Orleans independent standard. [volume], March 28, 1856, Image 1

About Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871

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TYfT!
A. A. EARLE, PUBLISHER.!
JST o More Compromise witli Sltwoiry.
ITEiniS, 1,25 IN ADVANCE.
IRASBUEGn, VERMONT, FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 1850.
NUMBER 13.
VOLUME 1.
itcrarn Selections.
From Harper's Magazine.
: MY NEIGHBOR'S STORY.
I have a neighbor. We occupy ad
joining rooms in a .shabby genteel board
ing house, where the cheap lodging part
ly consoles us for its discomforts. My
, neighbor is a grave, faded, silent woman
of forty or thereabouts, always dressed in
6ombre colors, with a plain muslin cap
concealing her gray hair, and a reserve
of manner, which baflles curiosity, and
-questioners.
She has no visitors ; she rarely leaves
the house ; the postman's arrival never
causes a stir of joy or sorrow upon her
countenance; and after each meal, she
slowly retires from the dining room with
her usual heavy, listless tread, and is not
seen again until the bell summons us to
the table once more.
If addressed, she answers quietly and
firmly, glancing a moment at her interlo
cutor, and then looking down upon her
plate as if she wished to let you under
stand that politeness alone induced her to
reply.
Always punctual in her weekly pay
ments, so mysteriously regular in her
conduct, so averse to gossip, at first my
neighbor was a great " card" in the house,
and wc shuflled and dealt her every day
fco soon as bef back was turned.
"Who was she?"
No one could tell. She gave her name
as Mrs. Brown ; and weeks lengthened
into months, and months into years, and
still, grave, faded silent, with her dark
gowns and her measured footfall, the
stranger lived in our midst as unknown
as if she wore an iron mask, and did not
speak our language.
Gradually the interest in her died away.
The inmates of the boarding-house left
off wondering about her, for no fresh food
was served up for their eager swallow
she just staid at the same point, neither
lessoning nor increasing her self-concentrating
style of life so, sadly and weari
ly my neighbor's days dragged along in
their unbroken calm and unwavering reserve.
She was still to me a subject of tho't. j
Whether it were because I was more
pertinacious than my fellow-boarders, or
whether, being in the next room, I seemed
nearer to her, and could hear her fre
quently pacing her narrow chamber for
hours, not restlessly, but with a solemn,
marked, continuous march, which often
lasted till the gray dawii peeped through
my shutters whether this made a bond
"between us unfelt by the others, I do not
know ; but certain it is, that long after
the rest had ceased to notice her, I still
watched, and strove to pierce the enve
lope which shut us out from her ideas,
'feelings, and sorrows.
After a night passed as I have de-
Scribed, she would appear at the break
fast table with no traces of tears or sleepi
ness, just the same haggard look around
her large eyes, the same patient suffer-"
ing wrinkling her faded mouth, the same
entire hopelessuess of carriage and air.
She asked no sympathy she needed
none. I saw very soon she was unac
customed to the coarse fare which our
landlady provided; others had remarked
that soon after her arrival, and once, some
one had said to her, " You don't relish
your victuals, ma'am. You havebeen used
to better, perhaps ?"
She had fixed her sternest look upon
the speaker.
" You are mistaken," she said drop
ping her eyelids; "everything is better
than I am in the habit of seeing."
And from that day the meanest dish
Kn the humble board was always her
choice, although she could not sometimes
'dispose of the contents, but would play
'with her knife and three-pronged fork,
4and rise from anions us without having
eaten enough to nourish a sparrow.
There was another singular incident
which early in her stay caused much com
ment.
One morning she chanced to sit next
our landlady, who, awkwardly enough,
upset the ewer of boiled milk over the
steeve ana nana oi Airs. Brown. It was
not very hot, the milk it never was
but Mrs. Plunkett started up with apolo
gies, and, in spite of my neighbor's resis
tance, would wipe and rub the wet hand
herself. In a few seconds all the board
ers saw with amazement that the well
polished hand contrasted singularly with
its fellow, which was brown and harsh ;
while the one clasped by Mrs. Plunkett,
Was delicate, fair, blue-veined and beau
tiful. The hoarders were almost content at
losing their coffee, since the spilt milk
tad secured the knowledge of this mys
tery ; but my neighbor drew her sleeve I closed the door gently, and held my
over her hand and retired. At dinner they breath, lest I should disturb her.
appeared to have resumed their likeness ; " Poor thing !"
and worthy Mrs. Plunkett will to her I could not write In spite of my sixty
last hour believe that the constant use of years, boyish tears wet my cheek, and I
boiled milk (tepid) will produce the hap- listened listened and heard the low
piest results, upon the most unsatisfactory sobs die out : then came the heavy, grief
skins. laden footsteps.
' Last week I remarked that my neigh- Who and what was my neighbor ?"
bor was more than usually depressed. Her door opened : not as I opened it,
Through the partition wall I frequently but quickly violently, and she ran she
heard her sigh, and for three nights the who always walked as if shod with lead
C. . t ; ' 1-(i rit iin f -1 T T-eY!1 1 '1 r Kpflt. nrilb- ! ilnirn tlio t o!r T , knrl- aJiwyap
. ;..tv.iiuisj!!uu. --- her.- Her bonnet was dashed upon "her
Each day she looked more worn, and head, and a shawl thrown around her.
my old eyes filled with tears as I watched In a moment I was after her I watched
her. Latterly she had not turned with a the course she took and Followed.
vexed frown from my observation, as I Tjp one qU;et street, down another, to
had often had the pain of seeing her do, the finest quarter of the city, flew my
but once or twice she gave me an earnest neighbor. At last we were almost driven
glance from beneath her fatigued brow, over Dy carriages making their way in
while her arms dropped moodily and the same direction; and to my surprise,
weakly beside her. she stopped where they did.
She seemed thinner, more fragile than A grand old house! Lights streaming
ever. Her gown waist was pinned over from the hall and through each window
more closel-, each day ; a willow-wand is chink. Files of servants in livery mar-
scarcely slighter than her waist. shaling the guests, crowds of by-standers
But, as I was saying it was about going into the entrance-door and gaping
eight o'clock in the evening, and I was at the company, as coach after coach set
sitting in my own room, intending to down its richly dressed occupants upon
write a letter to my absent child in Cali- the carpet which was spread for dainty
fornia, when a sob, so loud, so deep, so feet.
heart-breaking, came to me from my I was quite bewildered.
neighbor. " What does my neighbor here ?"
It was irresistible. I started up and She stood three paces from me as I hi 1
went into the passage. A light shone in the shade. The ragged boys jostled
below the closed door of my neighbor's her, and a big Irishwomen thrust her
room. I listened. All was still, except aside, tier bonnet was pulled over her
from the parlor down stairs, where one of face, but I could see the dark eyes flash-
the ladies was torturing the piano. ing now; and when a police officer shoved
Again that heavy sigh. It was as if a the crowd into order, and bade her "stand
long pent-up agony, like a mighty fiver back," I saw her turn upon him with a
bursting its bounds rushed sweepingly, gesture worthy the portrait; and then
distractingly, overwhelmingly into sound clasping her hands in agony, she shrank
and action. Sob upon sob ; tears falling back, and leaned panting against the iron
in mad sorrow ; and then a fall, as if a railing! j
figure, gathered up to its full height had Presently she raised her bowed head
suddenly dropped prone upon the floor, and looked eagerly around ; then she '
I felt the impropriety, the intrusion slipped through the mass and I followed
but I softly opened the door, carried away after. She gained the back entrance, a
by a sympathy stronger than convention- deserted lane dimly lighted, and almost
al rules feeling in this darkness, open a small gate
There lay my neighbor. Her long hair and pushed in.
untwisted, disheveled ; her head buried I waited to hear her step forward,
in her arms gathered in a reckless heap, then pushed the gate gently, and found
writhing in uncontrollable misery. Bitter myself in a large garden. She was a few
sighs, half uttered words, and ceaseless yards in advance cautionsly making her
moans. The room was bare ; no curtains way
to the hard, comfortless bed ; none at the Nothing daunted, I did likewise. She
solitary window. A stiff, uncushioned threaded the alleys with perfect ease,
chair, a small trunk ; not a book, not a avoiding the broader paths, and walking
sign of woman's presence ; the most steadily om At length she paused so
cheerless spot conceivable. But opposite abruptly, at a sudden turn that I was al
to me there rested an object so strange most upon her heels. Immediately in
to find in such an apartment, that it front of us, with no impediment to our
riveted my attention and kept me spell- sightbutthetrunkof the tree behind which
bound. she partially screened herself, was spread
A large packing-case held a picture in out the whole company, whose simulta
a splendid frame ; the upper side had been neous alTival was now accounted for.
removed onty recently, tor it yet leaned The night was warm (though in niid-
pan.y against me picture. winter), the shutters were folded back,
It was a portrait ; a full length portrait , . ., . . , . x ,
. , . - 1 and in this sumptuous drawing room stood
J a bridal party,
til ul that I wondered if lips sored and i , -, e A
1 I hft nrinp w.iq m n enff anH rr.nll,
eyes so dazzling could have ever existed. u . ! -.
mi . e , ,. beauty, very young, fair and tender,
I he dress was ot a fashion of fifteen years , , , . , , ., ,
, , , ,. J blushing timidly beneath her veil and
back or more j the surroundings repre- v., , , , . . ,
' of orange blossoms, and looking up with
..,. .....c. , v mingled basnfulnes3 and love at Ler
nished, and, reclining upon a sofa, with bridegroom. We had arrived singularly,
, .,- f-i
clear and shrill. It resounded through
that great empty garden, it echoed from
the ancient walls! it stunned me for a
second. -
A wild cry, a confused swaying of the
crowd, the bride sinking, in her bride
groom's arms, a momenary hush, and
then some one sprang to the open win
dows, and all was hurry and pursuit.
I seized ruy neighbor's arm ; she strug
gled, but I dragged her on ; and while
eyes were peering intone darkness, and
mpta rfcei were close upon iu, we gained
the little gate and . wersl. safe. She was
quieter now, only her hand was marble
cold, and she muttered :
" My darlings, my poor forsaken dar
lings 1"
I led her into the silent park which bor
ders that portion of the city, and seated
her on the bench.
The stars twinkled abore our heads,
restlessly, it appeared to me, and with a
feverish, uncertain gleam. There was
no calm anywhere. Did the tumultuous
beatings of that sorrowful htart fill the at
mosphere, and make even leaven's lights
burn fitfullv ?
mine. Men quailed before my bitter
tongue, and then crept to my feet to sun
themselves in the dangerous softness of
my smile.
" How I hated them all I
"At early dawn I was miles away.
Straight as the lapwing to her nest I sought
my children.
" I came to this city disguised.
" There was no marks of age then ;
midnight orgies had respected their fit
associate, the devil had cared for his own.
I stained my face, my., royally beautiful
hands. Tim feet -which had been plantedj
in their slender divinity upQii the necks
of my subjects, were hidden in coarse
shoes. The figure was now swathed in
rusty garments, which enabled me, un-
DREJUVIS. I Without further search we may agree
A man who is the least inclined to su- j J,ie opinion, without discussing the
perstition, may be excused if, at times, he I vauso, t,iat dreams are not wlmt super
gives some credence to either the bril- stilion has stated them to be, neither an
liantor gloomy dreams which sometimes ,m7 w hat they are defined by modern
assail him. Modern philosophy, armed
with its hopeless scepticism, has vainly
sought to banish among the crowd of fa
bles, these features which prove the in
tellecual existence of man during his
sleep ; on the other hand there were many
respectable personages of antiquity, phi
losophers, as well as commanders of ar
mies, with the most eminent writers of
Greece and IJomc, who thought it their
duty to have faith in drennis, on which
might depend the safety of the people, a
It was not noisy, it was not rough ; it
enough just as they took their places for
lay this beauty-a sparkling petulance, the ceremonJr,
i stout, severe, eiueny man, with
a haughty grace enveloping her.' and
shining jewels decked her lovely person
with a glorious fitness like dewdrops-upon
violet felossoms.
By the light of a sixpenny glass lamp,
bushy eyebrows, and an obstinate, harsh
expression breaking through the present
suavity of his look, supporting this young
. rpfidiro tn li fr 1 I ff T X 11 nrl. -r.r..i.l-T
in which burned camphene, on the table, . .1 1" . . ,
., . , : . ' her father or guardian, while as evidently
was a wild, silent, desperate throb.
" How came you here ?' she said, at
last) turning upon me. "Tou were with
me in the garden V'
u I was. I followed yoi. You have
made me eager to serve and comfort
you."
" Comfort me ! Listen. That house
which we have just left vas once mine.
There I lived its proud ami idolized mis"
tress. That youngbrideismj daughter, my
i own fair-haired Emma. My petted boy.
my darling Horace, you sav him, did you
not ? They clung to me, fiiey were so
young. 1 es, 1 lett them I
She paused.
" I scarcely know your name, but lat
terly I have seen that you feel for me.
that you pity me. You are aa old man.
My heart is breaking to-night. God help
me ! I thought it had broken long ago.
is years since I have permitted myself
the luxury of a friendly word. 1 never
peak. When I was a woman beautiful
and admired, men used to worship my
wit, and bow down before my sarcastic
eloquence. It is one of my penances now
to be silent, to permit myself no relaxation
from this strict vow. But to-night I must
peak." . . .
" Is she hot lovely my gentle Emma
Did you see the bridegroom ? I know
him. He is cruel, heartless, cold, selfish,
unwarmed by a single virtue or even vice
He feels too little to be even wicked
All is calculation. Hard as adament,
unbending as the steadfast rock, he will
crush my darling's timid spirit. He will
not ill use her, but she will die from sheer
want of sympathy. He will sneer at her
girlish feelings and put down her rising
thoughts.
" He is twelve years her senior, and
marries her for her father's gold."
" How long is it since I deserted them ?
My brain wanders to-night," she put back
her tangled hair, and beat upon her knee
with her thin hand.
" I was very beautiful, very haughty,
I could not brook control ; and, iu my
wrath, meeting each day a will striving
to be stronger than my own, I grew res
tive. Life to me was such a weary busi
ness. He came, did I love him ? I do
near, I saw this luxurious picture, and the
weeping, groveling woman in her coarse
garments and her fierce sorrow on
the floor at its feet. They seemed the
antipodes of life, and yet it appeared to
me that in the lofty dignity of the one, I
could trace a dreamy likeness to the lowly
poverty of the other,
Was it so? Had these wearied, mel
ancholy eyes, which now were veiled by
her silver hair, ever been faithfully rep
resented by those insolently beautiful
ones? Was there truly a connection
between the portrait and the poor owner
of it?
I decided that the youth on the bride
groom s other side was her brother. He
glanced suspiciously, stealthily from time
to time at his sister, then nervously
watched the motions of the older man,
and seemed helplessly and anxious un
easy.
All this I took in at one look ; for it
has been my pleasure and habit for many
a long year to study my fellow-beings,
and I have acquired a quickness of per
ception which grows with what it feeds
upon. .
My neighbor grasped a drooping branch
Was it Magdalen weeping before her of the old oak' Posing her weak frame
early self? against its strength, and gazing with such
The morel looked, the more I believed painful intensity, such starting eyeballs
it. Withered, worn, shabby, old as she "at she neither noticed me, nor, I be
now was this portrait had once, like a beve, would have turned her look aside
1
mirror, reflected the features of my neigh- even had she perceived me.
bor. The low rustling of rich skirts as the
What business had I there? What elderly ladies stood up a soft flutterin:
couiu 1 no torgriet like this.'' Ihe proud 0f .fans and laces .as the younger ones
spirit which danced in every sparkle of settled themselves a faint cough or two
we portrait s eye, the pretty scorn which --then a breathless silence.
shone its air, might yet linger in my Dearly beloved. , ...
D 1 " ureast- &he was aroused. " If any man can show iust cause whv
She was no longer patient, unconprom- these may not be lawfully joined together,
ising, some sorrow was stirring within let him now speak, or else forever hold h
ner, wmcu naa overleaped her stoical peace." ...... .
Cktu. I T il. 1 ,,t rn(T ,,ni m rm!rrt1-M-i., .r.i.-o
not know. Was it vanity or passion ? a
yearning after some powerful interest or
a mere outburst of fretted pride? I can
not tell now. Then I thought it a love
stronger tliuii rcae-ou.
"Five years I reigned the tainted queen
of dishonored homage. Who so bright,
so grandly towering in the midst of her
hollow court ?
" One day a new light broke upon me.
In full career, with not a charm impaired,
with not a wrinkle to warn my cheek that
time was fleeting past, with no tarnish
on my lips or brow, in the plentitude of
my meridian glory, I turned with digust
from revelry, and empty vicious joys.
" It was satiety. It palled upon me
I pined for my children's pure kisses. I
hated the train of bold, bad men who wor
shipped and despised me. I loathed the
painted, meretricious who formed my so
ciety. V ith fearless scorn 1 bade them
farewell. I tore the jewels from my arms
and brow, and gave the wages of sin to
feed the poor and clothe the naked.
" It was a night like this, when, as
sembling the wicked, careless crowd for
one last festival, more superb than ever,
in robes so costly that the women about
me "paled in tlieir ineffectual fires" be
fore the -dazzle of my beauty and mag
nificence, I took (mentally and forever)
my leave of them.
" Never was my supremacy more loud
ly acknowledged. Eyes hun(
i city, or an army, so that, without blush
.1. i . i . i . r.
ciiecKe.1, unrecogui.cu, to uog uie 1001-, ;n?i we Inny )ocolne creiluoll3 after tl,e
steps ot my children and their attendants.
One day Emma stumbled, and I
caught her in my arms. The graceful,
modest girl of twelve turned her blue
eyes gratefully upon me. I trembled like
those leaves which the wind now beats
aside.
" Years have passed since then. I do
not give myself the enjoyment, the p;is-
sive delight of even a hut, where in per
fect solitude I might brood over my life
my griefs.
" There is a refinement of penance to
my mind in searching out such spots as
the one in which I now live.
"To surround myself with common
place, ignorant, prying people, whose
very contact once would have disgusted
me. They irritate me now ; they are
the hair-shirt and lash which, devout
Catholics administer to themselves.
" Do you realize my life ? Do you un
derstand it ? This is my jar of ointmeut.
I pour it out daily.
" The only relic I possess of what I was,
is the crudest stab which yet remains to
be told.
" When I left my home, my children,
my all, the stern, inflexible father of those
children sent me my portrait, taken in
the pride of my youthful maturity. He
would not retain a vestige winch spoke of
me. I have it still. When the storm of
vexed passions, of undying regrets ra
highest within me, I open the box in
which it stands.
" It is not the sight of my past beauty
(for I need no diguises now) which wrings
my very soul, but the memory of my in
nocence." She stopped.
" Away '" she cried, lifting aip her
arms ; " the hurricane is at hand now.
Who can teach me to wipe out the past ;
Repentance will not do it, tears will not
do it, penance will not do it !"
" But prayer will," I whispered softly,
folding both fiercely-nervous hands in my
aged ones.
"Prayer!" she repeated scornfully.
" Prayer will not give me my children,
my lost name, my proud position. Prayer
cannot heal the bleeding wounds that
make up my heart. Prayer cannot pre
vent what has happened this night the
sacrifice of my Emma. Prayer may save
my soul, but it cannot help them."
Alas! Alasl
I almost hoped that I read aright ; my
neighbor's mind had gone astray as well
as her poor, faltering footsteps.
" Farewell !" she said, rising abrubtly ;
farewell. I thank you. Do not follow
-
me. Ask no questions about me. Thev '
tell me you write tales for bread. If you
can, make a warning of me. Faie
wcll. She walked straight down the path, far
into the darkness. . I saw the flow of her
black gown and her steady march until
the trees shut her out.
I began by saying "I have a neighbor ;"
I should have said " I had."
I looked for her in her usual seat next
morning ; she was not at the breakfast
table.
" Where is Mrs. Brown ?" I aked.
"Ah!" answered Mrs. Plunkett, "she
left at daylight, bag and baggage ; not
much of it she baa to mov e though only
a big flat box and trunk. The Lord he
knows where she lias gone. A queer
soul, that Mrs. Brown. I am not sorry
to lose her. Shall I fill your cup, sir?
Philosophy.
manner of Zenophon, Simonides, Cassius,
Ca'sar, Plato. But without wading so far
back through the flood of time, to search
for celebrated dreams, we need cite onlv
a few, which approach nearer to the pre
sent period.
Maldonat, a Jesuit, had formed a de
sign of undertaking a commentary on the
four Gospels ; for several nights he tho't
he beheld a man, who exhorted him to
go on speedily with the work, and assured
him that he would complete it, but that
he would not live long after it was fin
ished. This man at the same time pointed
out to him a certain part of his stomach.
in which Maldonat experienced violent
pangs, and of which he died, very soon
after his work was concluded.
A man, who did not know one word of
Greek, went to seek out Saumaise, and
showed him some certain words which
he heard in toe night in a dream, and
which he had written in French charac
ters. He asked him if he knewvliat those
words expressed ? Saumaise told him in
Greek, they signified, "Go thy ways,
dost thou not see that death threatened
thee!" The dreamer returned to his
house, which fell down the followin-T
night.
A learned man of Dijon, being fatigued
all day with studying one particular Das
sage in a Greek poet, without being able
to comprehend it, went at length to bed
and fell asleep. He- fancied himself trans
ported in a dream to the palace of Chris
tian, at Stockholm, where he visited the
Queen of Sweden's library, and perceived
a small volume ; h opened it and read
ten Greek verses, which solved all the
dilficulty he had labored under. His joy
awakened him ; he rose, noted down what
he had just read, and, finding the adven
ture of so extraordinary a nature, he wrote
to Descartes, who was then with the
Queen in Sweden, and described to him
all the particulars of his dream. Descar
tes replied to him, telling him that the
most skillful engineer could not have
drawn the plan of the place better, nor
the library, than he had done in his let
ter ; that he had found the book in ques
tion on the table he had pointed out ; that
he had therein read the verses mentioned
by him, and that he would send him the
work at the first opportunity.
Marshall Villars,at the ago. of sixteen,
was a cornet in a cavalry regiment. One
night he was on the advanced guard in the
camp, and was warming himself before a
wretched fire, when he heard a loud
voice calling to him to join and mount
his horse with his escort- The youthful
warrior paid but little attention to this
order, but slill he heard the voice, and on
invisible hand seized him by his cloak.
Villain then obeyed, and sauce was he
advanced a few paces distant with his
men, than the place he had left biew up
with a terrible explosion. It seems that
the enemy, abandoning the territory,
which was threatened by the French ar
my, buiiei some barrels of gunpowder
which they were unable to cany away.
The soldiers belonging to Villars bad
lighted their fire precisely on the pot
which concealed the barrels. The action
of the fire commenced by drying the pow
der, and finished by iu explosion. The
OLD TIME WINTERS.
So intense was the cold iu England in
the winter of 1 fifil, that the river Thames
was covered with ice sixty one inches
thick. Almost all the birds perished.
In 1091 the cold was so excessive ii
Anstrin, thftt finulm( -wolves entered"
Vienna and attacked beasts and even
men.
Many people in Germany were frozen
to death in 1 (!).", and the winters of 1 007
and K'OO were "nearly as bad.
In 1700 occurred the famous winter
known as the "cold winter," by distinc
tion. All the rivers and lakes were fro
zen, and even the sea for several miles
from the shore. The ground was frozen
nine feet deep. Birds and beasts were
frozen dead in the fields, r.nd men per
ished by thousands in their houses. In
the south of France the wine planta
tions were almost all destroyed ; nor have
they yet recovered from that fatal disas
ter. The Arabian Sea was frozen over,
and oven the Mediterranean.
In 171C the wintvr was so intense that
people traveled across the straits from
Copenhagen to the province of Sonia, in
Sweden.
In 1720, in Scotland, multitudes of
cattle nnd sheep were buried in the
snow.
In 1740 the winter was scarcely infe
rior to lhat of 170'J. The snow lay ten
feet deop in Spain nnd Portugal; The
Znyder Zee was frozen over, and thou
sands of people went over it, and the
lakes in England froze.
In 1747 the winter was very cold.
Snow fell in Portugal to the depth of
twenty-three feet on a level.
In 1754 and 1755 the winters were
very severe and cold. In England the
vti-onuu-t al, eKpol to the uir in a
glass, was covered, 111 filteen minutes, with
ice one-eighth of an inch thick.
In 1771 the Elbe was frozen to the
bottom.
In 177C the Danube bore ice five feet
deep below Vienna. Vast numbers of
the feathered and finny tribes perished.
The winters of 1784 and 1785 were
uncommonly severe. The Little Belt
was entirely frozen over. From 1800
to 1812, also, the winters were remarka
bly cold, particularly the latter in liussia,
which proved so disastrous to the French
army.
IIeadixo-okf Satan. A missionary
agent, preaching in Brooklyn, some time
since, stated the case of a gentleman
who commenced life with about $G0(,
nnd who was appealed to to aid in the
missionary cause'. He gave SI 00 for
that object. Reasoning with himself as
to his gift soon after, the thought entered
his mind that he had given too much ;
but immediately conceiving it to be a
suggestion of Sainn, he gave another
100; still troubled by the same adver
sary, he turns upon the nrch-d.tnon thus :
" Now, Satan, if you don't be still, I'll
give the whole." And he has kept on
giving to this day, and lias prospered
both tcinKjraIly and spiritually, without
any hindrance from the aforementioned
tempter.
EvEitr Day Like. From morning
till night is the human mind restless as
the troubled s-a. No sooner do men
enter the world than they at once lose
their taste for natural and simple plea
sures so remarkable in early life. Eve
ry hour they ask themselves what pro
gress they have made in the pursuit of
wealth and honor. And on they go, as
their fathers went before them, till sick
Li tle Giels. Ihere is something
inexpressibly sweet about little girls.
Lovely, pure, innocent, ingenuous, un
suspecting, full of kindness to brothers,
babies and everything. They are sweet
little human flowers, diamond dewdrops
in the breath of mora. What a pity they
should ever become woman flirts, and
heartless coquettes!
and weary at heart, they hxik back with
protecting genius of Villars preserved j a sigh of regret to the gold.ii timo of
him from this (Linger; and also saved ; ciiiiuhood. Nature is i.ot to blame for
with him a handful of brave fellows, who, ! this. We are the ofl'-nders, and deserve
without the fortunate star which guided
him, might, x-rhaps, have perished.
The writer of this article has heard re
LiU:d the following adventure : " One
night, after I had gone my last rounds, I
betook myself to sleep, wheu ail on a sud
den I dreamed that one of my hot house
was on fire. Thi3 struck mc forcibly ; I
rose and hastened to the hot house point
ed out to me in my dream, wheu I Lad
the happiness to arrive in time to pre
vent, without a doubt, a .erious misfor
tune. ' A fire Lad actually broken out
from one of the stoves, which were al-
Cg-'Why,' said an argumentative gen
tleman, 'it is as plain as that two and two! ways kept burning day and night, and
make four.' 'That I deny,' retortod Lie j tccmid likely, infallibly, to make consid-
upon1 antagonist, 'for 2 aud 2 make 2V erable progress."
to be unhappy.
Mot sTACiiKS. I'ur.eh furnishes the
last argument yet discovered ugainst
moustache.. lie paints two rough Cri
mean soldiers, with pipes in their mouths,
arid a thicket of hair all over their faces,
meeting, mid one complains to the other:
"I tell ycr what, Bill, I don't half like
these moustachcrs. 2'h-y lu mop vp such
a lot of grh'j"
C If There is no greater instance of a
weak and pusillanimous teiiijer, than for
a man to pa.-a My, w hole life in opjfOniuou
to his own r cnliiiieiitis, and not dare to be
what be thinks he oii"ht to be.