at'his coat of many col

ors . Frederic even threw down his new top

and followed the beautifu l creature,as he walked

proudly through the grounds .

Mother,may I

‘go and'

ask Lotte to come andsee him exclaimed the del ighted Maria . I

knew that would be the first thing you would

think of,

” repl ied Madame Von Vecht and she

readily gave her permission.

8 THE DUTCH FAMILY.

The Dutch farmers teach their children to be

very, industrious , and‘

while they are qu ite young

they are made to know the importance of being

useful . Lotte’s mother was not will ing that she

shoul d take a walk,until she had done her

milking; and washed the milk-pai l and strainer ,and after this she said it~would be qu ite too late

for her to go . Maria was very much disap

pointed,but she did not compl ain ; for she had

been t aught that children should be perfectly

obedient to thei r parents . It was agreed that

Lotte should come to see the peacock in the

morning ; and Maria promised to meet her half

way , and walk with her . It was a very bright

summer’s morning,when the l ittle girls arm in

arm,with Frisk gambol

‘ing at their side

,came in

s ight of the arbor at the bottomof the garden.

A l arge‘

white urn stood at the entrance . On

th is the peacock had stationed himself,and spread

out allhis brill iant tai l feathers high above his

head . In a fewmoments he lowered his feathers,

then r aised them,then lowered them again

,as if

p roud of showing his beauty . As he moved,the

bright colors gl ittered in the sunl ight,and looked

like a shower of precious stones . Lotte thought

this was by far the grandest sight she had ever

THE DUTCH FAMILY . 9‘

seen and she did.

not bel ieve the whole world,

contained anything quite equ al to it. Maria told

her that the king of Persia had a magnificentthrone

,made to resemble a peacock

,entirely

covered with d iamonds,and rubies

,and ame

thy sts, and emeralds . Lotte had never seen a

prec ious stone,except a ruby ring on the finger

of Madame Von Vecht ; and she would not be

l ieve that the Persian throne was at all to be

compared to Maria’s peacock .

A fewweeks after the arrival of the glorious

bird,the canal boat brought several barrels di

rec ted to Mr Von Vecht . The children were

very cur ious to knowwhat they contained but

they were obl iged to wait until sunset,because

their father was absent from home . When hearrived

,the l ittle group gathered around him

,

to witness the opening of the barrels,which

proved to be fullof fine Seek-no-further” apples.

They had been brought from NewYork,as a

p resent to Madame Von Vecht.

Seated on a stone-seat by the window,the

happy mother began,

to d istribute some of the

fru it among her children. Martm held out his

hand,and l ittle Frederic waited impatiently

for his share . _Maria nestled close up to her


mother,and said in her most coaxing tone

,

“‘Ma1nma

,please let me carry a basket full to

Lotte V an Tromp

Madame Von Vecht loved to cherish a'

gener

o us disposition in her daughter,and her basket

was soon filled with bright red-Cheeked apples

for her friend . When Maria arrived at the

farm-house,she found Lotte busily spinning flax

at her l ittle wheel,and her eyes looked as i f she

had , been weep ing . With affectionate anxietyshe inqu ired what was the matter . Oh

,Miss

Maria,

” said the l ittle girl,

“you and I sha’n’t

have such beautiful t imes together,next summer

,

as we have had . My father is going away from

Holland .

”

Going away from Holland 1” exclaimed Ma

ria ; Where is he going ’

Z”

The man who brought the apples used to

be a neighbor of ours,

” repl ied Lotte'

; and he

has told my father such fine stories about Amer

ica,that he is going to carry us all there .

But that is a wide,wide way off

,

” said

Maria,in a very sorrowful tone .

I know it,

” rejoined her friend We shal l

never see ‘each other again” and the l ittle girl

burst into tears andMaria could not help crying

THE DUTCH FAMILY . II

for company . When Lotte’s mother came in,

and found the children so sad,she tr i ed to cheer

up the ir hearts , by tell ing them they might have

many good times together yet ; for her husbandwas not going to America until the next spr ing .

At this information,Maria dried her tears for

spring appeared so far off,that to her ch i ld ish

imagination,it seemed as if itwould never come .

The prospect of separation did not therefc‘

rre

make the little girls gloomy,but it endeared them

stil l more to each other . Lotte was a gentle ,qu iet ch ild

,without any tinge of vulgarity or

rudeness in her manners ; and therefore MadameVon Vecht was very will ing to encourage the in

timac y . The farmer’s daughter derived great

benefit from the intercourse ; for her mother

often allowed her to spend the evening with

Maria,and while she was knitting her father’s:

stockings,she listened to the u seful and‘ enter

taining books,which Madame Von Ve cht was

in the habit of read ing hloud to her children.

The winter passed away very swiftly ; and

the time came when the young friends must part .

It was their first sorrow ; and it caused many ,and bitter tears . Lotte obtained her mother’s

permission to give Maria her l ittle white goat ;


and Maria was desirous to give her peacock in

r eturn :but Mr Van Tromp said that the pea

cock was l ike an idle,fine l ady

,useless

‘

1 1

troublesome— always picking at the poultry ,and forever running away from home . It was.

therefore decided that Frisk should be given

in exchange for the goat . Madame Von Vecht

bought a new bible for Lotte Martin gave her a

curious l ittle box with a Dutch canal-boat painted

on the cover ; and F rederic brought the little

blue pail in which they had often gathered ber

r ies,and begged her to accep t of it . Poor l ittle

aLotte’s heart was very full ; and when she tr ied

to thank them,the tears rolled down her cheeks .

Frisk was the only merry one of the group . He

loved his new mistress about as well as his

forme’

r one ; and as for Holland and America,

Frisk did not know one from the other .

Many tears,and thanks

,and blessings

,were

mutually exchanged,as the emigrants entered

the loaded boat,wh ich was to convey them to

thei r vessel at Amsterdam. Mar iawatched themuntilthey were qu ite out of sight and then she

would haveg one to her chamber and cried but

her mother asked her to make ready , qu ick,

and go with her to see a menagerie of animals,

THE D UTCH FAMILY . 13

that had been brought into the v ill age. WhenMar ia saw the monkeys at play , and the beau

tS-ual young leopards frol icking round their fierce

look ing mother,the tears came to her eyes , as

she said,Oh

,how I wish Lotte was here I”

But a monkey snatched away l ittle Frederic’s

apple wit h such a grin,that she could not help

laughing and before she thought of it,her li ttle

throbb ing heart was comforted,and her eyes

ceased to ache .

In a few days,she could play with the white

goat without shedding tears over him ; but she

said,excepting her father

,and mother

,and

brothers,she loved him better than anything else

in the world,for Lotte’s sake .

Many months passed,before any ,

tidingswerereceived from the family ofVan Tromp ; but at

last a l ittle square letter,considerably worn and

soiled , was placed in Mari a’s hands . It wasfrom her humble l ittle friend

,and was dated

Albany

DEARMAR IA,—We have all arr ived safe

in Amer ic a,

'

and Frisk bore the voyage very well .There were a great many Dutch people on board

,

and two little girls not much b igger than I am,

0H


who had no father and mother . They were

g oing to Illinois with an uncle and aunt. I was

very sick,and I don’t know what I should have

done,i f my mother had not taken such good

care of me . Frisk was a great comfort . He

l ay on my feet every night,and kept them as

warm as toast ; and one day , when a sailor bade

him stand on his hind legs,and take an app le in

his mouth,he ran

,

right off and brought the appleto me. When I was able to go up on deck

,I

was a good deal frightened . The Atl antic oc eandon’t look a bit l ike our canal . You have no

idea how the water r olls and t umbles a bou t .

It seems just as if there was a g reat fire under

neath,that made it bo il over all the t ime .

For a great many days we could not see anyland at all . The sky seemed to dip down into

the sea all round . I thought if we could get to

the place , I could put-my hands on the clouds

but they kept just so far off, all the tlme.

The sailors laughed,when I asked what made

the sky keep going away so . I wished you r

mother had been here ; for she always told me

what I did not understand,withou t l aughing at

me . This country is not a bit like Holland .

I don’t think it is so smooth and pretty ; It is full

THE DUTCH FAMILY . 15

of high hills,andmonstrous rivers

,and big rocks .

The ch ildren in the streets l augh at me some

t imes ; and that makes me feel bad. I don’t

knowwhat they say,because I cannot understand

their language . They all wear bonnets hereand I suppose my green cap looks queer ; but I

don’t think it k ind to laugh at strangers .

Father thinks of l iv ing in a place called Geneseo ; andwe shall start tomorrow.Give my love

to Martin and Frederic,and tell them I have not

broken either. the box or the pai l . I read a great.

deal in my B ible , while we were in the ship ; butnow I get so tired go ing from place to place

,

that I go right to sleep as soon as we stop

Don’t forget to give my love to Narmy-goat .Your affectionate , LOTTE .

P . S. Father likes this country very much ;and I suppose it is a very good country ; but I dowant to come back to Holland . They don’t keeptheir tins half so bright as we do .

”

Maria answered the letter that very evening .

DEAR LoTTE,—We are all well ; and you .

don’t know how gl ad I was to hear from you .

The Nanny-goat is very happy,and I drink a

bowl of her milk every night with my supper . I

16 THE DUTCH FAM ILY .

am glad you did , not take the peacock . He is

not at allamiable in his d isposition ; and thatmakes us

’

a great deal of trouble . He not only

quarrels with our hens,but he plucks the feathers

out of all the fowls in the neighborhood . Father

s ays he must carry him to Amsterdam,and sell

him for he will not keep anything that injures

his neighbors .“ Another family have moved into the house

where you used to l ive ; but the l ittle girls are

not very well-beh aved,and the boys are rude ;

and mother does not allow us to go there .

The storks came back and bu ilt in the chim

n’

ey l ast summer and Frederic insists that they

are the self-same ones,because he knows their

feathers .

Mother explained to me why the sky and the

ocean seemed to meet,andwhy the vessels could

never get any nearer to the sky . She says it is

because the ear th is round . You know when, you are riding up a hill , the sky seems to rest on

the top of the hi ll,and you c an see nothing be

y ond ; but when you reach the top , the sky seems

just as far off as ever . When you are sai l ing ,the ocean

,being round

,r 1ses between you and

the clouds, juét as the hill does when you are

r iding.

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bors said he had removed to Ill inois . Mariathought thisWas a great affliction ; but the poorc hild soon learned that there are many heavier

sorrows in this world . Three days after Mr

Von Vecht had moved into his new house,Mar

tin was seized with a fever,and died in six

hours . In one week after,both the parents died

hf the same disorder ; and poor Maria was left

alone among strangers,with little Frederic de

p ending upon her care . It was heart-breaking

to hear the little girl’s sobs,when she saw both

her parents buried[

in one grave,

and that grave

far from the land of their nativity . A worthyMethod ist clergyman,who was called to attend

the funeral,pi tied the ch i ld

,from the bottom of

his heart . “ Poor l ittle one,said he

,

“whatwill y ou do ? andwhere would you l ike to go

”

!

Maria looked up in his face imploringly , and

burst into tears . Poor,dear c h ild

,

” said the

affectionate stranger : Come,let us kneel down

and pray to you r Father who l ives in the

Heavens . Wi ll he come back to us ? ex

c l aimed l ittle Frederic ; for he thought the c ler

g yman meant his fatherwho had died . Imeant

God,my child ,

” replied the stranger :“ He is

the Father of us all and he takes good care of


allwho trust in Him. Then Maria and her

brother knelt down beside the good clergyman,

and he prayed,in a most affecting manner

,that

“God would raise up friends for these desolate or

p hans, left alone in a land of strangers. Whenhe arose

,Maria clung to him

,as i f he had been

an old friend,and begged him not to go away

from them.

“ I will go but for a l ittle while,

”

said the good man ; I will certainly come backsoon

,and take c are

'

o'

f you . Do you see smoke

rising from a chimney between those d istant

h ills ? Maria wiped her tears,and triedto look

in the d irection he pointed . A Dutch family

l ive there,

”Continued the clergyman and as

I have no home of my own,I wil l go and see

what they will do for thelr distressed country '

p eople .

Whenhe had gone,Mariafelt all alone in the

wi de world . In the agony of her heart,she laid

down on the floor and cried and l ittle Frederic

kissed her,and cried too . Poor l ittle boy ! he

kept asking her if mother would never come

back again ; and that made his sister feel worse

than ever . She took him by the hand,and led

him out to walk on the grass . The sun was set

t ing behind the hills, and the broad Ohio Spark

20 THE DUTCH FAMILY.

led in his departing rays . The scene was very

fair to look upon but there was nothing in the

thick forests,the deep ravines

,and the mighty

river,to remind Maria of her beloved Holland .

The land was beautiful ; but to her it was abeautiful stranger. She thought of the smooth

canal,with its loaded boats

,and of the pretty

garden walks that c ame quite down to its edge,

of her merry skating frolics on the ice— of

farmer Van Tromp’s substantial dwelling—of

her kind father,and her good and beau tiful

mother— till her ful l heart again overflowed intears . She continued weeping andweeping

and l ittle Frederic l aid his head down in her

lap , and cr ied himself to sl eep .

Presently a short merry b ark - made Maria

start upon her feet ; and in an instant Fri sk

her own dog Frisk was jumping upon her , and

licking her hand ! It was the first'

thing that

had seemed l ike home,for many dreary days .

Frederic almost st ifled the dog with caresses

father,mother

,everything was forgotten in his

infant joy .

In a few moments the k ind clergyman c ame,bringing Lotte with him Poor Maria had again

a friend,and that when she least expected to

find one;


Mr Van Tromp lived in the distant farm-house

between the hills,and the children were imme

diately conveyed there . Noth ing could exceedthe mingled joy

,and grief

,and tenderness

,with

which the orphans were received . In Mrs Van

Tromp,Mar ia found a second mother

,less culti

vated than her own,but equally kind . She was

not much used to the work done on a farm,but

she tried to make herself useful ; and she soon

l earned to mi lk and Churn,and spin very well .

TheNewYork gentleman,who had sentMrs Von

Vecht the apples,offered to take Frederic

,and

give him a situation inhis store,as soon as hewas

old enough . But Mrs Van Tromp said the

l ittle boy’s food would cost a mere trifle,and

it went against her heart to send him among

strangers . Frederic was very grateful for per

mission to stay ; for when the white goat was

brought from his father’s newly purchased house,

and he had Frisk,andhis own l ittle wooden pail

,

and Maria,and Lotte, he felt qu i te at home .

Mr Von Vecht left but very little money and

when his new farm was sold,it was found that

there was not enough to support the ch ildren.

Their small fortune was placed In the hands of

the NewYork merchant,who had been their

‘

22 THE DUTCH FAMILY.

father’s friend . Mr V an Tromp insisted upon

keeping the children several years,receiving only

money enough to clothe them.

When Frederic was old enough to ‘be useful

in a s tore,he was sent toNewYork

,and part of

his father’s money was expended in paying for

his school ing. It was l ikewise deemed proper

that Maria should expend half of her portion for

the advantages of education ; and as Mr Van

Tromp was very p rosiperous, he thought he coul d

afford to send Lotte to the same school . They

were both amiable , industrious girls , and owing

to the early influence of Madame Von Vecht ,

(they were remarkably gentle and l ady-l ike in

their manne rs . They married brothers,the sons

of their New York friend,and l ived in sight of

each other’s houses,as they had done in chil d

hood . In process of t ime,Frederic

,became a

partner of his s ister’s hu sband,and they all enf

joyed prosperity andhapp iness .

E LIT TLE SWISS PEASANT

NAY, little girl, y ou smile

At my outlandish tongue ;Yet kindly smile

,and say ,

’Tis strange to be awayFrom one

’s own land so young.

You wonder atmy garb ,So scanty and so mean ;

Andat the fillet boundMy sun-burnt temples round,

And cap of faded green.

High up anAlpine cliff,My father’s cottage stood,As

‘ ’twere aWild-bird’

s nest,

Within i ts shelter’d rest,

Of v ines and hangingwood.

Yet there were hidden pathsUp from the vale below ;

And I c ould spring and boundOver the rifted ground

,

Where thewildChamois go.

And o’er the chasm’s brink

I’d reach for V iolets blue 5Or clap my hands and call

Themerry echoes all

To shake their bells” anew.

Oh,lightsomewas my heart,And

,like the linnet gray

,

I too‘

k'

no thought or heed,

While clad in russetweed,

Of gay andfine array .

24

BOSTON.

THE LITTLE swrss PEASANT .

’

Butwe came down the Rhine,Whose spr ings are in our hills

Andmany a v illage pass’dAnd c ity fair and v ast

,

That its wide valley fills .

Then o’er the seawe seil’d

Spreadlike alower skyAnd days andweeks passed o’er

,

Yet stillit roll’d beforeThe keen exploring ey e.

We touch’d,atlas t

,this shore

Near to the setting sunBut in the wilds far west

,My father seeks to rest,Ere our long journeying ’s done .

Andhewillbuild our cdt,

Where/the Ohio flowsAnd vmey ards plant and dr ess,Making thewilderness

To blossom like the rose.

Thanks,for this bright coin

,thanks

Andmay the stranger’s God,

’

Who leads us on ourway ,

Be to thee Guide andStay,

’Tilllife’s las t stepsbe trod.

flnswer to Conundrums , p ag e 290 .

1 . High treason,Sjlgtr ees on.

2. Because i t is perb, (soup herb.)3. His dessert, (dese7 t.)She Is misinformed, (Miss informed.)

26 THE WEEK’S PROBATION .

changes Of the color of the chameleon— onlyl isten

,Mother ! and then say if I had not reason

to be disappo inted .

When the animal is removed into the sun,

then comes the wonderful part of its h istory . At

first,it appears to suffer no ch ange of color its

grayish spots still continu ing the same :but the

whole surface soon seems to imbibe the rays of

l ight ’

Mother,said Catharine

,making an abrupt

stop,what does imbibemean ? ”

To draw in— to take into the surface,or

Thank you ,mamma .

Its surface seems to Imbibe the rays Of light

and the simple coloring '

of the body changes

into a variety of beautifu l hues . Wherever thel ight comes upon his body

,it is Of a tawny brown

but that part of the sk in on which the sun does‘

not shine changes into several bright colors,pale

yellow,or vivid c rImson. Sometimes the animal

becomes all over spotted with brown spots,Of a

greenish cast . When it is wrapped up in a whitel inen cloth for two or three minutes , the natural

color becomes much l ighter but not qu ite white ,as some authors have pretended . However

,it

THE WEEK’S PROBATION. 27

must not hence be conc luded that the chameleonassumes the color of the object which it ap

p roaches ; this is entirely an error , and probably

has taken its rise from the continual changes it

appears to undergo .

’

Oh Mother,think what a disappointment it

was to -me not to see these cha'

ges, and I am

sure I bore it well. I read thai passage threetimes before dinner

,that I might be able to re

member it,andwatch for all thosecolors myself.

Why did notwe go on a bright day , motherYou had been obl iged to , de th is pleasure

for so many days , my dear , that id not l ike to

raise any objection to taking the his after

noon. Besides,fewmornings pro semore fairly

than did this,and we might hav waited many

days for an afternoon better su i ed to our pur

pose .

“ I suppose that is true ; and now,George

,

r e ad to us about the ic for I don’t re

member anything about it .

George then read,

aloud the c r iption of the

ichneumon and its hab its,for w I wi ll refer

my young readers to the ed it ion f Buffon’sNatu ral History

,recently publishe by Gray and

Bowen.

THE WEEK’S PROBATION.

There is one thing in that‘account which I

don’tbelieve,

” said Catharine this part,mother

,

I mean.

When the ichneumon feels the impressioncof the v enom of serpents

,it immediately goes in

search of antidotes,and particularly a root

,which

the Indians call by its name , andwhich , they

say,is one of the most powerful remedies in

nature against the bite of the viper .’

NOW,mother

,I can’t bel ieve that ; for how

can the ichneumon knowwhen he is bitten,what

wil l cure the wound,or Where to seek the anti

dote . He must be wiser than we ar e ; for we

have to send for a physician to tell us what we

must take whenwe are ill .”

And Often the skill Of the phy sICIan fails to

dete ct the hidden cause of the ind isposition,and

the patient dies,” Observed hermother but the

root which the ichneumon“seeks is aninfallible

r emedy .

”

“ Do you bel ieve the story , mother ?” cried

C atharine,starting up with great animation.

I see no reason to doubt it . Why shouldnot the same Divine Being who bestows on the

elephant his admirable trunk,and that has con

s truc ted the eye Of the chameleon so wonder

THE WEEK’S PROBAT ION.

give to the ichneumon the instinct , that

leads him to seek the root which is essential to

the preservation of his l ife ? The study Of Natural History will fuinish you wi th innumerable

instances,as remarkable

,as this

,of the kind care

which the Author Of our being takes Of the

meanest creature to wh ich he has given exist

ence . When we pursue thi s study Without reference to Hlm who heareth the young ravens

when they cry,

’ who gave to the horse strength,

and clothed his neck wi th thunder,

’ by whose

wisdom the‘

hawk stretcheth her wings toward

the South,

’and the eagle abideth on the rock

,

’

there is much to astonish and perplex us. But

when we raise our thoughts from the creature to

the Creator,and instead of instinct ’ and the

laws of nature,

’ attribute all these things to the

love and wisdom of God,what before seemed

startling and improbable becomes a simple and

beautiful manifestation Of his goodness .”

A pause of some moments ensued,which Mrs

Bennet felt no inclination to interrupt . She ]

knew that the most interesting subject becomes

For an acc ount Of the wonderfulc onstruc tion of the

c hameleon’

s ey e , see theMiscellany , Vol. III. page 73.


wearisome to a young mind , if dwelt upon too

long ; and she Wished to have rel igious instruo

tions fall upon the hearts Of her children, as im

perceptibly,but as constantly , as the gentle dew,

which refreshes nightly the earth .

flnswer to Charade, p ag e 314.

Comfort .

flnswer to Rebus, p ag e 252.

Mum.

A nna.

D eed.

A nana.

Minim.

The Chameleon.

TO FRANCES ,

WITH A BUNCH OF WILD FLOWERS.

THROUGH the garden’s bounds Iwander’d in vain,

Where the maiden-blush, and the red rose grew,And the pink y etwetwi th themorning’s rain,But I c ouldnot find a flower for y ou.

Thewoodbine, cultured to twine aroundThe paintedlattice sy ringe, too,My toilwith their beauty and fragrance c rown’d,But they were not the flowers I sought for y ou.

I turned to themeadow,the gr eenhillside,

The valley, the brook that ran babbling through ;And I’ve brought y ou a bunch, with a simple string tied ;They arewildflowers, the flowers I’ve chosen for y ou ;

Because,to my mind, they a feeling convey ’d,

Ofpur ity—innocence lov e as they grew,Afiecti on requires no culture

,

”they said

I could not but cullthem,

I culled them for y ou .

A.M. W.

ANSWER .

If the simplestweed,that the sunlight calls

,

From i ts darkling bed, to drink the dewIf the loneliestleaf

,that Withers and falls

,

In the autumn time,were dear from you

Oh ! think, howwelcome the fai r bouquet ;The wild

,the simple

,the fragrant too ;

And think,how pleasanter ev en than they ,

To read,

“ they are flowers I’ve chosen for

32

Your gracefulgi ft is sweeter thanmanyThat bloom in the garden, with br ighter hue,But

,sister, dearer than they than any ,

Are the sweet thoughtswreathed into rhyme by y ou.

The wild-flower,

far from the gorgeous bowers,Where the pride of the garden, in sunshine grew,

Yet smiling, and g iv ing to beams and showers

,

Her fragrant treasure,—is just like y ou.

The wild-flower,lov ing the light above

,

But breathing,more sweetly, the rain-drops through,

Awakens a fond and a changeless love,

I cannotbut feelit,

I feelit for y ou .

F. S . L.

CONUND RUMS .

1 . Why is a gun like a gossip ?2. Why is spring abad season for bakers ?3. Why is a fisherman

’s boat like a sailor

’s kiss ?

4 . Why is aman cutting his own likeness inwood,like

one who is ruining his health by hard study

CHARAD E .

Oh,dear loved first, Without thine aid

This my Charade would nev er have been madeMy second, silly misses think the fashion,

When they giv e way to an imprudent passionMy Whole is an anc ient female name,Recorded on the rolls of fame.

34 MAri rA’s v i sr'r .

stances,that strict economy was necessary in

the management of their domestic affairs,and

the children were early taught,that they must

depend upon themselves,not looking forward to

an easy and indolent l ife,but to one of self-ex

ertion. Maria had two sisters ; Jane , who was

about fifteen,and Marianne

,the youngest of the

family,a pretty

,playful l ittle creature . Her

brotherWill iamwas at college , and George , heryoungest brother

,was seven years old . Maria

was a cheerful,amiable l ittle girl

,that never ap

peared peevish and fretful great pains had been

taken with her education,and she repaid the

kindness,by shewing an

’

inclinatio‘

n to improve

her time . She was del ighted with the idea of

v isiting her aunt,although she was sorry to leave

her kind mother and father,and her pleasant

brothers and sisters .

It was a clear,beautiful day in July

,and she

arose very early to make all necessary prepara

t i ons ; for although the journey was not a long

one,it seemed so to her

,and not a l ittle pleasure

d id she anticipate in r id ing all day , After k iss

ing all again and again,and promising to write

very soon,she set off in fine spirits with her

brother,who was to leave her at Beechgrove for

MARIA’s v i sr'r . 35

a few weeks , at the expiration of which , her

father was to come and ~ take her home again.

During the first fewmiles of her ride , she found

objects suffic ient to keep her curiosity al ive , but

she became very tired long before she reached

her aunt’s house . MrsFitz allen met her at thedoor . I

We have been expecting you for some time ,my dear , said she ; Catharine had given up

allfromof seeing you tonight but we are very

glad you have come ; ave will have some supper

ready for you iri a few moments,and then you

c an rest yourself ; you are very tired , I know“No

,aunt

,I really feel qu ite rested now

,

said Maria,I slept soundly some time in the

chaise .

”

After tea,they all seated themselves in the pi

azz a to enjoy the cool evening air,and Maria.

soon became acquainted,and very sociable .

“ I hope you have come now to spend a long

time with us,

” said her.

aunt .

The hol idays last three weeks,replied

Maria , andmother gave me permission to pass

all my vacation here but she does not wish meto leave school .”

Then you love to go to school , saidMrsFitz allen

,better than you would to stay here .

”

36 MARIA’s vls i 'f .

0 , no exclaimed Maria,

I am sure I

should love to stay here always Iwas just think

ing that I Wished mother would let me stay here

all summer,and go to school with Catharine

I should l ike that very much .

Catharine does not go to school now,said

Mrs Fitz allen and I fear that if you were to

remain here all summer,that you would be

homesick .

”

Perhaps I might,aunt

,said Maria

,but I

rather think not ; it is so pleasant here,that I

should never get tired of staying?”

Is it any pleasanter than your home’

l”in

quired Catharine.

0 yes, answered Maria ; our house is n’t

half as large as this,and we have no such hand

same yard,nor such a beautiful pond . I never

saw such a handsome house!

as this,inmy l ife

I wonder what brother George. would say to It.

He always calls Captain Munroe’s house the pal

ace,because it is so large ; but it is n

’t half as

l arge,or as handsome as this .”

Do you think ,” inqu ired her aunt

,that

youwould be any happier , if you were to l ive ina house as l arge as this ?”

“No,aunt

,I don’t think I should be any hap

MARIA’s Vi ew. 37

p ier ; but still I should\ love to l

i ve in just such a

house .

”

After they had chatted some t ime,Mrs Fitz

allen told them that it was. time to go to bed,for

Maria would feel very tired in the morning if

she did not. go to bed early . Accordingly the

children kissed her, and went up stairs. It does

not take young persons a long time to get ac e

quainted with each other, and the cousins soon

became very good friends.

-What do you dome all the time,

”Inqui red

Maria,if youdon

’t go to school ?”

Oh,not much of anything

,

” replied Catha

rine ; I jumble over an Ital ian lesson every

day to a cross old teacher , Who comes at three inthe afternoon ; and

’

twice a week I take amusrc

‘5 I never studied Italian, saidMar ia though,

‘

I:hope I shall some time or o ther ; but my s ister

Jane has begun to teach I ’love to

play dearly , don’t you

“ Ohmerc y , no ! I hate it, said Catharine ;Oh

,I c an’t endure it. I have to practise t

'

wo

hours every day,and I

’m shockingly tired of it:

Emily:Grahame,a friend of mine

,plays v ery

”

finely, andwhen I first heard, her,I thought I

4

38 unnu’s v i s i 'r .

should love to learn too:so mother bought a

piano for me,and I began to take lessons ; but

I got tired of it very soon one reason I hate it

so much is because mother makes me play to

every body that c omes in,and

'

it frightens me

dreadfully . I frequently run off and hide when

I see any one coming,on purpose to get rid of

playing . Do you ever have to play before

people 2”

-No, repl ied Maria,

butmy sister p lays

whenever any person askgyher .

”

Does n’t she hate to play l” inqu ired Cath

arine .

“ I guess not,said Maria ;

“ I never heard

her say so ; she never refuses when asked to

p lay , and if I c ould play as well as she does, , I

should feel proud to have people hear me

Why , I declare , I never heard any body say

so before,

”said Catharine , apparently astonished

atMar ia’s assertion Emily Grahame,although

every body flatters her , and tells her she pl ayssplendidly,and sings sweetly , can

’t bear to play

at least,she says she can’t ; and almost always

tells people she has a cold and can’t sing,or she

she says something else to excuse herself ; then

they tease her , and tease her , and finally she sits

MARIA’s war . 89

down,and I sometimes think if it were only po

l ite,they would l ike to urge her as hard to get

up again she plays a person almost to death,when she fairly gets seated .

”

I suppose she thinks it pretty to refuse, and

loves to'

be urged,

” said Maria.

I don’t pretend to know what she thinks ,said Cathanfne. She is themost affected per

son that ever you saw. I refuse to play because

I really feel frightened,and she does n’t feel

frightened in the least’ besides,she plays well ,

and I am perfectly aware that I play shockingly .

But you know,cousin

,wherever there is a p iano

,

people infer that some one plays upon it,and

they ask to hear you play , sometimes for the sake‘

of saying something,and sometimes because they

think it fiatters you ,or pleases your friends

,but

seldom I bel ieve,bec ause they really love music

-2

and whether you play well or lll, they’ll tell you

you play beautifully .

”

I know it is not always so,said Maria

,

I’m sure every body seems to feel very much’

pleased to hear my sister play . The people hereare very different from those at home, if they arealll ike those you have mentioned .

”

Oh, you

’ll have a chance to see full enough

40 MARIA’s v i si 'r .

of.

,them

,said Catharine ; -

“ I can’t hear them

myself. We go to Boston quite often, and there

are some sweet pretty girls there .

”

How long the little girls might have talked , I

will not pretend to say,had not Mrs Fitz allen

c ome to them,and told them they had better fin

ish their conver sation the next day .

Early the next morning Maria awoke, and

finding'

Cathar ine still sleeping very soundly , de

termined not to awake her . After she had

dressed herself,she wenegown stairs ; there s he

found no one,although it was p ast seven o

’clock ;so she bus ied herself with looking : around the

parlor upon all the handsome furni ture ; and i f a

feel ing of envy arose in her breast, we cannot

think it very strange,for although it is very sin

fulfor any one to indulge such a feeling, Mar i awas not perfect she had faults

,as all

‘

other per

sons have . She wished that her father’s house

was as handsome as her aunt’s,and that he had

such beautiful carpets,and sofas

,and vases . I

don’t see,

” thought she,why some people are

r ic h and others poor . Mother is as good as auntFitz allen

,and she ought to have as handsome

things . I remember she told me a l ittle wh ile

before I came here,that the poor

,if they choose,

42 MARIA’s vrsr'r .

to her mother which,if y ou choose, you can

read .

BEECHGROVE,JULY6

,1828.

MY DEAR MOTHER :—Brother will tell youthat we ar rlved here safely

,and that I got so

tired that I went to sleep m the chaise and sl ept,

soundly some time . We had a very pl easant

r ide ; but for the last fewmiles , I thought that I

never should care about getting into a chai se

again as long as I l ived,I felt so very tired:but

now I think I should love to ride again. AuntFitz allen Is not exactly such a woman as I

thought she would be. I had an idea that she

wou ld look l ike you ,as she is your s ister but

she is a great deal larger than yOu are , and her

eyes‘are blue instead of black . I love her very

much,and I love Catharine too . Catharine is n’t

‘

as tall as I am,but she i s much larger round

,

aunt Fitz allen says . Yesterday wewent aroundthe premises . Aunt Fitz allen’s house is the

l argest and handsomest I ever saw. She calls

the yard,the lawn

,and the pond 111 front of the

house she calls a lake . There are fishing boats

and pleasure boats on the lake , andwe are going

to takea sail one of these days .‘

I suppose you

will be afraid that we shall fall into the pond and

MARIA’S VISIT .

be drowned ; but don’t have any fears

,dear

mother ; aunt Fitz allen says there is not the

least danger . I think it souy/ds much prettier tocall a pond a lake

,and to

,

say lawn instead of

yard . Our yard could /

not be very properly

called ( lawn,however it is nothing so large or

handsome as aunt Fitz allen’s ; and I guess you

would all l augh‘ at me if I should talk about

playing in our l awn,and call themi ll-pond a lake .

Cousin Catharine has got a l ittle arbor of her

own. Her mother gave her leave to have it

built just as she chose,and she took for a copy

a l ittle print she had . I Wish I could descr ibe to

you howpretty it is there are shelves all around

it on the inside,and green flower-pots on them

,

and seats painted green,where we sit very often.

Catharine says,that they frequently take tea out

there,or in

-j

the other arbor,which is~ a very large

one,but not half as handsome as Catharine’s.

Oh,my dear mother, if youcould only see Catha

rine’s rabbits and deer . She says she will giveme asmany as I Wish when I go home ; and do,if you please, ask father if he c an give me a

place to keep them in. Oh,they are sweet little

creatures :some are all black,and some

‘

are‘

white,and some are striped they eat cabbages

,

44 MARIA’S vrsr'r .

and carrots,and clover ; and Catharine says they

never drink anything . Is n’t that queer ? AuntFitz allen has got ag reen-house ful l of very hand

some plants,wh ich I del ight to look at andwater .

Cathar ine does not love flowers,or rabbits

,or

anything else ; she says she has got tired of them.

Oh,mother

,I must tell you something that almost

made me l augh:I believe I should qu ite,if I had

notbeen afraid itwouldmake Catharine feel badly .

We were talking about sewing,and she told me

that she hemmed a handkerchief all herself,and

she spoke of it as if it was some great th ing and

when I told her that I could make my brother’s

shirts,and hemmed pocket-handkerchiefs before

I was half as old as I am now,she looked as i f

she could hardly believe me. I don’t think,dear

mother,that I shall ever be t ired of stay ing here .

I wish I could stay all summer and go to school

but Catharine does not go to school,and she says

she hates to study. I don’t th ink I shall ever

get homesick . I know I sha’n’t,i f it is always

as pleasant here as i t i s now. If I do not write

to you again it will be because I am so happy

and busy,that I cannot find time . I hope you

will write to me very often,my dear mother, I do

so love to h ear from you .

“

Good bye . I th ink

MARIA’s n ew!

I have written a long letter for a l ittle girl. Give

my love to father, and a kiss to all my brothers

and s isters .

Your affectionate daughter ,“MARIA WATERS.

Of all the beautiful things Maria sawwhile

she was at her aunt’s,the rabbits seemed to strike

her fancy the most .

I wonder,

” said Catharine to her,how you

can l ike these silly l ittle creatures so well ; I

used to love themwhen they first came,but I am

very tired of them how. I should be'

perfec tly

will ing to give you every one of them.

”

Why , how c an you help l iking them,said

Maria,

“ they are such sweet playful l ittle crea

tures ? I never sawone before I came here .

”

“Never saw one !”

exclaim'

ed‘

CatharIne In

astonishment never saw ’

a rabbit ! I thought

everybody had them that l ived in the country .

I have seen thousands and thousands . Emi ly

Grahame has a great'

many more than I have .

Don’t you think that the little black andwhite

ones are the handsomest’! You ‘

may have that

beautiful l ittle pair that you love so well . Butthere comes mother . I knowwhat she is going

to say ; you see if she does not say what I

46 MARIA’S VISIT .

tell you. Come, Catharine , to your books—toyour books -

you must be ready for your

teacherf”

Come,Catharine

,said Mrs Fitz allen to

her daughter,

“ to your books’

now ; I fear you

wil l ‘not be ready for your teacher .”

Ah,mother

,said Catharine

,I knew very

Well what you were coming to tell me. Do ex

cuse me this afternoon I think I ought to have

a hol iday wh ile cousin Mar i a is here .

”

Not today , my dear ,” said her mother

,for

your teacher will come and expect you to recite .

But you may tell him that he need not come for

two or three weeks after today , as I have given

you l eave to have a hol iday whi le your cou sin is

here—that is,if you wi ll be a good girl .

”

Oh,I will

,mother

,

” said Catharine ; I hate

to study Ital ian so,that I’ll be the best. girl in

the world,i f I may only have a l ittle vacation.

”

What will you do , Mar i a, while C atharine isengaged with her teacher ?” inquired Mrs Fitz

allen.

Oh,I c an find enough to amuse myself

with,said Mari a ;

i

“ I think I shou l d love to go

into the green house , if you are willing, aunt I

like to look at flowers very“

much . Father

MARIA’S VISIT .

bought Flora’s Dictionary’ for me the last New

Year’s day andmother says , that I may begin

to study botany next winter if I wish .

Well,I advise you not to study it , said

Catharine ; you don’t know what a dull study

it is—I began it,and got sick enough of it, I

assure you there are so many hard names,and

it takes forever to learnhowto analyse a flower .

You are not fond of study,

” said Mrs Fitz

allen to her daughter,

and perhaps y ou had

better not advise your cousin,who is fond of . it

Now I have no doubt that she would find botanya very delightful study .

A del ightful study,repeated Catharine I

never shou ld think of call ing any study delight

ful. But, Maria, as you have no lesson in Ital ian

to learn, I must not trouble you , nor you me fora l ittle while .

”

“ Don’t hurry,my daughter , said Mrs Fitz

allen ,but take

~

time enough to learn a good

lesson.

. Catharine paid l i ttle attention to her mother’s

injunction,but hurried t hrough her lesson as

fast as she could,that she might play with Maria.

After Catharine’s cousin had been with her a

l ittle more than a week,Mrs Fitz allen told them

48 MARIA’S VISIT.

one day,that if the weather proved fine

,they

might invite some of Catharine’s friends tot ea ;but that they had better wait until afternoon

,as

it looked like rain. The afternoon came,and it

rained very fast ; so that Catharine Was obligedto defer her party until another day“

. This vexed

her sadly,and she would not d isguise her ill

humor.

What a shame it is,said

'

She “ I’

neVer

plan a party,or ride

,or anything pleasant, that

it is not sure to be prevented by rain or some

thing else. I think it provoking when one gets

all ready . I suppose we must find something to

amuse ourselves with,but you ’

ve seen. every-5

thing I ’ve got, so often,that I knowyou must be

tired of them. If I had as many things as Emily

Grahame , we might find something to do ; butnowwe can’t do anything .

”

Oh,yes

,I’m sure we c an amuse ourselves

very well ; at least, I c an,

” said Maria ; and

you must do just what you would if I were nothere . Have you read all your. pretty books

No,indeed ,

” said Cathar ine,I hate to read

,

I never do , when I c an possibly help it mother

tries to make me sit down and read very often

but I disl ike it almost as much as study .

”


else,she yielded to ill-humor

,without considering

that it would ne ither drive away the clouds or

prevent the ra in from fall ing . Her inv itations

were all sent out early the next morning,and

much to her gratification were all accepted

Emi ly Grahame,Jul i a and Mary Somers

,and

Susan Peters composed the party . They al l

took a sail on the lake,returned home again

safely,and found tea awaiting them in Catha

rine’s arbor . Emily Grahame paid very l ittle

regard to Maria,and did not Speak to her during

the afternoon. Maria thought her a veryhaughty

,disagreeable girl . She was two years

older than Catharine,but they had always been

playmates,and seemed quite fond of each other .

Mrs Fitz allen took tea wi th the g irls,and they

had a very merry time for where she vvas,good

nature always prevai led . After tea,all seemed

at a loss what to do with themselves :Mari a andMary Somers played with the rabbits and deer

,

and both of t hem being warm hearted and affec

tionate,they soon became very good friends .

Emily ! Grahame wandered over the garden,giv

ing herself airs , and appearing in Maria’s eyes,

very ridiculously . Towards the latter part of

the evening they proposed having a dance .

MARIA’S VISIT .

Emily Grahame’s brother was there , and Henry

and Thomas Somers,brothers of Maria’s fr iend .

Do you play upon the p iano Inqui red

Emily Grahame of Maria,who repl ied in the af~

firmative.

Who taught you ?” inqu ired Emily .

My s ister,repl ied Mar ia . But I play very

l ittle ; I have taken lessons but a short time .

”

“Well, you c an play for us to dance

,

” said

Emily ; for I fancy you cannot dance yourself.

Why should you fancy that l” inqu ired

Maria I do knowhow to dance,but I cannot

play well enough for any one to dance by —I

think you or Catharine had better play for In

deed I cannot .

Pray who taught you to dance ?” asked Emily ;

“ I’m sure

,I never should have imagined you

could dance a step . I thought that people where

you l ive , country people , never danced

You are mistaken,

” said Maria,

peoplewhere I l ive dance very often.

’

I’m sure

,I do

not live so very far distant from you you l ivein the country too .

”

Yes,but I l ive nearer Boston than you do .

I had a French dancing master,who came here

to give me lessons,and the French dancing

MARIA’S VISIT .

masters are the most fashionable,and the only

ones that are good for anything .

”

I wish you ’d go away ,” thought Maria ; but

as Emily d id not seem incl ined to leave her,

Maria went across the room and joined her

friend Mary Somers .

Who ’s going to play for us,inquired Emily

aloud ’

! MariaWaters wont pl ay,and we can’t

dance without music .

”

Play yourself why don’t you ,Emily

asked her brother.

I prefer dancing,repl ied Emily . IfMa

riaWaters wont play,I suppose we must give up

our dancing,that ’s all .”

Don’t [you think she is a very selfish girl ,said Mary Somers in a whisper to Maria ; she

plays better than any one in the room,and i s

unwill ing even to take her turn. I’m sure

,if I

could play at all I would but I never have been

t aught to pl ay .

Come,Maria

,said Catharine

,play a l ittle

for us only a l ittle ; and then I’11play if I c an ;

but you know I do hate to play .

But really,cousin

,I cannot play well

enough .

‘

Oh,we’ll be satisfied

,said Catharine I

know you c an play well enough for us.

”

MARIA’S VISIT .

La,she wants to be urged

,

” said Emily

Grahame ;“ I would n’t tease her any more ,

Kate for if she can’t play without being urged,

do let her alone .

”

Poor Mar i a almost burst into tears at th i s un

k indremark . I’ll try to play,cousin ”Said she

but I never c an succeed,I know”

She had not underrated her own abili ty

she was not able to play so that they could

dance . Emily r idiculed her,unti l ' She could

bear it no longer ; she burst into tears , and

moved away from the piano . Catharine came

to her,and said that she would play herself ;

tell ing her to go and join the dance — ButMaria felt very unl ike danc ing ; and the

l ittle party becoming dull , it broke up very

early .

After they had gone,the l ittle girls went to

bed . Mar ia found it d ifficult to th ink of any-5

thing but the unkind treatment she had received

from Emily Grahame,and was qu ite silent .

The following day , Mrs Fitz allen inqu ired of

her how she was pleased with Catharine’s fr iends.I do not l ike all of them

,

” she repl ied .

Mary Somers is a pretty girl and I l ike all ofthem but Emily Grahame .

53?

MARIA’S VISIT .

Pray what cause have you for disl iking her ,my dear ?

” inquired Mrs Fitz allen.

Oh,don’t ask me

,aunt ; repl ied , Maria.

Perhaps I ought to l ike her,but indeed I _

can

not. She treated me rudely but I can forgive it,if I cannot love her

You’l l forg i ve me too,wont you ,

cousin,

said Cathar ine, that I urged you to play against

your incl ination Really,I did n’t know that you

could n’t play . I thought you refused , because

you was so bashful .

Forgive you Oh yes,with all my heart ,

replied Maria. So do not let us say a word

more about it

The remainder of Maria’s visit was passed

pretty much in the same way as the few days I

haverelated . She became qu ite discontented,for

Want of something to do,andwas very well pleased

when the Visit had expired ; not because it had

been otherwise than pleasant,but she had no

regul ar course of employment,andnever could be

happywh ile idle . The evening before the day she

was to leave her aunt , when they wereallseated

in the piazza,Mrs Fitz allen inqu ired of her if

she had‘

been homes ick,and whether She still

thought she should l ike to l ive with her always .

MARIA’S VISIT . 55

Oh no,aunt

,I have not been homesick

,

” she

repl ied , but I want to seemy mother, and I th ink

I shall enjoy going to school again very much .

”

“_

I wish you could stay longer ,” said Catha

rine,I’m sure I sha’n’t knowwhat to do with

myself, when you are gone . I never was so

happy in my whole l ife as I have been since you

came here . Oh, do leave your school a l ittle

while longer and stay with me.

”

You must come and go to school wi th me,

said Maria ; I knowyou would love my teacher .

Does she never scold you inqu ired Catha

No,never

,replied Maria we all love her

very much . If I wasn’t going to school again, _

I don’t knowwhat I shouldldo. You wou ldlovemy brothers and Sisters too

,they are so good and

happyI should l ike to go very much

,said Catha

rine . You know I don’t care anything aboutthe girls here . Mother

,

” continued she,cous in

Mar iav

wishes she had as many pretty th ings as I

what ' do you suppose she would' say if

sheSawall that Emily Grahame’sfather sends herfrom Europe . She would th ink mine were

nothing compared with her’s .”

MARIA’S VISIT .

I said that,

” replied Mar i a,when I first

came here —I have changed my mind since

then ; for I th ink , perhaps I might get tired ofthem

,just as you have .

”

I think it very probable you would , said

Mrs Fitz allen that is the way with most

children indeed it is often so with men and wo

men. It is not abundance which constitutes

ehjoyment. Few are so contented as not to

wish for more ; and those whomwewould imagine

had everything heart could wish,are not always

the happiest. I presume,now

,Cathar ine woul d

will ingly exchange with you, and give you all

she has,for your brothers and sisters .”

Oh,indeed I would

,

” said Catharine ; and

suppose we make the exchange . I will go and

l ive with your mother,andhave all your brothers

and sisters for mine , and you shall come and

l ive wi th my mother, andhave my p iano andmu

sic teacher,and books and rabbits

,and every

thing I don’t care a straw for one of them.

”

Oh,I would not exchange my brothers and

s isters for anyth ing else In the world,

” said Ma

ria .

While they were all busily engaged talking , ac haise drove up the yard . Oh

,there is my

MARIA’S VISIT.

to feel very bright and well in the morning .

With a merry heart she went to sleep,and awoke

very early the following day. Going down stairs,

she met her father,who kissed her and bade her

good morning,asking her if she was ready to

start .”

She repl ied in the affirmative,and after

an early breakfast,took leave '

of her aunt and

cousin,with a promise to come and pay them

another V is it.

The sun had not set,when she spied their own

neat white house,peeping out from the trees .

Oh,how pleasant our house looks

,father

,

said she ; it looks much prettier than it d id

when I went away . What have you had done toit ? ”

“Nothing,my dear , said her father ;

“ it i s

alljust as you left it three weeks ago .

Oh,it seems as i f I had been gone a year

,

s aid Maria . Oh,father

,see there is bro ther

George,playing wi th Fido. Don’t you see him

in the yard ? Do,father

,go faster ; I must see

my mother this moment ."

We shall be at home in a moment,

said her

father ; and I think I see yourmother and Jane

walking out to meet us.

”

0 yes, I see them there,nowwe are almost

MARIA’S VISIT . 59

there . Dear mother,said she as they overtook

them,how do you do ? I will walk home with

you, if father wil l only stop a moment .Her father s topped

,and jumping out of the

chaise,she walked with her to the house

,where

she found her brothers and s isters all waiting im

patiently to see her . After she had taken her

tea,they seated themselves in the neat and

pleasant parlor .

Come,

” said George,

“ tell us all about aunt

Fitz allen,and her house

,

‘

and cou sin Catha

r ine .

”

Yes,I will

,George

,said Maria . I don’t

think you ever saw so large a house it is much

larger than Captain Munroe’s .”

I should l ike to see it then,said George ;

but I don’t bel ieve it is any handsomer .“ Oh

,yes it is

,

” said Mar i a ;“ I don’t th ink

you ever saw anything so handsome : though

there is one pretty,neat house I l ike better than

e ither . But What do you think I have brought

for you ? Two beautiful l ittle rabbits , in a box out

at the door .”

Oh,I thought it was something new and

strange,said George I have seen rabbits

,and

caught themmyself,a thousand times .”


Ah, brother , said

‘

Mar ia,

but these are

Engl ish rabb its one is white,and the other

is black and white . You never have seen Engl ish rabbits .”

Q uite del ighted,George ranout to look at them.

Well,my dear daughter ,

” said her mother,

you wil l not know how to be happy at homenow

,I fear .”

Never fear that,mother

,said Maria ; I

thought when I first went there,that it was al

most a shame father cou ld not be as rich,and

have as many fine things as a‘

unt has . I bel ieve,

mother,that I felt a l ittle env ious butthey did

not seem to think anything of what they had.

Aunt Fitz allen is as pleasant as you are , mother

but I don’t think she governs her children as well

as you do .

Why not, my dear ?” inquired her mother .

Oh,she never insists

,when Catharine says

I don’t want to .

’ You always make us do

What you th ink best and Catharine does not

seem contented with everything she has got, butwishes she had as many th ings as Emily Grahame .

Oh Emily Grahame is an ugly girl .”

I am sorry to hear you call any one ugly,

said her mother .

MARIA’S VISIT .

But really , mother, she is ugly , saidMaria ;I d idn’t see a pleasant th ing about her .”

Howmuch did you see of her ? inqu ired

her mother.

Only once,at a party of Catharine’s

,

” said

Maria ; but that was full enough .

”

No,my dear, I don

’t think it was,said Mrs

Waters ; for if you had seen more of her, youmight have discovered her good qualitie s . I

hope my l ittle girl would not be so prejudiced, that

she could not discern the good qual ities of even a'

disagreeable person.

”

No,mother

,

” said Maria,indeed I amnot

p rejudiced p erhap s she may have good qual ities,although -I did not see her long enough to dis

cover them. But I’m try ing to forget her,

mother,and all her unkindness .”

And I hope you have forgiven her too , said

her mother . See,Jane is waiting for you to go

to bed :good night, dear .”

Good night,mother

,

” saidMaria,kissing her

I h'

aye a thousand things to tell you In the

morning, and I am not too sleepy to tell themnow,if'

ryeh

'

would let me s it up a l ittle longer.But ~

comé,Jane

,we ’

11 go,continued she ; and

she skipped up stairs, happy as any one c ould ‘

62 ANNA AND nER KITTEN .

wish . She had learned a lesson too,that all

l ittle girls may learn if they choose,v i z :that

those who have a kind father and mother,a c om

fortable home,and good brothers and sisters

,

though destitute of many of the luxuries of l ife,have the best reason in the world for being c on

tented and happy . ANON .

ANNA AND HER K ITTEN.

LITTLE Anna has a pretty gray kitten. She

loves the kitty very much,and the k itty loves

her . Sometimes when Anna is play ing with

her doll and her ninepins,kitty puts out her

p aw and rolls all the playth ings about the room.

But Anna does not mind that ; she knows the

l ittle pussy does It all for play .

One day , when l ittle Anna was alone with the

kitty in the parlor,she made scratches on the

window ; and that was a very naughty trick .

When her nurse came into the room,she said

Who made.

these scratches on the window

Little Anna felt ashamed of the mischief she

had done and she did not speak aword .

The kitten was asleep in the chair ; and the

ANNA AND HER KITTEN. 63

nurse said,I suppose this naughty puss did it .

I must whip her for it. Then the nurse took

the kitten out of the chair,and told her she must

box her ears,for scratch ing the window. But

l ittle Anna began to cry and she ran up to her

nurse , saying : Oh,don’t whip l ittle kitty ; she

did not scratch the , window. I did it.The nurse did not strike poor l ittle puss and

Anna took the kitty in her arms,and stroked her

soft gray fur , andmade her very happy . Anna’s

father:and mother,and her grandmother

,and

her nurse,all loved their l ittle girl very much ;

because she told the . truth,and was so kind to

her good l ittle kitten.

But they of silent lip rejoicedIn bright Creation’s boundless store

,

In sun,andmoon and peopled shade

,

And flowers that gem earth’s verdant floorIn fond afi

'

ection’s speaking smile,

In gracefulmotion’swaving line,

And allthose charms thatBeauty shedsOnhuman form and face div ine.

WVhile they,to whom the orb of day

'

Was quenc‘

h’d in ever dur ing dark,”

Adored that intellectualrayWhichwrites the sun a glow-worm spark ;

And in the blest c ommunionjoy ’d,Which thought to thought dothdeftly bind,

Andbid the tireless tongue exchangeThe nev er-wastedwealth ofmind.

And closer to their souls they boundThe bliss ofmusic’s raptured thrill,

That linkedmelody” of sound,

Which gives to man the seraph’s skill.So they

,onWhose y oung brows had twined

Thewarmth ofPity’s tearfulgaz e,Each in his broken c ensor burn’d

The incense ofexulting praise.

Yes,

theyWhom kind Compassiondeem’d

Scantly withNatur e’s gi fts endued,Pour’d freshest from-their bosom’

s fount

The gushing tide ofgratitude.

Andwith that tide amoralflow’d,

A deep rep roof to those who”

share

Oflight, and sound, and Speech, the bliss,Yet coldly thank the Gi ver

ie care.

L. H. S.

THE P R INT ING PRE S S.

A n 1 A L o G U n.

B? trans HUGHS.

Louisa. Mamma,after reading a piece out ofMcIntosh’s H istory of England to my papa this

morning, you said it was curiou s to think so tri

fling a thing should have had more influenc e over

the happiness of mankind than all that statesmen

and conquerors ever performed. Now I want to

knowwhat the thing was that you spoke ofMamma. I referred to the printing press,which was invented in the same year that

:

the

Engl ish were driven out of Parts,after havmg

had possession of. that city for seventeen years .

Loui sa. Dear me,mamma l How could the

invention of a simplemachine be of so much

c onsequence Surely the circumstance of the

English being obliged to g ive up the possessiori

of so important a city as Paris , was of itself a

much more important event.Manama. Important to whom?

Louisa. Why , to everybodyMaluma. To you ,for instance ?

Oh,no not tome . It cannot be of

rtance to me whether they[

retained

68 THE PRINTING PRESS.

possession of Paris,or were obl iged to resign it . I

should not have been any richer for their keeping

it,even if I had l ived at that time ; but stil l less

so,as the whole affair happened to take placemany

hundred years before I was born.

Momma. Then to whom could it be of so

much importance ?Loui sa. Why , to the Engl ish , to be sure for

I believe it was very soon after that,that they

resigned their pretensions to France altogether .Momma. And what wou ld have been the c on

sequence if they had “

not been obl iged to resign

those pretensions,as you say they were .

Lou isa. Why , they would have kept fighting

on,and a great manymore men would have been,

k i lled .

Momma. Andwhat then

Loui sa. Why , then I do “

not knowWhat

would have followed after that ; but I suppose

they would have fought till one mother of the

kingdoms was subdued .

Momma. And after that,how would things

have been

Louisa.

~

I suppose then the conquered coun

try would have had to make great sacrifices for

the sake ofp urchasing a peace .

Momma. And would those sacrifices have

THE PRINTING PRESS . 69

destroyed the happiness of each individual that

e ither l ived in the country then,or has ever ex

i sted in it since ?

Louisa. Oh,no ! certainly not. But each

would have been sorry that his country hadbeen

c onquered.

Momma.

'

And how would it have, been with

the conquering country ?

Louisa. Why , no doubt itwould have boastedand been very proud of its exploits . Its power

would have been increased , and it would have

had a great deal more wealth than it had before.

Momma. And do you imag ine it would have

been greater at thi s day , for the acquisitionswhich

i t then gained

Loui sa. No that I am sure it would not for

we always find in“ history

,that a country no

sooner gains any great increase of’territory than;

it becomes ambiti ous of more . Besides,other

"

c ountries are always . at'

enmity with the one

which possesses more than its share ; and take

thefirst opportuni ty of combining against it, and

very soon bring it down to the ir own level again.Momma. Well,but though we find that It i s

not l ikely to have been left long in the und i s

turbed possession of i ts conquests, p erhaps‘

the

70 THE PRINT ING PRESS .

wealth which it then gained,extended its influ

ence over the whole kingdom,and made even its

very poorestmembers rich and independent .

Louisa. No,certainly not. I never heard of

the wealth that Is gamed by a conquest being di

v ided amongst al l the inhabitants of a country .

One or two of the principal officers I believe

generally gain a great deal of money ; and the

soldiers who are engaged in fighting are some

times enriched by plunder ; but the wealth gener

ally I bel ieve goes to the government .

Momma. It seems then that these great

v ictories , or defeats , have but l ittle influenc e overthe h appiness or misery of the people at large ,even at the time that they take pl ace .

Loui sa. Why , I bel ieve that the truth is, thepeople in general are the worse for them, though

v ictory should be the result, for the expense of

awar causes the people to be oppressed withtaxes

,and a great many l ives are ‘lost

,which

of course must cause a great deal of misery to

thousands of famil ies .

Momma. I think,we have made out very

clearly,that wars are bad things ; producing

a great deal ofmisery at the time, and hl ittle effect

,either good or bad , on after

erations.

THE PRINTING PRESS.

Loui sa. I think we have .

Momma. But that is not the case with the in

vention of the printing press for it may be said

to have increased the happiness of every individ

ualof every c iv il ized country , from the time of

its invention to the present day .

Lou isa. How c an that be,mamma ’

!

Momma. By the faci l ities which it has af

forded to the spread of knowledge .

Loui sa. What ! were there no books,before

the printing press was invented ?Momma. Therewere books,

but the number

was comparatively very small , and they were so

expensive as to exclude private individuals almost

entirely from the use of them.

Loui sa. What was the reason of that ?Momma. For a long time the art of printing

in any way was entirely u nknown of course

all books ‘

Were written with a pen, which you

may be sure was too tedious an

,

operation to

allow books to be very abundant.

Loui sa. Oh,certainly ! Besides, I have of

ten heard my papa remark that there was very

l i ttle rel iance to be placed upon written books ;so much depended upon the accuracy of the

transcriber,Who

'

might hy . the addition or omis


sion of a single word,cften make a c omplete

change in the sense of a passage .

Momma. On this account,and as furnishing

a much moreexpeditious method of multiplying

cop i es of books,the contrivance of carving words

on blocks of wood and then stamping them upon

parchment, was hailed as a gr eat and importantevent

,but this, good as it was, had great defects

and inconveniences . The c arving of the wood

was a slowand a tedious operation,as wel l as

that of stamping the words'

on the parchment,

which was done by the hands only . Besides,

the very hardest‘

woodwas short in its duration,the edges of the letters became too r ough for use

,

and the whole in its very best form,was exc eed

ingly clumsy and expensi ve . Indeed the expense

was so great that books were confined , almost

exclusively,to monasteries and public

,libraries ;

and the people in general remained totally un-r

enl ightened . But when Guttemburg , Whose

name deserves to be held in reverence through

out every civi lized country , introduced , in the

year 1453,the art of setting up types

,and

of printing several pages of a book at once,

things were entirely changed ; especially , too , as

the artofmanufacturing paper from old dinenwas

THE PRINTING PRESS.

between a state of ignor ance and that of knowledge . The world, to an ignorant man

,is l ittle

more than a dark and dreary waste,through

which he wanders,almost totally insensible to

the beauties which surround him for he knowsneither himself nor the Great Being who placedhim here ; and though he may no t perhaps beabsolutely vicious

,he is at least a stranger to

v irtue, because he is uninfiuenced by those

higher principles that ennoble and exalt his na

ture,and raise him above the beasts of the field .

But the man of a cultivated“

mind on the com ;

trary , sees in the creation around him,a rich

garden stored with a countless variety of beau

tiful o bjects,calculated to stimulate his inqumes

,

gratify his curiosity,and del ight his taste . His

mind expands and strengthens,in proportion to

the food that it receives ; and he discovers ex

qu isite beauties in objects which befor e had ap-v

peered too insignificant for his obser vation.

Loui sa. But,mamma

,I cannot yet see

,why a

man,even though he cannot read

,may not have

a great many pleasures still within his reach .

The beauties of nature are open to hi s eyes , as

well as to those of the most learned philosopher.

It does not require any knowledge to c omprehend


that the flowers are beautiful , that the music of

birds is sweet , and the taste of fru it del ic i ous.Momma. Here is Fr iendsh ip’s Offering for

this year,that your uncle has just given me.

Look at this engraving ofMartinio,of Christ’s

entrance into Jerusalem ; and tell me all the

objects that you see in it .

Louisa. Why , there are the walls of the city ,that appear very beautiful ; and a great many

bu ildings within,that I d are say would . be very

magnificent , if one c ould see them more dis

tinc tly , but they are so minute that one can

scarcely make them out at all ; and then there is

our Saviour riding on an ass,but I

'

wish it had

been a little larger,for I can only make out the

general air of the figure it is impossible to see his

c ountenance or distinguish a feature ; and as for

the crowds attending him,they are only dots

,

and l ines,though they are certainly beautifully '

managed,to have the appearance of people at a

d istance .

Momma. Well,now look at it through this

magnifying glass .Loui sa. Oh ! dear ! how beautiful ! Every

th ing is quite distinct even those distant build

ings , that appeared before almost like clouds


represent columns,and arches

,andvarious kinds

of architecture,and the dots and lines , as I

thought them,are men andwomen finely formed ;

and not only not crushed together,but standing

apart,and not even appearing very near to one

another you c an even see the expressionof

their faces . But above all,how beautiful is that

figure of our Saviour what benignity there is

in his look,andwhat grandeur in his appear ance

,

even though he is riding in so humble a style .

Oh ! I had no conception that this picture was

so beautiful How delighted Alfred will be when

I shew it to him.

Mammo . This,my dearLouisa ,will exemplify

to you the wonderful effects of knowledge. The

most ignorant and careless observer no doubt sees

many t hings to admire ' in this beautiful world ofours ; but to the eye of knowledge,which,

l ikethis glass

,brings hidden things to View

,how in

finite are the wonders which it contains . To the

astronomer,it unfolds

'

c ountless worlds revolving

around him,all as grand and beautiful

,at “least

,

as that on which he stands ; to the chemist itdisplays operations of the most astonishing kindcontinually going on, in the great laboratory of

nature the botanist sees in the most minute and


insignificant weed on which he treads,an order

and arrangement of its several parts, that raise

his mind with wonder and adoration to the Great'

Original and to the Christian bu t what words

c an declare half of what it unfolds to him.

Loui sa. Oh,mamma lyou begin to make me

feel in love with learning .

Mamma. But let me carry my i llustration still

further One of your first imp ressions , on l’

ook

ing ~ at this picture through the gl ass,was that of

pleasure,at the idea of being able to unfold some

new source of enjoyment'

to your brother . If

such,then

,were your feel ings

,what must be the

enjoyment that knowledge produces,when it

enables us to displ ay to thosearound us, pictures

of beauty,far beyond the work of any human

artist . And yet this is taking knowledge only in

its most confined sense,as relat ing merely to the

examination of visible objects but knowledge in

its true sense,is the path which leads to wisdom

and v irtue . Shakspeare says,Ignorance is the c ur se of GodKnowledge the wing Wherevvi th Wefly tcr Heaven .

But we have talked; long enough I must now

leave you to reflec t at your leisure on the benefitsof the Printing Press.

7d?

THE F IR E FLY

COME here, pretty Fly ,For the night is so damp,

And the wind is so high,

They willput out your lamp

Come don’tbe so coy ,

Flashing by mewi th fear 3There ’

s naught to destroy,

Or to injure y ou here.

Like a bright little spark,As y ou

’t e flying about,

Here and there in the dark,Oh y ou willget put out.

Then come,pretty fly,

Here’s a shelter tbr y ou 5

Not a blas t shallc ome nigh,Nor a. drop of the dew.

Secur e y ou may stand,

Little jewel,and shed

Your light inmy hand,When y our Winglets are Spread.

Or,resthere by me

,

In the pure c rystalcup ,Ify ou

’11just letme see

Howyour light kindles up .

Many thanks for your care,

Said thewise little fly ;Butwithout dew and air

,

I should soonhave to die.

THE FIRE FLY.79

More charms do I findIna fresh blade ofgrass,

Thanappear to my mind,In awhole house ofglass.

My lamp is notmadeWith the poor

,wasting oil,

In burning to fade,

Or in dampness to spoil.

By a hand that ’s unseen,

It is guarded and trimm’d,

And this is a sc reen

That shallkeep it undimm’d.

Secure in t hat hand,

I canliv e atmy ease,

And glow,while I’m fanu’d

By the blast or the breez e.

I lov e to be free,

And to feelthe wholeworld

Is open to me,

Whenmy W'

lllg'

ls unfurl’d.

From a sweet verdant sod,

I am rai sed up at night,When the brightness ofGodLends the Fire-Fly her light.”

H. F. G.

SW I T Z ER LAND.

PERHAPS no country in the world is more in

teresting than Switzerland , whether we consider .

the moral character of its inhabitants,or the

wildness and subl imity of its"

sc enery . Nothingc an be 1mag inedmore magnificent than the Alps ,r 1s1ng on each side of the vale of Chamouni .

Forest above forest of pines,l arches

,and firs

,

are intermixed with glaciers,from which the ice

shoots up in the forms of spires,pyramids

,and

towers,all gl ittering in the sun-beams . The red

color of the origi nal rocks are strongly contrasted

by the pure snow that rests upon them ; and they

rear their gigantic heads so h igh among'

ztheclouds

,that imagination is absolutely appalled

by their grandeur . The qu iet valley is dotted

with neat cottages and“

churches,

flocks ofgsheepwander over the gr een fields andmeadows

,and

the women and ch i ldren,humbly; but neatly

dressed,are . busy atwork in the fields and gar

dens .

Up among the mountains are steep and terrific

precipices,among which the torrents rush down

in tremendous waterfalls . In some few places,

strong bridges are thrown over the awful chasms

82 SWIT Z ERLAND .

sue the chase in those dangerous places is truly

surprising. But frequent practice makes them

very fearless ; andmore than half of any danger

is removed by the very fact of not being afraid

of it . A wonderful story is told of a Swi ss,who

in his sleep jumped from one Alp ine precipice to

another,over a deep and awful chasm ; if this

account be true,I suppose the man’s safety de

pended entirely upon his unconsciousness of

danger .

In the Swiss cities,particul arly those l argely

engaged in trade andmanufactures,the traveller

finds,what is always to be found in cities

,v i z .

men who care more about making money than

they do about the romantic beauties of nature:In the busy haunts of enterprise , human beings

are strangely tempted to fret away their littl e

hour of l ife” in amassing r iches,wh ich they c an

not possibly carry with them to amether world

In humbler and more quiet scenes there is‘

a

greater share of happiness“

and anearer appro ach

to Heaven.

Nothing c an exceed the simplicity and tran

qu ill ity of rural l ife in Swi tzerland . Instead of

the“

magnificent sculptured fountains of Italy,a

hollow log receives the cool waters of the brook,

SWIT Z ERLAND . 83

as it comes sparkling through the fields . Here

the innocent l ambs come to drink,and here the

weary laborer pauses to rest.

The neat cottages are usually bui l t of wood,

with staircases on the outside, and great pent

house roofs,made to keep off the snow. The

poorest peasant cultivates his l ittle garden and

orchard,which gives a pecul iarly thriving and

cheerful aspect to this wi ld and picturesque coun

try .

'

Their church-yards l ie amid woods,rocks

,

and hills,and the sweet fragrance of flowers

The white crosses and gilded tombstones are

continually decorated Wi th fresh garl ands,and

pinks and violets are planted on the graves.

84 SWIT Z ERLAND .

S uch was the burial pl ace desired by Ossian

Green be the pl ace of my rest ; and let thesound of the d istant torrent be heard .

”

The Swiss seem to have a p ecul iar fondnessfor flewers . Upon the birth of a child

,the maid

s ervant,dressed in her best clothes

,carries the

news to allrelations and friends,and presents

every one with a l arge nosegay .

One very pecul iar custom prevails in this ih

teresting c ountry . Li ttle girls are from their

earl iest infancy associated with other girls of the

same age,and little

'boy s with companions as old

as themselves . These l ittle societies al l meet at

the house of some one of their parents every Sun

day . Brothers and sisters,unless they are of the

same age,are not members of the same society

,~

or present at the same meetings . In this way,very strong andpermanent friendships are formed

,

wh ich u sually continue through l ife and if any

child has bad habits,or bad manners

,the evil is

very l ikely to be gradually remed ied by the influence of her beloved associates . Even old people

,

who were thus ‘connected together in their chi ld

hood,always retain a pecul iar tenderness of

manner toward each other .

Switzerland being the country of small for

SWIT Z ERLAND . 85

tunes marriages are almost always made from

affect ion,and not for the sake of money ; and

the ir humble dwell ings are therefore the abodes

of innocence and happ iness .

In some of the remote cantons; such extreme

s impl icity prevails that they have no l awyers to

settle their d isputes,and no locks to secure their

houses . Thei r contracts are inscr ibed on pieces

ofwood , which neither party wou ld ever think of

destroying ; and Where there are no th ieves,a

wooden l atch raised by a str ing answers all the

purposes of bolts and bars . Th is wou ld be a

most happy world , if every mind was inwardlybolted and barred against evil . There are sp irit

ual thieves always striving to enter into our

hearts to steal away our humble and pious '

feel

ings if mankind wou ld shu t the door against

these thieves, their dwellings woul d be safe

enough .

In the Swiss valley ofMuotta are ranges of

shops left open and unguarded,wh il e the owners

are pursu ing their occupations in the field . The

prices are marked on the var ious goods,and

those who wish to purchase,take what articles

” they please,and leave the money .

In that part of Switzer l and called Vallais,an

8

86‘

SWIT Z ERLAND .

unusual proportion of the inhabitants are idiots,

and affl icted with l arge excrescences in the throatcalled goitres . Wherever this pecul iar d iseaseis common

,there are l ikewise a great many

idiots,

.

but both misfortunes are rarely the lot ofthe same individual . These phenomena havebeen attributed to a calcareous substance

,with

which the springs are impregnated in these dis

tr icts.

The idiots are regarded with pecul iar tender

ness and reverence . The Swiss call them Souls

of God withou t sin.

” In Scotl and,likew1se

,

these inoffensive individuals are called “ Inna

cents .

Each canton in‘

Switz erland is ' distinguished

by a different costume . In some places the-

hairis simply plaited

,and twined round a small black

cush ion on the top of the head,while the nec k is

covered with a-handkerch ief of gay and v arious

stripes . In other districts the hair is worn in

long braids,fall ing over the shoulders down to

the very feet,surmounted by a huge straw hat

without a crown,kept on the head by means of

strings under the chin. The Bernese women

have the oddest fashion. Their gowns are black,

except a small square of white on the bosom,

SWIT Z ERLAND .

edged with a sort of black frame ; from whichissue very ful l wh ite sleeves . The hair is plaited

in long queues,wh ich fall down the back

,being

confined together at the neck by a black riband .

The back part of the head is about half covered

with a black cap,from wh ich r ises two per

pendicular wings , one on each s ide ; these appen

dages are six or seven inches high,and are made

of black horse-hair . The l ittle g irls,the old

women,the laborers in the fields

,and the beggars

in the streets,all wear this queer looking head

gear . Indeed the inhabitants of the various

Swiss cantons are about as uniform in their dress

as a band of soldiers .

Geneva,s ituated on a lake of the same name

,

i s small compared . wi th other Swiss cities ; buti t has great l iterary and religious celebrity . For

a long time it was the centre and asylum;

of the

R eformed Rel ig ion. It was the residence of

C alvin,Rousseau

,Madame de Stael

,and several

o ther distinguished persons. It has a famou s

university,which contains about one thousand

s tudents .Lavater

,the celebrated physiognomist, was a

n ative of Z ur ich . This venerable and warm

Ihearted man preached the gospel in that town for

88 INFLUENCE or KINDNESS .

more than.

th irty years ; during wh ich time , he

s aid he had no occasion towarnhis people against

any species ofmoral corruption.

The Swiss are obl iged to work hard and l ive

frugal ly ; but they are strong in l imb and pure

of heart. It would be unk ind to wish them a

greater share of this world’s goods . Those only

are truly happy who always want a l ittle more

t ime than they have , but not a cent more of

rnoney .

INFLU ENCE O F K INDNES S.

'

IN Phi l adelphia there is a physician,belonging

to the Society of Friends,who is very benevolent,

and much beloved by the poor . One day,this

good doctor , attempt ing to ride through a narrow

and c rowded street,was stopped by a dray

,which

s tood In such a manner that he could not possi

bly get along. He asked the driver if he woul d

be good enough to move a l ittle out of the way ;but the man was ill-natured

,and he answered

,in

very v iolent l anguage,that he would not stir an

i nch til l he thought proper . The phy sic an re

;plied, with the utmost gentleness,Well

,friend,

90 INFLUENCE oF KINDNESS.

pussy’s paws,and the starl ing perches on her

head .

From these facts l ittle girls and boys c an learn

a useful lesson concerning their treatment to

younger brothers and sisters . When l ittle onesare

z

fretful,do not take hold of them hard

,and

pul l them along,and speak cross words to them.

This will only serve to spoil their tempers,and

injure your own. Speak gently to them ; try to

c omfort them,and tell them some simple story

,in

c rder to make them forget their l ittle troubles.

Ifmanaged in this way , they wil l soon become

as docile as l ittle l ambs ; ari d when they are un

happy they will come to you ,as their kindest

p rotector and best friend .

A gentle and patient temper is a twofold bless

ing ; it equally blesses those who possess it, and

those who come under its influence . While weare striving to do good to others , we find our re

ward in the quiet happiness with which our own

hear ts are filled .

AWALK ON THE SEA- SHORE.

COME,let us walk by the sea-shore upon the

smooth sands of the w ind ing beach . Let us .

search for its colored shells and cur i ous pebbles .

Let us gather the del icate blossoms of the sea

s ide pea, that loves to draw its'

freshness and ten

der beauty from the thirsty soil,along the edges

of the yellow shore. Take up handfuls of the

sp arkling sands . Can we number the sh ininggrains ? No

,we cannot ; but God knoweth the

sum of the sands of the sea,upon its thousand

,

thousand shores . Let us watch the little flocks

of beach birds,skimming low along the sands

,

keeping time with'

the flowing and retreating

waters . Listen to their voice,low

,soft andmu

sical,as if they s ang to the waves . Here are the

r inged plovers the sand-pipers the purres,flying in flocks

,throwing alternately thei r édark

and l ight plumage to the eye— the sheer-waterwith its curious bill the blue-wmged teals, that

love to sit together,and sun themselves . on the

sands and the surf and the,

golden-eyed duck,

that swim and dive among the breakers these,

andmany others,haunt the sand-bars

,and the low

reefy shores. God careth for them all . He

92 A WALK ON THE SEA-SHORE .

teacheth some of them to collect the drift sea

weed for their nests,and others to hollowout the

sands . Though no reeds,or grass

,or leaves

,

screen these nestl ings,yet God p

’

rovideth for

their safety . No br ight or various plumage attracts attention towards them. Colored l ike the

sands ou which they run,if danger approach ,

they cower down,motionless as the small stones

of the beach,till the deceived eye is turned away ;

while the tender mother entices from them the

foot of the stranger,in vain pursu it of herself.

How solemn is the lonely shore,where the sea

Upl ifts its voice,as it were the voice ofGod No

one dwelleth here . The fisher moors his sk iff,

and/ seeks his home in the cheerful v i ll age . And

wealso must go away to our evening rest . But

the spiri t of God will still move on theface of the

deep . And in the sti llness of the night we maywake and l isten to the waves

,as they break and

dash upon the d istant beach . Let us not go away

unimpressed with the wisdom and goodness of

God . The sea obeys his will ; but it is unconi

scious of its obed ience . Let us also obey him

not as the passive sea,but with the active intelli

gence of l iving spirits,to whom he has g iven his

written and perfect law. L.

Boston.

THE TWO G U ID E S .

AN ALLEGORY.

A GOOD and wise king oncehad a colony un

der his government,the inhabitants of which

were greatly afflicted with bl indness and wh il e

they were always wandering about in wrong

paths,they declared that they had . a most earnest

desire to go r ight,if they could only see the

way . Hereupon the good k ing'

resolved to furni sh

themwith gu ides ; but having a great respect forthe individual freedom ofhis subjects

,be resolved

to . send them two guides,in order that e very man

might have a perfect l iberty of cho ice .

One of these gu i des ‘was d istingu ished by a

very innocent,s incere expression of c ounte

nance,a mild qu iet eye

,a cheerful lip , and

great Simplic ity of manner . The other had a.

keen,thoughtful aspect, a penetrating eye and / a

sarcastic mouth . Whether he talked with friendor foe

,he assumed the same smooth elegance of

manner and he had the faculty of smi l ing withhis eyes

,while his l ipswere motionless— a sure

Sign that his affections and his thoughts dweltfar apart from each other . When any man

asked the first of these gu i des what path it was

94 THE Two GUIDES .

best to pursue,he looked earnestly toward heaven

for ,a wh i l e

,and then

,wi th a Serene aspect

,

briefly repl ied,

Th is is the right path,my

friend . When the ot her gu ide was consulted ,he put his hand to his forehead , and looked in

tently upon the ground ; and then answered,

You observe , my friend , that the other gu idealways chooses the straightest and shortest road .

This is because he is near s ighted,and goes di

rec tly onward , just as far as he c an see plainly ,and no farther . Now I am remarkably far

s ighted . Allthe doubl ings of the paths among

the deep ravines and d istant caves,I c an see at

a glance . Beyond them stands an imperial pal

l ace,glittering with gems . The first guide

,

honest,simple soul that he is

,willnever reach

this magnificent pl ace . Seated in the sunny

fields his heart will rejowe at the sight of a daisy ,and leap l ike the heart of a little child . If he

l ives. to three score years and ten,he will never

be wiser than an infant . Followme ; I wi ll lead

you onthrough devious roads,which shall bring

you to heaps of gold and pearl and diamonds ;and the fool ish ones

,who have taken the stra ighter

course,will be ashamed to look you in the face .

”

These Splendid professions made the second

‘THE T'WO GUIDES

gu ide very popular in the colony ; especially as

he usually entered flowery and verdant paths,

wh ile the other guide more frequently led the waythrough briars and thorns .

But as the first gu ide proceeded,his path grew

more intr icate , and led through parched deserts ,and dark caverns , andmuddy subterranean:holes .

Here and there were gorgeous flowers but theyfell to p ieces the moment they were touched , and

the‘

poisonou s atmosphere they breathed cause d

many travellers to s icken and die Oftentimes,

sl ippery,gl ittering serpents were twisted round

the stems,and their bite was mortal . Some pas

sengers, d isc ou raged at these circumstances,

tried to turn back,and seek the first gi iide. But

it was very remarkable that whoever touched the

hand of the second gu ide was straightway af

flic ted with an optical disease , much’worse than

the bl indness he pretended to cure . They could

very indistinctly perceive a straight l ine a nd,in

sp ite of the ir mathematicalknowledge,

”a crooked

l ine alway s seemed the shortest . The more they

wandered in obl ique paths , the more this disease

increased upon them and at last they ridiculed

everybody who sa id there was such a thing as a

straight line in the world maintaInIng that i f

96 THE Two GUIDES .

such a thing coul d poss ibly exist,it o ld only

lead out into infinite and empty space .

A very few,when they entered

‘

the winding

paths,and began to feel the approaches of th is

strange d isease,looked upwards to heaven

,and

the l ight that came from thence removed the film

from their eyes . The se followed thewiser gu ide

at first with doubt,and trembl ing ; but he led

them as a l ittle ch ild leads a lamb,and by de

grees the power of seeing straightwas given them.

People that had grown old in company with

the first g u ide gave very unfavorable accounts to

the . young men,who were about mak ing their

choice . They described the bright but deadly

serpents,the p oisonous flowers

,and the dark

'

passages under the earth . Of their crooked

v i s ion they did not speak ; for the ir eyes had so

long been in that state,that they supposed they

alone were healthy,and all other people diseased .

Some of them had reached the magnificent

pal ace ; but when they took possession of it,

they found it was all bu i lt of ice . The p il l ars

and the statues,

, the d iamonds,the pearls

,and

the gold,were all of ice— the very flowers of

the gardens were fringed wi th icicles,and pow

dered with snow. There was no l ife,no fra

grance there . The atmosphere all around was

98 THE Two GUIDES.

heard his soft voice say ing,Look to Heaven for

l ight .” Nothing doubting,they looked upward

and their path again l ay before them,bright

and distinct in beauty . By these tokens,they

knew that the wide and crooked paths begun in

evil,and ended in destruction. With strong and

and narrow~

pathgwhich grew lovel ier and love

l ier,even unto theend. Many of them entered

a beautiful temple,where the l ight allcame from

above,and Shed a l iving glory on every gem and

flower . A genial warmth‘

pervaded this temple

and there was music and fragrance everywhere .

The first gu ide was wi th them ; and they still

loc ked to him for d irection,as a l ittle child

watches its mother’s eye . And now they'

were

often v isited by angels,who told them Of a world

still more glor iously beautiful than the temple

they had reached . They pointed to the gate,

which they called The Entrance to Life ; butmortals call it Death . And behold the gate was

covered With flowers,among which the happy

doves bui lded their nests ; and beyond the gate ,the l andscape seemed to breathe

,and the sun

l ight was athing of l ife .

The first gu ide was named CONSCIENCE the

second was POLICY.

AEROLITES, ORMETEORIC STONES.

AEROLITES are bodies which have fallen fromthe atmosphere to the earth . The name is c om

posed Of two Greek words,and signifies Air

Stones . The accounts Of these phenomena

handed down fromanc i ent times have not beengenerally bel ieved until with in the last thirty

years ; but within that period there have beenmany recent and authentic statements to c orr

'

ob

orate the fact .

Livy states,that a shower of stones fell on the

Alban Mount, not far from Rome,in the reign

ofTullus Hostilius,about 654 years B . C . Plu

tarch describes a stone that fell in the Helles

pout, near the modern Gallipol i , about 405 years

B . C. ; and the elder Pliny , who wrote five hundred years afterwards , says that the stone was to

be seen in his time,that it was as large as a wag

on,of a burnt color , and in its fall was ac c om

panied by a meteor . The fabled mother of the

gods was worshipped at Pessinus,under the form

of a stone,said to have fallen from heaven. At

Emessa,in Syria , the Sunwas worshipped in the

shape of a large black stone,whi ch according to

tradition, had fallen from the atmosphere .

1 00 AEROLITES,OR METEORIc STONES.

In 1492,a stone weighing 270 pounds fell at

Ensisheim in Alsace ; for three hundred years it

was suspended in the church by a strong chain.

D uring the first French Revolution it was carried

o ff,and many pieces were broken from it. One

of these is now in the Museum at the Jardin des

P lantes,near Paris . The remainder Of the

r elic was carried back to Ensisheim,and placed

near the great altar in the church .

InTartary,near the river Jenessei

,a large and

s ingul ar mass,found ona slate mountain

,was

held in great veneration by the natives,on ao

c ount of the tradition that it had fallen from

heaven. Philosophers who have examined it,

have found that it possesses the usual propertIes

Ofmeteoric stones. Itweighed fourteen hundred

pounds . It was cellul ar,l ike a sponge

,and the

c ells contained small glassy particles . The iron

it containedwas tough and malleable .

Another immense mass of meteoric iron was

found in South America,about five hundred

miles northwest of Buenos Ayres . It lay in a

v ast plain,half sunk in the grou

’

nd and from its

s ize it was judged to weigh more than thirteen

tons .

Another l arge meteoric stone has been found

at the Cape ofGood Hope .

102 AEROLITES,OR METEORIC STONES.

During the explosions at L’Aigle, a ball of fire

was seen in the air,at v arious places inNorman

dy far distant from each other .

Aerol ites are generally shaped l ike prisms and

pyramids,the angles being rounded . Their

surface is irregul ar,and glazed with a bl ack

crust,l ike varnish . When taken up soon after

their fall,they are extremely hot . There is a

remarkable similarlty In all the meteoric stones

found in various parts Of the world . A large

proportion of i r on is always found in them,c om~

binedwith more or less of the r are metal called

ni ckel; the earths sili ca, andmag nesi a, and sul

p hur constitute the other principal ingredientsother metal s and earths are occasionally found

mixedwith these, in greater or less proportion.

NO comb ination simil ar to,

meteoric stones have

ever been discovered among the rocks of this

world,or the products of any volcano upon this

earth . The appearance of these phenomena

does not seem to depend Upon any particul ar

state of the atmosphere , or of the weather .

They have fallen in all cl imates,at all seasons

,

in the night,and in the day .

The only recorded instance of iron having beenactually seen to fall from the air is said to have

AEROLITES,OR METEORIC STONES. 103

takenplace at Agram,in Crotia

,in 1751 . On

the 26th of May,about six O’clock in the eve

ning,the sky be ing qu ite clear

,a ball Of fire shot

along from west to east,accompanied by a hol

low noise after a loud explosion,followed by a

great smoke,two masses of iron fell to the earth ,

in the form of chains welded together.In numerous cases

,the explosion of meteors

has been attended with showers of black and red

dust,which usually contains small

,hard

,angul ar

g rains . Sometimes a soft,red gelatinous matter

,

resembl ing coagul ated blood,has fallen ; hence

there have been stories that the sky had actually

rained blood . The appearances above men

tioned are,not unfrequently

,accompanied by a

fall of stones .

InNovember,1775

,red

’

rain fell around the

Lake of Constance,in Switz erland

,and on the

-same . day in Russia and Sweden. The water-

'

was of an acid taste, probably owing to sulphur i c

acid andwhen dried , the fiakyl

p rec ip itate was

attracted hy\ the magnet. In 1803

,red dust and

rain fell in Italy,which on examination proved

not to . be volcanic .

In 1813,red snow fell near AreZ Z O

,dur ing

the space Of several hours,ac compamed with a

104 AEROLITES,

, OR METEORIO STONES.

sound l ike the v iolent dashing Of. waves in the

distance ; two or three explosions , l ike thunder,attended the greatest fall . This snow being

melted,yielded a precipitate Simi l ar to the me

teor ic Stones,cons isting Of iron

,s il ica

,l ime

,al

umina,and manganese .

It has been supposed that this wonderful cl ass

Of natural phenomena was occasioned by d istant

volcanoes belonging to this earth ; but this is re

futedby the fact that meteoric stones are totally

unl ike volcanic stones ; and they fall from a

height,to which it is not deemed possible t hat

any volcano could have thrown them. Others

h ave thoug ht that aerol ites were formed in theatmosphere ; but no chemical d iscoveries have

yet shown that the air contains the elements of

which they are composed . Sir‘Humphry Davy

speaks of a great American meteor, which threw‘

down showers of stones,and was estimated at sev

enteenmiles high ; the immense volume of atmos

phere which it wou ld requ ire to form such a huge

mass seems to put thisi

theory out of the question

besides, these meteors move more ,

rapidly than

the earth in its orb it andWhat force exists inthe ai r to project them with such velocity ?Some have supposed that these bodies are

AN AFRICAN JUDGE,

THE desc ription ofEddystoneLighthouse,and the ac count of

Icelandmic e,in the last number of theMiscellany

,were taken

from the PennyMagaz ine,a.work fullof v aluable information,

and republished in this c ountry at a cheap rate.

The following anecdote,from the same source, contains an

admonition for those Christian countries,that sanc tion unchris

tian customs:

ANAFRICANJUDGE AND EUROPEAN SLAVE-HOLDER.

IN the year 1824,anEnglish

’

naturalist, in the

course of a tour in Cafl'erland,had an opportuni

ty of witnessing the justi ce and impartial ity of

the Caffer chiefs,in their capacity of judges .

Being dissatisfied with the conduct of his sl ave,

whom he had brought up with him’

from the

Cape Colony,after some altercation and the in

flic tion of a few blows with his g amboc (whip ofrhinoceros

_hide ,)-he carried the man beforeMaxcomo

,the head of a tribe near the river Keissi .

Here the master and slave filed cross'

bill s against

each other . The slave p roduced/Witnesses to

prove that his master had struck and abused him

without cause :the master accu sed the slave‘

of

laz iness,insolence and disobedience

,

‘

and de

manded that he shou ld be puni shed by a severe

flogging . Macomo,after hearing both

‘

parties,

informed them that inCafl'

erland there were no

slaves ; he must, therefore , consider themmere

AND EUROPEAN SLAVE-HOLDER .

ly as two men,who had made a bargain with

each other . Now it appears,” said he to the

Englishman,that you have struck this man,

and

otherwise illtreated him ; but you‘

c an show no

proof that he had injured you,

by offering you

violence . I therefore decl are your bargain at an

end he is free to go where he pleases and you

shallpay him an ox for the wrong you have done

him At this dec ision the white man was

highly incensed , and refused to submit . 2‘He

deserved punishment, not reward ,” said he for

hi s Insolence .

” have not proved that , said

Macomo but had it been so, you should have

brought him to me Why do I sit here from sun

rise to sun-set,if need be ? It is to decide

betweenman andman,in cases where their an

ger bl inds them,and hinders their judgment . If

.

men use their hands in secret,instead of their

tongues before the judge,or the Old men

,whose

life would‘

be worth a husk of corn ’

l” The trav

eller repl ied that he would not argue the matter

with him,for he (Macomo)was ignorant of the

usages of c ivil ized l ife,and did not understand

the rights of property . I will c omplain of your

conduct,

” said he,to Major Somerset

,the com-3

mander of the frontier,who will soon show you

'

.the difference between an elephant and a deer .”

NEW BOOKS.

To this taunt Macomo repl ied calmly I know

that Somerset is stronger than I am. He is anelephant; ,

but neither I nor my'

father have been

called deer . You say that your people are wiserthan ours you do not show it in appealing from

reason to force . When you return to the Colony , the landrost will decide between you here

it can go no further. Give him the he

added, it willbe better for you .

” The Doctor

yielded .

NEW BO OK S .

ALLEN TIERNOR hav e lately published.

“THE BLACK

VELVET BRACELET,

”and EARLY Imp REssroNs ; both

of them by the author Of The Shower,

”Temptation,

850 . These little volumes,particularly ”Early Impres

sions,

”have been deservedly popular . They breathe a

v ery pure spir it ofmorality,and have a tendency to make

the youthfulmindlook inward andwatch over i ts motiveswi th cautious v igilanc e .

ALLEN TICKNOR hav e likewi se published J? Wardto Teachers

,or Taio Days in a P r imary School, by

William A. Alcott,so wellknown for hi s experience in

early education. The book does not dealin learned the

c ries,but introduces the reader to the every day process of

instruc tion in the First Public School, at Hartford, Conn.

Thosewho likethe Infant Sclioolsystem,would no doubt

findmany usefuls uggestions in this Simple, unpretendiriglittle volume.

JUVENILE MISCELLANY.

VOL. V .- NO. II.

N O V EMB ER AND D E C EMB E R .

K INDNESS OF THE AFR I CANS.

IN all partsi

of the World it is observed that

those who l ive far from clues are more honest,sincere

,hosp i table and affectionate , than the gen

erality of people near,

the sea-shore . There are

indeed bad people in the country,and excel lent

people in cities ; but as a g eneralrule , the inhabit .

ants of the interior are more k ind and s imple

hearted than those who l ive In crowded ports . In‘

large towns there are more'

bad examples,and;

more temptations . I have often heardpeople r idicule the

'

idea of instructing the Greeks,because

they bel ieved that people were so ignorant and sobad

,that it Would

'

do no [good to assist them.

Upon inqu iry,I have always found that these

unfavorable accounts were received . from sea

captains,who of course descr ibed such Greeks

1 12 K INDNESS OF THE AFRICANS .

as they met about the wharves in the principal

sea-ports . No“doubt . many of

‘

these men were

idle,vic ious

,brutal fellows ; and therefore they

chose to throng inthe cities,where they could

steal,and beg

,and cheat

,and get a h igh price

for doing a job now and then,rather than stay

in the country and earn an honest subsistence by

their l abor .

Travellers who havei

vis ited the interior of

Africa,speak in high terms of those negroes who

have not been corrupted by intercourse with

foreigners . Proy art, in his History of Loango,

acknowledges that the Africans on the sea-coast,who associate with bad Europeans, are dishonest

and‘

wicked ; but he says those in the country

are humane,obliging

,and hospitable. Adanson

,

who V i sited Senegal in 1754,repeats the same

praise of negroes in the interior . Their ami able

simpl icity,

” says he,

“in this enchant ing country ,

recalled to me the idea of the'

p rimitive race of

man ; I thought I saw the world in its infancy .

They are distingu ished by tenderness for the ir

parents,and

.

great respect for the aged .

Mungo Park says , One of the first lessons,

which the Mand ingo wor‘

nen teach their children,

is the practice of truth . A poer mother,whose

KINDNESS OF THE AFRICANS .

contributed not a l ittle to his recovery . He adds,

‘i

‘Thus was I delivered,by the friendly care of

this benevolent negro,

“

from a situation truly

deplorable . D istress and famine p ressed hard

uponme I had beforeme the gloomy wilderness

of Jallonkadoo, where the traveller sees no hab

itation for five successive days . I had observed,

at a d istance, the rapid course of the r iver

Kokaro,“

and had almost marked out the place

where I thought I was doomed to perish,when

this friendly negro stretched out his hospitable

hand for my relief. Mr Park having travelled

in company with a coflle of thirtyfive sl aves , thusdescribes his feelings as they came near the

coast ; “ Although I was now app roaching the

end of my tedious and toilsome journey,and

expected In another day to meet with countrymen

and friends, I could not part with my unfortunatefellow travellers

,doomed as I knewmost \

of

them to be, to a l ife of sl avery in a foreign l and ,without great emotion. DurIng a p eregrinationofmore than five hundred miles , exposed to the

burning ray s of a troplcalsun, these p oor sl aves ,amidst their own infinitely greater sufferings

,

would commiserate mine, and frequently of their

own accord,’

bring water to quench my thirst ,

KINDNESS OF THE AFRICANS .

andat night collect branches and leaves to p repare me '

a bed in the wilderness . We parted

with mutual regrets and bless ings . My good

wishes and prayers were all I could bestow upon

them ; and it afforded me some consolation to be

told that they were sensible . I had no more to

give .

”

At Sego, in Bambarra, the king being jealous

ofMr Park’s intentions

,forbade him to cross the

river .‘

Under these d iscourag ing circumstances,

he was advised to lodge at a distant v ill age ; b ut

there the same distrust of the white man’s

purposes prevailed, and n0 / person would allow

him to enter his house . He says,

“ I was re

garded wi th astonishment and fear,and was

obl iged to s1t all day ‘without food under the

shade of a'

tree . The WInd rose,and there was

g reat appearance of a heavy rain,

'

and the wild

beasts -are so very numerous in the neighborhood,that I should have

fl

been under the necessity of

resting among the branches of the tree . About

sunset,however

,as I was preparing to pass the

night in this manner,and had turned my horse

loose,that he mIght graz e

'

at l iberty,a woman

,

returning from the labors of the field,stopped to

observe me. Perceiving that I was weary and

1 16 KinDNEss on THE AFR ICANS .

dejected,she inqu ired into my situation, which I

briefly explained to her ; whereupon, with looks

of great c ompassion,she took up my saddle and

bridle and told me to follow her. Hav ing c on

ducted me into her hut,she lighted a lamp

,

spread a mat on the floor,and told me I might

remain there for the night . Finding that I was

hungry,she went out and sobn returned with a

very fine fish,which being broiled upon some

embers,she gave me for supper . The women

then resumed their task of spinning cotton, and

l ightened their labor with songs,one of which

must , havebeen composed extempore , for I was

myself the subject of it . It was sung by one of

the young women,the rest joining in a kind of

c horus . The air was sweet and pl a intive , and

the words l i terally transl ated,were these

“

Thewinds roar’d, and the rains fell5

The poor white man, faint andweary,Game and sat under our tree.

He has no mother to bring himmilk 3No wife to grind his corn.

CHORUS.

Let us pity the white man 5No mother has he to

' bring himmilk,

No wife to gr ind his c orn.

”

reader c an fully sympathize with

1 18 KINDNESS OF THE AFRICANS .

The wind is heard inwhispers low ;The white man far away must go 5But ever in his heart willbearRemembrance of the negro’s care.

'

cnonus .

Go,white man

, go butwith thee bearThe negro’s wish, the negro’s prayer,Remembrance of the negr’

o’s care .

flnswers to Conundrums , p ag e 32.

It is always spreading r ep or ts .

Becaase‘

fioursare ri sing , (flowers).

Because it Is called a smack .

They are both engravmg themselves, (in g rave.)

l

fi nswer to Charade, p ag e 32.

Pen-elope.

TOMY SISTER .

DEAR LI z z v,—when in childhood’s hour,

\Vhate’er my laws, y ou would rebel,

And I, who fanc ied age was power,Would feelmy little bosom swell

Wi th anger infantine,to seeMy mimic frown unheeded be.

Our tiny tongues went v ery fast,Andminey mine alway s went thelast !

Butwhen,at length

,some childish jest

,

Uponmy pouting lips would r ise,

Andwoundmy darling sister’s breast,And fillwith tears her dear dark eyes,Ashamed to ownmy fault to thee,Yet griev ed inheart

,thy grief to see

,

Rememberest thou howmany awile,I tried thy sorrow to beguile 21Oh even then, I felt that joyMustflee my spirit, thine in pain

,

And thought I ’d gi ve my prettiest toy ,To see thee smile again !

Dear Liz z y , Inmaturer years,An angry word, or careless jest,Too often now

,distils the tears

Of sorrow,from thy gentle breast ;

Yet,lov e

,believe thy sister’s hear t

,

Whate’er its many errors be,Wouldnever lightly pain impart

,

Andleast of all,to thee 5

Oh Passion’s words are faithless things,AndLove disowns them ere they fall3.

129 TO MY SISTER .

It is the reckless tong ue that sting s,The tongue that knows notReason’s thrall,And satire’s light and airy dart,Its point

,its poison

,ther e rec eiv es

,

Oh ere the weapon reach thy heart,My own has felt the wound it' gives

Andwhen I see thy dear lip curl’(I,

And quivering with thy just disdain,I sigh and think I 7d gi ve the world,To see thee smile again

FLORENCE.

C H A R—A D E .

By means ofmy firstmy second’

performsMany works both amusing and grand ;My third. oft enc ounters terr ible storms,

At a distanc e from houses or land.

My whole i s an ‘

art of great use to mankind;But they who exc elin i t -

rnost,

Sometimes hav e more skillin the fingers than mind,And have little learning to boast .

R I D D LE .

Slain to be saved with much ado andpain;Scatter

’d and dispersed, to be gather

’d up again

Dry , y et fullofnutriment sweet, y et unperfumedCarefully laid up to be at last consumed.

122 THE WEEK’S PROBA'

TION .

Oh, del ightful , George how happy we shall

be I do so love danc ing I will practise all mysteps th is noon

,that I may take them well to-f

night ; for I have'

no doubt there will be l ad iesand gentlemen at

.

the party,to see us dance,

Mr Gindrat used to say I was one Of his very

best scholars .

”

Now I hope there will be no l ad ies and.gen

tlemen“present ; I shall feel so awkward and

ashamed,if there are ; I hate to be stared a

but if there are not,what a merry time I w

have I shall certainly dancewith Emma D

ton and Louisa,if they are at the party .

”

Oh ! Louisa wi ll be,certainly and I shOiIld

th ink Emma woulddgo tonight. I shall find out

just what they will wear,and I h ope mother

will be Will ing to buy me a pair Of new shoes

my old enes are really too bad - they are not .

fit to be seen. And then,George , the del i cious

confectionary and the‘

fru it ’

! altogether,it wiu

certainly be a most del ightful evening .

”

Poor Catharlne ! thus she chatted with her

brother,unconsc ious of the dIsappointment that

awaited her,and totally unprepared to bear it

with firmness . Mrs Bennet entered, and thechildren

,scarcely waiting to exch ange the c us

THE WEEK’S PROBATION .

tomary morning greeting,flew to her

,each

holding a b illet before her . “Only r ead it ,mother

,read it

,

” said Catharine ; what epleas

ant evening we shall have .

”

Mrs Bennet read the note,and in silence gave

it back to her daughter. ’ Mother,

” continued

Cathar ine,

wil l you mend me a penand let

me answer the note myself? Sophia wrote this,

I know.

”

My dear l ittle g irl, first let me remind’

you

that your week of probation is not yet over !You have two more days through wh ich you areto command the impetuos i ty of your temper .

”

“ Oh ! I know?

that very well,

” was Kate’s

c areless reply for totally engrossed by the con

templation Of the note , she paid no attention to

thewarning tone of her mother’s voice,and saw

not the anx ious expression Of her countenance .

“ I mean to write my answer on that yellow

paper you gave me yesterday ,” she continued ;

“ DO mend my pen now,mother

,wil l you ? I

c an write it before the coffee is brought up .

”

Before I mend your pen, I wish you to be

fully aware of all you have at stake . I shouldSincerely regret to have you lose your self-command now

,if itwere merely that it would obl ige

124 THE WEEK 8 PROBATION .

me to deprive you of your vis it to your cousin.

And when you reflect that this v isi t was a Sec

Ondary considerat ion Wi th megand that my first

and h ighest Objec t is to make you an est imable

woman, you may , perhaps , form some sl ight idea

of the p ain‘

I Shal l feel, i f you do notb ear the

di sappointment that awaits. you with Sweetness

and firmness . It gr ieves me'

to depr i ve you of“

what may seem inyour eyes an innocent gratification ; but you cannot doubt the love of your

mother,and her wish to proc ure you every proper

enjoyment ; do not murmur ,”then

,when .l tel l

you that I cannot-permit youto go to this party

The long preface to thi s deni al , had given

Cathar ine time to reflect , as her mother meantit shou ld . The afiec tionate Imanner

’

in which

Mrs ,Bennet had spoken,had penetrated and

softened Catharine’s hear t,and She heard

"

the

sentenceWithout one impatient gesture , or angryword . The 1nv 1tation i ndeed d ropped from her

hand, and the‘gushing t ears flowed down her

‘

cheeks ; but not one sob d isturbed the qu iet of

the room,While George sat with a face Of black

despair,almost ready to say

,that in th is instance

his mother “Was not fa ir . Mrs Bennet c ontinned to gaze at Catharine

, g rateful that her

0


best what is proper ; I will be good , and obey

God andmamma .

”

She washed her eyes , in cold water,walked

two or three times across the room,and began to

th ink what she should do to prove she was able

to do cheerfully,as her mother wi shed . If I

had got into a passion,

” she said,

I woul d nothave taken my only sheet of yellow,

paper to an

swer the note upon,but I should have written

the answer as badly as I could . I will go down

and write it slowly,and as well as I c an,on my

colored paper .

”

In the strength of this good resolution,Catha

r ine went down stairs,and again entering the

parlor,she walked with a firm step

’

to her . l ittle

writing desk,a new year’s present from her fond

father,and took out the highly pr ized sheet of

paper,and a pen,

wh ich she asked her mother to

mend . The breakfast had been brought up'

whilst Catharine was out of the room,

’ but her

mother wou l d not. interrupt her in the perform

ance of her good resolutions . She mended the

pen, placed the l ines in the sheet for her , and

thenleft her to select her own expressions

MissCatharine Bennet,

” was soonwritten,and

Cathar ine.pause

'

d I may say r eg rets, with

THE WEEK’S PROBATION . 127

truth,may I not, mother ? said she with all her

natural archness,raising her eyes fearlessly to

her mother’s face .

Indeed you may , my ch ild ; how happy you

have made me ; and now come to your break

fast .”

Mother,said George

,who had maintained

a profound silence through thi s scene,will you

tell us why you object to our going to Mrs Lee’s

tonight T”

You cannot feel the force of all my reasons ,George ; but I will give you one or two

,which I

think you c an understand. In the first pl ace,I

disapprove of the late hours you would be obl iged

to keep . You may say that thi s is but one evening

,and the loss of a few hours’ sleep may do

you no harm but a second 1nv i tation may come ,and if I permi t you to accept of this , you wou ld

think me capr iciou s and unk ind,if I wou ld not

let you go again. I should _ be afraid that your

health would be impaired,not only by l ate hours

,

but by the quantity of confectionary and fru i t

you might be tempted to eat . But I should be

more apprehensive that your moral health would

suffer . I s hould fear that such amusements

would create a love of excitement and that you


would weary'

of the pureand s imple pleasures of

home .

‘I should fear that they would give birth

to a love of dress and of flattery that youwould become vain

,fr ivolous and affected that

your minds would be drawn from useful pursu its

at the very period when the habits that Will l ast

through l ife are to be formed: Such amuse

ments should be seldom resorted to at any age ,‘

I think,and are entirely unsu ited to the careless

period of chi ldhood .

”

No remark was made in reply,either by George

or Catharine , so I c annot decide Whether they

understood their mother’s re asons or not I can

only record that no murmurs w ere u ttered byeither

,and that George wrote his answer as

cheerfully as Catharine had done . This quest ion

being thus happily settled,they again arrayed

themselves for s chool,and left the hOuse together .

Oh,George

,

” said Catharine, , thi s has

been the hardest battle of all ; I never felt as Id id

,when -mother said we could not go . I don’t

think I should have kept my.

temper,if it had

not been'for one thing .

”

What was that,Kate ? I shou ld admire to

know,for I never saw you look so like a queen.

I should have cried myself,to see you behave so

well,

‘

if itwere not silly for aman to cry .

”

Tri s WEEK’S PROBATION .

showMiss Broadhurst how industrious I c an be

Ofmyself.”

Catharine thought she was s incere in“ g iving

this reason for changing the s ituation Of her ‘

desk,but she was grievously ; deceived .

"Thedisappointment which she had met with

,had

excited her cons iderably , and Of course unfitted

her for study she did not feel incl ined to sit

downquietly by the side Of her teacher, to attend

to her lesson ! and she mi stook this disinclinati on

to study for a sincere desire to ShoWMiss Broad

hurst what progress she had made in correcting

her faults . The desk“

was accordingly moved

back‘

to its Old stat i on ; andwell it'

would have

been for Catharine,i f her left hand neighbor had

been qu iet and studious as Emma Drayton,who

scrupulously employed the’

moming in the pros

ec ution Of her studies . But Louisa was as vola

tile,as she was generous and affectionate , and

but too ready to Joln In the whisp ering conversa

tion which Catharine ! immediately commenced .

Unfortunately,the l atter had toomany interesting

subjects thi s morning,with which to entertain

her young friend,to admit ‘of a speedy termina

tion , Of the chat . Her intehded visit to her

cousin wasnow so near,that she could speak Of

THE WEEK’S PROBAT ION . 131

it as to take place on the day after tomorrow

and she first called on‘her young friend to c on

gratulate her on the certainty there nowwas that"she should win the promi sed reward .

I am qui te sure that I shall getthrough now,

because I have been amiable for five days ; and if

I could be so for So long a t ime,I certainly

,

c an

two more days , you know.

’

Miss Broadhurst interrupted the train Of her

reasonlng , by call ing the class In Engl ish Gram

mar to attend to her'

explanation Of the portion

that was to form then morning’s lesson. Catha

rine was just p i cturing toherself the joy ful'

sur

pr ise Of her cousin Jul ia, at her arr i val on Thurs

day ; and she l istened with a wandering“

eye and

restless manner .‘

I fear yOu do not hear me, Catharine, said

M iss Broadhurst and‘with great patience

,she

wenth ver thelesson a second time‘

Our l ittle friend was somewhat mortified atthe trouble which her inattention had g i ven herteacher

,and she strove to l isten more closely ;

but she could not at once dispel the bright visi on,

wh ich her fancy had conju red up , and most (if

the,second expl anation was lost upon her .

'

I’

must add that the lesson, was unusually d ifficult,

132 THE WEEK’S P ROBATION .

it

and would have taxed Cathar ine’s powers s

'

ufii

c iently , when they were all wound up to the

effort . She returned to her desk,little benefited

by M issBroadhurst’s. expl anations,and drawing

towards Loui sa, she‘

wh i spered,I don’t mean

to get out Of temper,for that Wou ld be very s illy ;

but I do ser iously think this lesson is too hard

for us there is no use in my try ing to get it , for

I cou ld not say it,if I were to study all day .

”

You Had '

bette’

r"study

,

” whispered Emma,

you knowwe have but one hour to get it in

I am going to study ; but you must remember

that Miss Broadhurst herself said i twas d ifficul t

and only th ink how long i t is 1, two pages of fineprint 1”

You are noisy th is morning,Catharine , and

I think imprudent in moving your seat,” saidMiss Broadhurst ; “ I hope you have nor given up

your good resolutrons .‘0

Thus recalled to her duty,Cathar ine resolved

to shake Off her “ l azy fit,

” as she termed,

it ; and

for ten minutes she studied her lesson with strict

attention. Fatigued by this effort,she raised

her eyes from her book,yawned looked round

the room,

and was struck by the bril l iancy Of

Carol ineEdwards’s ear-rings,as the rays Of an


another class andCatharine remembered that itwas against the rules to interrupt her. “ It is

all my own fault,

” thought she ; I should have

attended better when she explained it to me ;mean to get it as well as I c an

,

”and she turne

once more to the study Of the perverse rule . Ah !

bootless l abor ! in v ain she pressed her hands,

on her ears ; In vain she shaded her eyes with

them she could not retainwords in her memory,

which presented no idea to her understand ing.

There is no task iso irksome to a child as to pore

over a lesson,which she doesnot comprehend ; and

Catharinewassoonwearied . She raised her'head

again to draw a long breath , and this timeher

eyes rested on Emma’s head . She almost started

from her seat— her hair was in papers ..Why

Was i t ? c ou ld,

she be going to the party ? I

will just ask her i f she _is going

,thought she ;

and accordingly she stooped towards her,and

put the question. Emma’s answer was . a quiet .

no and she returned to the study Of her

lesSon.

“NOW,what in the world c an be the reason

that her hai r Is In papers ?” was Catharine’s

next thought ; and she forgot her grammar entirely in the delig htfulemployment of imagining


various reasons for this alteration in Emma’s cos

tume . These unfortunate curl-papers brought

back to her mind Carol ine’s ear-r ings and both

together placed v ividly before ber'

the evening’s

entertainment,in which

,alas ! she could not

hope to join. Soon she was seated in fancy in

Mrs Lee’s brightly l ighted room ; She Was sur

rounded by a circle of her young and merry

acquaintance ; the v iol in sounded in her ears,

and she flew to the cotillon, with a partner as

light and Skilful as herself ; cake , and fru its , and

lemonade,were handed round

,when suddenly a

! clock struck , and her v isions of gayety fled .

Frederick of Prussia’s soldiers were not dri lled

togreater order in their movements than we reMiss Broadhurst’s scholars ; and obed ient to thesound of the clock

,the l ittle hand then rec iting

moved off,to give place to Cathar ine’s class .

With a heavy heart and l ingering step,she went ;

to her seat in front of M iss Broadhurst .

I may as well own the truth at

/

onc e,she

thought . I shall'

only make rid iculous blunders

,if I try to say it . So summoning all her

resolution to her aid,she said

,Miss Broadhurst

,

I don’t know my She was about to

add,

It is so d ifficu lt,that I can’t learn it

but she checked herself in time .

136 THE WEEK’S PROBAT ION .

'Why are you not ready,my dear ? Have

you studied attent ively ?”

M iss Broadhurst,

” Catharine commenced asecond time

,resolved to be more g uarded in the

wording of her confession Miss Broadhurst,Ihave been very

i

idle today , I know,and

'

I deserve

that you should reprove me, - but indeed I don’t

understand my lesson. I suppose— I know,

”

said she,blushing deeply,

“ that I did not l istento al l you said

' I am very sorry, and hope you

Will forgive me .

in truth,drew a long breath when

this confessionwas ended , and Miss Broadhurstrepl ied

,I c an forgive you ,

Catharine but c an

you forgive yourself for it is yourself,not

your teacher,whom you injure by your

‘

idlenessi‘

You ”

say you regret your loss of time —whatproof c an you give me of t he sincerity of your

sorrow

I don’t know,ma’am

,unless you will be so

kind as to expl ain the lesson again to me,and

let me learn it during recess.

”

Can you remain in the room cheerfully,while your companions are amusing them

selves ?”

I will try,ma’am.


again,than that you should strive to repeat a

sentence wh ich.

you do not comprehend ?”

a.

“ Oh ! yes I understand it now,every word

,

and I should at‘ first,i f I had attended

,I s up

pose ; I am very.

sorry to give you So muc h

trouble .

“ I do not regard any trouble , my dear,

which is rewardedbywitnessing your progress inknowledge and v irtue

,

” repl ied M iss Broadhurst .

In undertak ing the instruct ion of ch ildren,

I expected to have my patience often severely'

tried by the wilful and the idle :I must look

for power to bear with them,to the same source

fromwhich you'

will der ive the -best aid in govern:

ing your passionate temper the k ind promisesof a Heavenly Father .”

HowOften I have been one of the idle and

wilful !” thought Catharine ;“and how kindly

she has always borne with me ! “No ! I will nottry her patience again.

”

Catharine now rece ived a convincing proof of

Miss Broadhurst’s often repe‘ated remark

,that

We knownot what we c an do,t il l we have made

the attempt .” She was su rrounded"by her

schoolmates,who were engaged in conversation

on var ious subjects,all possessing a greater

THE WEEK’S PROBATION.

charm for her than a dry rule in grammar . At

any other t ime , she would have thought i t an

utter impossib il ity to study under such c ircum

stances— but she was in earnest ; and success

crowned -her efforts . She rec ited her'

lesson

without hes itation,or error

,and as she pro

nounc ed the last word,clapped her hands in

tr1umph,, and shouted , Safe:lsafe— throughthat !”

M iss Broadhurst smi led . I rejoice wi th you

at this Victory,my dear ; but don

’t you th ink you

would be just as happy if you did not speak

“ qu i te so loud ? And now tell me,how wou ld

T"you have behaved a fortnight since , if I had

‘

asked you to give up your play hour , becau se‘

you had been idle in school ? Wou ld you not

have pouted

I suppose I shou ld,

she repl ied, Ingenu

ously .

“Wh ich is the wiser and the happier course

to pu rsue,Cathar ine

Oh}to be good , certainly . I have not beenunhapp y at all dur ing thi s

“recess,though I was

not playing . I fel t l ike‘ being cros s once th ismorning ; but I got Over It as quIc kly as I could ;for I have found ou t that it is eaSIer to stop at

fi r st,than afterwards .

I


Yes,my dear ; yi eld ing to our passions,is ”

very much l ike running down a steep h il l , youmay check yourself at the first or second step

,

but when fairly in rapid ' motion, you cannot

stop till you reach the bottom. So it i s With gour tempers ; In youth . we may set bounds totheir violence ; but if we make no effort to , con

j

trol them till we h ave reached maturity,we shall

find that then‘

power us almost irresistible ; It

would be so altogether , were it not for the good

ness ofGod,who is ready. at alltimes to l isten to

those who humbly seek his aid .

”

The remainder of the morningwas passed byCatharine in an exemplary manner ; and once

again she was on her way home, accompanied by’

her fast friends,Emma and Lou isa .

“ Only

think,

” she cried in ecstasy,

but one more

morning at school , and my Week of trial 13 ended .

But I do hope, girls , that I shall be as resolute

jitter it is ~ over,as I am now. If I amnot

,my ,

mother will be very unhappy . oh, i f I had ther ing

,in the fairy story that I read the other day,

I wouldWish to be good and wise . Here she

parted with her friends , and was soon seated by'

the s ide of her mother Do you kriow,

mamma,

”lshe began,do you k now that this

,

142 THE WEEK’S PROBATION.

Yes—mamma but— I can’t help,mother

,

thinking of something elser”

The great party,I presume

,my dear ? As I

have denied you a Share in this exciting amuse

ment,I suppose I must exert myself . to prove the

truth ofmy remark , that there are other pleasures

better su ited to your period of l ife . I have no

doubt that , seated together‘

in the parlor,I could

make the remainder Of the day pass delightfully

to us both,without any other resources than

books,needle-work

,and chat with the addition

of a game of roinps with Lou isa, and a sober

game of draughts with George . But the oldest ,

andwisest of us love varIety ; and so does my,

li ttl e

daughter:therefore,

,

I am . happy to,say that I

can vary the s cene for her essentially th is after

noon. You probably remember my intention of

hiring a room in Roxbury for the Ir ishQWOman

Oh,yes Catharine andGeorge excl aimed

,

in one br eath and do you know,mother

,that

she 13 to have our allowance to help p ay for it‘

2”

I' remember

,this

,certainly , she repl ied

,

and I am”

delighted that you do . A friend of

mine,llVlng In Roxbury

,sent me a note this

morning; say ing he believed he had found a roomthat would answer my purpose . I have ordered


a carriage to be at the door at three ; and, Catha

rine,what say you ,

will you be my comp anlon .7 ”

Joy danced In Cathar ine’s eyes,as she gave a

ready assent ; and Mrs Bennet , then turning toGeorge

,said

,As you have met with the same

disappointment as your sister, you have my free

consent to accompany us,i f you will . I should

not be will ing to have you lose an afternoon at

school often but on this occasion,

"I shall be

happy to have you join

Thank you ,mamma

,but I would rather not

g ive up the afternoon,” was his reply .

Why , George ! you don’t mean that you

wo‘

nt go with us !” said Catharine . You took

yesterday afternoon to go with us to see the ana

No,I did not

,replied he ; there was lno

school yesterday afternoon. I would not,on any

account,have gone if there had been. Remem

ber,if you have but two d ays longer to try for

your promised visit , I have but one week more

to try for my medal .Oh

,I forgot

,George ! you are right, quite

right,” said Catharine

,with a very wise and ap

proving air . I am sorry you can’t go with us ;

but—

I would rather give up my own v isit,than


have you lose the medal .‘ I don’t mean that I

would be passionate rather than have you forfeitIt ; but Iwou ld in a minute give up my v isit, after

I had won it,for the sake of

'

seeing you with thatit gold medal . But

,mother

,

” she continued,

“shall

you and I ride out all alone

I thought of that,my dear , and have -Inv 1ted

Emma and Lou isa to go with us.

’

Is it possible ! How del ightful ! ” cried Cath

a'

rine and how everybody tr ies to make me ’

happy I am sure I ought tdgrowgood .

”She

looked at thet ime-piece,

i

saw that it wanted buta quarter of three

,flewto ~ the window

,looked up

and down the street,and then gave utterance

to a fear that had suddenly checked~the flow

of her grateful emotions . f‘I don’t bel ieve the '

hackman wi ll be punctual I don’t see him

and,mother

,I am afraid that Louisa and Emma

will both prefer to go to Sophia’s,

, or. they would

have been here before now.

”

I do not expect the carriage till three,and

their parents both accepted my 1nv1tatlon In the

names of the l ittle g irls ; so donot be alarmed

be patientl’

‘If you must have employment

,go

c hange y our'dress

,andprepare for the ride .

”

Precisely at three,the carriage drove to the


stopped before a small house who would have

thought we had had time to get here ! I am

sure it is not a minute since we left home .

Is this the house,mother

,that Mrs Lawson

is to l ive in asked Catharine .

If I think the room su ited to her purpose,it

i s,my dear and alightmg from the carriage

,

Mrs Bennett was shown by the woman who

resided in the house into a small room,contain

ing but one window,and entirely destitute of

furniture . The walls were of commonplaister,

neither sta ined nor papered ; and the children

were disagreeably struck ..by its naked

,forlorn

appearance .

Oh,mother

,she can’t l ive here

,certainly

,

c ried Catharine ; how cold and comfortless It

looks .

You allow your feel ings to run away with

your reason,Catharine . I was saying to myself

as you spoke, how comfortable "Mrs Lawsoncan be made here .

’ I grant that the room is

now cold ; for how can it be otherwise,since

there is no fire in the stove ; and cheerless i s a

word that will apply to any unfurnished room.

Place a bed in that corner,a table near the fife

,

with chairs,& c .

,and fill the cracks in that win


dow frame with l ist,and I doubt not that the

poor Irish woman will have more comfort here ,than she has known for months . I must give

directions to have the necessary articles brought

out

How different from our house,though

,

replied Catharine .

D ifferent,indeed

,my child ; and I trust you

do not forgetwho i t is that has made your lot in

l ife to differ so much from that of Mrs Lawson,

and that you will show your gratitude by'

contri‘buting all in your power to the comfort of thoseless favored . But do you suppose happiness

confined to large room-s richly furnlshed

’

! I

remember that I made a short visit,the year

before I was married,in the family of a gentle

man of immense wealth,resid ing in one of our

southern cities . Every luxury that cou ld be

p ur chased, was theirs . Taste andmagnificence

presided over the furniture,the equipages

,and

the dress of the family . My eye was caught,as

yours would be,by the view of all this splendor.

My host and hostess were in the prime of l ife,

and their ch ildren were healthy and beautiful .

Here,

’ thought I,

‘must be happiness but afew days served to show how l amentably I had

148 THE WEEK ’

S PROBAT ION.

dece i ved myself. My fr iends cared more for the

pleasures of th is world than the prospect of

another . They made no preparation for eter

mity,and never thought Of regulating their c on

duct With a reference to it. Though attached

to each other,they would often d iffer in opinion

and'

as they were both qu ick-tempered,and des

titute of rel igious princ iple,the ir d isputes were

carr ied on in a‘

manner which shocked me

extremely . The ch ildren were fondled and

indulged,when the care of them did not inter

fere with any scheme for amusement,and at

other times turned over to the nursery,or left to

their“

own gu idance . A more wild,headstrong

set,I never saw. At the end of three weeks

,

I returned home,convinced that Wealth alone

cannot produce happ iness . The day after myreturn

,I walked with my brother to the house of

a poor woman,whose youngest child was

'

ill

when I left home . I found her employed at the

ironing table ; for she earned her subsistence

by taking in washing . The youngest girl,the

only one at. home , was mending an old frock ;and a l ittle boy of five years of age, was wind ing

a skem of yarn for his mother . The room was

scarcely as comfortable as this will be when


ances. I involuntarily echoed. king; Solomon’s

excl amation,Howmuch better it is to get wis

dom than to get gold A'

s imil ar scene of

c ontentment I hope thi s roomwill present,WhenMrs Lawson and her children are established ,

In 1t.

Having made the necessary arrangements forMrs Lawson to take pos session of the room on

the ensulng Monday , Mrs Bennet and the young

friends returned . to the c ity. Their ride home

was as merry , as the ride out,and Catharine

heaved a sigh , as they drew near Mr Brayton’sresidence.

“ Don’t look so grave,my dear , said her

mother, your young friends are to take'

tea

with us,if they feel d i sposed .

'

This intelligence gave'

as much pleasure to

Emma and L‘

ouis a as to Catharine ; and in fine

spirits they entered the house ,‘Where they found

George awaItIng their return. They all ac com

panied Mrs Bennet to the nursery , to seeMrsLawson and her c hild, and observe how she

woul d appear~

'

when informed that a room had

been hired for her,and a s ufficient number of

l adies been found tog

g i ve her constant employ

ment inwashing,if she proved worthy . A burst

THE‘WEEK’S PROBATION.

of Iears was her first answer , but soon, with the

natural volub il ity of her country,she pou red

forth her gratitude in the strongest and most

enthusiastic terms ; and such is the power of

genuine feel ing,that tears of sympathy

‘stood In

the eyes of her young hearers,and Emma whispered to Lou isa

,

“ Oh ! how happy. Mrs Bennet

must ‘be,

'

when she has done somuch good to this

poorwoman.

”

The remaining hour before tea was spent in

conversation,and a frol ic with Catharine’s l ittle

sister,who was permitted to make her appear

ance in the parlor,in honor of the v isiters

, e—a

favor rarely granted to the little l ady at thathour. After tea

,Mrs '

Bennet told". Catharine

that she was obligedto write"ail'etter on busmessthat even1ng ,

i

andmust'

therefore leave her young

company to her sole care and she ~ ch’

arged her

in awhi sp er not top ermit h erself to become too'

much interested In m y play ._She

'

k indly left a ,

volumeof beautiful prints for them to examine ,in addition to all the playthingswhich George and

Kate possessed . Thus suppl ied with sources ofamusement

,and in h igh good humor she did

not doubt that the evening would pass without

a word being spoken by either of the l ittle,

THE WEEK’S PROBATION

merry ‘

group , of the ball at Mrs Lee’s . Norwas she wrong ; when . her Jetter was

“

finished,

she returned , to the parlor; where she found the

youthful party -laughing‘

over a c onfi ndrumWhichGeorge had just made Now

,mother

,

” said

George,

as they laugh at me,i nstead of my

jokes,

’ can’t you think of someth ing for us to do

the rest of the evening ?”

I will certainly exertmyself to the utmost to

save you fromthe sad"fate of-being a mark for

their ridicule,and will therefore prepose a dance

,

though I did objec t'

to"a ball .”

Ball !” cr ied Catharine,I

'

had forgotten i t

entirely .

”

So had I,

” was the general exclamation.

Now that I haVe reminded you of it,” said

Mrs Bennet I hope y ou do not th ink of i t

with’

regret.

No,indeed

,said

‘

Kate “I for one do not ;we havehad so pleasant an evening ,

‘that I d id

not believe you could have had‘time to write

never so short‘a letter since tea.

” Her mother

smiled,and opening the piano

, began Catha?

rine’s favorite tune .

Thou h there arebut four, you can manage

very well ,” said she; there are many changes

Q


store for you on that eventful occasion thelastday . Your father returns tomorrow. I have

just had a letter from him,in which he says,

Tell my dear l ittle Catharine , that I antic ipate

my meeting with her with some anxiety . I hop e

that this pl an to show her howmuch happiness

she loses by not governing her temper,will not

fail ; but I fear her want of resolution. How

happy I shall feel,if she bounds forward to meet

me with an open brow and a sweet smile,to tell

me that she has won the promised visi t .’

A tear dimmed Catharine’s eye as she l istened .

She made no remark when her mother ceased ,

reading ; but before she went to sleep , she'

p rayed

that she might make her dear'

father andmother

always happy by her good conduct . I,

need not

add that her slumbers were sweet that night .

THE YOUNG SCIOTE’

S FAREWELL TO

HOME.

AWAY,away , ere the bright stars fade,

Farewellto my homewith its myrtle shade,

Where the oc ean breez es andwildwaves play,I linger no longer away

,away

The lonely sea and a restless boatAlone remain for the y oung Sc iote

The sweet birds sang by my blessed home,The white gaz elles to the fount‘would coine ;The laugh of my brothers was on the air ;My little sisterswere sporting thereOur parentswould list to each bursting note

,

But they might not stay for the y oung Sc iote

My gladsome'

brothers'

are wanderers now,

The y oung flowers wave o’ermy sister’s browMy mother is gone, with her gentle smileMy father died for his own fair isle.

Fate in the v olume of destiny wrote,

Not one shalllive for the young Sc iote

Sc io, sweet Sc io once happy,once free

,

With'

many sad tears willIweep for theeThy roses andmy rtles may ever bloom on

,

While they that so loved them are faded and gone.

Away,my boat, d er thewildwavefloat,Farewellto the isle of the young Sc iote

S . U. E.

158 GIANT FLOWER .

truth that has been revealed to us in his Holy

Word,we should be careful ‘

not to indulge a

contempt for those who humbly and c onsc ien

ti ously follow the gl immerings Of l ight which

they are capable of perceiving . The ignorman

,who does as well as he knows how

,is

superior to the learned man,who knows his duty

and is unwIIling to perform it.

GIANT FLOWER.

IN 1818,Dr Arnold d iscov ered , In the Island

of Sumatra,a flower

,the c ircumference ofWh ich ,

when fully expanded,was nine feet ; its nec tar

r ium'

was calcul ated to hold nine p ints ; the

pistil s were as l arge as cows’ horns ; and the

we ight of the blossomwas supposed to befifteen

p ounds .

ANNWHITE.

[A long time ago there was a story in theMiscellany about AnnWhite, and her fr iendship for a poor little Orphan namedMaryMay ,who hvedwi th an aged grandmother , andwas one Of the best gi rls inthe world. I willnow tell y ou somemore about these children andtherr neighbors ]

THERE was to bean examination at school ;and although AnnWh ite. and Mary May arrived

at an early hour,they found a great many girls

assembled under the Button-ball trees,which

shaded the from of the school-house .

“ Oh,here comes Ann White

,and Little

Checked Apron along with her !” exclaimed

Jane Cross,a pert look ing girl

,abou t eleven

years Old,dressed in a fashionable frock

,loaded

wi th tr immmgs I think it is a shame for such

a shabby creature to come to our school ; and

there is Ann Wh ite— she don’t look much

better .

”

As the proud girl'

said this,she eyed Ann’s

neat gi ngham dress with great contempt,and

then glanced at her Own finery with evident

satisfaction,as she paraded backward and for

ward before the scholars , who were seated on abench under the trees .

Ann and Mary passed qu ietly by,and hung

their bonnets on the nails where they belOnged.

160 ANN WH ITE .

I wonder who will have the prize for unex

c eptionable one little girl .

You need not wonder much about it ; repl iedanother ; for I am sure Mary May will get it ;and I shall be glad i f she . does . Now should

you l ike to have it, Jane Cross continued

same l ittle girl , in rather a provok ing tone ,f“ such a beautiful curled-maple work-box . It

looks just fit,for a lady to use . If you did not

want It for a work-box, it would do grandly for

your j ewels and beads .

”

I would n’t-

give one cent to have the box,

repl ied Jane ; I have enough such things at

home . But I think Mr GreenWill bevery foolishto give it to Mary May . What c an she do withi t ? She has nothing but brown '

thread and a

b rass thimble to put in it .”

Ann and Mary had just taken the i r seats by

the side of their comp anions, and they heard the

latter part Of this rude speech . Mary blushed,

but said nothing .

Jane Cross felt particul arly il l ~ natured , because

she thought the schol ars did not sufficiently ad

mire her new dress . Turning to Ann she said,

v ery abruptly,AnnWhite

,why don t you buy

a pai r of blue mits ? They are all the fashion.

”

162 ANN WHITE.

spoiled in making . Besides,MrsWhite isstingy

about other th ings,continued Jane

,after paus

ing to take breath ; what an Old dowdy bonnet

she wears and she i s always saying she cannot

afford this , and she cannot afford that . It 1s all

downright meanness ; for I have Often heard mymother say she had money enough .

”

“Oh,Jane interrupted Mary May

,have

you forgotten the text you heard last Sunday ?Be not rash with thy mouth .

’

I declare you are just l ike Deacon Will iams

,repl ied Jane Cross . When you open

your mouth,the texts coine

fi

out,pop— pop

pop— l ik ’

e corn when it is parching .

”

She l anghed’ loud at this foolish and. irreverent

speech ; but, to the credit of thewhole school ,no one jomed in her laugh. Irr i tated at this

,

she began again. I don’t‘

see‘

what right y ou

have to meddle with what‘ don’t/c oncern youMary 'May .

”

Theorphanmeekly repl ied , I know it is not

right to meddle wi th strife but I could not help

speaking ; for I thought if you only knew how

kind Mrs White has’

been to my poor grand

mother , \ and to me— she pays for my School

ing

ANN WHITE . 163

The tears came fast into the little x

g irl’s eyes

,

and she , could not say a word more . Turning

towards Ann, she whispered ,“ Let us go and

walk by the pond .

”

The first words Annuttered were , “ Did youever see such a Spiteful c reature ? How I do

hate the sight of her .

”

But you have forgotten that beautiful little

story we read the other evening Forget and

Forgive,

” repl ied Mary : “ it will do us nogood to read such stories

,unless we remember

to make use of them.

”

I remember . the story very well , said Ann

but I don’t bel ieve Maurice wou ld have said ,‘forget and forgive

,

’ so,easily

,to anybody who

ruade fun of.his mother .

“ I Was once very angry W1th Jane Cross

myself,

” answered Mary ;“for she

i

struck me .

without provocation and for a l ittle while I‘i

thought I could never, forgive her but I knew

all the time that itWas very wicked to indulgesuch feelings . When I

_

went home from school ,I did not l ike to tell grandmother for I thought

it would only make her unhappy . I went aboutmy work very sorrowfully and when it was

done,I thought I would read a chapter in the

164 ANN WH ITE .

Bible . I opened the book,and the very fi rst:

words I sawwere,Fret not thyself because of

evil doers .

’ You cannot th ink what strengththose words gave me ! When}went to bed , Iprayed for God’s ass istance ; and before . I fell

asleep,my heart was peaceful—I am sure I

would have’

done a kindness to Jane Cross as

readi ly as I would to anybody in theworld .

”

This conversation softened Ann’s resentment

and the l ittle girls, returned tothe school-house

in"a very happy humor .After the examination was over Mr Green

placed the prizes on hiS‘

desk . Alle yes were

fixed upon them,and many al ittle heart went

p it-a-pat . There was profound s i

/

lence,untilthe !

teacher said,Mary May

,please to come for

ward .

”

The bashful child‘moved

,toward the desk

,

and as she stood before her Ins tructor,in the

presence of somany people,her face

,neck

,and.

arms,were crimsonwith blushes . She trembled

“

from head to foot, as Mr Green addressed her .

Mary,your conduc t . has been unexc ep tion

able in‘thiS

‘

SChOOl,sq far as my knowledge

extends . If any of your young companions!

know any reason why you shou ld not receive”‘

the prize,I wish them to hold up their hands .

”

ANN WHITE .

But i t is very provok ing,repl ied Ann

, to)

have such l ies told about y ou— to have it said‘

that you would not give a poor ch i ld a piece of"

bread .

”

You must not be shocked,

” saidMrs White,

if I tell you that this charge is p erfectly true .

Instead‘of teaching her chi ldren to be indus~

trions,Mrs Chase encourages them to run wild

abou t the country, forming all ‘manner of evil

habits . Last spr ing her eldest girl,Peggy ,

’

c ame

here with a l amentable story that her mother was

il l,and the chi ldren suffer ing for food.:I gave

her a loaf of bread and a jug of milk ; and I

thought as I put them in her hands, that she

looked disappointed at such plain fare . ’ The

next morning,when‘John was “hunting for hens’

eggs,he

'

i

fbund the bread in a blackberry bush .

The jug I never saw again, until a week or twosince

,when Peggy presented herself with the )

jug in one hand,and a basket in

‘

the other,and

'

begged for prov isions . I decl ined giv ing her

anything,and earnestly advised her ' to try to ;

earn an honest l iv ing . If others would do the

same,this miserablefami ly would soon be c om

pelled to exert themselves , and the chi ldren

might possibly become useful member s of

ANN WHITE .

ety . Inmy Opinion it is very wrong to give to

s uch people,merely from the fear ofbeing called

stingy,or because we are tOO ' indolent to inqui re

“

into the causes of the ir d istress . With themeans given us by D ivineProvidence we are

bound to do the greatest amount of good to

others that we possibly c an. And now,my

dear,are you satisfied that we do our neighbor a

real injury , When we thoughtlessly support himi n idleness and vice 7”

“Yes,mother

,I see that this is not right

,

repl ied Ann, in an absent tone . Then bright

e h ing up , after a moment’s silence

,she added

,

But there is one thing I do want you to do

I Wish you would buy a new bonnet .

A new bonnet ! Why , I never before heardyou find any fault with my bonnet . YOu knowy our father l ikes it, because 1t ls perfectly neat

,

“

and not so unfashionable as to attract attention.

i

When you heard himmake this Observation, yourdid not find any fault with my bonnet .

”

NO,mamma

,I did not think or care any

t hing about i t then.

I think I c an conj ecture the difficulty ,r eplied Mrs White‘; I apprehend my dress

does not suit the fancy of Miss Jane Cross.

”

168'

ANN WH ITE .

Arm l aughed , and'

said she did not mean to

be qu ite so s illy as that ; but she did herselfreally beg in to think her mother

’s bonnet looked

rather dowdy z’

éh.

Well,

” said MrsWhite,suppose I. shou ld

buy one fashionable enough to su it you and

Jane,what do you think Old M iss Turner

,who

si ts in the pew next to Ours,would say ? She

would no doubt think‘

it formed a very r id iculouscontrast to .

the usual p l ainness of,

my dress .

Such observations would not please you any

better than Jane’s"did this morning . Ah

,my

daughter,there is no slavery so irksome , as that

which people br ing upon themselves, when they

have no other cr i ter i on”

for right and wrong thanthe opinion of Others . We must trust to our

own fixed principles toi

guid_

e us,

’

even in the

most trifling things we must not forget that

the power of seeing .

~

what is r ight ; and of being

guided by it, is the perpetual g ift Off. God,

i

' In

this instance , i t would be wrong for me to comply wi th your wish

,even if I were d isposed . to

‘

do so , I cannot afford i t .”

“ I am sure I saw a great deal Of money 111

your l ittle trunk , the other day ,” rejoined Ann.

“ It i s very true that you saw ten silver doll ars

170 ANN WHITE .

to do some spinning for her . The little girl was

always gl ad to walk with her mother ; and she

ran sk ipping and jumping up stairs to get her

bonnet and shawl .

I am a better girl than I used to be am I

not,mother said she ;

“now thank fortune

,

I knowwhere all my things are.

You had better thank the fairy,Order

,

replied her mother,smil ing .

They were soon equipped,and on their way

ArmWith a basket on her arm,in which to put

all the wild flowers she_

might gather . They

first ascended a' woody hill ,-

"that sheltered the

house from the cold north wind”

and then pur

sued their way down a narrow path on the

other side . Ann discovered some flowers in the

distance,and begged her mother to walk slowly

,

wh ile she ran to gather them. She was soon at

her side again,loaded with branches of wild

honeysuckle .

f‘Why , my deai“, you look l ike a lady in herbower !” excl aimed Mrs White ; “ what made

you get such a load

They looked so very beautiful,

” replied Ann,

that I could not bear to have them wasted in

that spot,where ten chances to one nobody

would see them.

”

ANN WHITE .

To be seen and admired is not what th ings

,are made for

,my l ittle daughter ,

” said Mrs

White ; “ do you .

really th ink they would have

been wasted,i f you had suffered them to re

maini

“What good could they have done inqu i red

arm.

You forget that our honey is made from

flowers,”repl ied her mother .f

,

‘Yes, yes, I did forget ‘ that, rejomed / the

l ittle girl;i

“ but,when the honey is all taken

Tout,what are ‘

they good for then 7”

They may' then feed innumerable insects

,

which all ..have ! a use in creation,whether we

understand it or not,

” repl ied her mother ; I

recollect once reading of“

a gentleman,who as

he sat at his window in summer , observed some .

beautiful insects al ight upon a strawberry plant .

They were so very splendid,that he thought he

would descr ibe them in a book . The next day,

a different kind appeared,and he described

them too . In the course of three weeks,he

counted more than thirty different sorts of

winged ins'

ects,on his strawberry plant. At

last,they came in such numbers that he gave up

writing descriptions of them. He said some

172 ANN WHITE .

appeared to come‘

for food ; some to deposit their

eggs some to shelter themselves from the sun ;and some with their gay dresses

,spotted

,striped

,

and shaded like the rainbow, might be imagined

to come on part i es of pleasure ; Some looked as

if they wore turbans ; and others Wore head-gear

resembling a sugar-loaf.”

Who knows but these honeysuckle brancheshad as many happy

"visiters said Ann; thought

5

ful ly but mamma,are they of any use after

the blossoms are gone , and the leaves witheredThe flowers

,my dear , are

' changed into

seeds,wh ich scattered over the ground will in

time produce fresh plants .

”

The dried leaves,

stems,and branches serve to enrich the soil .

Nothing made by God is wasted f—not even a

grain of sand,or a drop of Water .

Not even a drop of water !” exclalmed the

child ; how c an that be,when so much dirty

water is thrown away at our house every day“ But the water is not lost

,my

'

dear Ann,

said Mrs White In the -fi rstplace it has pera

formed a use in cleansing that to which It 1s~

appl ied . When thrown away,it rri oistens the

earth,from which it r ises inpure vapor , on a ,

warm sunny day . Vapor forms clouds,and

P74 ANN WH ITE.

yo?i

wil l soon be able to study Natural Bhilosophy

,fromwhich you will learn a great deal about

the wonders of nature .~—You had better break

off some of these great branches ; it is rather

inconvenient to be In company with such a walk

ing flower-garden.

”

Ann readi ly stopped and after putting some

of the freshest flowers into her basket,she left

the others,say ing ,

“Now the beautiful insects

may comeand keep dancing-school among them,

i f they will .” 4‘

Having passed a pretty l ittle brook , by means

of stepping-stones,they

/

pursued their Way through

a shady l ane,that brought them into a smal l

pine Wood ; They soon heard the voices of

children in high'

dispute,excl aiming

,You

~

sha’n’t have the whole !” “ I say I will have

some And then a voice louder than the rest

said,Mammy told me I might have it and if

you don’t get down I’ll box year ears .

”

At this moment Mrs White and her daughter ,by a sudden turn in the path came within sight

of the group . Peggy Chase was standing tiptoe

on a fence,With one hand lifted above her head ,

grasping a large piece of custard pie . S he was .

dressed in the identical green batistefrock , given

ANN WH ITE .

her by Jane Cross . But,alas ! except where the

grease spots shone in shameful lustre,it now

very much resembled a faded autumn leaf and

the ample folds were hanging in tattered festoons

and streamers . The squabble was so earnest

that the ch ildren did not seeMrs White and

Ann. Peggy was holding tli e pie in one hand,

and with the other furili irsfy’ beating off her

younger brother and sister , Who were tugging atfrock and sc reaming in the most violent

er . One l ittle fellow,about four ye’ 1d

,

a few steps from them; the very of

He had a stone In his hand,which he

just about throwing at Peggy . MrsWhitehold of his arm

,saying

,Perhaps you

would have k illed your own sister,if I had al

lowed you to throw this stone .

” They were all

now as still. as mice and Peggy Iooked very

much ashamed . Is it possible ,” said Mrs

White,

“ that such a great“

girl as you are,c an

quarrel with your l ittle brothers and sisters about

a piece Of p ie

Mammy gave it to me, muttered Peggy .

But your -share will taste a”

g reat deal bet

ter,if you d ivide the pie Mrs

White : Surely there is no comfort in devOur-a

176 ANN WHITE .

ing things in such a selfish way . Take myadvice

,Peggy ; send your brother for. a knife

,

sit down under this beautiful tree,and give them

all a share .

” All this time the idle l ittl e vaga

bond had been pouting and swell ing,partly witht

shame and partly with anger She now threw

thepie down upon the ground With such force

that it broke into a hundred pieces—saymg ,in a sulky tone

,

“ There,take it

, y ou greedy

things .

”

Mrs White left the poor children to scramblefor the fragments ; and disgusted with the pain

ful scene,she and her l ittle daughter ” silently

went the i r way:An opening among the treessoon brought them in ful l v iew of -Mrs Chase’s

house . The first object they sawwas an infani

crawl ing away under the bushes -f its face the

very image of terror . Ann instantly d iscovered

why the l ittle thing was'

so much frightened . A

l arge hog,that had strayed from one of the

ne ighboring farms,was busily engaged in rooting

among a basket of provisions .

MrsWhi te took the forsaken l ittle child in herarms

,saying

,Poor babe It is well that your

Heavenly Father watches over you better thanyour earthly parent .” It was necessary to guard

178 ANN WH ITE .

see the miserable effects of idleness and v i ce .

When Mrs Chase was a young girl , I rememberthat she cared more abo

‘ut having a gay r ibbon

,

than tidy shoes and stock ings /“and she was

muchmore fond of vi siting in the , vill age,

"thanof attending to her duti es at home . Shemarried

an honest,I‘

Ii dilstr ious y oung man, who_

was

fool ish‘

enough to . think i dle,flaunting

girlWould becomesteady,When married to aman

she professed to love very much .

‘

f

But such self

ish characters are never"capable of deep affec

tion. As the g Irlhad been,so was the wife and

under Such management everything , of course,

went wrong . Thomas Chase,was at last com

pletely discouraged . He w as heard to say , My

hard,earned wages

'

are‘

of no use

]

; for my wife

throws Out of the window faster than I c an bring

in at the door .

’ He no longer went to his work

at early sunrise , nor retu rned at night with a

basket of provisions for his family . He now

loitered about taverns ; and I sgmetimes met

himWith tattered elbows,a ragged hat

,and a loaf

of bread,with a few dried herrings under his

arm. He died of grief,and shame ; and his

poor children are l ikely to become worthless vag

abondef’

ANN WH ITE . 179

They were here interrupted by ‘. the entrance

Of Peggy , who came k ick ing an emp ty ba‘sket '

before her . Hav ing chargedher to take care of

l ittle one,Mrs White and ‘

Annvwere glad to

hange the impure ai r of the room for'

the

althy fragr ance of the p ine woods .

When they had ascended and descendedh ill

,they came to the house of Rachel

st. . She was a Widow,wi th four ch ildren

she tooWas‘

poor . 3 But . Ra'

chel~wasneat,

le,and i ndustrious ; and to such people

verty is no evil .

When MrsWhite entered , Rachel was busyat her sp inni ng -wheel ; Hannah was Ironing atthe table Mary was putting on the tea-kettle ;and l ittle Debby, thei Iingest Of thegroup , was

sitting on a,bench , , kni tt ing very industriously .

Everything about~ the aroom '

~looked clean and

comfortable and the busy children had a most

chesrfuland contented look .

~

Rachel Frost Was a great talker and be ingan old fashioned person, without much educa

tion, she did not always Speak correctly but

those who kneW ‘her k ind and honest heart,

never thought of mind ing thi s pecul iarity .

WhenMrs White was seated, she‘

observed

180 ANN WHITE .

that l ittle Debby appeared to be‘

quitewel l againYes

,ma’am; she is picking up her

'

c

quite fast,

”replied Rachel; and I beli eve

may thank youfor it . If it had not been for th

nice jell ies you sent us, I bel ieve she would hav

died ; for she has always been a dreadful ba

child about taking ’pothecaries’stuff ; but I cOulalways coax her Wi th the

,jelly . Debby

,Wh

dOn’t you get up and thankl

the lady 7” The

tle g i rl dropped her knitting, jumped up , an

made a courtesy,without daring to look up .

DO you go to school now,Debby ”

l” said Mr

White .

Rachel,whoalways speke for her whole famil

answered, NO,

‘

nia’am; she has not been y

Last Sunday , she begged so hard , that I let

go to Sunday school .‘ ’

Mary May is her teacher,

you know,ma’am. I bel i eve our Debby would

go through fire andwater to see MaryMay ”

;“ Mary has an excellent faculty for teaching

young children,” repl iedMrsWhite I am glad

Debby i s so fond of her,

‘

for she 15 an excellent

l ittle girl .”

That ’s What she is , rejoined jthe talkative

Rachel g ,

“ I told Miss Russell that therewas n’t

a g alanywherefthat had prett i er ways with her.

182 ANN WHITE .

ma’am,I was over the wall in less than no time ;

and I guess I gwe Miss Jane as sound a talk ing

as she ever had in her l ife . In the midst of it,

Who should drive among us but the General on

horseback,andMi ss Russell and her dar ter in

the shay . What is the matter,Rachel said

she . I am teaching this g almanners,’ said I

andI’mtell ing her that she ’

s not to abuse scho

lars because they wear checked aprons and cape

bunnets. MaryMay’s little finger is worth more

than her 'whole body .

’

MrsWhite Was here obl iged to remind Rachelthat she had busmess to transact Wi th her

,and

that it was already time for her to be on her wayhome .

This was soon‘

settled and after exchanging

kind farewells with theworthy family , Mrs Whiteand Ann walked on at a brisk pace, until they

arrived near old Mrs May’s dwell ing.

THE HARV ESTMO U SE .

THE golden sun shineswideand fair,

Upon the wav ing grain,

That sprang up , nurtured by the dews,And by the early rain.

The harvester looks forth, withjoy ,Upon the promised bread3But not for him alone,we see

The y early banquet spread.

There hides, amid the bearded spires,A shy and timorous guest,Which hangs, among the standingHer artless straw-built nest.

And on the ripening husky grainsThe

’

little field-mouse lives 3Callitnot theft the share she takes“‘TheLord of

'

.Harvest gives.

The g rain' is reap

’d—the sickle’s edgeHas miss’d the flying mouse

,

That now,beneath the kindly earth,

Burrows its wee bit house.

”

With grass andleaves the floor is spread,And stored the y ellowmai z e ;

Scant gleanings from the fullset ear,

Garner’d for Wintry days.

Andwhen the thick andheavy dewsShine o’er the stubble field,

184 THE HARVEST MOUSE.

And daily hard and binding frostThe naked groundhas sealed,

Contentment fills, in this dark cell,The little miner’s breast,

Aswhen the western breez es rock’dHer little hammock nest.

AndHe, who teaches her to buildSummer andwinter home,

Can guard her through the c ircling year“‘Vhatever perils come.

Bosr on.

CONUND RUMS .

1 . What part of a temple would Jack Frest do in thebest manner ?

2. What letter of the English alphabet is more than

a y ardlong3. What three English letters express the French

name for a very intoxicating liquor ?

4. Wi th What instrument did the Russians defeatNapoleon’

s army

186 THE DOVE .

are as white as the drifted snow. Just observe

his delicate red feet ! He looks up in my facewith his mi ld

,innocent eyes , as if he implored

me to protect him. He c ame here for safety ;and it would be very ungenerous to

,

hurt him.“

Do,dear mother

, say that I'

may keep this l ittl e

dove,and feed him with my own hands every

day !

Lady F. You may make the bird as happyas you c an

,my ch ild . I would not harm the

l ittle trembler on any account . I spoke of roast

ing him,merely to see how it would affect your

young heart . I could not love you as I do,Agnes , i f you did not always p i ty everything that

i s m trouble .

Ag nes. And'

may I have a large green cage ,with -a l ittle c up for crumbs and se and

another to hold water ? And may I lag itin my own chamber “

? Ari d may I take care of

himmy own self

Lady F. You may , my dear ; but you mustremember not to neglect him?

Ag nes [caressing the bi rd] . There is no

danger of that,mother . He shall be

“

a happ ydove .

THE DOVE .

SCENE SECOND .

The inter ior of the castle ; Count Falconberg ,

his lady ,and Ag nes, seated at a table.

Lady F. And do you think , papa , that you

have driven all the robbers out of the country ?

Count F. I hope so,my chi ld . They have

occasioned a great deal of misery among mypeople . The merciless scoundrels would not

spare the widow’s last c ow,or

.

the .orphan’s only

lamb. I trust the country is well rid of them.

Ag nes. They are l ike the vulture that c hased

,

my poor dove . I wish you had been at home,

papa, whenLi ly -bird fell down in the arhoy . It

was almost three months ago . I declare I shou ld

not think it was so long. Papa,what makes y ou

Lady F.

:I think your papa smiles to hear

your tongue run. You are a perfect l ittle chatterb

'

ox,this? evening .

Ag nes. Well , mamma, I am so very glad to

have papa with us again,that I cannot keep

quiet.

Lady F. And I,for the same reason,

mydear

,cannot talk at all . When your father went

out at the head of his troop to hunt that.

des

188 THE nova.

perate band of robbers through the country,my

heart trembled like the dove’s,when the hawk

was in the air ; but I said nothing,because I

knew he was engaged in his duty .

[Count F. lay shis hand up on his wife’s arm

,

and looks in her face afectionately ; Ag nes,j ump ing up ,

hi ssesJi r st one p arent, then the

other ; and leans thoug htfully on her father’s

shoulder for a moment ]Ag nes. Poor Lily-bird How her l ittle heart

d id beat ! Papa, you would be kind to anything

3

that trusted to you‘

for protection—would n’t

you ?

Canut F. Certainly I would,my child , even

at the peril of my l ife .

[ The ser vant -op ens the door

,and conducts

into the r oom a tall lady ,and a

'

li ttle g i rl, .

dr essed in deep mourning ]Lady . God bless you ,

Count Falconberg ! I

am the widow of the brave Adalr ic,who died of

the wounds he r eceived in the great battle of

last year . You knew his bravery and'

his worth .

His dy ing words were a charge to seek your

protection,when any danger threatened me . He

left but a small fortune,for his heart was l iberal.

He knew that he had enemi es,who would de

THE DOVE .

SCENE THIRD .

The chamber of Ag nes. The dove in hi s cag e,

andAg nes and Emma looking at him.

Agnes. Did you ever see such beautiful snowwhite feathers ? That is the reason I call herLi ly-bird .

Emma. I never saw such a pretty creature

in my l ife . What mild,affectionate eyes

Ag nes. Oh,she i s affecti onate and she

knows a great deal too . I leave the cage Openhalf the time ; but she always comes back to

She feeds out of my hand , and perches onshoulder

,while I am walking in the garden.

Mother says that Li ly-bird has taught me a great

many useful lessons.

Emma. But what c an a little girl learn from

a bird ?

Ag nes . Why , I am very fond of sleeping late

ia the mornings; and my dove will not allow it.

As soon as it is l ight,she hops down upon my

p il low,andg ives me no

"

peace till I get up and

feed her . I told mother that I must fasten the

cage every night ; but mother said I should be

more healthy andmore good-natured,i f I rose as

early as the dove . One day,when I was sewing

THE DOVE . 191

by the open window,with Lily-bird picking

crumbs at my s ide , she flew away and l ightedon the top of one of the h ighest trees in the

park . I had never seen her go so far before ;I thought she would not come back

, and I burstinto tears . Mother advised me to put my hand

out Of the window and call her ; so I made the

cooing sound,that Lily-b ird knows So well

,and

the pretty creature came d irectly and l ighted on

my hand . Then mother told me to learn gentle

ness and obed ience from my dove . Another

time,when I was watering the flowers in my

garden,Lily-bird came to drink from the basin

Where the sp arkl ing fountain is cont inually pour

ing itself ; and it would have made you l augh to

see how carefully she stepped from one stone to

another,that she might not get any mud upon

her l ittle red feet . If mother sees me with a

frock that ' is not perfec tly clean,she often re

minds me of my neat little dove

Emma [smiling ] . You would almost makeone believe that Lily-bird knew as much as her

mistress .Ag nes . Sometimes I think she does— only

she cannot speak what she knows . I wish you'

could see her fly to meet me after I have been

gone a fewhours l She is so glad,that she does

192 THE DOVE .

everything but speak . Mother says these sweetlittle creatures are emblems of innocence

,s impl i

city and love and this is why the.B ible tells us

to be l ike doves . But there is my mother andyour mother walking in the garden ; l et us run

'

and"

join them.

Emma. Call Lily-bird,that she may come

and perch on your shoulder,wh ile we walk

under the trees .

[ The li ttle g irls g o out,and the dove follows

them ]SCENE FOURTH .

Lady Falconberg and her daug hter in the Cast

Ag nes. Oh,mother

,I was very gl ad

,and a

little bit sorry to see papa come back,and hear

him tell the l ady of Hohenburg’

that she might

now l ive on her estate in peace and safety . I

l ike that l ady , mamma ; and I l ike Emma very ,very

,very much . I wish she would l ive here

always . Did you ever see such ,

a good l ittle girl

Lady F. She does indeed seem to be a very

affectionate,well-managed child . I am glad

you have found such a l ittle friend . You mustnot be distressed because she leaves us tomor

row; for her mother has promised me that they

will soon come andmake us a long v isit .

194 THE DOVE .

LadyF The gold cross was your father’sbirth-day present ; and I think it would be dis

respectful to'

him,to give it away .

Ag nes . Are you will ing I should part with

my dove

Lady F. Yes ; if you are wi ll ing .

Ag nes . Do you think I had better do it ?Lady F. The more we value any th ing, the

more generous it is to bestow it on another.

Ag nes . Emma shall have the dove . I sup

pose I shall cry a l ittle whenLily-b ird goes ; but I

wil l try not to cry much,for that would spoi l all .

SCENE FIFTH .

Scene chang es to the Castle of Hohenburg .~The

widow/ andEmma in thefield the latter hold

ing Lily-bi rd by a long silken cord.

Emma. Mother,I could have sat up all last

night to l isten to thosep

old pi lgrims . What wonderfulstor ies

'

they told about the Holy Land

and how venerable they loc ked with their long

brown robes,their hats covered with shells

,and

l eaning on a long , stout staff. I am‘

glad they

have gone to Castle Falconberg ; for I am sure

Agnes will dearly love to hear their stories

When do you think Leonardo will come back ?Do you think he will see Agnes , her own self ?

THE DOVE . 195

I/Vidow. It is a long distance to Castle Falconberg ; and Leonardo will be so fatigued , that I

gave him leave to stay there through the night,i f

the hosp itable Count so ordered .

Emma. But,mamma

,there 1s somebody run

ning th is way, who looks very much l ike him.

See see it i s Leonardo Oh,what c an have

happened ?

[ They hasten to the castle g ate. Leonardo

enter s,out of br eath, and extr emely ter r ified ]

Leonardo. Help ! l ady— help !

Widow. For"what— for whom ? Speak

speak -l

Leonardo. The p ilgrims— the p ilgr ims !

Widow. Has anything happened to the holymen

Leonardo. They are not holy men they are

robbers ; and they have gone to murder Count

Falconberg .

Emma [sobbing ] . Oh, pOor l ittle Agnes

They will murder her too .

Wi dow. Say briefly , Leonardo, how do you

know thisLeonardo. Madam

, you sent me to gu ide

them over the mountains to Castle Falconberg .

They did not khow that I came from Italy , andstill remembered something ofmy native tongue.

196 THE DOVE .

As soon as we were in the thick forest,they

began to speak in Ital ian ; and I heard their

whole plan. They belonged to the band of rob

bers,which the good

‘

Count thought —he had

entirely destroyed . They seek revenge . At

midnight,six of their comrades wi ll be let into,

the castle by their means,and the ‘whole family

of Falc onberg murdered .

I/Vidow [turning uery zpale] ; Tonight ! and

the sun is now setting . Take the swi ftest horse,

and ride to the castle for l ife:Leonardo. The swi ftest horse could not go so

far before midnight . When the robbers sent meback , they were with in s ight of the castle ; and

it was then early in the morning .

Widow. Emma,call all the domestics ! qu ick

,

chi ld'

quick [Emma dar ts away like an ar

r ow,and i n a moment allthe family collect r ound

thei r mi str ess,and hear the tidings] Martin

,

you have been with your braVe master through

many scenes ofd anger . Tell me,Oh tell me

,

how c an Count Falc onberg ,be saved ?

Mar tin. God alone knows,madam. It will

'

be all over,before man and horse could reach

there .

Widow. Oh,my generous benefactor ! What

would I give for wings tonight !

198 THE DOVE .

neck— and here is a letter . See,papa

,What is

wr1tten on i t .

CountF. [takes'

thep ap er ] . It is wr1tten on theoutside

, Read this in haste . [H e op ens the let

ter,and the exp r ession of hi s countenance chang es ]Lady F.

~ My husband ! my dear hu sband

What c anhavehappened? [H eg i ves her theletter .]NOBLE COUNT

,— The pilgrims that arrived at

your castle are robbers in disgu ise . Three

l ighted candles at their window will be a signal

for s1x’

other robbers to enter by the l ittle garden

gate,at midnight

,to murder you and your fam

ily . God grant that the do‘

ve_

may arrive in sea

son to save you . Your gratefulROSALIND OF HOHENBURG .

Lady F . [weep ing ] . This is indeed a miraé

cle . The l ittle dove comes “ like a messenger

from heaven.

Count F. Keep yourself calm,my dear .

'

Ev

ery thin‘

g must be m'

anaged with caution. Youand Agnes had better retire to your room.

“

The

household shall be si lently armed , and troops in

ambu sh at the garden gate .

‘

1 wi ll see these pre

tended p ilgrims ; and the servants may listen‘

to

their stories . At a proper moment, I will give

the signal to seize them,and chain them in the

THE DOVE .

dungeons . Do not . be alarmed,my

‘ love . In

twenty minutes I c an br ing a hundred armed ,

men around me .

Lady F . Come , Agnes , let us go to our room

and pray .

SCENE SEVENTH .

The Count’s chamber . Armedmen at the door .

Lady F. and her daug hter'

kneeling . Thedov e

TheC ount enter s . M idnight ispast,andGod

has saved us from our per il . The e ight robbers

are fast chained in the dungeons , and no blood

has been shed . At the.

earl iest dawn a messen

ger must be '

sent to Hohenburg,to give notice of

our safety ; and we ourselves will follow,to thank

them for their timely warning . Blessings on the

gentle Li ly-b ird ! And blessed be the h our,my

daughter,when you saved the l ittle trembler fi om

the hawk .

Lady F. And blessed be the'

hour when she

gave up what she lov ed in order'

to‘gladden the

heart of her friend .

C ount F. Before we Sleep,let the whole

household meet in the chapel,and thank our

Father 1n .Heaven,fromwhom cometh every good

thought and feel ing .

202 THE TWINS.

new gowns and caps for their dolls, their kind

mother read aloud to them in Robinson Crusoe

How lonesome he must have been,

” said Mary

Jane I should not l ike to live all by myself,

without anybody to speak to .

” But he had his

cats,

” said Mary Ann; and it must have been

funny enough to. see them dance .

” Oh,let ’s

teach our cats to dance 1” saidMary 'Jane. Her

sister liked'

this very much and they went into

the garden,and called Tabby and Dinah . The

kittens came running along,pu rring and rubbing

the ir sides against the fence . But they didnot l ike

to dance and when the l ittle g 1rls tried to hold

them up , the k ittens spi t at them,and .tr 1ed hard

to pull away the ir paws . While the kittens weredoing this

,the two l ambs

,Snow-drop and Snow

ball walked along'

through the yard , nibbling. the

sweet clover . And, the l ittle g irls said,Oh

,

l ambs will dance better than the kittens .

let us teach the l ambs to dance .

” But the 1‘

would not dance? They just l ifted up . one

and stood stock still . Dinah,the puss

,curled

herself up , and lay ing her head on her

went to sleep . Then Frol ic and Frisk c am

running and bark ing with all their might an

Tabby was so fr ightened that she put up her

THE TWINS . 203

back,and spit at Frolic . Snow-drop went up to

Tabby,and stamped her little foot, and looked

as if shewanted to say,Naughty Tabby Shame

on you ,Tabby !” It

'

made the l ittle girls l aughvery -muclt to see a l amb stamp its foot . Mary

Jane said,The lambs

,and the k ittens and the

dogs allact so wild , that we shall never teach

them to dance.

” Then the girls went into their

own l ittle garden,tog ather some flowers ; and

they fastened them in the collars of Snow-ball

and Snow-drop and the l ittle lambs looked very

pretty indeed ,"with the"posies round the ir necks .

The dogs and the ki ttens had a great frol ic to

gether and then they‘

laid down in the sunshine

went to sleep .

206 ANECDOTES on BIRDS .

artifices vary accord ing to circumstances ; for

birds will construct their habitations very differ

ently from their u sual manner,when thev find

themselves in‘

a country Where snakes are verynumerou s .

When rooks are about to bu ild,they examine

all the ne ighboring trees very attentively,for

several days ; and when they have d iscovered a

forked branch, that appears sufficiently strong,they sit upon it day after day , to asc ertain

'

how it

will bear the rocking of the winds .

When far from the haunts of man,the ostrich

carelessly leaves her eggs - in a hollow place

l ightly scooped in the sand,and

'

seems to take

no thought for their safety but Where they are

annoyed,by hunters

,they take every possible

precaution to hide their nests and if they think

thearrangement of the eggs has been_d isturbed ,

or i f they perceive footsteps in the vicinity,they

break every one of the eggs,and s eek a new

place . The birds are careful not to be seen

near the nest at the same time,and they ney er

approach it in a direct l ine . The eggs of an

ostrich are about twentyfour times as lar ge as a

hen’s egg,andwhen the young are first hatched

they are as big aS'

pullets. Each female lays

f

ANECDOTES or BIRDS . 207

elve or s ixteen eggs,and as several of them

osit the ir eggs in the same place,

fifty or sixty

are somet imes found together . The eggs are

arranged in such a manner as ' to save space,and

to give each its due share of warmth . They

stand with the broad end upward,and the earth

that is scooped out is placed as a barrier to keepthem in their e rec t pos i t i on. T he nest is never

left by all the b irds , except in the middle of the

day, when the sun is warm enough to keep themat a proper temperature .

It is a smgular fact that the crow and the

black-b ird wi ll al ight on the backs of l arge

! strong cattle , but the moment they see a man,

they are afraid,because they know he sometimes

carr ies a gun. These cautious birds are l ikewise

much less afraid ofmanwhen he is on horseback ,or in a carr iage

,than when he is alone . This

must be the resu lt of experience and observation ;for the African birds around Lake .Tchad

,which

had seldom seen men,and never seen a gun,

stood and looked Major Denham i n the face

with eager curios ity .

Mr Nuttall,in his work on Ornithology

,says

‘he has, been both surprised and amused to see ~

the black-b irds following the furrows made by

208 AN‘EcnoTEs or BIRDS

the negro sl aves,and feeding on the insects they

disturbed inthe ir path,with as much satisfaction

and security,as a l ittle Bantam hen following the

qu iet old cowas she grazes about the -field but

when a white man appears,they take to flight

as if c onscious that he is in the habit of usingfire-arms

,while the negro i s allowed to carry no

weapon.

A book much larger than the M iscellany might

be filled with curious stor i es'

about birds ; but I

shall merely select a few of the most interesting.

Dr Le'

ttsom,an Engl ish gentleman, had two

male l innets yvhich“

conce ived a wonderful affec

tion for each other When4 one began to sing,the other always jowed and at night e ach ' slept

on that Si de of the cage nearest to his friend .

When one of the cages was cleaned,the oc c u

pant showed extreme del ight at the opportuni ty

of flying into the other cage,andmaking a c all

upon his companion. During these visits,they

fluttered toward each other,joined the ir bills

,

“

and t ouched tongues,in the most affectionate

manner . Sometimes one was allowed to fly in

the open arr,whi le the cage of the other was

hung outside of the window ; and whichever one

was allowed to ramble}he was always sure to

210 . ANECDOTES or B IRDS .

selves,he returned to the care of his l ady bene~

factress.

A peewit,

.which dur ing the summer had

become quite tame ini

the garden,took up lts

winter residence in the kitchen. He became so

famili ar with the dog and cat,that he was very

angry i f they interrupted him,while washing

himself in a basin of water kept for the dog to

drink .

‘

M iss Seward,of Li tchfield

,England

,- had a

cat that .was entirely cured of her natural pro

pensity to ki ll birds . She l ived on such excellent

terms with a dove,a l ark and a red-breast

,that

they would often perch on her back,and peck

the crumbs from her plate .

I have read of a tame quail that would run

about the house with a l arge dog , hop over his

back,and sleep on the hearth-rug beside him.

The dog was remarkable for destroying birds

in the fields,yet he alway s seemedwell pleased

with the freedoms of his l ittle companion.

Two chaffinches hav ing paired near the sea

coa'

st in Scotland,wished to bu ild a nest , but

could not find a tree,or sheltering bush

,along

the cold and rugged coast . An Engl ish vessel

happened to arrive,and the l ittle creatures built

ANECDOTES on map s. 21 1

their nest in a pulley,near the head of the

mast. The ship-tackle passed through the pul

ley,and it was occasionally lowered for the

inspection of curious vi siters ; but the honest ,c onfiding l ittle . b irds were not driven away .

The mother was brooding.over her eggs when

the vessel sai led away from the coast . Her matesaw her movmg from him

,and he eagerly fol

lowed . During the whole voyage,he was very

attentive to her,cheering her Wlth his tender

song , to the no small del ight of the sailors .

When Dr Clark travelled in Russia,he oh

served a Curious association between the cormo

rant and. the pel ican. The l at ter spreads his

wings,and troubles the water

,whi le the cor

morant dives to the bottom,and drives the fish

up to the surfaces The pel ican continues the

flapping of[

his wings,as he advances toward,

the shore,where the fish is taken among the

shallows . The cormorant,without further ceremony

,helps himself out of the p ehlic an

’s beak .

I

In 1803, an Engl ish lady was prevailed upon

by a l ittle boy to rear the .only survivor of a nestf of gray l innets . For some time she kept the ’

poor little thing in her neck , in order"to supply

the warmth of its mother shelter ing the nest.

ANECDOTES OF B IRDS .

She fed it frequently with very delicate and nu

tr itious food,and at night kept it near her , -on

the pillow. In a short time , .the bird was able to

sit on a perch,and feed' itself. Nothing could

exceed his attachment to h is kind nur se . He

wanted to be continually perched on her head,

or,

her shoulder,and he would n ot fly away

wthough

r

she walked in this manner with him in

the garden. When she returned,after a short

absence,he

‘

would fly round in a transport,sing

ing at the very top of his-voic e . If she were

gone for a- day or two,he

_

was dull and discon

tented ; but he knew her‘voice

,and even her

step in the d istance,and woul d fly to meet her

with the most eager del ight . Sometimes,after

giving these testimonials of joy,he would seem

to remember that she had left him ; and then he

wou ld chatter away in a scold ing]

tone,of si t

upon his perch in a sullen humoru But the

anger of the capr ic ious l ittle th ing never lasted

long ; hewould soon begm to flutter round his

friend , perch on her shoulder , or try to feed her

with some of the seeds he had shelled This

singular b ird was very apt to take a d isl ike to

strangers, espec ially i f they were not dressed to

please him'

. He always recognised these per

214‘ANECDOTES oF B IRDS

hatred . His language of fear and surprise couldnever be mi staken ; and an imitation‘

of his low

guttural tsher r,tsker r

,always answers as a Sig

nal to warn him when any danger approaches .

I raised and kept one of these birdsI

unc age‘

d for

some time . Besides a playful turn for mischiefand interrupti on, in which

'

he would sometimes

snatch off the paper on which I was wri ting,

he had a good degree of curiosity , .andwas much

surprised one day by a large springing beetle ,which I had p l aced under a tumbler . On all

such occasions his looks of—capricious surpr i se

were very amusmg . He cautiously approached

the glass, with fannmg and closing wings, and

in an under tone confessed his wonder at the

jumping motions of the huge insect . At length

he became bolder ; and perceiving i ts resem

blance to his ord inary prey of beetles,be

,with

some hesitation,ventured to snatch at the pri s

oner,between temerity and playfulness . But

when really alaimed,or offended

,he instantly

flew to his loftiest perch , forbade all friendly ap

p roaches, and for some time kept up

'

his low,

angry tsker r .

A'

brown thrush,kept by my Venerable

friend,Will iam Bartram

,was very fond of hard

ANECDOTES OF B IRDS .

bread crumbs ; but find ing that nthey grated his

throat,he softened them in his l ittle vessel of

water. He likewise learned by exper ience that

the painful pr ick of the wasps , on which be fed,might be remedied by extracting their stings .

”

Mr Nuttalll ikewise speaks of a very remarkable ash c olored parrot, that Colonel O

’Kelly bought

at Bristol,for ahundred gu ineas . Thi s bird

not only repeated sentenc es learned by heart,but

is said to have actually answered questions,in a

manner approach ing to r’

atlonality .

‘ She could

whistle a great var iety of tunes ; and while thus

engaged,she beat time

”

with all the appearanc e'

of sc ienc e . If by any chanc e‘

she m1stook a

note,

she would go‘back and . correct herself

,

still heating time with great regul arity . This

.parrot was so celebrated , that her death , in 1802,was noticed in the publ ic papers . Her owner ;

was frequently offered five hundred gu ineas a

year,by persons who wished to make an exhi

bi tion of her wonderfulp oWers ; but he was so

much attached to her,that he would n0 t trust

her in hands less Careful and indulgent than

h is own.

A citizen of Rome once ,

took great pa ins inteaching a parrot to say , Hail Cthsar

k

'” When

216 ANECDOTES or BIRDS .

the bird had gained the art thoroughly,he —car

ried him to the forum,and as the Emperor

passed , gave him a Slgnal to speak . The -

'

par

rot called out in a‘

clear tone, Hail,CaeSar

The emperor was so much amused that -he

gave the man a large price for the bird .

’

This

good luck ‘ induced the‘

c itizen to try another

parrot in the same way but this bird was tmore

stupid than the first one,and his teacher. some

times exclaimed,ln an angry tone

,The Eu

r i es take it ! I.

have lost all my l abor .” At

l ast,however

,the bird learned the

‘

desired phrase,

and his owner earned him“

to the forum.

0

But

the flattery of birds was no longer a novelty

to the said,Carry him .away.

I have fiatterers enough at home.” At this the

parrot very opportunely exclaimed, The Fu

ries take it ! [ have lost all my labor .” This

answer amused Caesar somuch,! that he gave ‘

mic e as much,

for him,as he had g i ven for

’

the first bird.

ALLEN Trcxnon'

have published a li ttle book cal

cdf‘Voyag es andfidventur es of JackHalliard in theJ)

Ocean.

” Young boys Willlike to read i t, because i tolimany dangerous and funnyhxploits. It is orname

with neat wood engrav ings.

JUVENILEMISCELLANY.

voL. v . NO. III.

JA N U A RY AND F E B R U A RY.

A FUNNYAD V ENT U RE .

SOME navigators of the Arctic seas,after hav

ing visited Sp itzbergen,were making the ir way

between the floating'

ice“

and the neighboring

islands,when they came within s ight ofMathu’s

island they drew near it,with the intention of

sounding round the shore,and examining the

soil .

The long boat of the ship,with acrewof ten

men,and a commander at their head

,was sent

‘

out for this purpose .

After making the desired soundings , the l ittleban

’

do f adventurers l anded on the island. They

found a soi l composed of loose sand,where

f

'

sharp , moveable stones were scattered, so as to

render it very difficult and fatigu ing to walk over

them.

220 A FUNNY ADVENTURE .

Hardly a sign of vegetation was to be seen ;but the island seemed the haunt of a thousand

sea-birds,whose eggs were so th ickly deposned

in the sand,that the men heard them go smash

smash ! and felt the contents running into their

shoes,at almost every step they took .

The leader of the company was a very corpu

lent man,whose size was far greater than his

courage . He stepped on shore,and soon wad

dled to the interior of the isl and , which was not

more than a mile ln extent .

Presently two l arge , White bears approached,one upon the ice

,and the other through the

water,coming full speed , towards them. The

commander,alarmed at their appearance

,or

dered the men to fire,whilethe foe was yet too

d istant for the shot to take effect. He did

not think it safe to wait till they were brought

into closer quarters with the ravening beasts .

But the men knew better than to let off their

guns allat once , W ithout a reserve for a greater

emergency . While some only aimed,and pre

tended to draw,others fired

,just enough to make

a noise,that then officer might suppose himself

promptly obeyed . When the few had made

their discharge at the bears,the men all ran

222 A FUNNY ADVENTURE .

When the bear had fallen,the officer scrambled

up , and waddling towards the expiring enemy ,he thrust his sword into the

' body . When theMajor had made this bold thrust at the dying

hear he retreated as fast as possible,to the boat

,

leaving the sailors to laugh at his coward ice,and

to dispose of the other bear as they could . They

soon shot the huge beast and the flesh was

judged to weigh more than elght hundred

pounds .

Soon after this adventure,some other boats

from another ship,in company wi th the one we

have mentioned,went on Shore

,andwere all put

to flight by a monstrous bear. This turned the

laugha l ittle away from the intrepid major ; and

he was very glad to find that he was not the only

man who had run away from the white bears of

Muffin’s Islandfi“* The ac count of this scene i s drawn from Phipps

'

s

Voyages.

T HE D AYon K ING S .

THE festival called The Day of King s, is

kept by all classes of people throughout France .

It is an ancient Cathol ic custom,said to have

been or igmally established “

in remembrance of

the offerings presented by the wise men of the

east to the infant Saviour . Th is domestic festival occurs on the s ixth of January

,the twelfth

night after Christmas . All the family meet to

gether father andmother,grandparents and

‘

lit

tle children,unc les , aunts , and cousins . After a

plentiful and cheerful repast,a d ish is brought in

,

containing cakes enoughfor each guest to take

one,and leave

'

aportion for the poor . They are

distributed by the youngest of‘the group,and who

ever finds a bean with inhis cake is'

declared k ing .

The ancient Greeks always chose a k ing of

the feast by lot and they voted for their magiS

trates with d ifferent colored beans . The old

phi losopher Pythagoras advised his scholars to

abstain, fr om beans ; by which he meant to

imply that those'

men were wisest,whose happi

ness did not depend on public offices,or popular

favor But the merry,l ittle children of France

find no mi sfortunes connected with the bean.

224 THE DAY or KINGS.

These kings have no courtiers to flatter them,

no Parliament to oppose them,

’

no newspapers to

vex them thei r subjects are all friends,who

gaily and heartily offer their tributes of affection ;they choose their own queens ; and,What is bestof all

,their royalty does not l ast long enough to

fatigue them.

For the following anecdote of the young Dukeof Bordeaux , I am indebted to a friend

,who

transl ated it from a French periodical .

On the 6th of January,1830 , the royal fam

ily of France met to celebrate their annual fes

tivalat the Palace of the Tuileries . Charles

the Tenth presided ; near him,were the Duchess

of Orleans,the happy mother of a numerous

and handsome fami ly,—and the Duchess d’An

gouléme, daughter of Lou is X VI. Then came

the Duke of Orleans,

* the Duchess of Berri,the

Duke d’Angouléme, and Mademoiselle d’Or

l eans . ‘ The younger guests were the Duke of

Bordeaux,son of the Duchess ofBerri , and Heir

Presumptive to the throne of France Mademoiselle

,his sister ; the Duke of Chartres Duke

of Nemours ; Duke d’Aumale the Prince of

Joinville and two yoimg princesses of Orleans .

Louis Phillip he is now king .

THE DAY OF KINGS .

Then wewish that our governor advance usthree months of our allowance .

”

What will you do with so much money 7”

Grandpapa, the mother of one of your bravesoldlers has had her c ottage destroyed by fire ;and I th ink the sum I have asked is not too

much to rebu ild it .”

But what will you do withou t money , during

those three months i ”

Oh, you always give me something for the

good marks I get from my teacher ; and I wi l l

try to gain—

as many asI can. I have made mycalcul ations and I find"that when I have giventen francs to the poor woman inthe Bois de Bou

logue,I shall have just twenty sous left to play

the prince with .

”

Charles the Tenth embraced his grandson

with much tenderness and exclaimed , If

you are ever , indeed a k ing,happy will it be for

Franc e,i f you retain such feel ings

”,

In another Fr'

ench periodical, I find a stil l

more interesting account of the Day of K ings ,written by Jules Jonin. He says I remember

on one of these occasions being detained at a

farm in Normandy . It was exceedingly cold ,and all the country was silent after a deep snow.

THE DAY or KINGS . 227

The dogs stretched themselves qu ietly before the

kitchen fire,and no noise was heard

,excepting

now and then the joyful neigh ing of the horses

in the spac ious b arn,or the shrill crowing of

chant i cleer in the cart-house .

But with in themansi on the loaded tables were

decorated,and joyful voices were heard

,and the

corks bounced up to the ce il ing , forced from the

bottles by the impetuous c ider , the champagne of

Normandy . I was a stranger,but waswelcomed

into the midst of the family,as i f 1 had beenone of

them. Allthe relations,from far and near

,had

come t o the .joy fulfeast . There were venerable

men with wh ite hairs,as strong as the old oaks of

the forest industrlous,frugal

,and honest .

true patriarchs, worthy of all respect . There

were aged women,bend ing beneath the weight of

years and hard labor patient,cheerful

,and ac

tive,the worthy companions of those hale old

men,and the beloved mothers of healthy ch ild

ren though wr inkled and gray,they were stil l

lovely to look upon,

' for their countenances were

i lluminated with the serene l ight of good and

happy hearts . Next to\

the old people,were

young men and women full of l ife and hope ;young mothers br ight with health andh appiness

,

228 THE DAY or KINGS.

boys and girls of fourteen and fifteen,who

already began to think themselves men andwomen ; and troops , and troops of l ittle children.

Children at the table children on the table

children under the table children everywhere !They laughed

,and sung

,and chattered— and

cl imbed the ir grandfather’s shou lders,and sat in

their grandmother’s lap,and rode -on their moth

er’s

’

feet— and all were so joyful ! The wholefamily caught their merriment

,and l aughed to

hear themlaugh . Never in my whole l ife did IWitness so much gayety and happ iness

“After a long dinner , the moment arrived to

ascertain who was to be king ? the king of the

bean,the monarch of an hour. A plentiful des

sert was placed on the table,in the midst of

which were two baskets filled wi th cakes,ac

cording to the number of the guests . Immedi

ately there was a profound silence . among the

children. The younger was placed on the table,

between the two baskets,into which he thrust his

hands and began to distribute the cakes . Hewas a chubby boy about four or five years old ,with a fresh and merry countenance . He was

related to every one present,excepting myself ;

and all eyes were fixed upon himwith smi l ing

230 THE mm or ru nes .

famine in France,when the making of king

cakes was forb idden by a royal decree .

In the midst of th is dilemma,al l eyes were

turned toward a young g irl , about twelve years

old,whose countenance

,express ive of great

frankness and s impl icity,would be c alled beauti

ful only by those who had a heart to understand

beauty that comes from the soul . This girl kept

her cake untasted and unbroken. She had re

mained very qu iet bu t as the cakes were

opened,her gentle . dark eye had rested upon

each of the gu ests with intense interest .“ My. ch ild

,

” said her father,

“

you have the

bean. Make haste to open your cake , dear Ma:r ia

,that we may dr ink to the health

“

of the

queenfi’

Immediately all the guests filled their gl asses,

ready to cry out,Health to the queen health

to the queen But Maria suddenly placed her

hand on her cake,as if to prevent any one from

break ing it ; and look ing round with a kind and

earnest expression of countenance,

she said,

“ But the poor ! Where is the portionfor the'

poor”l”

At"these words ; the family looked upon each

other somewhat troubled that they had all forgot

THE DAY OF KINGS. 231

ten to save a portion for the poor . I was the most

embarrassed for it was I who had eaten the cake

u sually reserved for th is purpose .,My unex

pec ted presence had occas ioned all thetrouble .

While the family remained uncertain what new

law to adopt for the present emergency,the

bark ing of dogs was heard in the court . Mar ia

hastily opened the window,and

,beckoning with

her hand,cried out

,Come in ! come in '”

Then turning gaily round,she said

,The king

is coming !” Amiable girl ! as she ran out of

the room,her cheeks were flushed , and

‘her eyes

sparkled with joy . The true secret of being

beairtifulis to be good .

An old man,ninety years of age

,was led into

the r oom by Maria . Hecarried an empty wallet,

and leaned on a stou t staff. _He was one of

those Norman beggars,who having labored

ninety years in his native district,had acquired

the right ‘to a few blades -of wheat at harvest

time,

'

an‘

d a morsel of brown bread dur ing the

winter . A seat,by the side of Maria was of

fered him at the tabl e,and a plate full of !bod

placed before him. He ate and drank as heartily

as a young hunter just come in from the chase .

[ When he had finished his repast, the l ittle g i rl

g ave him her cake , saying, Behold the k ing !”

232 THE DAY OF KINGS.

The whole company drank to his health , with

loud accl amations . Drink to the k ing Heal th

to the k ing resounded through the dwell ing .

The aged ' monarch chose Mar ia for his queen,

and k i ssed her forehead,accord ing to the royal

custom. Soon after the cheerful f amily rose

from table,a ball commenced ; and the old peo

ple enjoyed the ir youth over again,a s they

watched their merry grandch ildren fly ing through

the dance .

The next morning,I bade

/ the wealthy farmer

farewell . In parting from Mari a,

I was unabl e

to express how beautiful and affect ing her c on

duct the preceding evening had appeared to me

but the good girl could not comprehend what

therewas to admire in so trifling an occurrenc e .

It is pecul iarly in l ittle th ings that true noble

ness of character shows itself. Ever s ince I wit

nessed the pleasing inc ident that occurred on the

Day o f K ings,I have felt sure that Maria

,if she

l ived to years of.'matur ity , wou ld be one of the

v ery best women inNormandy .

.dnswer to Charade, p ag e 120 .

P en-man-ship .

fi nswer to Ri ddle, p ag e 120.

Hay .

234 ANE CDOTES 0 1? MR JOHN FROST .

Willy knewby the trac ery , strange and fair,

That a queer li ttle artist,called Frost

,had been there ;

AndWilly,was naughty

,he c r ied out “By Jingo !

I know who it is,that

’s been painting my window

He thought he spied him,outside of the pane

That funny oldman—When he looked again ;Wi th his twinkling eyes , keen, cold and bright,His pallet of pearl

,and penc iloflight,

Hrs plnlOHS of fleece, wi th moonbeams inlaid,

And his threec ornered cap of a diamondmade .

He looked hard atWilly,as much as to say ,

I would giv e the best gem inmy casket to playWith your wild

,bright curls, and your lip of rose

,

Or to bite of? the end of y our dear little nose !”

No ! no !Mr Frost ! y ou may peep if you please,Ov er the mountains

,and through the trees 1

You may float in the clouds,thro

’thedeep midnight,

And play wi th your jewels of rainbow light !You may danc e on the lake wi th your twinkling feet,Tilli t hardens beneath them a silver sheet !You may wav e your wings o

’

er the woodland bloom,

And spr inkle their sparkles amid the gloom,

Tillthe whole wide forest,from tower ing pine

To baby bush,with your snow-plumes shine

You may look on the r iv ulet,murmuring by

,

Tilly ou charm it to sleep wi th your clear,c old ey e,

Andbid it forget i ts flowingYou may do what y ou will, and I willnot fearNo , no Mr Frost ! y ou shallnot c ome here

Mother ! how c old it is growing !

ANE CDOTES OF'MR JOHN FROST . 235

NO, no,Mr Frost ! y ou may b ite , ifyou please,The poor li ttle shi v ering buds on the trees.

You may dig wi th the point of your cap in the ear th,

Tilly ou c ome to the plac e,where the flowers have birth,

And tellthem they must n’

t c ome up ,— if they do,

You’llp inch them all

,tillthey ’re black and’blue

You may fr ighten the lilies and roses ;You may bite the bush, the v ine

,the tree

,

But,Mr Jack Frost, y ou sha’n’t bi te meMother

,how c old my nose i s

NO,nO !Mr Frost ! y ou may eat thegrass ;

You may try your teeth upon window-glass,

Sinc e y oumust do some mischief or other ;You may swallow the brooks , and the deep,fullsea,You thirsty old fellow your drink may beBut,dearMr Jack Frost !’please don’

t eat me

Oh give me my breakfast, mother l”

The milk was lifted, for Willy to sip ;

But he felt, just then, on his soft,warm lip ,

A tiny touch, from a hand of ic e,

And he put i t away from his‘mouth in a tric e .

What do y ou think he found in his cupShining and shiv er ing

,icy and bqny ,

The poor t

little Ic eman himself p eeped upMr Jonathan Frost, in p rop r ia p er sona?

Willy lifted the bowl one draught he drew ;“And pray ,Mr Jac k Frost, Where are y ou

?

You needn’t go div ing and glanc ing about

As i flittleWilly would let y ou c ome out.

Ah,Willy he drained the sweet c up wi th delight,

But when he had finished, he stared in afl'

r ight

He thought he should find him allsnugly curled up ,The poor little painter , within the deep cup .

Fullsharply he looked but Jack was not there ;AndWilly c r ied out

,

“ He’

s gone, I declare

While I drank , he jumped from the bowl,I knowMother ,-dear mother

,did you see him go

?

You’

re a c oward,Jack Frost ; andnext time I meet y ou ,

If you dare touch my lips, I’

llc ertainly eat y ou .

”

FLORENCE.

S P ONGE .

OPPOSITE Rhodes is a ‘ l ittle Isl and,called

Hrmi a. At the bottom of the sea,sponge is

found in greater abundance,

than in any other

part of the Med iterranean. The inhab itants

make a good l iving by fish ing for th is sponge,of

whic h an immense quant ity is bought by the

Turks,to be u sed in their baths . In th is island ,

nog irlis allowed to marry before she has proved

her courage and.deXter ity by bringing up a cer

tain quantity of sponges .

238 WEST POINT .

anxious per iod of war . Kosc iusko’s g arden,

a rocky,and deeply-shaded nook in the bank

of the river,completely s equestered from the

plain above,and irregu larly slop ing to the water’s

edge . In the midst of this l ittl e area,wh ich

nature seems to have formed for her favorites ,bubbles up a clear fountain. Colonel T

the late superintendent,caused a -marble basin

to be made to rece ive it,on wh ich

,with the

taste and refinement that marks all his works,

he had inscribed s imply the name of Kosciusko .

I have seen one,young and beauti ful

,kneel and

kiss this name,wh il e a tear s oftened her eye ,

one of the brightest that genius ever k indled .

Do my young friends ask why is th is homage ?

Kosciusko was a devotee to l iberty . He waso ne Of

our most generous fr iends in the day of adversity .

And,to give him a larger claim upon our hearts ,

he was a P ole. Trad ition informs u s that the

gardenwe have described was his favorite resort .

There,no doubt

,wh ile repos ing from his l abors

for us’

,he has seen glor ious v isions of the future

freedom and happ iness of his own beloved coun

try . The deepest shades of tyranny,

_ midnight ,( and starless darkness

,has settled over Poland

We c an do nothing to disperse the clouds , but

WEST POINT . 239

we can do something to succor the countrymen

of our Kosciusko ! We can ass ist those brave

exiles,who

,having sacr ificed all in the glorious

cause of freedom,are now penniless in our

c ities.

But I have been l ed far away fromWest Point.There is the M il itary Academy

,surpassed by no

school in Amer ica ; and its fr iends say,equalled

by none but the Polytechnic School at Par is.

Our young lady-friends , who do not care to in

vestigate the abstruse pursu its of the cadets , maybe gratified with the fine spec imens of s cientific

drawings in the ir Academy . They may learn in

the model-room,better than even My Uncle Toby

and Corporal Trim could teach them,the my s

ter ies of attack and defence ; for there is accu

rately moulded , a battered town, a fortress, c ur

tains,bastions

,glacis

,and all those th ings

,whose

names puzzle the readers of Old h istor ies,and

“

Scott’s novels . In the same room are beau ti ful

models of the Colisseum,Diogenes

’s lantern

,

and many other classic wonders . If these same

young l ad ies are not,as the old woman said she

was,afeard of a gun Without lock , stock , or

barrel ; i f they blend a l ittle antiquarianism

with their patriotism,

they will do well to look

240 WEST POINT .

into the gun-house , and survey the venerable

p ieces that were surrendered to us by the un

fortunate Burgoyne,at Saratoga . But if young

lad ies hate these vi le guns ” ; i f they care not

for the mil itary art,and have no enthusiasm

about dead heroes,we c an assure them the ir

ears will tingle ' at the far-famed music of the

West Point band at the evening gun,answered

from h ill to h il l by the spirits of, the highlands

and, (alas ! we must descend to vulgar animal

l ife,the air and the walks atWest Point are

such whetters of the appetite,)and at the sound

of Mr Cozzens’s d inner-bell . This bell will sum

mon them to a table, _

sprea‘d With the luxuriesand elegance

,and conducted with the refine

ment of the best private table

There be d ivers gifts .” Some are blind to

the scenery of West '

Point . Some care not

about the School ; and others have no historic

associations ; but none are insensible to the

charms of Mr Cozzens’s hotel ; a pattern hotel ,

a model l andlord . Mike Lambourne says truly,

there is something about the real gentry,that

fewmen come up to , that are not bred and born

to the mystery .

” But who shall deny to our

friend Cozzens “ the true grace of it And

WEST POINT .

I forbear . I know how imperfectly the penpaints such a scene, even in a hand far more

sk ilful than mine ; and I will finish this sketch

with some particul ars of an old friend,in whose

company I lately visited West Point . Agrippa.

Hull (why should I not give the true name ?Though unknown to fame

,it has never been

sull ied,during a life of seventy years ; Agrippa

Hull is one of the most respectable yeomen of

a v illage in the western part of Massachusetts .He has “fleec y locks and black complexion

,

”

but beneath them, amind as sagac ious as San

cho’s,and a gift of expression

,resembling in its

point and - quaintness that drol l sage . He is,

however,far superior to Sancho ; for with his

humor he blends no small portion of the senti

ment and del icacy of‘

Sancho’s master . More

than fifty years ago,Agrippa was the servant of

Kosciusko . The impression that hero made , on

themind ofhis humble friend does him almost as

much honor as his immortal record on the page of

h istory . Grippy (this‘

is the affectionate contrae

tion by wh ich we know him,)concludes all his

stories of the General,by saying

,he was a

lovely man ! ” These stories are so character

istic of the playful humor and gentleness Of

WEST POINT . 243

Kosciusko,that at the risk of marring the

'

tale

in the telling,I will repeat one, as nearly as

possible in Gr ippy’s own words .

Imagine a colored man,seventy three years

Old,sl ightly bent by the rheumatism,

and his

locks.

‘

somewhat grizzled,but Stil l retaining a

s triking resemblance to the p i cture of Pr ince Le

Boo,

’

of the Pelew Islands , leaning on his staff,

and beginning in the doggerel rhyme,withwhich

he ustIally interlards his d iscourse , to please his

young and uncritical aud i tors If youwish it,young ladies

, you Shall have a tale for when it ’s

about the General,love andmemory never

'

fail .

The General was going away to be gone two

days . When the cat ’s away,the mice will

play ! as the proverb says . The servants want

ed a frolic . They persuaded me to dress up in

the General’s Polish clothes . SO I put on hislacedcoat

,his Pol ish cap

,- sash

,

l

sword and all . His

boots I could not wear so they black-balled mylegs and feet ; Then I strutted about

,took a

book,and stretched myself on the sofa, ordered

the servants here and there,and bade oneof them

bring me a glass of water. He did not return

soon ; and I,to play my part well , rang , and

rang again ; the glass of water came, brought

244 WEST POINT .

by General Kosciusko himself ! I was neither

rednor pale but my knees began to fail .I deserve to be punished ,

o

sir,

’ said I .

No,no

,Grippy

,

’ said he,

‘come with me.

I ’ll take you round to the Offic ers’ tents

,and in

troduce you as an African Prince . Don’t speak,

but mind my signs , and obey'

them.

’

I shall die,sir

,

’ said I .

Oh,no Grippy , you will not die ; followme.

The General had his beauti ful smile on ; but

I was past smil ing . I looked solemn enough .

Thei

Generaltook me from one tent to another,

called me by a long name ,made me shake hands ,and sit down by the first of the army . Merc y on

us ! the blood run through my heart l ike a mil l

race . One Oflic er gave me wine,and another

brandy,and another Offered me a pipe . Gene

ral Kosciusko motionedto me to take them all.

(Poor Agrippa ! this was the hardest trial of thegauntlet he had to run ; for smok ing and

“

drinking were ever od ious to him.)

My heart was sick,and di z z y g rewmy head ,

and I looked to the General , wishing I weredead and he took pity on me ; for he was not

a man to enjoy riding on a l ame horse . So he

l aughed out clapped me on my

!

back,and told

me to go about my business .

THE WEEK ’S P ROBAT ION.

[Concluded ]

THE l ast day of Catharine’s trial came and

she waked i n the morning,with the feeling that

everything should be bright and cheerful as her

self ; but dis appointment awaited her . It was a

raw,chilly morning , the sky was of a pale,

'

leaden

color,and the beams of the sunseemed shorn of

half their brill iancy a p i erc ing wind whistled

through the bare branches of the trees,and there

was every Sign of an approaching snow-storm.

Oh ! what if I have been good all this Week fornothing thought she

,as she stood leaning

against the window, g az ing at the threatening

aspect of the heavens . But something within

Whispered,Is the approbation of your own

consc i ence nothing ! DO you count as.

nothing

the pleasure you have given your parents , and

the hours of del ightful intercourse you have had

with your brother ; intercourse , disturbed by no

petty broil s,no trifl ing disputes She was roused

from these thoughts by a summons to breakfast ;and as she entered the room

,she began with

,

Ah,mother look at the clouds .” Yes

,my

dear,I see them

,

” Mrs Bennet repl ied I fear

TIIE WEEK’S PROBAT ION . 247.

that th is last day is to be the heaviest trial of all .

I will not deceive you . There is a prospect of a

severe storm ; and you will,probably ; have an

Opportunity to judge how far you have been influenced

,during the week

,by a s incere desire to

correct your faults,and how far by ~ the wish to

visit your cousin. I shall awa it the end of the

day with great anxiety and your father will be

here also to know the result of the trial . He

returns today .

” Catharine kept her eyes fixed

on her c up of mi lk , and George looked as dull

and heavy as the clouds . Along Silence ensued ,w

'

hichéMrs Bennet broke , by say ing , Away with

you both to school Useevery moment rightly,

that you need not have any lessons in the eve

ning . We must all be at leisure to converse

with your father .” As Catharine walked to

school,she cast many an anxious glance at

'the d eepening gloom,and a heavy Sigh es

caped her,as she beheld a l arge flake of

snow,the first of the season

,fall slowly to the

earth,as if reluctant to leave the upper regions of

the air . But‘

she struggled successfully against

her melancholy feel ings,and

‘entered the school

room with a cheerful, i f not j oy ous expression Of

c ountenance . Catharine’s impetuosity of char


acter was shown in various ways,besides her

quickness to resent fanc ied injuries . She would

enter upon a new study wi th a zeal that promised

the most rapid progress ; but the moment the

charm of novelty was gone , she would lose all

interest in it,andwith her interest

,her appl ica

tion. Her father had requested her to pay particular attention to the formation of a free legible

hand in writing. But the art of penmanship i s

not to be mastered at once and Cathar ine’s pa

tience was exhausted , before she had learned to

wield her pen with tolerable sk i ll . Her manu

scripts presented a sad spectacle to the lovers ofneatness

,ti ll her mother premised to give

“

her

Berqu in’s Children’s Friend

,in French

,when

'

she

c ould Show her a wr i t ing-book free from blots ;the last page of which should exhibit a marked

improvement in this useful art . Long had Cath

arine toiled for the desired boon,and many were

the books, _

which she had '

spoiled by the careless

ness of an unguarded hour. But now she had

nearly finished one that was,

free from odious

blots,and every page bore testimony to her de

sire to improve . With a newly-mended pen sheseated herself to complete it ; the last word was

written,and as she turned over the unsull ied


suffer for any accident that could be traced to

my own' carelessness .” I admire your honesty

,

my dear, and am also much pleased with the

Sweetness,with which you have borne this disap

pointment: A l ittle perseverance will enable -

you

to claim the book as your own and when you

have it in‘

your possession,I Should not be sur

pri sed if you were to call this afor tunate accident .” I am sure

,

” Miss Broadhurst,

“ I donot see how any good can come out of th is evil

My writing-book is spoiled , and wri ting another“

with care,wi ll not remove the blots from this !

one .

”That is true

,but writing another Witht

L’Ami des Enfans in view,will strengthen y

newly acqu i red habits of neatness and attenti o

When the school was closed,her

gathered around Catharine,to offer their a

tionate congratulatiOns on the success of he

efforts to control her temper .

You see,Miss Edwards

,cried Lou i sa

,

that‘

firebrand,as you think her , she will

the promised visit ; and that you would have

your wager,if we had been Will ing to lay

on such a subject .” Hush,hush said Ca

rine,

“ don’t .tease her, Louisa . I don’t

she thought me a firebrand,and said I


never be anyth ing else . lf I had not had mammaandM iss Broadhurst to watch over me all the

time,I could not have succeeded . But I hope

I shall not deserve to be called so any longer and

to make sure Of it,for this morning , I will hurry

home . I shall be safer under mamma’s wing,

than talking with you all here .

”

Mother,said Catharine

,after dinner

,give

me some pleasant employmenffor the afternoon,that I may not think of the weather the whole

time . “I would will ingly , Cathar ine , if I were

sure that you would not .go to school tomorrow

but as there is a prospect that your visit must be

deferred for a few days , would it not be better toprepare your lessons for , tomorrow,

than to seek

some novel employment ; for that I presume ,is what you mean by a p leasant one .

Ah,mamma , I have towr i te comp osi tion for

tomorrow and I do so dislike it .” The more

disagreeable the task ,the greater the meri t in

doing it cheerfully . You will,probably

,.go to

schooltomorrow; and I Should prefer that youshould go prepared for its duties .” Catharine

Slowly arose,

and took her pen and paper;Mamma

,are you so very sure that it will snow

“ I cannot be positive, Catharine


but I think it most prudent for you to act upon

the bel ief that it will .” Catharine said not anoth-r

er .word,but

,

prepared to perform her task ; forsuch it is to al l school-g irls . She was fond of

long sentences and high-sounding words,and she

Was soon deeply engaged in the mighty effort of

constructing a p iec e of composition.

” Before

she had qu ite finished, . the sound of wheels ap

p roaching the door was heard . My father,my

dear father ! ” she exclaimed and dropp ing her

paper,she

'

bounded fbrw'

ard to meet him. He

caught her in his arms,

'

and'

kiss1ng her again and

aga in,he sa id,

“ I need'

not ask"the result of

your tr ial,my ch ild ; I read i t in your Open

,hap

p y face . But you cannot be more happy than

you have rendered me .

’ As Catharine turned

aside to h ide the tears,which her father’Smanner '

had brought to her eyes,George advanced wi th

,

Father,it i s my turn now,

wont ”

you speak to,

me 7 “ That will I,my son

,and gladly too .

Come,give me a kiss

,boy you arenot too old

for that , yet , I hope .

”

But I need not attempt to describe the

meeting , or the mariner in which the eveningpassed

.It is enough to state , that Catharine

forgot to ask her father his Opinion of the

CHARLEY’S R I D ING - PLACE .

WHEN children have been industrious at school,

how sweet are the hoursI

of play with what joy

they begin their little games,and howkindly they

feel towards each other .

Charles Oakly called all his brothers and sis

ters about him one Saturday afternoon,to enjoy

the half-hol iday together .

The sun was sh ining brightly on the flowers,

that grew in their garden. Thebi rds were sing

ing merrily among the green trees and bushes ;and the very hens and kittens, and Old Rover

,

the dog , seemed glad that it was so pleasant .

CHARLEY’S R IDING-PLACE. 255

The children amused themselves with many

little games . Each proposed some favorite play,

and the rest were will ing to jo in in it . Mary

was fond of BlindMan’s Barf ; Edward liked

Old llIan of the Castle Susan wished to

play S chool; and Harriet preferred Come

and See.

” Little James at first proposed Sol

di er s ;” but afterwards he would have Grand

Mufti ; because the g irls never knew how to

order arms,

” or r ight and left wheel,

” or anything

,but forward, march . At l ast Charles

wanted to play H ide and g o Seek and said

he would h ide first . They allwaited three minutes for him to find a good h iding-place and thenthey began to search for him. Up stairs and

down,in doors and out

,they hunted but could

not find him. Harr iet peeped behind the chimney

-board,and James even put his head up the

chimney ; Susan looked in the garret, and Ed

ward in the cell ar,and in the hay-loft in the barn.

Presently,l ittle Harriet was heard

,saying

,I

have found him Here he is !” And they all ran

into thei r mother’s chamber,and found her pul ling

somebody out by the ears,from under the bed .

ItWas Rover . He had gone there to take a nap .

How they all l aughed and Rover shook his

256 CHARLEY’S HIDING-PLACE.

great ears,and opened his mouth

,as if he were

laughing too .

Just as one or two were going to give Up ,Harr iet heard a great noise among her pets in

the poul try yard ; and when she ran ou t to see

what -was the' matter,she cried out

,

“ Oh,who

has done this ? My chickens are all out of the

hen-coop ; how shal l I get them back again?”

We’llhelp

‘

you we ’llhelp you ,

” cried Edward

and Mary , and the rest ; andHarriet ran -for

ward to open the hen-coop door,when

,what

should she see , but Master Charley — peep ing

through the slats , and shak ing his curly head,for

her to say nothing about it. Harriet l aughed soheartily

,that/ all the children came to see what

she was l augh ing at ; and for a long t ime after

wards,whenever they talked with one another

,

about funny things that had happened , they

would say, Oh,don’t you remember the day

Charles hid in thé hen-coop ‘l

“

l’

l

R ID D LE .

What i s i t that bounds, and danc es and skipsP

’Tis known by the eyes

,but cheats in the lips ;

When giv en away,

’tis worth tons of gold

But not worth a great, if i t onc e can be sold.

THEMOORS.

cherishing,l ike their ancestors

ta free and pasto

ral l ife .

They are known in ancient history by the

name of Numid ians,Getulians

,and Mass il ians .

By turns,subjects

,enemies

,and all ies of famous

Carthage,they fell

,together with that illustrious

c ity,under the dominion Of Rome . After many

useless rebellions,caused by their fiery and rest

less sp irit,they were conquered by the Vandals .

Bel isar i us again vanquished them a century after

wards,A. D . 427 ; and they were finally subdued

by the Arabs,conquerors of the Greeks . From

that time theMoors ~ became Mussulmen,and

were confounded with the Arabs . It is nec es

sary to say something of thi s extraord inary

nation,

unknown during so many ages,

“

and

suddenly mistress of the7 greatest part of the

earth .

The Arabs are without doubt one of the most

ancient people in the world ; and perhaps no

other nation has so well preserved its charac ter ,manners

,and independence . From the earl iest

ages,divided into tribes

,wandering in the fields ,

or united in’

villages,— sometimes subjected to

magistrates,and sometimes to warrior chiefs ,

they have never submitted to a foreign dominion.

THE MOORS. 259

The Persians,Macedonians

,and Romans, at

tempted in va in to conquer them. Proud of his

courage,and of an or ig in wh ich is traced to the

patr iarchs,the Arab

,in the midst Of his deserts,

regards other nat ions as troops of slaves , assem

bled by chanc e to change the ir masters . Brave,

sober,indefat igable

,hardened from infancy to

the most painful labors,fear ing ne ither hunger,

th irst,nor death

,that nation had '

need but of

one man,to become the sovere ign of the world .

Anno Domini,569

,Mahomet “

appeared . He

possessed in an eminent degree,valor

,wisdom

,

eloquence,and grace . Amongst the most en

l ightened nations,Mahomet would have been‘a

great man ; amongst an ignorant and fanatical

people,is it to be wondered at

,that he was

considered a miracle ?

Before his t ime,the Arab tr i bes had made a

superstitious mixture of"the various rel igions of5

those countr ies by wh ich they were surrounded .

They bel ieved in geni i,demons

,and sorceries ;

they worsh ipped the stars,and sacrificed to idols .Mahomet

,after forty four

“years of retirement andmed itation

,suddenly preached a new relig ion,

calcul ated to ‘ inflame the ardent genius of this

people . Children of Ishmael,

” said he to them,

260 THE MOORS.

I bring you the faith , which your father Abra

ham,Noah

,and all the , patriarchs

,professed .

There is but one God,the sovereign -

of worlds .He is called the Merciful ; worship only him.

Be benevolent towards orphans,paupers

,slaves

,

and captives ; be just to all men,for Justice is

the sister of P iety . Pray , and give alms . Yourreward will be to inhab it in heaven del icious

gardens,where l impid waters flow ;—where

you will find Wi ves always beautiful,always

young and always affectionate . F ight the in

credulous and impiou s with valor fight them till

you are v ictorious ; till they embrace Islamisrn,or pay you a tribute . Every sol d ier who dies inbattle will go to enjoy the t re

/asures of God .

The base cannot prolong their l ives the moment

when the angel of death shah/

str ike them is appointed i i i the book of the Eternal .”

These precepts,announced in r ich

,figurative

,

andmajestic language , embell ished by the charm

of verse , presented as by a messenger of God ,by a prophet

,warrior

,poet and legislator

,

soon found d isciples amongst a people eager for

the marvellous,and enamored of glory . Perse

c ution ‘

only increased the number of his fellow

ers.‘His enemies forced the apostle to leave

262 !THE MOORS.

and took the C i ty of Damas—a siege rendered

celebrated by the almost superhuman exploits

Of the famous Kaled,surnamed the Sword of

God.

”III the midst of so

'

many victories,Abou

beker,to whom' was sent the . immense booty

taken from the enemy , never retained for'

bis pri

vate expenses any more than a sum equivalent to

forty cents daily .

if i“"fOmar , the successor of

Aboubeker,ordered Kaled to march to Jerusa

lem. It was taken by .the Arabs ; Syria and

Palestine demanded peace the Turks and Per

sians were subjected ; all As ia trembled before

Omar . Modest even in the‘

midst of victory,the

Mussulmen imputed their success to God alonepreserving in the most beau tiful, rich , and del i

cions countri es,

and amidst the most corrupt

people Of the earth,the ir austere and frugal

manners,the ir severe disc ipl ine

, and their respect

for poverty . The sold iers would check them

selves,in the plundering of a city

,at the sl ightest

command of the ir leader and to him they car

ried the gold and s ilver taken from the enemy,tO

be placed in the publ ic treasury . The bravest

andmost renowned captains were in the habi t of

resigning , or resuming the command , on rec eiv

ing a written order from the cal iph ; and ao

TIIE MOORS. 263

cording to his will,they were by turns

,generals

,

private sold iers,or ambassadors . In fine

,Omar

h imself,the most puissant

!

sovereign,and the

r ichest k ing Of Asia,Was often seen

,going to

Jerusalem,on a lame camel

,l adenwith a sack

of barley and rice,a jug of water

,and wooden

c up . He was accustomed to travel in that man

ner through all the conquered people,who

crowded his passage,and begg ing him to bless

them,

‘

and j udge their disputes . After entering

Jerusalem,pardoning Christians , and preserving

their churc hes from destruction,having remount

ed his c amel,the cal iph would return

,and pray

with his peOple;

The Mussulmenmarched toward Egypt,which

was soon subjugated Alexandria Was taken byAmron

,one of Omar’s greatest generals . It

was then that the famous l ibrary of the Ptolemies

perished,regretted by all the learned,A. D . 640

,

Heg . 19. The Arabs were fond of their own

poetry,but despised the boOks of other nations .

Amron ordered the library to be burned,yet he

h imselfwas celebrated for his verses .’

He loved

and respected the renowned grammar i an Jean,

to whom,without the command of the Cal iph,

hewished to give the l ibrary. He also had exe

264 THE MOORS .

outed a design worthy the ages of Rome— it

was to join the Med iterranean to the Red Sea by

a nav igable canal , into which the waters of theNil e might be turned . Th is canal

,so important

to Europe and Africa,was Suffered by the Turks

to be destroyed . Amron advanced to Africa,

while other Arab ian capta ins crossed the’

Eu

phrates, and conquered Persia ; but Omar was

no more . Othman occupied his pl ace . It was

in the reign of this cal iph,that the Arabs c on

quered theMoor s,and c hased from among them

the feeble Greeks,meeting resistance only from

some warl ike inhabitants of Barbary .

'These

free,and pastoral nations

,formerly a people o f

'

Numidia,

.and who,even

.now,entrenched in l

Mount Atl as,preserve there a k ind of indepen

dence,defended themselves a long time against .

the Arabs . A Mussulman general named Akbe

at l ast vanquished them,and gave

'

them his l aws'

and faith . He did not pause in his conquest

until he reached the ocean ; there , full of enthu

s iasm,he urged his horse into

'

the sea, and cr i ed ,God of

‘Mahomet I call thee to witness, that

I wou l d seek new nations,andmake them ado

thy name , were not my progress stopped byelement 1

”

266 THE-

CLOSING YEAR .

Adieu,he said

,fair v illage,

Where I hav e lived so long ;

I’llbe this way

Some Sweet spring day ,And sing a blither song .

”

I saw a lovely infantJust Sink ing to his rest ;

His cheek of rose

In sweet reposeUpon his mother

’s breas t.

But seen,his slumber over

,

A fai rer sight than thisWith motion fleet

He sprang to meetHis mother

’

s playfulk iss.

I met a li ttle maiden,Her face was fair to see

Her step was light,

Her ey e was bright,And thus she said to me

The flowers have each their season ;

Allthings thei r time to shine,

Wi th fresher hue,A’ii

'

d v igor new ;Why shouldnot I havemine ?

The time has c ome I feeli t

New powers wi thin to find’Tis here

’tis here

,

The gladNEWYEARThe spring-time of the mind. A.M.W.

O R D E R

P r eserve order,even in the smallest thing s.

EMILY ERSKINE was a very industrious l ittle

g irl . She was always employed, e ither sewing,read ing

,or playing . You would never see her

loung ing about,or leaning upon her elbows

,look

ing out of the window,when there was nothing

to be seen nor p ick ing her teeth with her nee

dle,when she had her sewing in her hands

,as

many idlel ittle girls do . Yet she had one fault,

that would frequently produce all the evil s of

laz iness,and make her almost as useless to so

c iety, asthe most indolent g irl in it.

She was very negl igent,and entirely wanting

in perseverance . She would often begin to make

a dress for her doll,c ut it out

,and fix it very

neatly,and sit very busily work ing upon It for

some time ,but if, by any c ircumstance , she wasobl iged to leave it unfinished

,she seldom remem

bered to take it again. It would rema in in her

basket,with many an unfinished p iece of

work,and tangled ske in of thread . She often

suffered much inconvenience from th is habit ;but not enough to make her correct it.

ORDER .

One day,when Emily was about ten years

old,she heard her mother

,and some of her

fr iends,talk ing of an absent lady ; pra i s ing her

neatness and persevering industry . One l ady

observed,that she bel ieved she could accompl ish

twice as much work in a day,as any other per

son sheknew ; and she bel ieved the grand secret

l ay,in the exact order

,in which everyth ing in

her house was kept . Go to her drawer,or her

work-table,at any time , and you wil l find every

th ing as it should be . You will never find her

th imble ly ing out of place,balls of thread half

wound,or ske ins of sewing s ilk in a tangle, the

tape needle in one place,and theneedle-book in

another . But you Wlll find everyth ing has'

an

appropr iate place,and everyth ing IS inits pl ace .

If there are twenty articles of work,they are al l

done up in separate parcels ; all that belongs to

each article neatly rolled or folded together . She

never has to waste t ime , in hunting for her work,her needle

,thread, or scissors .

Emily l istened very attentively,and thought of

her own d isorderedwork-drawer . She thought,

Oh dear when I want my sc issors , or needle

book , they are almost always tangled in my tape ,or so twisted with the loose thread

,that it takes

270 ORDER .

advantage . Emily promised to do as her mother

desired her . And indeed,she always did lay

them in at first very smoothly1

but if she at anytime wanted what lay at the bottom of the drawer

,

she would draw it out heedlessly,and leave the

whole in a tumbled state .

Now when she heard that neatness was a

proof that the mind was orderly,she thought

hers must be dreadfully d isordered . Though she

did not exactly understand what constitu ted an

orderly mind,yet she knew it was something

good,and that its oppos ite was someth ing very

bad . She therefore resolved to have a thorough

refinnL

Instead of beginning by degrees,and restoring

one part to order et u first,she chose to do the

whole at once andi

when her mother Went intoher room in the morning

,she found Emily sur

rounded by art icles of all k inds,in

’

one mass of

confusion. What are you about,my dear

ch ild ? ” she excl aimed . Emily,told her

,that

she was going to put her th ings into order.

And did you think Emily , that it was necessary

first to reduce them to th is utter and dismal c on~

th skni ?” “YVhy I thoughg . rnannna

, ,

flnn Iwould empty my drawers, and dust them nicely,

ORDER. 271

and then lay my clothes i n smooth , and try to

keep them so”

. Her mother thought she would

be weary long before she finished . But she also

thought she might gain exper ience,wh ich would

be of use to herself and others all the rest. of

her life . She therefore did not make any fur

ther observation,but reminded her that i t was

now the hour of family prayer

Emily,be ing an obed ient ch ild

,left her employ

ment at once . She had been taught,both by p re-e

cept and example,that th is duty ought not to be

neglected foranyth ing . To read a portion of the

HolyWord,and to' address our Heavenly Father

,

in the words which he taught his di smples to use

when they prayed,opens our minds to rece ive

good influences from Him,and makes us t e

member tliat it is fromH im alone,we rece ive al l

the power we have,to do anything . She there

fore chee rfully followed her mother to her father’s

study ; then ate her breakfast , and with a l ight

heart went to school .

When she returned home,

she,almost for

the first t ime in,

her life,

t e-commen'

ced the

work she had left unfinished . She l abored

like a silk-worm'

for several hours,and still

her task was far ”

from being completed . At

272 ORDER .

length she grew so weary that she went to her

mother’s room,look ing very sad .

“ Oh dear '

mother,

” sai d she,

“ I shall never get my things

in order .’

I am afra id that mymind is not in

order .” That is very l ikely,my dear .

” replied

Mrs Ersk ine,with a smile ; for when the mind

is perfectly in order,love to the Lord

,and love

to our ne ighbors , are its rul ing motives . These

cannot be acquired at once,for we have many

selfish feel ings to be removed . It must be done

by l ittle and l ittle .

’ And so it is with everyth ing ;no reformat ion c an be effected in a moment . If

you had begun your work wi th moderation,it

would not have been half as difli c ult. Youshould have taken one drawer today

,and another

tomorrow,and so on

,until you had arranged

them all . You would '

then have avo ided all th is

confusion,and not have felt half as tired and

disconsolate . But I advise you to leave th is

work now ; and p ut your things into a baske

unti l tomorrow

This adv i ce did not much raise Emily’s spirits,

though she was glad to leave the work . She had

so seldom taken the same piece ofwork a second

time,that the task seemed

,

truly formidable . But

when she remembered all the advantages said to

274 ORDER .

cream. For two or three hours the children

were as happy as ch ildren could be ; but as all

pleasures must have an end,so had this the hour

of separation arr ived,and they all went to their

homes .

During her ride,Emily talked much to her

mother of the pleasure she had enjoyed,and said

she should now go to her work the next day with

much less reluctance than she had expected .

Emily rose very early the next morning , and

set about her task with great d il igence . By the

t ime she was summoned to her father’s study ,she had noth ing left in her

’

basket,

‘

but,several

ball s of thread,and sewing silk tangled together ;

and some needles,that for want of care 111

fastening the needle-book,were scattered in the

drawer . These were to be restored to order,

before the work was completed . But Emily had

learned much,in two days: She put her l ittle

basket aside,and cheerfully

‘

joined her parents

in the study .

At noon,when she returned from school

,she

took her basket and sat bes ide her mother,wh ile

she endeavored to put its contents mto exact

order. The needles were soon assorted,accord

ing to their sizes, and placed neatly on the leaves

ORDER . 275

Of her needle-book ; but, oh dear ! the sewing

silk and thread ! It was a tedious business to

disentang le them. Her mother encouraged her

to persevere ; and Emily kept her pat ience .

More than once she laid down her hands in

despair ; but she began with renewed resolution.

Her task was at last completed,and Emily was

v ery happy .

And now,my dear child , said her mother,

I do bel ieve;that

,if you l ive to be awoman

,

you will look back with pleasure , and profit to

the exertion you have been making . You havelearned the d isadvantages of disorder ; and I

trust youm illbe as thoroughly convinced Of the

beauty and convenience of order . But remem

ber that the reformation of bad habits‘

must be a

gradual work . We must not despair because we

c annot overcome all our evils at once . The

world “itselfwas not made in a day .

’ F .

F RENCH CHARAD E .

Mon premier c orromptmortels ;Mon second est l’habitant du c iel

Mon tout est nu fruit, d’un gout agréable,Q ui

,avec le dessert, paroit souventatable.

ANN WH ITE[Continued from No. II. page

MOTHER,do let us go in

,for a moment

,was

said so mtreatingly , that the request could not be

refused . Mary was watering her flowers,and as

Mrs Wh ite passed ln,she said

,HOW very

pretty you look here Your honeysuckle g rowsvery fast ; it will soon form an enti re arch over

y our door .” Ann remained in the garden with

her l ittle friend,look ing at the flowers

,watch ing

the insects,and g iv ing an eloquent account of

the strawberry plant,and the drop of water

wind ing up the whole , by telling Mary that theyshould soon begin to study Natural Philosophy ,wh ich would teach them all abou t clouds and

rainbows . Only think l” exclaimed s he,with

eagerness It 'will tell us how rainbows are

made 1”

Mary was all del ighted attention and she put

in a word, (as she almost always did)expressing

her gratitude to Mrs White for giving her themeans of educat ion The account you have

been giving me of the drop of water,said she

,

“ reminds me of a text of Scripture,which I

never understood until this moment:‘All the

r iver s run into the sea, y et the sea is not full;

278 ANN WHITE .

that I hoped it might prove a useful lesson to

you. As she spoke,she entered her dwell ing

and rece ived her guest with pe rfect civil ity .

She was too s incere to, affect anyth ing like cor

diality , or friendsh ip . Mrs Cross was an i dle,

silly woman,who entirely lost

,

s ight of respecta

bility and cons istency in her eager pursuit after

fashionand gent il ity . Her husband kept a shop

in the vil lage and wh il e he,poor man

,we ighed

out a pound of tea to one,and a pound of sugar

to another,

or with dejected countenance sat

at the shop ~ door,waiting for customers

,his Wife

and daughter would be rid ingabout,with a band

box before them,in pu rsu it of fashions . With

labor and perseverance,worthy of a better cause

,

this lady had made her way into what was called

the first circle,in the neighboring town Of N

and to retain her station in that circle,she was

willing to sacrifice her husband’s/

comfort,and

neglect the education of her children.

When General Russell’s family came to reside

in her vic inity,she resolved upon cultivating an

intimacy with thewealthy family but she delayed

making her first c allfor a long time , because she

was des irous of having her parlor newly papered ;

This being at l ast accompl ished, after a series of

ANN WHITE . 279

difficulties,she made the important visit in due

form ; and expected that i t would be promptly

returned . But in va in she put on her newestdress and most fash ionable turban

,every day

,

for three weeks in succession. Mrs Russell and

her daughter never made the ir appearance .

Being quite out of patience,the lady resolved to

ride over to Mrs Wh ite’s,and inquire if she had

seen nothing of the Russel l family . She beg an.

the conversat i on,by . say ing

,

“ I was quite sur

pr ised,Mrs Wh ite

,that you .were not at the

school examination. You are such a dear loverofchildren

,that I thought you would make -every

exertion to be there .

” It was indeed a disappo intment

,

” repl ied MrsWh ite ; but OldMartha

was so ill,that I was obl iged to stay at home and

nurse her . I think it a duty for parents to attend,

and take an interest in the schodl,for the sake

of the teacher,as well as the ch ildren and to me

i t i s a pos i t i ve pleasure to see so many neat,or

derly young people , allunited together in the

pursu it of knowledge .

” “Well , every one to the irtaste

,

” replied her V i Si ter : For my part , I con

fess it is very xtiresome to sit hOur after hour

,

hear ing a parcel of children dr illed through the ir

lessons . The school.may , do well enough for

280 ANN WHITE .

beginners ; but I hope soon to send my daughter

to a board ing-school,where she c an be taught

accompl ishments and pol iteness . I presume youmean to do the same 1” I c are‘

more for useful

learning than I do for what are generally te rmed

accompl ishments,repl ied Mrs

"

White ; and as

for pol iteness,1

'

th ink my daughter c an learn in

her native v ill age that verv best ki nd,which pro

c eeds from k ind and generous feelings , and a

des i re to make others happy .

”

I must confess,

” rejoinedMrs ’

Cross,

“ that I

am more ambitions for my ch ildren. I acknow

ledge a mother’s'

p itide ini

hav i'

ng my Jane mix

with genteel soci ety ; andv

in order to make her

way , she must,of Course

,have boarding-school

accompl ishments . If you would but tell the

whole truth,I dare say you indulge such des ires

for Ann Mrs White smi led as she answered,

I wish my daughter to have aneducation that

wi ll fit her to be useful in whatever situation it

pleases Prov idence to place her,and that will

render her just and l iberal to all classes of socie

ty . I shal l th ink the ch ief end of education lost,

i f it doesnot lead ‘ her to.

seek the friendsh ip of

the well-informed,the refined

,and

,above all

,

the truly rel igious —let thembelong'

towhat circle

282 ANN WHITE .

her mother’s artific ial flowers . In the kitchen,

the cook,with a face l ike scarlet

,was engaged

in a sharp contest with Robert C ross , about a

pan of'milk . Katy insisted that he had bounced

up against—

li er,as she was carrying the milk

across the room,On purpose to dirty her clean

floor . Robert denied the fact but stood spread

ing the' milk about with his foot

,forming bays ,

gulfs,

’

and rivers , of all s izes imag inable . In

stead Of reproving the rude boy,Mrs Cross

,with

great affectation of d ignity,said

,Robert

,I

wonder you c an stay here listening to so muchvulgar abuse .

” As she turned to - leave‘

the

k itchen,she heard Katy say

,I have been used

to l iving with c iv il people and I should l ike“

to

have my wages and-

qu it .”

Mrs Cross entered the parlor in no good

humor . Having rolled out the mahogany table

into the centre of the r oom,and l ighted the large

l amp,known all over the house by

‘

the name of

the company-l amp, she sat down at the window

to watch for V i s i ters . Presently Jane entered

wi th her satchel of books, and began to look at

her geography lesson. Take those d irty books

out of the room,

” said her mother Howmany

t imes have I\ told you that I would not have my

ANN WHITE . 283

parlor l ittered up with trumpery . Mr Green

says that the scholars must get their lessons at

home,and ask the ir mothers to explain what

they don’t understand,

” repl ied Jane,in a very

petul ant and d isrespectful tone “ Upon myword

,Mr Green has a great deal of imparti

nenc e,

” rejoined her mother Does he suppose

I am’

going to pay him for your school ing, and

be at the trouble of teach ing you myself I shall

do no such thing . Your father has paid himmoney enough to buy you half a dozen new

dresses ; and, after all , I don t see that you learn

anyth ing at his school,but ill manners. Move

your elbow from the table,and take your feet

off my best chairs . If you don’t go to a board

ing-school before long , you will be spoiled forgood soc iety .

” I wish you would coax papa to

sendme,

” repl ied Jane ;“ I am sure that I shall

never learn anything here. Saying this,she

tumbled her books into the satchel,and flung

out of the room.

When she returned,her mother desired her to

go into the store “

and bring some lemons be

cause ifMrsRussell and her daughter came , shewished to have some lemonade to offer them.

I d on’t bel ieve they mean to crime,” said Jane.

284 ANN

What is the use of watching for them all the

time ? Father wont let me have the lemons , ifI ~ go . You send me after so many things

,that

his eyes are as sharp as needles,the minute I

Open the door . He watches every step I take .

Mrs Cross .spent the remainder of the evening

in looking from the window,and l istening for the

sound of wheels . Jane sat at the other window,

chewmg Ind ia-rubber and twisting her handker

chief,until at last

,getting tired and sleepy, she

stole up stairs . See ing a l ight in Katy’s room

,

she entered,and found her asleep , with a greasy

dream-book ly ing open on the broken stand .

Drowsy as she was,Jarie

'

read this miserable

trash half an hour before she retired to rest .

Thus wretchedly were things managed in this

d isorderly family.

The scene at Mrs White’s,that . evening

,was

of a very different descr ipti on. Her old-fash

loued parlor was in the neatest order and

through _ the open windows the honey-suckle andsweet-brier sent in their fragrance . The mother

was busy .With her needle ; at her right hand sat

Ann with her atlas spread open on the table ;and on the left

,George was earnestly engaged

with arithmetic . Presently Mr White entered ;

286 ANN WHITE .

what your father has suffered by not having his

wits about him. But come,give me some sup

per and then I will answer all your questions ,as wel l as I c an. Ann immediately jumped up ,and removed a smooth white napkin, wh ich had

been spread over the tea-table . There stood a

bowl of fresh milk,a plate of brown andofwhite

bread,neatly c ut a few sl ices of excellent ham

and a lump of sweet yellow butter The table

cloth was Without spot,or wrinkle

,and the knife

and fork were bright as silver .

Ah,my daughter ,

” exclaimed Mr White,

here is a supper good enough for an emperor .”

As soon as he had finished this simple repast,

the kind father told his children that he was now

ready to l istento their questions. Fi rst let me

show you th is slate ,” said Ann I promised

Eliz abeth,when she went to bed

,that I would

certainly show it to you . See,she has drawn a

stag:with great branch ing horns . It does look

some_ l ike a stag does n’t it

,father

He certainly has four legs,and a fine scrawl

ing pair of antlers ; and as far as that goes , helooks l ike a stag

,

” repl ied her father,l augh ing

But this. reminds me of a small p icture book of

animals, wh ich I bought for l ittle Liz zy . And,

ANN WHITE , 287

wife,here is a present for you ,

continued he,

placing Mrs Cappe’s Memo irs in her hand .

Mrs Wh ite received the book with'

an affectionate smile

,and thanked her husband for the kind

attention.

After looking at the volume a fewmoments,

she said, Ann, ! here is something that will in

terest you .

'

It is about generosity and self-con

trol and it is all true .

Pray read it aloud,dear mother

,exclaimed

the, children.

Mrs White then read the following extractOn my first arrival at the boarding-school , I

was interrogated by many of the young lad i es,as

to the station of my father, or rather respectingthe figure he made 1n the world . Does your

papa keep a coach ?’ No.

’ How many ser

vants have Four .’ Dear ! only think .

her papa does not keep a coach,and they haveonly four servants .’ My Wardrobe was next ex

amined,and fortunately passed muster pretty

well,until it was discovered that I had no gauze

suit of l inen. How ill natured must be her

mamma was the uni yersalexclamation ‘not

to buy her a gauze suit of linen On the sub-g

ject of personal beauty“

nothing was decidedly

288 ANN WHITE.

said ; and I believe that the want of th is would

have been atoned for,had my father l ived in

splendor,and kept a coach ; but as there was

nothing to throw into the opposite scale,even

this was hinted at ; and I soon found that the

current set very strong against me . It was im

mediately discovered , however , that I had brought

with me a small stock ofmoney ; also of thread ,tape

,needles

,& c . I was instantly beset by a

crowd of l ittle borrowers . One wanted th is arti

cle,and another that ; all promis ing to pay me

in a day or two. At first,I lent them whatever

they desired. But I soon found that the promiseof payment was a mere matter of form ; that it

was the constant practice to pill age in this wayevery new comer ; and I determined to put

' a

stop to it before my l ittle stores were qu ite ex

hansted . On refusing to lend any more , the

cl amor was prod1g 1ous,'

and the exclamation general

,

‘How stingy she must be !’ I felt veryind ignant at this for I had never been thought

covetous . It was,however

,in vain to remon

strate and I determined to wait patiently for anopportunity to convince them how much they

were mistaken. Fortunately,this opportunity

soon occurred . My mother sent me a large

290 THE DRONES or THE nrva.

adrop ofwater was ever lost . George too had hisexperiences to relate and the affectionate

parents listened to both with the most g ood -hu

mored interest . Thus quietly and cheerfully the

evening passed away . Thanks were returned to

Him who g i veth us all things to enjoy ; and the

happy family parted from each other with an

affec tionate “good night .

” ANONJ

THE DRONES OF THE H I VE .

TRANSLATED m om THE t r i ms“ or t au nt s .

A COMPANY of drones were very desirous of

obtaining a reputation for industry . For the

sake of getting up a good character , even the

idlest andmost stup id'

were will ing to make wax

but as the l abor was hard , and they ‘

were igno

rant , they had doubts whether they should obtain

muc h fame by their awkward workmanship .

The true secret of doing things well is to love to

do them and unfortunately the ambit ious drones

did not love u seful emp loyment ; they only loved

the credit to be obta ined by it . In“

this d ilemma,

they resolved to show the ir zeal for the publ ic

good by making a splendid funeral - for an old

THE 1311 0 a or THE mva. 291

bee lately deceased,who had been celebrated

for the pureness ofher honey,and the whiteness

of her wax. The drones conducted the cere

mony with great pomp,and loudly proclaimed

the ir admiration of the ingenious one that was.

They were very proud of their performances,

and thought it highly respectable in themselvesthus to s ing the immortal praises of virtue . A

work ing-bee,who heard their eloquent eulogy

,

asked,Is this all ye c an do

,brethren? If so

,

let me tell you that all your buz z ing is not worth

one drop of the honey,which I make .

”

How many people try to gain reputat i on,by

merely p rai sing the v irtues they are unwill ing to

p ractise.

C ONUND R UMS1 . Why is pay ing one

’

s debts,andmeaning to pay them,

the same thing ?2. Why is a hair-dresser c ruelto some of the alphabet ?3. Why is a lady decorating her fingers, like

,

one in

deep trouble ?

YO UNG NA P O LEON.

THE EmperorNapoleon,by a ser ies of br il l iant

conquest s had extended his dominions‘

over many

of the richest countr ies of Europe ; yet in the

midst of all his pomp and power,he was restless

and unhappy,because he had no ch ildren to

whom he could leave th is r ich inheritance . He

became at one time extremely attached to theinfant son of his brother Lou is

,and it was sup

posed that he would adopt him ; but it pleased

Divine Providence to remove the innocent ch ild

to hea ven,before the temptat ions of the. world

had power to corrupt his l ittle heart .

Th is event d istressed the Emperor exc eed ing

ly and he became more than ever d iscontented

that he had no ch i ld ren of his own. He began

to wish for a separation from his k indLhearted

and amiable wife,the Empress Joseph ine . Afte r

many difficul ties and delays,he was formally

divorced from her,and marr ied Maria Louisa

,

daughter of the Emperor ofAustr ia .

On the 20th ofMarch, the new empress

became the mother of an infant son,to the great

joy of the emperor . The French people l ikewi se

were well p leased at an e vent, wh ich promised to

YOUNG NAPOLE ON . 295

was baptized with water brought from the river

Jordan. Almost all the powers of Europe sent

ambassadors extraord inary to congratul ate the

emperor on the happy event . The cradle , the

candle-c up , and all the other appendages of the

imper ial babe,were as r ich and beautiful as

wealth could procure,or ingenuity devise . He

was forthwith proclaimed K ing of Rome— a

title,wh ich

,s ince the t1me of Tarqu in .the Mag

‘

nific ent,h ad been assumed only by Charle

magne .

The infant k ing might he often seen riding in

the garden of the Tuilerles,in a most beautiful

little carriage,drawn by two mi lk wh ite sheep ,

whose soft. silky wool reached almost to the

ground.

Wherever he appeared,the ! soldiers lowered

the ir arms,and the people shouted

,Long l ige

theKing of Rome !” The innoc entf‘

little crea

ture thu’

s surrounded by allthe pomp and formal

i ty'

of royalty,Was qu ite unconsc ious of his great

d ignity . Like any other babe , he crowed aloud ,when his main l ittle hand first shook his coral

bells,and cried when his k itten ran away from

him. As sOon as he was big enough to perform

llIS part in the pageant,he was dressed in the

YOUNG NAPOLEON .

imper ial uniform and carried to the P lace da

Car r ousel,in the arms of his empress mother .

Here th irty thousand soldiers passed before him,

i

solemnly swear ing to ‘devote themselves to hisserv ice

,and die for him and his"mother . The

young monarch answered the ir oaths and ac cla

mat ions by grac iousl y giving them his royal little

hand to k iss .

Th is impos ing ceremony was all ‘in vain.

The fortunes of Bonaparte suddenly changed .

D isaster followed upon d isaster,and every day

brought an increase Of danger . On the twenty

th ird of January,1814

,Napoleon

'

c alled a meet

ing of all the offi cers of theNational Guard . He

appeared among them with his wife and‘child,

and hav ing announced his determinatlon to place

h imself at the head Of his a rmy, he earnestly

called upon them to protect the sorrowing em

press and her helpless boy , Bonaparte was not

so much beloved in France as he had been,be

cause he’

had often made bad use of his power ;but at th is moment, all his errors were forgotten.

The Officers deeply sympathized with the dis

tress and alarm of the imper ial family , and not a

few of them shed tears .’

Two days after this

scene]

,Bonaparte left Paris, and became the vic

298 YOUNG NAP OLEON .

ed ten thousand for i t . The emperor ordered

the price to be given. When the cooper heardthis

,he insisted upon r eceiving th irty thousand

francs ; then he increased his demand to forty

thousand andwhen even this point was yielded,

he claimed fifty thousand francs . The emperor,

disgusted at h is conduct,excl aimed

,The man

has a mean soul . I wil l not give him anything

for his house ; but ' it‘

shall stand where it is,a

monument to my respect for the laws .”

When the Bourbon troops entered Par is,they

pul led down the unfinished pal ace of _the king of

Rome , and the c

‘

ooper’s hovel

_

fell to ruins . I

wish such might be the fate of every One who

tries to grasp at all themoney he canmake,with

out fairly and honestly consider ing howmuch he

oug ht to make .

When the heir of Napoleonwas carried fromFrance

,he was too y oung to have

/

begun any

th ing l ike a regul ar education but he wasdoubtless old enough to have received very deep

and strong impressions . He

'

early showed an

intense admiration ofmi l itary sk ill ; and this

passion remained with him to the hour of his

death . At the age of seven be“

was allowed to

wear the uniform of a private,and to stand senti

YOUNG NAPOLEON . 299

nelat the door of his grandfather’s apartments .

Whenever a member of the Court passed,he low

ered his arms wi th the utmost grav ity ; but he

always refused to pay th is compl iment to a

woman. When,in reward for his exactness

,he

was advanced to the rank of sergeant he was ex

tremely del ighted. He afterward went through

all the other grades,and learned the dut ies of

each,with the utmost zeal and perseverance .

He probably inheriteda large share of th is pro

pensity from his warl ike father and perhaps the

thirty thousand troops who swore eternal fidel ity

to him in the P lace da C'ar r ousel might have

been assac iated in his infant mind with images

of splendor and power,never to be forgotten.

He was gentle and modest in his department ;

but he ev idently remembered his former g reat

ness . One day , when he was playing with the

imperial family ofAustria,one of the archduked

showed him a little s ilver medal , (ofwh ich numbers had been struck in honor of his birth) and

asked him if he knew whose bust was upon it.

He answered promptly ,“ It is I

,when I was k ing

ofRome .

”The first thing his

‘

tutors attempted

to teach him was a knowledge of the German

l anguage ; this he strongly'

resisted. SO closely

300 YOUNG NAPOLEoN.

w ere h is affections entwined around everything

French,that he seemed to cons ider it an insu lt

to be asked to pronounce a German word. At

l ast,the mild persuasions of his teachers over

came his prej udice and as soon as he gave his

attention to this d ifficult l anguage , he acqu ired

i t with great rapid ity . He was very scrupulou s

about speaking the exact truth . When quitesmall

,he used to pronounce the word v rai with

a solemn movement of his hand,as if he c onsid

ered it most sacred yet he was so sensitive,that

he never repeated the word,after he had been

unintent ionally rid iculed fOr using 1t. Some one

composed the following verses for him to repeat

to his mother on her birth-day ;Au tant que moi

,personne

,ama t hereMaman

,

Ne doit tenir c c jour prospere,Vw i , ne lui dois-je pas le bonheur si touchant,Et s i dons:amon coeur

,de vous nommer

‘

mamere ?

He soon learned the verse,but when he was

told why the werd v rai had been introduced , he

would never again repeat the l ines,or use the

word . He was qu ick in his resentments,but

generous and forg iv ing ; and when he fel t h'

self in the wrong , he was always ready to 11

out his hand , and candidly confess it.

302 YOUNG NAPOLEON.

K ing of Rome was exchanged for that of Duke

ofRe ichstadt . He res ided at Schonbrunn,asso

c iating with none but hi s attendants and instruct

ers . It was deemed,prudent to keep him shut

out from intercourse with the‘world,lest some of

the restless French pol iticians should obtain an

influence over him,and

‘

fill him with hopes of

obta ining the throne ofFrance . His grandfather,

the emperor,was very fond o f him he had

books,

‘horses,and equipage at his c ommand ;

and his sl ightest wish was obeyed . I suppose

many poor people would have env ied the prince

his sol itary grandeur ; but he was far frombeinghappy . The sense of being

’

constantly watched

and guarded destroyed his freedom ; and the

contemplation of what he might have been,had

his'

father’s prosperity cOntinued

,i nc reased the

feverish restlessness of a mind naturally active

and ambitiOus. Among other amusements,the

following method of employ lng his boy ish enern

g i es was devised by M . Coll in,a poet of Vienna .

on the heights,which overlooked .Schiin

brunn,on the rlght of the elegant arcades of La

Gloriette,and at the bottom of a dark avenue of

trees,may be found a spot, altogether shut out

from a viewof Vienna , by deep thickets, and an

YOUNG NAPOLEON . 303

imperv ious mass of wood ; a spot , from wh ich

noth ing c an be viewed save the cheerful but

sol itary aspect of mountain tops , smil ing valleys ,and rugged peaks

,that go on ascend ing and

ascending,until they reach the lofty elevat ion of

the summits of the Scheeberg . Here there is a

hut constructed after the fashion of Switzerland,

or rather of the Tyrolese mountains ; whence i t is

called the Tyrol’s House . In th is rustic abode

and its ne ighborhood there is noth ing to remind

the spectator of the v ic inity of the cap itol . To

th is wild and quiet spot Coll in wou ld often bring

the young Duke . He there told him the story

of Robinson Crusoe . The imaginat ion of the

ch ild warmed as he - l istened . Sol itude and

s ilence completed the i llus ion. He fancied

himself in the desert . Coll in suggested to him

that he should fabricate such utens il s for h imselfas would be necessary if hewere actually obligedto furnish his own subsist ence .

'He acqu i tted

himselfof the task with much hand iness . There

is -(a collection of these th ings placed in the

pav il ion,which sti ll goes by the name of the

House of the Duke de Re ichstadt . The gover

nor and his pupil,by uniting the ir efforts and

their industry , suc ceeded in scooping out a.

304 YOUNG NAPOLEON .

cavern,resembling that described at the abode

of C rusoe,on his desert island .

Dur ing the‘ first y ears of vo ti ng Napoleon

’s

residence at Schonbrunn,his curiosity was all

al ive respecting his father,the c auses of his

fall from power,what had become of him

,61 0 .

These questions were somewhat perplex ing to

his tutors ; for they were’

c ompelled e ither to

acknowledge that Bonaparte . made a dangerous

use of his great influenc e,or else to bl ame his

royal grandfather for Joming with the other

kings of Europe to deprive him of that influence .

At first they tried to avoid‘

the subject,but the

act ive mind of the young prince would by no

means admit of it. At l ength,they asked the

emperor of Austr ia what must be done to satisfy

hi s i nqui s it i ve grandch ild . Tell him the truth

pl ainly ‘ and freely,

” answered the emperor ;“ thus his confidence will be gained}and hisimaginat ion calmed .

”

To the accounts of his father’s battlesflhissuccess

,his grandeur

,and his . reverses

, the boy

l istened with intensity of interest . When all his

questions were answered , he seemed satisfied ;and fromthat time he grew more reserved on

the subject :but the impressions he received


cerning him. Being endowed with great acute

ness of intellect,be perceived the fau lts and

mistakes of his father,but he never during his

whole l ife made them a subject of conversat ion.

His educationwas dec idedly of amil itary cast ;and it was the object of his Aus trian relations to

make h im content with being merely a Germanprince

,and an Officer in the army . As he grew

older,and the energies of his character were

more fully developed,his was watched and

guarded very strictly . His beauty and good

nature made him a favor ite wi th the people ; and

when the royal fami ly appe ared in publ ic he was

always an Object of pecul iar attention In

France,the mere c i rcumstance of his be ing the

son of Napoleon would interest a multitude ofhearts in his favor ; and the re were no doubt

many who earnestly des ired to see him seated

on the throne . The Countess Camerata,daugh

ter of El iz a Bonaparte,and cous in to young

Napoleon,wrote

'

a secret letter,in which she

exerted allher eloquenee to excite his pol itical

ambi tion. One evening she laid wait for him in

d isgu ise and fervently k issed his hand . Whenhis tutor asked the meaning of such conduct ,she repl ied

,with enthusiasm

,Who will refuse

YOUNG NAP OLEON . 307

me the boon of k issing the hand ofmy sovere ign’

s

son. The Austrian court were very des irous

to keep him from such influences , to restrain the

impetuos ity of his character , and prevent his

following in the footsteps of his father To all

outward appearance,they succeeded ; for he

submitted to the ir wishes , and made'

no attempt

to conceal any of hismovements from them.

When the new Revolution occurred in France

he read all the papers and pamphlets on the

subject with the utmost eagerness . He said he

wished his grandfather would permit him to

marc h with his troops to the rel ief of Charles

X . ; but those , whoknew'

him most intimately ,believed that he always cher ished in his inmost

heart the hope Of be ing h imself k ing Of France .

His'

military ambit ion was unbounded .

l

whenhe received the command of a regiment

,he

entered‘

upon his duti es with an ardor which

rap idly undermined his feeble health . He made

no c omplaint,and would never allow that he

was unwell When his voice failed in manosuv r ing his troops , he would go to

' b is room and

hidel

himself from observation,lest his weariness

and faintness should be perceived . His son]

was strong and active , but his body was weak .


He was at l ast compel led to l ie down helpless on

the bed of s ickness . It was thought that a

sojourn in Italy might restore his health ; and

this hope seemed to g ive him new l ife.But he

gradually sunk under his disease,and died-

at

Schonbrunn on the 22d of July,1832. His

mother and grandfather were with h im dur ingthe closing scenes of his life , and watc hed over

him with anx ious affection.

It was remarked by those about him that he

had never been a ch i ld . He was so early

accustomed to homage,and so constantly asso-r

c i atedwith important events,that the thoughtless

gayety of youth was never his port ion}When<he was a very l ittle boy

,his mother once wished

him to sit among the ladies at table ; but he

declined,with the utmost gravity

,saying My

place is among men.

’ Dur ing his short l ife , he

was always reserved and thoughtful beyond his

years ; he alway s seemed to th ink a great deal

more than he expressed . . Th is unnatural and

unhealthy maturity probably wasted his frame ,and destroyed his peace .

In his cradle . young Napoleon bore a strongresemblance to his father ; and when laid in his

c ofiin it once more appeared very striking .

A FEWWORDS ABOUT TURKEY.

FOR one nation to be perfectly k ind and candid

toward other nations,is as important as it is for

an ind ividual to be perfectly just and fair-sminded

toward his neighbor The Americans are ac

c used of be ing vain of the ir country . There is

a great deal of truth'

in th is charge; and'

it is

l ikewise true that this tendency makes them

will ing to speak disparagi i i gly of other nations ,compared with the ir own. Th is is a wrong feelr

ing . We ought to respect what i s good,wher

ever we find it,and rather seek to imitate the

v irtues ofothers,than to

'

exc use faul ts of our own.

We ought to love our country,as the child loves

its mother ; and we shou ld feel deeply grateful to

our Heavenly Father for the great prosperity

with wh ich He has blessed our land ; but in

respecting ourselves,never let us forget

/

to respect

others .

A highly interestmg book has lately been pub

lished inNewYork,called SketchesOfTurkey

,

in 1831 and’32

,by an Amer ican. We are apt

to say as wi cked as a Turk,

”as c r uelas a

Tur k,& c . but the author of th is book resided

in Turkey nearly a year,andhe gives an account

TURKEY. 31 1

O f the habits andmanners of that country , which

in many respects may well make us blush for our

own. It is true that many bad th ings are done .

For instance,when an officer of government

dies,all his property is taken by the Sultan

,who

allows the family merely enough for the ir main

tenanc e. Frequent fires occur,in consequence

of the almost stup id ind ifference of the people .

Every Turk,except the Sultan himself

,smokes

the chibook night andday , and his fire is knocked

out without the least care . If the floor is matted,

the straw .mater ial nour ishes the flame ; and if

not covered , the joints between the planks are

g enerally open enough to receive a coal of fire,

and at midnight the family are awakened by the

blaze of the ir dwell ing . I have frequently ob

ser ved coopers , cab inet-makers , and other mec hanic s , smoking the ir chibooks, and knock ing

o ut the ~ embers among the shavings and other

c ombustible materials , with all the ind ifferencewhich may be supposed to denote an every-day

occurrence .

Speaking of the enti re ignorance which per

vades every branch ! of the mechanic arts,the

writer.says I do not think that I ever saw a

s traight wall , alevelfloor,or a true perpendicul ar

,

312 TURKEY.

in any house during my res idence in Turkey .

The chief arch itects are Armenians,who usually

build by contract,and erriploy chiefly the wretch

ed Bulgarians as day l aborers . These simple

hearted and honest creatures are said to labor

under the same sort of confusion of ideas usually

imputed to the Ir ish ; and whatever blunders

they may commit, their employers are too in

dolent or indulgent to rect ify .

”

In all these,and in some other particul ars

,

Ame ricans have cause to rejo ice at their superior

knowledge and freedom. I will now speak of

things inwh ich i t would be well for us,and all

the civ il ized world,to imitate the Turks .

Concerning the ir honesty,the writer says

,

The Bazar of Constantinople,as eve ry one

knows,is a collection of shops where goods are

sold by reta i l ; i t covers several acres , and c on

tains numerous streets crossing each other inevery d irection. Each shop is a l ittle stall

,about

ten or twelve feet' square , hung round with the

v arious articles exposed for sale l ike the shops

of Pompeia , they are entirely open in front , and

are closed at night by hanging shutters,which

serve as an awning during the day . As you

traverse them,ast onishment is raised at their ap

314 TURKEY.

Returning home this evening at a l ate hour,

I observed many persons asleep on mats,in the

open air,before their respective shops , which

were lit up , and apparently ready to receive c us

tomers.

‘This affords a pleasing evidence of thegood faith and honesty of the people . I have

noticed a simil ar c i rcumstance in the baz ars and

shops of the metropol i s . In these places,during

the day,i f the shopman wishes to step out

,or to

indu lge h imself in a nap , he ties a string across

the door,or throws a cloth over a few articles

near the street,and

_ this signifies that the shop

is shut,a hint which is uni versally understood

and respected . When a piece of money is putinto the hands of a Turk ish dealer to change

,

he returns the whole amount and leaves it to the

purchaser tO ‘

deduc t the price Of the article .

When it is recollected that the money of th is

empire - is counterfeited to a great extent,the

honesty of th is procedure is apparent ; henot onlyconfides in your good faith , but exhibits his own

in no small degree .

~ The Armenian,

'

Greek,

Persian,and Jewish shopkeepers do not hesitate

to ask double the price they mean to take ; and

the Turk i s fast fall ing into the same practice .

I inqu i red of a Turk , from whom I had made

TURKEY. 315

severalpurchases,why he had adopted the unfair

practices of his neighbors ? He repl ied that

they informed him the Franks” were so much in

the hab it of beating down the p rice,that i f he

immediately named the lowest sum to them,he

should never be,able to d ispose of his goods ;

and find ing this to be really the case,he had

been obliged to adopt the ir customs . In general,

however,it is safer to deal with .the Turk than

with his ne ighbors of other ~ nations .

”

Th is is one among many pa inful proofs that

people cannot be d ishonest themselves,without

caus ing d ishonesty in others . I hope boys,who

read this,will try to be influenced by itwhen they

become men. Money never brings enjdymentunl ess i t is fairly obtained

,and generously used .

Of what value are r iches,if they make the heart

anxious,discontented

,and susp icious ? And this

always is the casewhere mo’hey i s made in a

dishonest way , and hoarded for selfish purposes .The following anecdote by the American trav

eller teaches a beautiful lesson On the morn

ing after our excursion a young Turk called to

inqu i re whether I had not l ost a game-bag on the

The name which the Turks giv e to the inhabitants ofChristian countries .

316 TURKEY.

previous day . I had,in fact

,very carelessly left

i t on the shore of the Bl ack Sea,and was ex

pressing my regret for its loss , when my worthy

hostess,although a Greek herself

,assured me

that it wou ld undoubtedly be restored,if it should

be found by a Turk . The young man who

found it,immediately inquired for the owner , and

was told that it probably belonged to the Americans

,for such ' persons had been seen in the

neighborhood . Upon this hint he travelled more

than twenty miles to the American pal ace,and

was d irected by some of_the domestics to my

lodg ings . I found the contents of the bag nu

touched . The young man was modestly retiri ng

when I called him back to accept some c ompen

sation for so much voluntary trouble .

”

Concern-ing kindness to animal s , the writer

makes the following remarks Thewaters of the

Bosphorus were covered by myriads of sea-fowl,

which,as they are undisturbed by the Turk s

,ex

hibited no s igns of fear at our approach . Indeed,

they were so ent i rely free from alarm,that they

woul d merely move out of the reach of the oars,

without r ising x

from the water . One reason whythese birds are not disturbed is probably because

they perform a usefulpart as scavengers,in re

318 TURKEY.

their service,who careful ly abstainfrom drinking

,

when they are about to transact business with

the officers ofgovernment,lest their breath should

reveal the fact .”

In another pl ace,he remarks ; The difficul ty

of procuring even a gl ass of l ight wine was a

pleasing evidence of the temperance of the Turks,

although they have been exposed to the c on

tag ious neighborhood of more pol ished nations

for four hundred years . It exc ited a feel ing of

regret that mill ions of gal lons of New Englandrum are sent out from our own- country to corrupt

the most temperate people on the face of the

globe . The Turks may indeed be said to hold

the same tene ts with the Christian sect of aqua

r ians,which flour ished 200 years after Christ

,

and whose princ iples are now attempted to be

restored by Temperance Societies among Chris

t ians of the present day .

”

During an excurs ion into the country,the

travellers called at a lodge kept by an elderly

Turk,who suppl ied p ipes and coffee to his guests

for a very trifling gratu ity . They asked for

wine . HonestMehemet repl ied that he keptnothing of the kind ; add ing that he saw no

difference in criminal ity between selling wine

TURKEY 319

and drinking it . He inquired if i t were true

that the Americans sent out miss ionar ies to

convert the Turks,in sh ips laden with wine and

ardent spirits .”

It has been generally supposed that the Turks

wh ile they rel igiously abstained from wine and

stimul ating l iquors,had a universal custom of

intoxicating themselves with Opium. Concern

ing th is the wr iter remarks ; WVe took our seats

in one of the shops,which was the best filled ,

and appeared to be the most fash ionable place Of

resort ; and after d iscussing the u sual p ipe and

coffee,we called for the usual potion of opium.

The man informed us that the place had once

been famous for . opium-eaters,and that some of

the shops still vended the drug but the practice

had become d isreputable,and was now rarely

followed . He would supply us with a dose ifroma neighboring establ ishment

,if we ins i sted upon

i t ; but for the reputation of his establ ishment,

he should ins ist upon our quitting his shop , as

soon as we ! had taken it. We afterward fre

quently'

repeated our vis its to this pl ace,with the

same result. Among all the customers , we could

detect no one who appeared to be,

under the

influence of opium. We were compelled to

TURKEY.

nelleva (although opium is still occasionally used)that if the practice ever did exist to the extent

described by travellers,it has now ceased to be

a national v ice .

”

Of the cleanl iness of the Turks their constant

and frequent ablutions are a proof. This custom

was enjoined upon them by their prophet,and

no person enters a p l ace of worship without

h aving first purified themselves in the bath .

These continued ablutions are not taken in a

l iteral sense alone,but are appl ied to c leansing

the hear t from all injustice,wickednes s

,and

V IOIOUS i ncl inat i ons .

In so warm a country,where water is almost

the only drink,it of course becomes very v alna

ble. The writer says: It is impossible to travel

anywhere in the vicinity ofC onstantinople with

out being struck with the great pains taken by

the Turks to treasure up every l ittle rill,or the

minutest trick le from the face Of the rocks . In

pass ing through s equestered dells,the traveller

frequently comes suddenly upon one of their

sculptu red marble fountains,which adds just

enough of ornament to embellish the rural scene .

They are often decorated with inscr iptions

setting forth the greatness and goodness of

322 TURKEY.

y ears . The generalcharacter of the monumental

inscriptions is extremely simple . They consist

of the name of the deceased,his occupation

,or

the ofli c es which he filled,and conclude by

recommending his soul to the only l iving and

true God . Panegyric,or even a simple notice

of the qual ities of the deceased,is never dreamed

of. These people consider it a mortal sin to tell

a falsehood in conversation,much less to per

p etuate one on marble.

There is one l ittle circumstance connect

ed with’

these tombstones,which d isplays an

amiable trait of character . On the upper corner

of each stone are two small c aviti es,u sually filled

with water . The intention is to supply a drink

to the thirsty b irds,thus inducing them~ to take

up their residence in the neighborhood , and by

their songs give additional cheerfulness to the

spot . The Turks,and other oriental s

,have the

same custom in common with the Armenians .

NEW BOOKS.

ALLEN T i cKNOR have published a very neat volumefor c hildren from eight to ten years old, c alled The

Child’

s flnnual. It contains a g ood many well-exec uted

wood engrav ings . The articles,partly selec ted and partly

or iginal, are generally very good and entertaining . It

willform a very pretty and ac c eptable present for the

NewYear .

The same publishers hav e lately i ssued two bookswhich are calc ulated to be v ery useful in families and

schools . They deserve more attention than the general

i ty of books now prepared for c hildren ; for they contain

a great dealof information,and i t appears to have been

judic iously and carefully c ollec ted. One of these volumesis called TheBook of Commer ce. It g ives a history of the

various commoditi es exchanged by different nations of the

earth his'tory of trade ; banks, c ustom-houses,& c .

The other is entitled,Scenes of Wealth, inflmer i ca and

treats of the numerous sources of wealth throughout thisvast c ontinent ; from wood

,lumber, and c oal

,to gold,

pearls,and diamonds .

These books are i llustrated by numerous and good

engravings.

NO TE .

BYac c ident, Emma, was wr i tten instead of Ag nes, and

flg nes instead of Emma,page 197 of the last number of

theMiscellany . See the 14th and l6th line from bottomof the page. It can be neatly c orrec ted with a sharppenc il.

IND EX T o V O L . v

The Dutch FamilyThe L ittle Swiss PeasantheWeek’s ProbationAnswer to Charade, the.

To Frances, with’ a bunch ofWild Flowers

AnswerConundrums—CharadeMar ia’s V isitThe Deaf and Dumb, & c

Kindness Of the Africans ,Answers to Conundrums and

Charade,To my Sister .Charade—Riddle,TheWeek’s Probation,The Young Sc ioto’s Farewell

to his Home,

CONTENTS

A Funny Adventure 219

The llay ofKings 223

Anecdotes ofMr John Frost 833

S ponge .236

West Point 237

The Week 8 Probation 246

Charley ’s Hi ding-place 254

Riddle 256

TheMoors 257

CONTENTS OF NO . I .

O

1

23

25

30

31

31

82

88

65

The pri nting PressThe Fi re FlySwitz erlandInfluence ofKindnessAWalk on the Sea-shoreThe Two GuidesAerolites, orMeteoric StonesAnAfrican JudgeNewBooks.

OF NO . 1 1 .

The Brahmin Bull,

AnnWhi te,TheHarvestMouse,Conundrums ,The Dove,The Twins,Anecdotes of Bi rds

,

OF NO. III .

The ClosingYearOrder

French CharadeAnnWhiteThe Drones of the HiveCor undrumsYoung NapoleonA fewwords about TurkeyNew Books

Juvenile Miscellany. Vol. V. No. I. ,September and October. The ...

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