fulfill . II SC ill fL
B. F. SCHWEIER,
THE CONSTITUTION THE UNION AND THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAWS.
Editor and Proprietor.
VOL. XXVIII.
MIFFLINTOWN, JUNIATA COUNTY, PENNA., JANUARY 2S, 1S74.
NO. 4.
Poetr-.
Longfellow.
Pvet of the nuj keye,
Elch are all thy BtMltl '.
Sot for serf alone nr king
Is the message thoo. doei Lruig ;
Not for Met and not f. clu,
Bat for aalversal iumu.
Worthy thoa to w;a the faaie
1 Lit h&j gathered ruund Ifey um.
FVet of the nlDDf Uf.,
Kaught of discord, eavy, strife,
Harshly breikinr ttiruota thy Uj,
Star the moslc of tby gave.
Like tho tream. Id tranquil pvaer,
Iay by day and knur by hrnr.
Flows thy gentle life along .
Sweeter tuaa thy aweeteit a-itij.
Poet of the silvery locke.
Time the thoughtless graybearj wcks.
Bat In reference bend hit head
Where the great and noble tiead.
Men, too, low and reverent,
ii.se the years eo wisely pal,
Each the life that thou it lire.
6neh the homage we would glee
Poet of the kindly heart.
Better thaa the classic art
That the Mase has deigned to lead
livery page thy band Las penned.
Is the love which thoa hast taught.
By each tender word and thungbt,
Sprang front other hearts, to twin.
Hoand that loving heart uf thine.
P?t of the goldea tonae.
Mill sing on as tboa hast snog.
Through the future as the past.
fcver sweeter to the last !
re the snow snail 111 iLy pat!'..
Bring hjsns many Aftermaths ;
Rtill, as thoa hast been so l-in,
be our Chryaostom of wong '
I I i eel J mii j".
Australian Floods.
Floods generally follow droughts. On
the coast,- the more mountainous the
eonntry the more rarely are these ex
tremes felt ; bat no part of the country
is free from their visits. It is iu the
interior, however, that they have their
home, and from that etroDghold the
forces which call the floods forth rule
supreme, their power declining as they
approach that of tho ocean. Ilere, in
the depression of the great plain, there
is most probably only one long drought,
or one long wet season ; no seasons of a
year, but years of a season. Wet sea
sons, like droughts, may last years ; for
the seas of shallow wat;r, the innumer
able lakes and marshes which some ex
plorers in wet seasons have found north
f Lake Eyre, may be years in evapor
ating, as frequent condensation mast
take place bv the cold Mmthern winds.
And this milder inland climate will tend
to mollify that of neighboring regions.
Hut these two extremes are overpower
ing ; they make that interior almost
uninhabit'able, and they rule the char
acter of the country, the produce, the
people, and the history of the land.
The desolation of a drought is not
less complete than that of a flood, and
it perhaps has more effect uKn the
survivors. For years these droughts
gather in force ; they multiply their
action before they are broken by the
floods, and their termination is in a
melancholy, awful landscape. For days
and months the earth has been hot,
parched.and cracked ; for months the
waters nave ceased to flow, the trees
have lived, but not grown, and the sky
has been cloudless. The never-green
forest is browner, sadder, and still, in
the oppressive air ; the plains are bare
and dusty ; the waterMig-plaees filled
with dead ; and the whole scene quivers
before the eye by the great radiation of
its heat. Daily "the euu rises in a hazy
sky, sails in a white heat through a
cloudless course, and sets, a round, red
ball of fire, on the edge of a copper
dome. A 6ulleu, dewless night follows
the dreaded day. The leaves of the
forest, and the surviving grass of the
rield, glisten like blades of steel in the
glare of the mighty sun ; there is no
green thing, nor sound of life from bird
or beast, or tree, in the great noonday
heat. At length clonds mysteriously
gather dcily they gather, and disap
pear at night at last they form dense,
low masses, thunder breaks, and violent
storms of wind sweep the plain ; no
rain. Again and again these storms
break before the longed-for rains comes;
and with it comes flood. Perhaps the
Tain, filling the northern streams first,
floods the southern water-channels be
fore a cloud is in their sky. But with
the floods destruction to lingering life,
no less than hope to withering vegeta
tion, is brought down. Many a settler
has been ruined by droughts ; but many
a flock which survived that ordeal has
ben silently, hopelessly, swallowe3 by
the flood. lianken "Dominion of
Australia."
A. I-Ofct .Vote.
Aa extraordinary affair happened
about the year 171 i. Oii? of the Direc
tors, a very rich man, had occasion for
3G,0u0 of' the Bank of England, which
he was to pay as the price of aa estate
he had just bought. To facilitate the
matter he carried the sum with him to
the bank, and obtained for it bank
note. Oa his return home he was sud
denly called out upon particular busi
ness"; he threw the note earelesly oa
the chimney, but when he came back a
few minutes afterward, to lock it np, it
was not to bo found. No one had en
tered the room ; he could not, therefore,
suspect any per.con. At last, after much
ineffectual search, he was persuaded
that it had fallen from the chimney into
the fire. The Director went to acquaint
his colleagues with the misfortune that
Lad happened to lam ; and as he was
known to be a perfectly honorable man,
lie was readily believed. It was ouly
nbont twenty-four hours from the time
that he had deposited the money ; they
thought, therefore, that it would be
bard to refuse this request for a second
bill. He received it upon giving an
obligation to restore the first bill, if it
diould ever be found, or pay the money
himself, if it should be presented by
cny stranger. About thirty years after
ward (the Director having long been
dead, and his heirs in possession of his
fortune), an unknown person presented
the lost bill at the bank, and demanded
payment. It was in Tain that they
mentioned to this person the transac
tion by which that bill was annulled ;
be would not listen to it. He maintained
that it came to him from abroad, and
insisted npon immediate payment. The
note was payable to bearer, and the
30,000 were paid him. Ttie heirs of
th Director would not listen to any
demands of restitution, and the bank
was obliged to sustain the loss. It was
discovered afterward that an architect
having purchased the Director's house,
taking it down, in order to build an
other npon the same spot, had found
the note in a crevice of the chimney,
and made his discovery an engine for
robbing the bank. Old and A'tw.
Agassiz was twice married. Eis seo
tnd wife was Miss Lizzie Cary.
A STItAXGE STORJ',
It is possible that some readers may
be fond of ghost stories, and therefore
I relate for their benefit the following
legend about a certain London house.
For obvious reasons I suppress the
names of persons and exact localities,
and 1 further desire it to be understood
that I do not hold myself responsible
for the accurate truth of all the details
of the story ; I need only add that the
events are to be taken as having oc
curred some years ago.
Some yearn ago, then, a gentleman
whom we will call Colonel Sjmerville,
was desirous of buying a house in the
west end of the town, and passing one
day, through a well-known square, he
observed a honse to be sold, which
seemed to him, as far as outside ap
pearances and situation were concerned,
to be the very thing he wanted. The
printed bill referred him to a firm of
estate agents in the city, and to them
he at once went, though he could not
help entertaining a misgiving that the
price would be exorbitantly high and
beyond his means. No harm, however,
could be done by simple inquiry. He
was agreeably astonished to find that
that the sum demanded was only four
thousand pounds. Not being a com
mercial man, he could not help express
ing his astonishment at the small sum
demanded, and naively inquired if the
mansion was very much out of repair.
The representative of the firm unhesi
tatingly replied that the house was in
very good repair, and would not require
more than the usual outlay upon deco
ration. The colonel pressed his in
quiries, and, as he seemed to be a likely
and desirable purchaser, he was soon
informed of the circumstances ander
which the house in question was to be
sold. It had belonged to a qncer old
gentleman who lived in Clerkenwell,
and who had died intestate, and the
sale was ordered by his next of kin, who
had been found with some dillieultv.
This old gentleman hal died, strangely
enough, in the very act of drawing np
his will. He had just penned the words
"And I desire that my house in
Square should be " when some kind
of a fit seized him, aud he was discov
ered the next morning by his house
keefier dead iu his chair. Now the next
of kin was found in Australia, or some
remote colonv, and was anxious to
realize tho property as quickly as pos-!
si bio. The house in Square had !
been uninhabited for years. There was
not a scrap of furniture in it ; but it
had been scrupulously cared for and !
kept clean by an elderly deaf woman, I
who did not live in it, but nsed to go to
it every morning and spend almost all j
day there, and preserved it in sueh a j
condition that the owner might have
furnished it at any time, and come to ;
live there without experiencing any i
sense of discomfort which would ordi-1
narily arise from residing in a house
which had not been inhabited for a long :
time It was well known, I may add,
that the elderly care-taker never fclept ;
there. The Colonel went to vieav the :
house. He found that he had not been i
deceived by external appearances, or by ;
the description of the accommodation ;
detailed by the agent ; it was, in short, i
just such a house as he and his wife
wanted for a town residence, aud in duo -course
the purchase was completed. As '
he was in no particular hurry to enter, j
and as Mrs. Somerville happened to be j
Hnmnll At St. in w& I 1, 1 . I r 1 1 11 O ,1 i 1 nl !
UUWru .111-1 I'WILll 11111 . 1 111 t. , hi. i ,
able to come to London to superintend ;
the furnishing, he contented himself,
with preparing a bedroom for his own ;
nse on the first floor, and another for ;
his valet on the floor above. He retained ,
the services of the elderly deaf woman, i
who appeared to be grateful for his
consideration, as sli9 alleged that the !
- 1- : 1 t 1 . I. T .
1'a V Biiu rccrncu jur utrr uuuuio was
almost all that sue had to live on. ine
house became the property of the
Colonel at Midsummer 1S5-. Towards
the end of July the rooms mentioned j
were furnished in a temporary manner
for the accommodation of the Colonel, j
who at that time was frequently called
to town on busiuess, but it was not till '
the first week in August that Colonel j
Somerville, accompanied by a valet who
had been in his service for about two
years, actually eutered as a resident. !
But in that house he only remained one
night and he never slert there aguin.
He arrived in town abont mid-day, on
the Wednesday in the first week in j
August. The day was oppressively j
gloomy and dull in the conntry, and all i
London seemed to be seething in a ;
sullen heat. He went with his valet j
straight to his new house in Square.
The cabman took the fare offered to
him without grumbling, observing (as j
he glanced somewhat suspiciously at '
the house), "This is the first time as 1 '.
ever drove a gentleman, nor a lady
neither, to this here 'ouse,'' and he went ,
away as quickly as he could. j
Colonel Somervi'le took no notice of j
the remark at the time, though it came
vividly to Lis recollection afterwards.
Having deposited his luggage, and
seen that his room looked tolerably
comfoitpble, he told his servant that he
intended to dine at his club and should
be home about eleven. The elderly
deaf woman, I should eay, wus in at
tendance. Well, the Colonel transacted his busi
ness, dined at his club with a friend,
and returned to his house shortly after
11 o'clock. His servant, a smart, active
young fellow, opened the door for him,
showed him to his room, aHked for his
orders for the morning, and, having re
ceived them, retired to his room above.
It was hot in the streets as Colonel
Somerville drove home ; it was hotter
still in his bedroom, yet he felt scarcely
any inclination to sleep. Another cigar,
he thought, would soothe hira into
somnolency, so he accordingly lit one,
and tried to amnse himself by consider
ing how he should furnish his new
house, having due regard to the exigen
cies of London gas aud atmosphere.
His cigar finished, he undressed lei
surely and got into led ; the wind, such
as there was, came from the south, and
he heard the great clock of Westminster
strike twelve. By-and-by he heard the
quarter, and then the half hour, and
then he fell off into dose from which
he was awakened by repented knocks at
his door. He called out "Who's there?"
but the answer was unintelligible,
thongh he heard voice in reply. He
hastily lit the candla, and opened the
door. In the passage he found his
servant half dressed looking frightfully
pale, and shivering violently from head
to foot.
"Why, Warren, what on earth is the
matter 7" he exclaimed ; "are you ill ?"
"I don't quite know what is the mat
ter," was the reply. "Please sir, may I
come ?"
"Certainly," said the Colonel, who
was one of the kindest of human beings;
"come in Warren, yon rau3t be ilL"
The man entered shaking as thongh
an ague had seized him and the Colonel
hastily took his flask from his dressing
bag and gave him some strong brandy
and water. This seemed to do Warren
good, and then his master asked him
again what was the matter.
"I don't rightly know, sir," he an
swered. "I went to bed all right and
went very sound asleep. But I had a
bad dream. I thonght a pale-faced man
came into my room, although I knew I
had locked the door, and he stood be
side my bed, looking for all the world,
sir, as if he would like to eat me ; and
then the air in the room became so op
pressive that it seemed to weigh npon
my face and head, and then this terrible
shivering came over me as if I was lying
out of doors in a bitter front, thongh I
knew at the same time how hot it was."
"Incipient fever," said the Colonel,
"let me feel your pulse."
"Strange," he muttered, after a min
ute or two. "Have yon ever had
malarial fever, intermittent or that sort
of thing?"
"No, sir ; never that I am aware of."
"But vet you must be ilL Shall I go
and fetcn a doctor?"
"Oh no, thank yon sir. 1 feel so
much better now."
"Well, then, Warren, I think you had
better go back to bed again."
"The man became pale again in
stantly, and another attack of shivering
seized' him, and he exclaimed almost in
agony.
"Oh, no, sir. not to that room ! I feel
certain that I should see that white
faced man again, and feel that weight
upon my face and head. Oh, sir, do
! inA lin nnnn the floor."
The Colonel looked gravely at War-
ren. He had, in India, seen a good deal
of delirium tremens, and he entertained
a very strong suspicion that this was
the real causa of Warren's stransw be-
havior : and vet the man had been in
his service some time and he had never
any reason to suppose that he was not
thoroughly temperate and sober. Ho
he said, "Well, you can take this
blanket, and lie down npon the floor, or
sit np in a chair as you please. I expect
you will be heartily ashamed of yourself
to-morrow morning. Warren.
"I think not, sir; I shall only be
most grateful to you."
So Warren rolled himself in the
bltnket, and Colonel Somerville put
out the candle and got into bed again
and tried to go to sleep.
His efforts were in vain. He knew
himself to be provokingly wide awake,
and though he conn ted numberless
sheep going through a gate, and resorted
to all those devices which are popularly
supposed to encourage sleep, he re
mained as wide awake as ever he had
been in his life.
Everybody knows how preturnaturally
acute the senses are when after mid
night they positively refuse to be lulled
to slumber ; and the Colonel felt as
terribly on the alert as he had felt
sometimes in the Indian mutiny. War
ren had quite got over his bad dreams
and indisposition, and snored in the
most comfortable manner.
Suddenly some noise within the
house made the Colonel start np in his
bed and listen attentively. Yes there
could be no doubt about it ! there was
the sound of a stealthy footfall npon
the stairs. He hastily lit his candle
again, and his gaze was turned toward
the door, which he had locked after it
was settled arren should remain, lie
saw the handle move.
In a flash of thought he asked himself
what this could be. London thieves
wonld never dream of running the risk
of entering a house in which there was
absolutely nothing to steal. To physi
cal fear Colonel Somerville was a
stranger, and so he at once snatched np
the short, heavy poker from the fire
place, and without waiting to arouse
his servant, whom he saw was sleeping
heavily, he went quietly to the door,
unlocked and opened it suddenly, pre
prepared to capture the intruder. But
the passage outside was vacant and
silent
Being a man of more than ordinary
strength, and thoroughly accustomed
to danger he did not hesitate about
continuing his search. There were only
two other rooms npon this floor, these
he entered, and, as they were destitute
of furniture, a glance was sufficient to
show him that there was no one there.
He went up stairs, carefully examined
Warren's room ; then he went down
stairs, walked through the drawing
room, dining-room and study, then into
the offices, but he encountered nobody.
Then he proceeded to examine the
doors and windows of the basement,
and satisfied himself that nobody could
have entered there. His examination
of the lower part of the house occupied
him about a quarter of an honr, and
then he arrived at the conclusion he
had been the victim of his own imagina
tion. Then he yawned and began to
think he felt really sleepy, so he as
cended from the offices, thinking that
he should get a few hours rest at last.
Just as he put his foot npon the first
step of the stairs leading from the hall,
something glittered from the floor. He
stooped down to see what it was, and
he picked up what appeared to be a
needle of about four times the ordinary
length with a tiny steel button at the
end. He examined it curiously, for he
did not remember to have seen such an
implement before. The point he re
marked, appearod to be slightly tar
nished. With this, the sole result of
his search he returned to his bed-room.
He entered and locked the door after
him, and was about to throw of his
dressing gown, when to his intense
astonishment he found that Warren,
whom he had left sleeping soundly, was
gone.
He opened the door again and called
loudly. No answer. He hurried up
stairs to his servant's room no trace of
hiin there ; indeed no trace of him any
where, and Colonel Somerville never
saw or heard of James Warren again.
He had no reason to suppose that there
was any motive for his mysterious dis
appearance, for he had not robbed or
defrauded his master in any way what
ever. The next day the police examined
the house thoroughly but nothing of
importance transpired. Need I add
that Colonel Somerville's new house
was up again for sale immediately.
Three facts remain to be recorded :
First, the strange-looking needle which
the Colonel found was subjected to as tb' gh his own had received a oi
chemical inspection, and the tarnishes j plonia for righteousness (which every
nnnn tliA noil it vera fonnd to be human i bodv else knows they haven't, and for
blood. Secondly, when the house had
been for sale about six weeks. Colonel
Somerville received a letter from the
agents, announcing that the house was
sold for the same amount that he gave
for it The Colonel being a man oi 1 has neither Doys or gins oi ner own,
strict honor thought himself in duty j but her big warm heart takes in all
bound to make the purchaser aware of those of her neighbors. She sympa
all that had occurred and hurried np ! thizes with your perplexities and tron
to town to the agents for the purpose of j blea, and after having made both you
procuring the name and address of this i and your boys fall in love with her, ends
person. A" mat ine agents ootuu m-
form him was that the purchaser waa a
gentleman named Williams and ap-
peared to be an American. He gave a
cheque npon a well-known bank for the
amount and it was duly honored. The
only peculiarity about Mr. Williams
was that he had a remarkable pale face.
Thirdly, the honse has never been since
pnt np for sale, bat it remains, to all
appearances, untenanted, though I un
derstand the deaf old woman is still the
care-taker.
To the lovew of mystery, I commend
this story. London Society.
The Pleasures of the Dull.
Tormented by the pains of thinking,
I have often envied the placid peace of
those who cannot think at all. How
delightful it mnst be, I have said to
myself, to be able to hold the most
utterly contradictory views on all
things, divine and human, without the
faintest suspicion as to their inconsist
ency, or any loeical horror of inconsist
ency itself I Women, with occasional
exceptions, are not much troubled by
such inconsistencies. Are they, there
fore, less happy than men ? How sooth
ing it must be to be hopelessly incapable
of syllogisms 1 What pangs is not a
mind spared that refuses to admit that
if A is B, and C is A, therefore C is also
B ! What admirable wives and mothers
and daughters toere are, and what
praiseworthy country parsons too, to
whom all this bepnzzlement about A,
B, and C, is as unintelligible as a con
jurer s gibbensn j supposing it were
suddenly proved that all our astrono
mers are wrong, and that the sun really
roes round the earth, what horrible
agonies should we thinking people en-
I fltira wlm hpliavA in mnilipmaHM on1
the multiplication-table, and what a
i hideous skepticism would darken the
rest of our lives ! Yet the unthinking
multitude would be unmoved by a single
painful thonght, and would dress, dine.
digest, and sleep as unconcernedly as
u soperuieus uuu .tewiou uau never
existed.
Then, again, there is that enviable
capacity for enjoying many things which
in my unfortunate state of culture. I do
! detest. I never walk through an old
j house, filled with eighteenth-century
furniture, without envying the simpli
city and credulity of my ancestors.
How easily must that generation have
been pleased which saw beauty in those
spindle-legged chairs and tables, and
which could plaster up a Gothic roof or
screen, and paint some venerable oak
carving a pale-blue color, and find itself
refreshed by the effect 1 There are
limits, indeed, to one's envy of the non-!
culture I will net call it the barbarism i
of the past. By no possible effort of
sympathy can I wish to feel as those
felt who delighted to contemplate King
George IV., in his tight coat and silk
stockings, sitting npon his royal sofa,
with arm outstretched, as depicted by
Sir Thomas Lawrence.
As to the amount of happiness con
nected with the mutabilities of ladies'
dress, on the other hand, my thoughts
are much exercised. Does it, or does it i
not, add to the enjoyment of ones
whole life to be able to be equally de
lighted with a mass of false hair of
reddish hue at the back of one's head,
and a mass of false hair, made white
with powder, on the top of one's head,
and a head without any false hair at all?
Take the whole amount of rapture
which one has ever experienced from
the contemplation of the Venus of Milo,
and consider whether it is equal, ic the
long-run, to the daily self-complacency
of the simple soul that is conscious of
being always clothed as fashion de
mands, whether fashion prescribes four-and-twenty
inches or three yards as the
diameter of her gown. I go, perhaps,
to a gayly-dressed evening gathering,
where every woman, whether old or
young, is dtcolletce, in varying degrees
of exposure. hat necks do 1 see ! !
What shoulders ! What complexions 1 1
Yoa are not those smiling creatures ;
t .1 I
uuyyjft nuuoe Dftina axe as ucwij aa
possible the same color as their dresses ?
Is the enjoyment of that amiable female
marred by the thonght that she has
clothed herself in a hue which brings
out most forcibly the sad fact that time
is beginning its ravages npon her fare
and arms ? And are women generally
to be pitied because they are for the
most part unaware of the fact that good
looking arms are cot common, and that
arms which are not good-looking had !
better be encased in some pleasant- j
looking sleeves than paraded before the
public gaze ? These are difficult ques- j
tions for him to settle who speculates
on the advantages of the culture of to
day. Cornhill. ;
A Word Tor the Bojs.
1 was always used to boys and their
rough ways, for all my cousins and
other connexions invariably were boys.
Consequently, when Grandma is at her
wit's end ; when Grandpa glowers over
his spectacles at " the little rascals ;"
when Bridget fumes and frets at the
muddy feet and endless doors lamming ;
when even Papa rages over the lost
shovel, Aa, 4c, take things very
coolly. And, between you and I, if I
didn t, I should have been dead long
ago. And I have made np my mind to
this : " Boys will be boys " as long as
this world endures, and there is no use
in forever fretting and talking and
scolding. It does no good, but, on the
contrary, does do harm. I do not like
my carpets and furniture spoiled ; I do
not like this running in and ont in
winter time to warm hands and feet,
thus leaving in the cold air. I don't
like it ; but, at the same time, what can
I do about it ? If you know anything of
boys, yoa know that they cannot sit
still two minutes in succession. And
then to act rid of them awhile, we're
glad to let them go out. Then they ;
are not ont any time scarcely ere the
spirit of contrariness tells them how
nice and warm it is in the honse. and
in they come again. So it is perpetual
motion, perpetual noise, perpetual mis
chief, till blessed night brings rest for
the poor mother, as well as for the
boys. Troublesome? I should think
so ! And yet I pity the little fellows.
How they are hustled around and
snubbed. What black looks, what short
answers they get. They are not wanted
in the parlor, and Bridget von,i have
them in the kitchen. It really seems
as if there was no room for the boys
anywhere. Solemn respectability frowns
at the peccadillos of his neighbor s boys,
; one, don't expect either his or mine to
get just yet) Old maids, and ladies
withont " a family of boys," wonld as
soon sit down by" a bear as a boy, but
some day cornea in a married lady who
ner viaiu im i a u;i .
; In thonght you follow her home. You
. see her handsome carpets, her polished
j furniture and spotless cleanliness of
room and hall. And men yon 100a at.
! your own surroundings. Above all, on
, the ruddy faces of those "noisy, horn
ble boys," and you aay in your heart,
aa the noble Roman matron, Cornelia,
once said, " These are my jewels."
Presence of Hind.
There is one grand quality signally
neglected, almost never tanght, nowhere
prized at its true value, seldom preached
upon, yet certain to avert many a dis
aster and deliver from many a periL
Were parents and teachers accustomed
to show their young ones how self-command
in some unexpected emergency,
as in an outbreak: oi nre at midnight,
would not only save themselves, but
rescue a whole nompany of friends or
leilow pupils, were the various means
of escape shown, and the necessity of
instant decision enforced, many a valu
able me (to say nothing of property)
would be saved. So intelligent a com
munity as ours ought not, in this ad
vanced period of thought, to be so
easily overwhelmed by calamity, when
one woman's prompt and resolute aid
would stop the stream at its fountain
bead. If it is replied, as it will be,
that some persons are born without this
gift ; my answer is that Feter the Great
was born without the capacity to endure
the sea, Frederic Second wiih a perfect
terror at battle, Paley with indisposition
to rise early, Jndge Story with a disgust
at law books, Washington with impetu
ous passion yet all conquered their
natural weakness, and so can we if we
feel the necessity.
From various quarters facts have
come to me of every sort, illustrating
in women and children even, the power
of overcoming pani j and taming appar
ent disaster into an occasion o really
sublime virtue.
Instances there are. as we all know.
of mothers rushing in frantio fear from
a burning dwelling, then remembering
the dear baby they left asleep in its
little crib, and flying back through the
open passage, to perish vainly in a
whirl of mad flames. At the first alarm
it would have been easy enough to have
seized the child and secured its safety
with her own, because the air currents
were then cutoff; after her own mad
hand had given the fire free passage
through the house, her own sacrifice i
came too late to be of any service. I
Another mother I knew in this State,
awakened Irom profound sleep by the
fierce light in her room, forbidding her
husband from opening door or window
till she had made a string of sheets,
and let her child down to the ground ; ;
then she followed herself, without any (called a fonda) these reeling tars see
serious injury from the stifled flames, standing a donkey, whose Chinese water
and not even a very severe fright, for I man has gone iuto a fonda with his jar
she had tanght herself self-control, and ; oi fresh water, leaving the little donkey
so she was always ready to nse the best j patiently waiting for him. In a moment
means and ail the means God and Nature one of the sailors is across the street and
hail put in her hands. has mounted astride the poor donkey,
The custom used to be universal in Kita his face turned towards the animal's
Ireland, of storing powder in the garret tal!4 nJ ,h.19 n8 almost or
of every grand country house. The qi'te touching the ground. The other
great-grandmother of the famous Maria I 8al J takes the p,r beast y "e.b"Jle
Edgeworth, had sent a stupid servant ; f,n,i p blows and curses tries to induce
girl to procure something in the garret, j th donkey to go on, but in vain, he
when the maid came back and was ! f.,U,not moV8 or 81t,,r. only plants
asked for her candle, which she had j n'.8, more sturdily and sets his head
carried without any candle-stiek, she stiffly in the air. Out comes the Chinese
answered "it was sticking in the cask wa'ertmnJ1 and commences to reason
of black dirt np there. Not a moment with the drunken sailor to get off from
was to be lost. Mrs. Edgeworth flew!hls ?onie? "?J let him load on the
np-stairs. dashed the candle npon the;e1mPtir wxter. aia- But the sailor is
floor, and fell herself, overcome bT ner-: dak eDnsV want itoJ,aTe' httJe
excitement. She had saved the
house and all within its walls.
That capital old story-book, Sandford i 4 1 &e waterman now waxes mad, begins
and Merton, tells a story founded on i ?, BCo!J. from .Spanish to shrill
fact, of a party of girls pursued by a Chinese, and screaming higher and
wild bull in an open field. The eldest j h?nJe, The sailors understand neither
lassie turned full on the mad beast, and kptmish or Chinese, so that neither
faced him. Mr. Bull paused a moment can understand the other. One sailor
in surprise. Then he renewod his ad-: Pulls at tbo donkey s bndle-rem and
vauce, and the noble girl made the e ?ne B,catei nPou ,th? animal jerks
best retreat she could, facing him still, ! east s tail up and down and digs
and cheering her little companion to !"8 knV.n' the 0CJ 8 8ldes 8Uont;
huny away. Her calmness seems toilnSand kicking at him to go on. A
have been respected by the great beast, i crowd assembles and some side with
for he onlv drove her steadily out of his , 8iulor8 and wjth the Chinaman,
domain, giving all her party and herself ; "Vte.r frosting all his arts to dislodge
time to leap the fence without harm. ! "ie l"11? ,Ur., tLo Chinaman appeals to
...... r . , 1 the crowd and savs in Spanish : "Uentle-
y. A ,? J1' I remember of an , men ;t me -j Le me , 8ee how j
Eughsh family taking tea in the garden am ftnJ by this
bock of their bungalow one sultry eve : Jrunkcn Americano. WiU not some
in upper India. Suddenly a grand ; one be j e h to brf hi8 mother
Bengal tiger made one of the company. that sh CQS him . - t ff anJ
The gentlemen, even an army officer, j ,et m(j ia ,,. iJea of
seemed paralyzed with fear. One brir:ging'uis motUer ,
woman alone was master of tho occasion. I , , ,
She sprung open a large sun-umbrella Tbe Iron f of 3IarllBiHBe.
right in the face of the beast, who j
resented so nnusnal a reception by leap-1 The bane of the beautiful Island of
ing over the green hedge and making ! Martiniqne is a serpent called the "iron
for the thicket, where he had been hid-1 lance." This reptile, with venomons
ing. Would not this same genius at ! taste, chooses the coolest and most de
improvising means have made this lady lightful places in the garden for his
perfectly invaluable iu shipwreck, in j retreat, aud it is literally at the risk of
midnight conflagration, in burglar's one's life that one lies down on the
attack, in epidemic disease, in the field grass, or even takes a rest in an arbor,
hospital of an army, in tho panic of a The wounds inflicted by these serpents
crowded assembl v, in railroad eollission, I are very apt to be fatal unless imniedi
in thousands of lesser disasters always j ately cared for. The wholo island is
aggravated by lack of self-control ? j infested with this dangerous reptile,
When only thirteen, Sir Astlcy Cooper and it is said that on an average nearly
showed this rare gift. A little playmate eight hundred persons are bitten every
had been crushed by a cart-wheel. He year, of which number from sixty to
was bleeding to death. There was not seventy cases prove fatal, while many
half time enough to get a surgeon. I others result iu nervous diseases which
Astlev brought out his silk handkerchief; are almost as bad as death. A few
tied it about the wound stopped the i years ago, when Prince Arthur of Eng
bleeding effectually, till the surgeon ; land visited this island, a grand fete
could take the child in charge, whom I was given in his honor in the Jardin
Astley had really saved. And this event : des I'lantes. Iu the evening the grounds
was the principal one to determine that were beautifully illuminated, aud thou
choice of his profession, which made sands of people sauntered through its
him such a signal blessing to mankind, cool and shady avennes. A largo num-
ThenameofEliBreemonehttohavelber.were hia h the ,iron 1ee"
some permanent record. A railroad aBd """T fff" never recovered from
bridge had just been destroyed by fire, the effects of the poison. The fondness
An express train was approaching. Eli .f hl8 ,temVle TeVu)9 fof and
was determined to hazard his life to I 8na,lv P,oee9 19 , a 8erl?n3 drawback on
save others. He ran to meet the ad- the ptowwra of rambling through the
: little charming groves of. Jartinique. A rest
as widely as possible, and succeeded in I
D-aininir the enirineer s attention-who
stopped the train just in time to prevent
another disaster like that at Norwalk.
The best wine I have kept to the last.
Manning, a West India merchant, was
sitting on a log on the shore of J amaica,
while his companions were bathing.
Suddenly he saw a shark making full
upon them. Had he cried "shark," one
or both would have been overcome by
fear. "Fellows, lonk here," he cried,
"you swim miserably. Here is the best
repeater in all Jamaica for the one that
comes in first. Now do your best." So he
kept cheering and stimnlating,now one,
now the other. When he saw Farnnm
relaxing his stroke, he reproached him
for giving np so easily, when he was
sure to win if he only pursued. At last
he rushed into the waves himself, his
red handkerchief streaming from the
end of a stick, to divert the man eater.
When Farnnm was safe npon the sand,
and was told his peril, he fell flat as a
log, proving how helpless he would
have been out at sea.
Be Occupies!.
Young men sometimes think that it
M.non(oi,i. tn nrk Tliow
imagine that there ia some character of j pare amethyst, into which the rainbow
disgrace or degration belonging to toil, refines itself at last, hinting at the far
No greater mistake could be made, distance of ineffable things.
Instead of being disgraceful to engage "." " , " , - ,
in work, it is especially honorable. It A The following piece of or.ental flat
is the useless, not the useful man who ! tefJ 18 V10 b? r. :
does nothing ; who eats the bread he I Amencan diplomatist. Mr. Wade,
does not earn ; who relies upon others having lately died at Pekin, the Chinese
to support his life. It is be who is not attnbuted his disease to the inexpressi
respectable, because he doea nothing to ble emotion which he experienced at
ornmand respect ! "eem8 the august face of the Emperor.
Scene in Pern.
I believe that in no other country in
the world is there such a complete ab
scenee of the fitness of things as among
me innauiianis oi reru. They are con
stantly doing and saying the most gro
tesque and inappropriate things, with
the same unchanging air cf dignity and
sooer earnestness that makes it only
the more ridiculous. To illustrate :
Daily there passes my door an old
Cholo waterman, carrying his water jaw,
on the most diminutive and stunted of
donkeys ; and daily is the same scene
enacted. As Pern is a Catholic country,
there is erected in the centre of four
streets a large wooden or stone cross,
and it is the universal custom for every
man, woman and child, whenever they
pass one of these wayside croses, to
stop, and, making the sign of the cross,
to bow before it. Some of the devont
kneel and utter an ave maria, while
every one doffs the bat and makes the
sign of the cross. Either this little
donkey of the aquador (water-carrier)
has been brought np a priest, or else
he possesses more devotion than tha
rest of his species ; for he invariably
stops square before the cross, sets his
fore legs sturdily at right angles pnts
up his long ears and straightens his
stubby tail, and obstinately and per
sistently refuses to move an inch. The
waterman dismounts, pulls at him,
kicks and shonts, tugs at his bridle and
belabors him with a stout cudgel ; but
all to no purpose. Standing as immova
ble as a roc!:, the donkey brays and
brays again, his nose fairly rubbing
the cross, and, at every blow, only
plants his feet more firmly and brays
the louder. Little donkey boys say :
"Let him alone ; he is at his devotions."
Bystanders cry : "Look at the piety of
the beast ;" and the waterman, looking
ronnd in despair at the crowd, says
! "What shall I do? what can I do ?" in
the most hopeless tones ; then, turning
to the donkey, he says, savagely, to it :
"Beast! stop your braying, you are
nothinsr but an old fool, and vnnr
mother, was a fool before von " This
settles the donkey, for he moves on.
amid the jeers of the lookers-on and
my own laughter.
I have been much amused at the
drunken antics of a couple of sailors,
ashore for a spree after a long voyage.
In front of a Chinese eatine-house
t.1"
Chinaman to pull him off.
on the grass under the shadow of some
spreading tree is always haunted by the
dread of some nnsecn dangers, and one
cannot even cross a field wtthont exer
cising extreme caution.
Kymbolirml tienis.
The following symbolization of the
twelve stones mentioned in the Book of
Revelations as forming the foundation
of the wall of the New Jerusalem will
furnish a hint to gift-seekers ; First,
jasper, the crimson, the color of passion,
suffering ; then the sapphire, truth and
calm ; beyond, chalcedony for parity ;
next the emerald, the hope of glory.
The fifth stone, the sardonyx, is the
'singling and alternating of these the
tenderness and the paiu and the puri
fying. The sardius represents the tri
umphant love, containing and over
whelming all passion ; the central type
crowning the human, nnderlying the
heavenly. Then the tints grow clear
and spiritual ; chrysolite, gold' n-green.
' touched with a glory manifest ; the
blending of a rarer and serener blue.
the wonderful sea-pure beryl ; then the
sun-filled glory cf the topaz ; and chrys
oprase, where flame and azure find each
other the joy of the Lord and the
peace rthich passe tn understanding.
In the end. the lacintn. purple, and
Youths Column.
Hymn for a Utile Child.
God malre my life a little light,
ts itbin tbe world to glow :
A little fSlme that burnetii bright.
Wherever 1 may g.
Ond make my life a little Sower.
Thatfivetn).iytoatl.
Contut to blikum in native bower.
Although its place bo amalL
O d make my life a tittle song.
That conifortrth the sad :
Th .1 help- th others to be strong.
And makea the singer gUO.
GV4 make mv life a little stall
Vt hreoo the weak may rest.
That eo what health and strength 1 hare
May serve my neighbors best.
God make my life a bttle hymn
t H tenU?rue and Drain ;
Of faith that never waietb dim.
In all his woudronawava.
Besxt's Ajuthmktic Lesson. Little
Benny had just begun to go to school.
borne boys as young and active as he
is wonld rather play all day long than
10 spend part oi the time in the school
room ; but he seems to like it
Almost every day he comes running
home, saying, "I've learned something
more to-uny ; and, after iie has told
us about it. we send him ont of doors
with his little cousins, who live close
by.
We know that all work and no play
woniu maxe isenny a dull boy.
To-day he felt very proad, because he
had been learning to add. He said that
he eonld sav the first table.
I told him to begin, and I would tell
him if he was ncht
So he began ; and thi9 is the way it
wen on :
Benny. One and one are two.
Mamma. That is very true.
Jirnnt.Tvo and one are three.
Mamma. Nought could better be.
l:nny. Four and one are five.
Mamma. True as I'm alive.
Jirnny. Five and one are six.
Mamma. That's a pretty fix.
Benny. Six and one are seven.
Mamma. Thought you'd say eleven.
Benny. Seven and one are eight
Mamma. Bless your curly pate I
Bt nny. Eight and one are nine.
Ma nma. Why, how very fine !
B 'nny. Nine aud one are ten.
. Mamma. Pretty goo 1 for Ben.
We had a good hearty laugh when we
got through ; for Benny's earnest way
of reciting pleased me, and he enjoyed
the emphatic manner in which I replied
to his additions. How many little boys
can say the table that Benny did?
"Clear jths Coast I" "Clear the
coast ! clear the coast I" cried Albert
and Frank, aa they came down hill
swiftly on Frank's new sled.
"Look out for that woman 1" cried
little Harry, who was standing at the
top of the hilL
A poor German woman was crossing
the road. She had a large basket full
of bundles, which she carried on her
head. Iu her right hand she had an
umbrella and a tin pail, and on her arm
another basket Truly, seeing that the
roads were slippery, she had more than
her share of burdens.
She tried to get out of the way ; but
Frank's new sled was such a swift run
ner, that it came near striking her, and
caused her to nearly lose her balance,
putting her at tbe same time into a
great fright
"Yon bad boys, you almost threw me
down !" she exc!aimod, when she re
covered from the start they had given
her, and looked around to see if she had
dropped any of her bundles.
But down the hill they rushed on
their sled, Frank losing his hat in their
descent, but little caring for that in his
delight The two boys, after reaching
the foot of the hill, turned, and began
to drag their sled np again.
"That woman," said Frank, "called
us bad boys. Let us tell her that we
are not bad boys. We did not mean to
run her down."
"Here comes Harry, running. What
has he got to say ?" asked Albert.
"I toll you what, boys," said Harry,
"you'll be taken up if vou run people
down in that wav."
W bv di Jn t she clear the coast when j
I told her to ?" said Albert
A Word to Children. If children
allow themselves to be governed by evil
passions, they become the cause of tor
row instead of joy ; pain instead of
plra.mre, casting around the once pure
young heart an influence deadly as the
poisonous oreatn oi the L pas tree ; as
it destroys animal life, so does the in
dulgence in evil companionship and
sinful feelings take all that is good and
beautiful from our lives while on earth,
robbing ns of what is of far greater im
portance our hopt of Jlr.accn ! I
hope then that you will all strive to be
good. It will bring its own reward.
JesTis, our Heavenly Master, loved little
children i In the book of books, which
be caused to be written for our guidance
and instruction. He often talks abont
them. Twas Him who said, "Suffer
little children to come unto me, and
forbid them not, for of such is the king
dom of Heaven." How kind I What
beautiful words !"
When his disciples were disputing
about who should be the yrtar, Jesus
rebuked them in this wise. He took a
child and placed him in the midst of
them, and taking the little boy in his
arms, ho said to his disciples : "Whoso
ever reoeiveth one of such children in
my name, receiveth me ; and whosoever
shall receive me receiveth not me, but
II' in thai m;t me." This same Jesus
is just as ready to-day to enfold in the
arms of His love all good children, as
He was iu those olden times, when He
lived, stipend and died here on earth,
that tre might dif'jll trifft him in
Heaven.
Riddle. Two ladies, an aunt and
her niece, were carried off by a band of
Indians, and, though imprisonsd within
the same encampment, were not per
mitted to see or converse with each
other. A young Indian girl the
favorite daughter of the chief used to
visit them both ; but they dtust not
trust her to carry massages, so the niece
persuaded the maiden to carry a certain
animal to her aunt, and to bid her to
study its name carefully. The young
Indian complied. The aunt understood
the message to be an entreaty to escape
if possible, and returned answer, by a
fruit, that escape was utterly impossible.
What was the animal, and what the
fruit ?
Antwer: Ant-elope: Con't-elope.
The Sza Mouse. The sea mouse is
one of the prettiest creatures that lives
under the waters. It sparkles like a
diamond and is radiant with all the
colors of the rainbow, although it lives
in the mud at the bottom of the ocean.
It should not have been called a mouse,
for it is larger than a big rat It is
covered with scales that move np and
down as it bathes, and glitters like
gold shining through a flocky down,
from which fine silky bristles wave that
constantly change from one brilliant
tint into another, so that, as Cuvier,
the great naturalist, says, the plumage
of the humming bird is not more beau
tiful. Sea mice are sometimes thrown
npon the beach by storms. Hearth
and Home,
Varieties.
Two-thirds of the Episcopal Bishops
were consecrated since I860.
Ostrich plumes at $250 a pound are
in the highest feather with fashionable
ladies.
It is singular that there should be no
way of putting a stop to the "girl of
the period."
Six and eight button kid gloves ex
tending np the arm as far as the elbow,
will continue the fashion for full dress.
A favorite style of trimming dresses,
is of two or three shades of the color
of the material of which the costums is
made.
The ladies appear to have taken the
front breadths ont of their overskirta
and sewed them on the same garment
behind.
The Comte de Waldeck sent a bou
quet to the ex-Empress Eugenie on her
birthday, with a note saying that his
age was 109 years old enough to know
better.
Oat West, where women are running
for office, the newspapers whose candi
dates have been elected, no longer place
defiant roosters at the head of their
columns. A modest hen broods over
the glad tidings of election.
In the Christian warfare, to maintain
the conflict is to gain the victory. The
promise is made to him that endures to
the end. The object of our spiritual
adversaries is to prevent this. Every
day in which you are preserved from
going back, they sustain a defeat
Payson.
There is no sort of wrong deed of
which a man can bear the punishment
alone ; yoa can't isolate yourself, and
say that the evil which is in you shall
not spread. Men's live's are as thor
oughly blended with each other as the
air they breathe : evil spreads as neces
sarily as disease.
"Little Tommy didn't dinnbev mam
ma, ami ffntn ivimmine i i 1 t,a V "Vn
, o p., - .
mamma ; Jimmy Brown and the rest of
the boys went in, but I remembered,
and wonld nnr ti-tnruv vnn M "ln.1
Tommy never tells lies, does he ?" "No,
mamma ; or 1 couldn t go to Heaven.
"Then how dneaTnmmv hnnnon rrtriavA
on Jimmy Brown's shirt ?"
It will give some notion of the vast-
ness of the spoil of war that has fallen
into German hands, irrespective of the
pecuniary indemnity, when it is stated
that the share of gun metal from cap
tured cannon allotted to Bavaria alone,
as the due of her two army corps,
amounts to no less than ItJO tons. Of
this, King Louis has ordered fifty tons
to be distributed to certain parishes to
oe turned into the church bells they are
in need of. The rest is handed ovr to
the Bavarian Government arms foundry
lor future conversion into Uerman guns.
Two belles from some provincial town
were taken through the St Louis Po
lice Headquarters lately, and went into
ecstasies over the picture of what they
termed "a love of a man. "Who is he?
chirped one of them, modestly. "That's
professional bigamist, replied the
clerk. "He's married fourteen or fif
teen wives; the last one was the daugh
ter of a banker in Detroit, Mich., aud
there's jOO reward offered for him."
The clerk stopped to get breath, while
the maidens let out their sentiments in
some well modulated shrieks and asked
no more questions.
There has baen a dispute as to which
is the fastest train in England. Prece
dence has been claimed for the 10 AM.
express from King's Cross. It also as
serted that the Great Western express
between Paddington and Exeter is
faster. Between Paddington and Swin
don the distance is 77J miles, and both
the np and down trains travel it in b7
minutes, including the starting and
stopping, or at the rate of 53 '62 miles
per hour. At full pace, the speed is as
nearly as possible a mile a minute. The
Great Western railway is built on a 7
leet gage, but many parts of the line
have a third rail, allowing narrow (1
feet Si inches) gige trains to ran on it
also.
A recent number of the lead ing French
Review has an article on the Uerman
Imperial Parliament, which shows that
unity is more easily declared than ac
complished. The 33:2 members are di
vided into eight parties, "Independent,"
Progress, ' Centre, National Libe
rals," "Clerical," "Liberal Imperial,"
ImpenaL "Conservative. One great
trouble is to get together a quorum of
102 to pass routine bills. 1 he 27 Ger
man States still have a Congress or
Legislature apiece, with 1700 members
in all, and as many of the members of
the National Congress are also members
of their own State Legislature, and both
bodies are often sitting at the same time,
the national representatives, who get
no pay, prefer Btaying at home. The
presence of Bismarck and Moltke, and
others holding high office in the Gov
ernment, naturally affects the debates,
but, while it brings the Administration
and the Legislature into close relation,
it does not prevent a very thorough dis
cussion of the plans introduced by the
various departments. The debates are
short and the speeches to the purpose,
so that business is promptly disposed
of, and the nation seems thoroughly
satisfied.
A correspondent of the London Daily
Telegraph writes to that journal as fol
lows in praise of the life-saving arrange
ments on board the Philadelphia line of
trans-Atlantic steamers. He says : "It
ought to be extensively known that
there is one line of trans-Atlantic pack
ets which provides in all its ships not
only the usual boats, but also life rafU
sufficient to carry all the crew and pas
sengers. I refer to the American Steam
ship Company of Philadelphia, rnnning
regularly between Liverpool aud Phila
delphia, and it ought to be stated that
it is an exclusively American company.
Now, what the Americans can do may
also be effected by the English, French
and German lines, and if tbe publio de
sire to be ("pared a repetition of such
appallingcatastrophes as that connected
with the Ville da Havre, they will de
mand that similar provision be made in
all the ships. The rafts are placed on
each side of the deck under the davits ;
there is nothing to do in ca-.d of emer
gency but to cut the ropes by which
they are lashed to the deck, which can
be effected in one minute either by a
hatchet or Bailor's knife. Two or three
men can tumble them over the bulwarks
into the sea. It matters not which side
comes uppermost, they ride above the
waves even when covered with human
beings, and there are ropes lashed all
ronnd to which drowning men can cling .
until lifted on the raf ta. While others
have been theorising on the question,
our practical trans-Atlantic cousins have
solved the problem, and for eight or
nine months have been running their
vessels so provided with life-rafts. To
make this plan widely known may be
the best way to secure its general adoption."
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