EDITOR'S TABLE. 



In spite of farmwarJ and household cares, I struggle to train them mentally, morally, and phys- 

 ically. I have my own peculiar notions about their education, and can fancy many facilities in 

 your home which might lighten my occupation. I fancy, with the surroundings of comforts and 

 beauties, I could teach them with better succes?, and more clearness; and they would show 

 evident signs of improvement. At any rate, I should find more time there to devote to their 

 culture. Thus I would try to make the time of my exile for your sake, pass with profit and use- 

 fulness. By this arrangement we should enjoy a little of the rest and quiet pertaining to luxury, 

 which would have the advantage of novelty for us. No doubt this change for ourselves, as well 

 as yourself, would tend to the rejuvenating and brightening our powers amazingly. I would 

 promise, for my better half as well as for myself, that all should be kept in perfect order. I 

 know my husband must have the bump of order ; for he declares he loves to have a place for 

 everything, and a wife that knows how to keep things in their places. 



In the meanwhile, you may take those four or five reserved acres, and occupy yourself thereon. 

 Upon it is a fine grove of native trees of different sorts. They are already thinned, and the un- 

 derbrush cleared away, and the sloping hill-sides cleared and broken up, and under cultivation. 

 You may erect a large, conveuien<^, tasteful i-esidence, with all its appurtenances — not forgetting 

 the conservatory and aviary, which are among the pet dreams of my ambition. You may make 

 winding roads and broad lawns. The trees you may thin out, and so group them to suit your 

 most fastidious taste ; and among the indigenous occupants of the soil, you may intermingle those 

 of rarer beauty. Shrubbery and plants rare and beautiful, you may gather in full profusion. 

 Fences you may build, and hedges plant. You may erect green houses, graperies, and espaliers. 

 0.1 the hill-side you may lay out such a garden as is seldom seen, except in books and imagina- 

 tion. I may sometimes be tempted to envy your occupation, as I wander in fancy from my 

 temporary home to you and your labors. IIow will your happiness be enhanced by the thought, 

 " all this I am doing not merely for my selfish gratification, but for the happiness of so many 

 who are capable of enjoying the results of my work with the pi'oper appreciation they deserve. 

 "What pleasure to shorten for them the interim between their dreams and bright actualities, which 

 might tike them plodding years to accomplish." 



Let me add, that a thriving, pretty village is only a mile from us, and upon which from our 

 height we look down, and by railway only twenty miles from one of our greatest western marts; 

 so that any thing you may choose to have from the east, may be conveyed almost to your gates. 

 You need only to bring with you a little ready means, and that good judgment and intuitive per- 

 ception of the true in taste and beauty, with quick energy and decisive action, which I am sure 

 you possess. In two years you may make this all we wish, and perhaps accomplish your entire 

 recovery. Then we may return to it, and be happy the rest of our lives, and you will have for- 

 tified yourself forever against ennui and discontent — which, with all their protean forms, will 

 assail you if you yield to the syren charmer — and rest yourself in quiet content. Tliis, Sir, is 

 my prescription. That you may work out your perfect cure, is the sincere wish of your true 

 friend. Elsie. — Woodside, Wmilcesha, Wis. 



LETTERS FROM THE V/OODS. 



The Woods, April 14, 1S54. 

 The spring, so long and so anxiously looked for, comes on apace. Already tlic snow is melted 

 from the southern slopes of the hills, and the grass looks fresh and green by the side of the rivu- 

 lets that flow down in the valley. The Willows by the old stone bridge — where meet the 

 brooks, known in my younger days as the "Great" and the "Little," — shed a sweet fragrance 

 tlie air, and the Birch and Maple buds are swelling upon the trees in the open pastures and 

 meadows. The Arbutus (Epigoa. — En.) and Violet are in blossom, and beauty is spread abroad 



