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* •;5> % ♦ fTW ir jig k »OJ n! «■ MIDDLETOWN, NEW CASTLE COUNTY, DELAWARE, SATURDAY MORNING, MARCH 14, 1868. VOL. I. NO. 11. THE LHIHT AT HOME. Till! tight at bon» 1 liow bright it beams Whim evening shades around us fall, And from the lattice fur it gleams, To love, and rest, and comfort all ; When wearied with the toils of day, And strife for glory, gold or fame, How sweet to sock the quiet way, Where loving lips will lisp our name Around the light ut borne I When through the dark and stormy night The wuywnrd wanderer ho me ward flies, Htvw cheering is that twinkling light Which through flic forest gloom ho spies 1 It is the light of home, lie feds That loving h ;tir1s will great him there safely through hU Losuni steals The joy and lot-«* that bnulsU care 3 Around the light at home. The light qt home! how still and sweet It peeps from yonder cottage door, The weary inboi-er to greet When the rough toils of day are o'er ; Sad is the soul that does not know The blessings that the beams impart, The cheerful hopes and joys that flow, And lighten up the heaviest heart Around the light at home. _ _ , . ft was George Shaw s summer vacation. Ihe hrm for which he daiiy measured tape add-rotted and unrolled yard after yard ot goods for the inspection of fashionable -lames who seem to look upon dry goods ■clerks as » species of automaton wound up and set going for their amusement, never tired and never run down, had given him * holiday, and now hurrah for the country and the glorious June breezes, the mur muring of brooks, the smell of new-mown hay, th« tinkling of cow tails, and the bright eyes of country maidens. George felt like a hoy newly lot out of school. Long years had passed since he had reveled 1.1 tho innocent delights of rural we-nics, sports and rambles, hut his b-xrt had not lost its freshness nor his spirit its bouyaney. Tape had not tied down his elasticity, nor had piles of dry good, smothered his capacity for enjoy- msnt r ^ j One evening during the preceding an tumn, while passing through an unfre quented street on his way from his store to his boarding-house, Gcorgo encountered * burly ruffian who had seized a young girl by thc arm, and with ribald jests and obscene oaths, was trying to force her to ■enter some refreshment saloon of doubtful reputation—either mistaking her cliarae tor, or sufficiently itiflnmcd with drink to he indifferent to her social status. A well directed blow from George sent the wretch sprawling upon the ground, where he lay E artially stuuned and afraid to rise lest e should be met with another dose of thc same medicine. Having disposed of the assailant, George's next oare was for the victim, who leaned against a friendly tree. Her face was closely veiled, hut her voice, as she thanked him for his assistance and protection, though tremulous, was low and sweet. George, with a graceful disclaimer of any merit in the act lie had just perform cd, drew her trembling arm within his nnd requested the privilege of accompanying hor, that he might save her from further annoyance or molestation. This was glad ly, accorded him, nnd after a short walk Ihey paused bofore the door of a handsome residence in an aristocratie quarter of the city, where, after learning his name and address, she hade him adieu, thanking him in the warmest manner for his kindness, but without removing her veil, or asking him to call upp» her. • From tithe day, however, George's posi tion in the houso of Hayes & Co. seemed to undergo a mysterious change. Before, he had lived upon starvation wages, was snubbed by his superiors, and treated as underclerks too frequently aro. After this adveuture his dutios were made lighter, his treatment front the firm much better, a ud his salary raised by degrees until it reached a figure which enabled him to -dress well and live in good style. On tho morning whuu our story com niences, Mr. Hayes called our hero into .the counting-room and addressing him kindly, said: " ill. .—I y OU bavc worked hard during the winter and spring ; dull times arc coin ing on ; don't you tbiuk you uood a holt dajrl? ' > ■■ " Y*s, sir," replied George ; "but you !know my means arc limited ; my buiary is :all I have to depend upon, and I cannot afford to be wasting my time." "Don't let that trouble you, my boy," «aid Mr. Hayes. " Your salary shall go -on just .the same during your absence ; and hcre'tk à cbdbr for a hundred dollars to start on. Consider this a present from tho firm. Now, where do you propose to go?" George, overwhelmed with astonishment at this unexpected liberality on thc part of Ihis en^eyers, ooold only stammer out that the idea.never having ooeurrod to him bo fore, he had formed no plans in reference toit. "Well, then," said the good old gentleman, with a merry twinklo in his .eye, whieh Georgs, in his entUarrassmont, .failed to notice, ".let mo plan for you. You ton taks-the up-river train to-morrow moraiM, and by dark you will reach the JittU Village of H. which is nestled R hills of ...... eoupty. full of 'Lruptjdrsgpis- Wtto plenty of shooting and ,the .bast groves ana rambles for pio-uic .parties .in tho whole oountry. There is' an old farmer living thore, whom I have known for many years. I will give you a As Jopular $alrs. WILL YOU TRY ME? letter to hint, and you can make your home with him at a trifling expense, du iug your absence from the store." George was too thankful for the unex pected liberality granted to him to fiud any fault with Mr. H.'s selection of a place for spending his vacation, even if his rural tastes had riot inclined him to just such a spot ; and on the evening of the day fol lowing the conversation with the old mer chant, the H front of an old hut conifortuble looking farm-house, at the base of a majestic hill, with broad lawns and meadows lyiug in front of it, traversed by muny a winding stream. no to ytiigc sat him down in He was received with a cordial welcome from the stalwart farmer, and a grasp from a brawny hand, which showed that the bfeart wont with it. "Come in, stranger," said lie, "conto in—we aint exactly pre pared for visitera, though Mr. Hayes did talk sollte about sending up some young f Iks to keep us old ones company. Come in—mother will fix up some place for you to sleep." A supper of now-laid eggs, home-made bread and freshly picked strawberries, was spend upon a snowy table-cloth, and the party of four sat down to the table. There were the old man, his wife, George, and a fourth person, whose position in the family George was at a loss to divine. She was clad in a plain gingham dress, had evi dcntly been helping to prepare the supper, and ^dressed the old farmer and his wife a „ unfk , aunt but eurcly George ht that delicate tinge of rosy red upon hor cheek wan never acquired upon a c<)Ullt hillside, those hands could never havc bct , n prcgorTcd s0 8u ft nn d slender in lnilkittg c „ wg am , washing dishes, that ari . s toer*tic poise of the head, that dainty cnrTC of th ' e n( . ck and that perfect self possession was the result of something elf*e Asides eountry/training. TT , , . IIe w ?? 1 ,0 S, ^P between sheets of snowy whiteness pillowed upon a yielding of " livc S ees ? 'bathers " and dreamed of the! farmer s niece until he was awa, ,"" n ,'' d ",' e sound of an °P c , ra air be ' l " s windot^ anil executed as none l,ut a car< rfully trained voice of unusual "»eetness could execute it. lie sprang to thc w . ,ndow ' and , t, ' rol, " h tho ba f-drawn curtiunh saw only the young girl in her totton gown and sunbonnet m thc kitcl.cn K an ' en cuttmg lettuce for his breakfast, Mo dressed and descended with nn ap P etitc sharpened by mountain air, and did ample justice to the hearty and wholesome viands set before him. George had conte to 'bo country with the intention of enjoy >'ig himself, and lie set about forming the acquaintance of Julia, or July, as she was called by the farmer, at once, and so suc ecssful that in half an hour they were chatting like old friends. Spite of her aristocratic air, he could not draw from her any admission that, she had ever known 'be pleasures of a city life, and George was puzzled to know how she had become possessed of so much information relative to nuisie, tho fashions, and tho small talk °f fashionable circles, which is supposed '° be the property of tho favored few. -foon a ramble was proposed, and with thc grace of a fairy and the light step of mountain sylph, she led him " through bush and through briar," to gaze entranced upon the beauty of the sylvan scenery, George began to wonder how ho had ever boon attracted by the stereotyped smiles and empty talk of city hellos, whilst list cni, ig to her glorious descriptions of Na ture's beauties, almost as it seemed, in the presence of Nature's God. This was hut a prelude to oilier walks, drives, fishing parties, pic-nics, and rural excursions, in »H of which she seemed the queen, One day, when thc time allotted for his stay was drawing to a close, they were in a boat upon a neighboring poud gathering water-lilies. Julia had made for herself a wreath, with which she had adorned her beautiful head, and was fashioning another for George, when, in reaching too far for a particularly fine lily, she lost her bal ancc, and with a scream, fell into thc water. George plunged after her, and the boat' floated away. Her rosoue seemed easy at first, for thc shore was not far dis tant, and he was au exocllent swimmer ; but soon, to his horror, he found that she was entangled in tho stems of thc lilies whichhadfornicdothieknctworkbeneat.il the surface. Vigorously he struggled .to extricate her, hut in vain. Then, in that moment of deadly peril, flashed upon him the truth that he loved the girl who rcst cd, half uueouscious with terror, upon his left arm, while lie supported her and bim self upon the surface with his right. "Save yourself," cried Julia; "if both cannot live, at least domot let two lives be sacrificed." " Never, Julia," ho replied, firmly; "if you die 1 have no care to live, for, Julia, you arc my life. Tell me, Julia, here, struggling on thc brink of eternity, do you return my love?" "Ido," she softly murmured ; and,'as their lips joined in the first kiss of a true and fervent affection, she fainted. "Oh, God!" cried George, " will no one come to our aid ? Must I dio now when I hold in my arms all that oan make life dear to me? At least, kind heaven, save her, and let me be the sacrifice, if sacrifice there must be." It seemed as though heaven had heard and answered his prayer, for almost at the same instant ono of the farmor's men ap poured in sight, and, answering George's frenzied coll for help, ho other hpat which was lying at the landing place, and in a few moments George, al most exhausted, and his unconscious com panion, were lifted into it. That evening, fully recovered,they both sat on the vinc to a into nu covered porch of the cottage. There was no need now of shyness or coyness. The tale of love had been told, anil with her head upon his shoulder and his arm around her dainty waist, both were reveling in the sweet delirium of ' ' love's young dream." "It may seem unmaidenly, George," she suddeuly said, raising her head from his shoulder, after he had been painting in glowing colors the delights of the cottage home they would enjoy together, some time in the future, when he should have earned money enough to have a home to offer her—" it may seem unmaidenly in me to suy so, but I would much rather you would marry me and take me with you." " Would that I could, my darling, plied George ; " but you urc poor I know —and, as for myself, I am a clerk on a salury, which, though large enough for one, would be but a small pittance for two." " Never fear for me," returned Julia, laughingly ; "Ism a famous housekeeper, and while we havc each others love, what other luxuries shall we need?" "But, dearest, can you hear up against thc poverty which is all the marriage por tion I have to offer you ?" '.(Can I ?" was tho womanly reply— "can I? Will you try me?" And so tho matter was settled, aud in u few days George Shaw was married in the quiet sitting-room of the old farm house, and with his bride set out on his return to to the city and the dull routiixi of measur ing tape and peddling calico. Great was his surprise when the ears reached tile de pot to find Mr. Hayes, his employer, wait ing for him on the platform. " Ah, you young scamp," lie said, jocu larly, "you found something else besides trout streams in the village of IJ., did you? You've made short work, I see.— Mrs. Shaw, I suppose. I am happy to welcome you, madam," "But how, iu hoaveu'suame, Mr. Itayos, did you know I was married, and coming homo to-day?" cried George, iu a still great r maze of bewilderment. " Never mind where 1 got my informa tion," said the old gentleman. "I know how you huve been driving over fences and through ditches, tumbling into mill ponds and pulling youug ladies out ; hut my errand here is not to scold you. As soou as 1 learned of your marriage 1 knew your former bachelor lodgings would not suit, und I took tho liberty of engaging other quarters for you. Jump into the carriage, both of you, and tho driver will attend to the baggage." If George's surprise was great bofore, how much was it enhanced when the car riage drew up at the identical door to which he had escorted the veiled young lady whom he rescued from the grasp of the ruffian more than a year before. The happy pair were ushered into a handsome parlor, and Julia withdrew to exchange her travelling dress for ono more suitable. George was engaged in exam ining thc georgeous paintings which adorn ed the walls, when a pair of soft arms were flung around his neck. He turned, and there stood tho same figure, in the identical dress and veil whieh had leaned trembling against a tree while he polished off' a brute on a pleasant summer evening long before. He lifted thc veil, and be neath it found the laughing, blushing face of his own Julia. " Sit down," said she "while I tell you my story. I fell in love with you at first sight, hut I am of a romantic turn of mind, and have always entertained a holy horror of being married for my money. It is high time you should know, master George, that I am an orphan, and a rioh one too. This house is mine, and my credit ia pretty well established at Stew art's and Tiffany's. I took your address, and made sufficient inquiries about you to ascertain that you were poor and over worked. I had your Balary increased and procured for you thc vacatioii which pro cured for me a husband ! And now, mas ter George, wlmt do you thiuk of your country sweetheart ?" George's reply was much more impres sive thau words etui make it, aud would havc continued much longer, if Julia had not complained that he was rumpling hor dres* and pulling down her hair. He drives a span of fast horses now, and never regrets the lucky moment when ho knocked down a brute and pulled a pretty girl out of a mill-pond. Change» Iu the English Language. How much is there in our present fa miliar speech which would be strange and meaningless to one of Elizabeth's Court! IIow much again, .do we find in any of tho writers of that period—in Shakespeare instance—which is no longer good current English ! phrases and forms of construc tion which nevpr fall from our lips now save as wc quote them ; scores of words which we have lost out of memory, or do not employ in tho sense which they then bore. Go back yet farther, from half tury to half-century, and the case grows rapidly worse ; and when we arrive at Chaucer and Gower, who aro separated from us by a paltry interval of five hun dred years, only fifteen or twenty descents from father to son, we meet with a dialect which has a half-foreign look, and can only he read by careful study, with the aid of a glossary. Another like interval of five hundred years brings us to the Anglo Saxon of King Alfred, whieh is'absolutely a strange tongue to us, not leBs unintel ligible than tho German of tho present day, and nearly as hard to learn. for MO To persevere is one's duty, and to be silent is the best answer in ealuinny. (Original Articles. For (ht Muldltto un Tramer ipt. Icc-lSouml. Old Winter seems loth to loose his hold upou us. Only last eve, us if to defy the timid approach of Spring and fright her uway, he loosed his fierce minions, the north winds, and hade them bind all Na ture with the icy chains of his power, fur having dared to think of throwing off his sway ; some of the trees having even shown their dainty buds. And well did they ex ecute their King's commands. They hound every branch, and even the tiny twigs in hard and heavy ice-fetters. Meekly little shrubs bowed themselves, with out a murmur to the ground. The lordly trees strove to stand erect, but they were so en cumbered they could scarely move, and the heavy winds broke against them with fury ; clashing their icy chains, so that many a noble tree was despoiled of its fairest branches in the vain contest. Every un timely bud was chilled to the heart ; and the little birds were so affrighted that it stilled their songs for many an hour after wards. Then the winds in a frolic dbeked the rough roofs and fences with crystal fringes that a mermaid might envy ; and the air was tilled with the sounds of the creaking and the crashing of limb against limb, as they struggled with the raving wiuds. And all that day the sun was shrouded from sight, and Winter reigned supremo. When .night came, and the moon illumined the scene with her beams as cold as the crystals upon which they fell, the winds were again loosened to tor ture the poor trees. How they struggled, the bound branches, clashing their iey fetters and often dashing them in pieees to the ground, in their impotent efforts to he free—and the chill moon shone calmly on. When the morning broke you might have thought you had been transported to fairy laud. The foliage quivered and sparkled in the golden light, with the bur ning blaze of a million tiny suns ! The ice-fetters wore transmuted to burnished silver, glittering with jewels of sapphire, and emerald, and ruby, as if the sunshine had got entangled and frozen there.— Snow-clad fields bearing crystal fruitage, gleaming and glittering with jewelled drops of liquid light ! Icy hedges hound the snowy road on either side, and Win ter's triumph was quite complete ; for we could not hut gaze upon his wonderful beauty with an admiration that was near akin to love ; and we forgot to sigh for the vanquished Spring-time. Starching lor Spring. We have been hound in ice. and buried in snow-drifts so long, that right cordially will we welcome the Spring when she makes her advent among us. This morn, I took a walk to sec if I could discover any traces of Iter cotniug ; hut I was too early ;—the buds ami blos soms yet slept in their winter wrappings— the snow lay in patches here and there, and so firm it did not sink beneath my tread. In the midst of thickly clustering trees, I came suddenly upon a pool, bound o'er by the clearest ice, as it were a mirror reflecting the beauty below. Thtfre could be seen the roots of over-hanging trees, whose otherwise rude forms were trans figured into many grotesque and fanciful shapes, by a covering of velvety goldeti brown moss, which glowed in the gleaming sunshine. The bottom of the pool was perfectly concealed by the faded foliage of doad summers The forms of many of the leaves were as perfeçd as when they first sank beneath tlie surface of the water. A few were stained entirely black, some dark green, others brown or purple, and the rest matted o'er with moss. The shine had dissolved the ico in spots here and there, and the loosened water was rip plod by tho passing breeze, giving life tp the still scene where no sound was heard save rustling leaves, and swaying branches. With lingering footstepB I left the place never again to see it the same. 1 felt chill from remaining motionless so long, and wrapping my shawl more closely about me, attempted to pass quickly over the intervening space into the cleared ground. But my pathway was obstruc ted by the briars that infested it, and ever and anon I was obliged to stoop and un clasp their clinging hold. Thus, I thought is it with the world. If we hold our hands aloft, and attempt to pass onward with hurried indifference, it will revenge itself by many a petty twitch and pull. tlie BUU How Soox Forgotten. —So lately dead, so soon forgotten. 'Tis the way of thc world. Men take us by the hand, and are anxious about tho health of our bodies, and laugh at our jokes, and we really thiuk, like thc fly on tho wheel, that we havc Bomething to do with thc turning of thc earth. Somo day we die and are buried. The sun does not stop for our funeral; everything goes on as usual ; wo arc not missed on the streets, men laugh at jokes ; one or two hearts feel the wounds of afflic tion, one or two members still hold our names and forms. But thc crowd moves in the daily circle, and in three days tlie great wave of time sweeps over out- steps and washes out thc last vestige of our lives. Beauty, though it is very pretty var nish,, is of a frail constitution, liable to abundance of accidents, and is but a short lived blessing. For drunkenness, drink cold water ; for health, rise early ; to be happy, be honest ; to pleêre all, mind your own burinera. ^flrct jpoetrg. Mli ul! Wc Sec and Know Etch Other. Shall wo see and know each other In that happy home above? Will our souls be there united By those sacred bonds of love? Shall we meet with joyful feelings On that happy tranquil shore, There with seraphim and angels Live together evermore ? O, 'twould be very, very sad, To live a life like this. If the future did not promise Something more of joy and bliss, A haven bright and cheerful. Where all our troubles cease. There to live and love together lu happiness and pence. For the love wc bear each other In this world where we move, Is nothing but the shadow Of that we'll know above. Where the skies are And sunshine is always; There we* il live and roam together, Chanting hymns of joy and praise. (Dur (Olio. The Fidgets. There are people whom one oceasionally ineets with in the world, who are in a state of perpetual fidget aud pucker. Evory thiug goes wrong with them. They arc always iu trouble. Now, it is the weather, which is too hot; or at another time, too cold The dust blows into their eyes, or there is "that horrid rain," or "that broiling sun, or that Scotch mist." They are as ill to please about the weather as a farmer ; it is never to their liking, and never will ho. They " never saw such a summer, " not a day's flue weather," and they go buck to antiquity for comfort— " it was not so iu our younger days." Fidgety people arc rarely well. They have generally "a headache," or "spasms," or " nerves," or something of that sort; they cannot bo comfortably in their way without trouble. Most of their friends aie ill ; this one has the gout " to had;" another has thc rheumatics; a third is threatened witli consumption ; and there is scarcely a family of their acquaintance whose children have not got measles, hoop ing-cough, scarlet fever, or some other of the thousand ills which infantine fiesh is heir to. They are curiously solicitous about the health of every-body ; this one is exhorted " not to drink too much cold water ; another ' ' not to sit in the draught ;" a third is advised to " wear flanuels; aud they have great doctors at their fingers' ends, whom they can quote iu their sup port. They have read Buchan and Cul pepper. and fed their fidgets upon their descriptions of diseases of all sorts.— They offer to furnish draughts, and liniments believe them, your life depends on taking their advice gratis forthwith. To sit ut meals with sueli people is enough to give one the dyspepsy. chimney has been smoking, and the soot has got into the soup ; the fish is over done, and the mutton is underdone ; thc potatoes have hud the disease, thc sauue is uot of the light sort, tho jelly is candied, the pastry is musty, the grapes are sour. Everything is wrong. The cook must be disposed of; Betty stands talking too long at the back gate. The poultry must ho changed, the potato-man discarded. There will he a clean sweep. But things are never otherwise. Thc fidgety person remains unchanged, and goes fidgeting along to the end of the chapter; changing servants, and spoiling them by unneces sary complainings and contradictions, till they become quite reckless of evor giving satisfaction. The fidgety person lias bcon reading the newspaper, and is in a forment about " that murder !" Everybody is treated to its de tails. Or somebody's houso has been bro ken into, and a constant fidget is kept up for a time about "thieves!" If a oat's whisper is heard iu the night, "there is a thief in the house ;" if an umbrella is missing, " a thief has been iu the lobby if a towel cannot be fouud, "a thief must have stolen it oil" the hedge." You are counseled to bo careful of your pockets when you stir abroad. The outer doors are furnished with latches, new bolts and bars are provided for out-houses, bells are hung behind the shutters, and all other possible expedients aro devised to keep out the imaginary " thief." " O, there is a smell of fire !" Forth with the house is traversed, down stair* and up stairs, and a voice at length comes from thc kitchen, " It's only Bobby been burning a stick. with of a thousand accidents, deaths, and burnings, that have come from burning sticks 1 Bobby is petrified and horror stricken, and is huunted by the terror of conflagrations. If Bobby gets a penny from a visitor, he is consulted " not to buy gunpowder" with it, though he has a se cret longing for crackers. Maids arc cau tioued to "be careful about tho clothes horse," and their ears are often startled with a cry from above stairs of " Betty, there is surely something singeing !" gety person " cannot hear" the wind whistling through the key-bole, nor tho smell of washing, nor the sweep's cry of " svee-ocp, svee-eep," nor tho beating of carpets, nor thick ink, nor a mewing eat, nor new boots, nor a cold in the head, nor callers for rates and subscriptiona, All these little things are magnified into miseries, and, if you like to listen, may sit for hours and hear the fidgety person wax eloquent about them, drawing a mel-l aneholy pleasure from the recital. The Gdgety person sit; upon thorns, and receipts for pills, ; and if you would woman You are told forth The fid loves to perch his or her auditor on the same raw material. Not only so, but you arc dragged over thorns, till you fall tho roughly unskinned. Your ears are bored, and your teeth are set on edge. Your head aches, and your withers arc wrung. You are made to shake hands with misery and almost long for some real sorrow as a relief. The fidgety person makes a point of get ting out of humor upon any occasion, whether about private or public afiairs. If subjects for misery do not offer within doors, they abound without. Something that has been done in the next Btrcct ex cites their ire, or something done a thou sand miles off, or even something that was done a thousand years ago. Time and place matter nothing to fidgety. They overleap all obstacles in getting at their subject. They must be in hot water. If one question is set at rest, they start other ; and they wear themselves to the bone in settling the affairs of everybody, which are never settled. Their fevprish existence refuses rest, and they fret them selves to death about matters with which they have often no earthly concern. They arc spendthrifts in sympathy, which in them has degenerated into an exquisite tendency to pain. They are luunched on a sea of trouble, the shores of which arc perpetually extending. They are self stretched on a rack, the wheels of whieh are ever going round. The fundamental maxim of the fidgety is—whatever is, is wrong. They will not allow themselves to be happy, nor any body else. They always assume themselves to be the mott aggrieved persons extsnt. cessant, and they operate as a poison wherever they go. Their and self-conceit are usually accompanied by selfish an When Plato, was told that his enemies were making very free use of his name, he quietly replied ;" I will endeavor so to live that no one will believe them." Advice is like snow ; the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and deeper it I sinks into the mind. ' Their grumbling is in socisl vanity in n very aggravated form, which only seems to make their fidgets more intolerable. Yon will generally ob serve that they are idle persons; indeed, as a genera) rule, it may lie said, the fidg ety class want healthy occupations. In ent in some the nine cases out of ten, em active pursuit, in whioh they could not have time to think about themselves, would operate as a cure. UAXIUL. The devil has a wonderful penchant for rebuking sin. Eyes which are full of beams have an unacconntahle clearness of vision in detecting motes in others' eyes. Some people are brought into the world to accomplish a marvelous mission, and that mission is to ferret out obliquities of oth ers. Of course it is not expected that these apostles have any business with them selves; their mission is violent, and docs not admit of time to scrutinise their own posi tion. What profit is it that they should stop to consider their own pccsdilloes, when the enormities of their neighbors loom up like mountains ? So goes it the world over. Everybody minds everybody's business, but every body ueglcets Itts own. Whut sort a world would this be, if we were without each other to food upon ? Mon have eyes and cars for some purpose, and what else could they find for them to do, if not to hear and see each other's failings, derelictions er rors, transgressions, enormities. They have tongues which must stand uselessly idle, if not employed in giving currency to such delinquencies. So it is with mtn. The obliquities of his offended brother for melles the ohief staple of conversational interest. Human error is the current eoin of intercourse, and too often the coin eomes from the speaker's brain. Occupation? what a glorious thing it is for tho human heart. Those who work hard seldom yield themselves entiiwly np to fancied or real sorrow. When grief sits down, folds its hands, and mournfully feeds upon its own tears, weaving the dim shadows that little exertion might sweep away, into a funeral pall, the strong spirit is shorn of its might, and sorrow be come« our master. When troubles flow upon you dark and hoavy, toil not with the waves—wreatlo not with the torrent ! rather seek, by occupation, to dark waters that threaten to you, into a thousand channels whieh the duties of life always present. Before von dream of it, those waters will fertilise the preseut, and give birth to fresh flowers that may brighten the fotwro— flowers that will become pare and holy, in the sunshine whioh penetrates to the path ,of duty, in spite of every obstacle. Grief, after all is bnt a selfish feeling : and most selfish is the man who yi the indulgence of any passion whieh brings no joy to his follow man. divert the overwhelm himself to Relioion an» Reason. —Religion is as necessary to reason ta reason is to relig ion ; the one cannot exist without tho oth er. A reasoning being would loss his rea son, in attempting to aooeuat tar the phen omena of nature, had he not a Supreme Being to refer to; if there had beon no God, mankind would have been obliged to imagine one.— WtuAtuyton. Bom« aro like eats. Yon stroke the fur the right way for years, and hear nothing but purring. But accidently tread on the tail, and all memory of past kindness is obliterated. 'Sfllit and gumo^ A lady in Rhinebeck was recently read ing to her child—a boy of seven years —a story of a little fellow whose father was taken sick and died, whereupon the youngster set himself diligently ut work to assist in supporting himself and his mother. When she bad finished the story, the following dialogue ensued : Mother.—"Now, my little man, if pa was to die, would'nt you work to help to support your mother V" Boy, (not relishing the idea of work.) "Why, ma what for? Ain't we got a house to live in?" Mother—"Oh, yes my child; but wc eau't eat the house, you know." lloy—" Well uiu't we got flour and su gar and other thiugs in the. store-room ?" Mother—"Certainly, my dear, but they will not last long, and what then ?*' Boy—" Well, ma, aiu't there enough to last till you could get a now husband ?" Ma gave it up. -» " Where arc you going with that miser - traveller of a far able animal ?" asked nier who was dragging a lean, wretched looking honied sheep along tho road. "1 asi taking him to the ' mutton-mill,' to havc him ground over," said the fer ' ' The mutton-mill ! I never heard of such a thing. 1 will go with you and witness the process." They arrived at the mill. The shsep was thrown alive into the hopper, and.^ almost immediately disappeared. They then descended to a lower apartment, and in a'few moments there were ejected, from a spout in the editing, four quarters of ex cellent mutton, two sides of niorooco leath er, a wool hat of the first quality, a sheep's head (liamlsomely dressed), and two ele gantly curved powdorhorns. David Crocket happened once to he present at an exhibition of animals in the city of Washington, when a monkey seem ed to attract his particular attention ; and he abstractly observed, "If that fellow had on a pair of spectacles, he would look like Major Wright, of Ohio." The Ma jor happened to bo'jnst behind Crocket, and tapped Davy on the shoulder. Turn ing round, Davy very formally remarked, "Major, 1 don't know whoae pardon to nitlr vnnrs nr mAnlrov'fi ** An industrious and penurious mechanic in Chicago lost his wife by-death. Tha husband only stopped his work to attend tlie funeral, and immediately afterwards returned to his labors. " IIow is this? - ' saked one of his neighbors; " can't you stop to mourn a little ?" " No, sir," was the reply; " business before pleawre." And thc old fellow returned to his bench. ' ' Why do you always walk with a ' stick?" said Smith to Robison, on meet ing him in thc streets; "exeept the in firm, 1 regard thoso who use walking stiok* as idlers, with nothing to do," "Quite thc reverse," replied Robison ; "I look upon them as active -and industrious per sons, who always have tomethûtg in hand." A traveller stopped at an inn to break fast, and having drank a cup of what was given to him, the servant asked, "What will you take, sir, tea or coffee?" " That depends upon circumstances," was the reply ; * * if what you gave me last was tea ; 1 want coffee ; if it was coffee, I want tea ; l want a ohange." A gentleman, on leaving a hotel where he had "been stopping several days, re warded the attention of an obliging ser vant with a gratuity. "Ah!" said the grateful Pat, "long may your houor live, and may I make your fires hereafter." __ _ _ g» --asw *c i lady was told by a married lady that Bite hail better precipitate herself off the Niagara Falls iuto thc basin beneath than marry. The youug lady replied would if 1 thought 1 could find a husband at thc bottom." A A widow lady, sittiDg by a ehoerful firs iu a meditative mood, shortly after herbus- * band's decease, sighed out: "Poor fol low ! how he did like a good fire 1 I-hope he has gone where they keep gqpd fires !" When an acquaintance «ays, "Hew are £ «u ?" and rushes bv ffbu without pansing r a reply, 1 WQKMn't, if I were in your place, fellow him more than a mile to toll him I waj 4ell. A land speculator in describing n lake In Cumberland County, Virginia, says it is so clear and so deep that, by looking iuto it. you can see them making tea in China. »a "Mister, 1 say, I suppoae jo* don't know of nobody who don't want to hire nobody to do nothing, don't you ?" answer was, „Yes, I don't." The What is the difference between a barber and a mother ? One has raxors to share, and the other has shavers to raise. What between vegetable expresses the fetation milk and water ? Pumpkin.. Why are old maids the most eh arming people? Because they are matchlets.