KUOStti^DS^Si 



®i)c jTarmcr'ti i!Ioull)lij t)iiitinr. 



77 



a single page of liistory to-niglit." \Vc plajed 

 om- rulilier— Miy iiiirle took liis candle. We 

 r.ilied tlie tiie and followed, and closed om- eyes 

 lo tlic riiiisic ol" the somul of the wind, and pat- 

 ter of the hail ami snow upon the winihius. 



ROBERT. 



The Cottage. — " Roses bloomed in the garden 

 — ^^jcssainines peeped tliroii:;h its lattices — and 

 the fields alioiit it smiled with the efl'ecls of care- 

 ful cultivation. Lights were seen in the little 

 parlor in the evening, and many n time wonid 

 the passenger paiise hy the garden gate, to lislceii 

 to strains ol' the sweetest mnsic hreuthed by 

 choral voices from the cott.-ige. If the mysteri- 

 ons student and his wife were neiilected l)y their 

 neighbors, what cared they? Their endearing 

 ami mntnal afteclion made their home a little 

 paradise,"— .v. iCVciti Mirror. 



A cottage garden, profierly cnltivated, is f(dl 

 of beauty. Jls well formed walls and borders, 

 adorned with fragrant flowers, exhibits a gorgeons 

 display of richness which cainiot be snrpassed. 

 The English cottager lakes a praiseworthy pride 

 ill the varions species of flowers which adorn 

 his gaiden ; and not mdVcqueiitly prizes are 

 awardeil to him hy horticidtnral anil other socie- 

 ties (V)r his skill in bringing to matnrily, and pre- 

 senting the world with improved s|iecimpiis of 

 floricnilure. Th(> sindy of the vegetable king- 

 dom is also a snliject of bis earnest soliciiiide, 

 and the avidity wiili w hich he pnrsiies this favor- 

 ite object is the tlieme of frequent admiration. 

 The cognomen of "the garflen England"' is cer- 

 tainly an appropriate compliment, and it is but 

 jnslice to remark lliat we are in a good degree 

 indehled to the skill of the gardeners of our "fa- 

 ther land" for many of the beanlifid emhellish- 

 menls of onr iiardens. Onr antlior j'eciies sev- 

 eral nseliil hints on this snbji cl, w hich are here 

 sidijnined : 



" Anoiher way in which a uonian may make 

 her labor extreinely profltable, is the nianngenient 

 of the garden. Sfie may easily acqinre skill and 

 experience, and lor my part, I think slie cannot 

 have a preltier annisenjent. If tliei'e were noth- 

 ing to be got by it, it is worth a lillle labor to 

 have the view t'rom yonr cottage window orna- 

 mented with roses, boney-suckles, stocks, and 

 niignionetic, instead of seeing a heap of rnbbish, 

 or a slough, (U' a plantation of thistles and sting- 

 ing nettles." 



The Young Man's Leisure. — Young man ! 

 after the labors and duties of the day are ended, 

 bow do you spend your evenings.' When busi- 

 ness is dull, and leaves at your dis|iosal many 

 unoccupied hours, what disposition do you make 

 of tlii'in? I have known, and now know, many 

 young men, who, if ihey devoted to any scien- 

 tific, or literary, or professional pursuit, the lijne 

 they spend in ga(nes of elnuice, and lounging in 

 bed, and in idle company, might rise to any euji- 

 neuce. You have all read of the sexton's son, 

 who became a fine astronomer hy spending a 

 'ihort time every e'veninu- in gazing on the stars 

 idler ringing the liell for nine o'clock. Sir Wil- 

 liam Pliipps, who at the age of fojly-five had at- 

 tained the <irder of kiiisrhthoocl, ami the oflice of 

 high sherifl' irf New England, ami Governor of 

 Massachusetts, learned to read and to w rite alter 

 bis eighteenth y(^■u■, of a ship-carpenler in Hus- 

 ton. William Gifford, tlie great editor of ilie 

 Quarterly, was an apprentice to a shoemaker, 

 and s[)ent his leisure hours in study. And be- 

 cause he bad niiillier pen nor paper, slate nor 

 pencil, he wrought out bis problems on smooth 

 leather with a blunted nwl. David Ritlenhonse, 

 the American astionouier, when a plough-bov, 

 was observed to have covered his plough and the 

 fences vvilh figures and calculalions. James 

 Eergiisou, the great Scotch astronomer, learned 

 to read by himsclt', and mastered the elements of 

 astronomy whilst a shepard's boy in tlie fields, 

 by night. And perhaps, it is not too much to 

 say, that if the hours wasted in idle company, 

 ill vain conversation, at the tavern, were only 

 spent in the pursuit of useful knowledge, the 

 dullest apprentice in any of your sliops, might 

 become an intelligent member of society, and a 

 fit person for most of our civil ofilces. J5y such 

 a course, the rough covering of many a youth 

 might be laid aside; and their ideas instead ol 

 being contined lo local suhjecls and prol'essioiial 

 technicaliiies, might range throughout tlie wide 



fields of creation; and other stars from theyoung 

 men of this city, might be added to the list of 

 worthies that is gilding onr country with a bright 

 yet mellow light. — Rev. Mr. Murray. 



Trom the Iviiickcrbocker, for Mny. 



THE BEES OP ST. SI.^ION'S. 



For fieveral years the bees have deposited tlieir lioncy 

 in the tnwer of the Church on S:iiiil Simon's Island, off 

 the coast of Geori^ia. The Rector, Kev. Mr. Walker, 

 has regularly sold the honey, and sent the procceda to the 

 Missionary Funds : 



There lies far in the bosom of the seas, 



An island fair ; 

 All summer long the patient little bees 



Are busy there, 

 'f he honey which iliey gather in their round, 



Buzzing from Ilower to flower, 

 They hoard it in a quaint bee hive they've found 



In the old church tower. 



Their store is taken every year, nor do 



The bees complain ; 

 They know that UoD will send, ne.xt .Spring, a new 



Supply again. 

 The produce of tiieir careful gatherings goes 



To men in lands abroad. 

 Who preach "glad tiiliiigsof great joy" to those 



Who know not GoD. 



Like Jonathan, when fainting he did roam 



The hungry wnste, 

 How was he quickened when an honey-comb 



He did hut taslc ! 

 So to those weary laborers on lone shores, 



This humble hive supplies 

 The luscious droppings of its annual stores 



To light their eyes. 



Poor Christian! e'en in such small folk as these, 



A lesson see : 

 Doth God take such good care for tiny bees, 



Yet none for thee ? 

 Then say not, Little-fiith, thou hast no power 



To gather honey too ; 

 All round thoe bloom the flowers, and every flower 



Is filled with dew. 

 Siwcmnah, Jan. 22, 1843. J. H. H. 



Instinct in a Bird. — One of the most re- 

 markable cases of instinctive knowledge in birds 

 was oflen related by my grandfather, who wit- 

 nessed the fact with his own eyes. He was at- 

 tracted to the door one summer day by a troubled 

 twiileriiig, indicating distress ami terror. A bird 

 who had built her nest in a tree near the door, 

 was flying back and forth with the utmost speed, 

 uttering wailing cries as she wimt. He was at 

 first at a loss to account fijr her strange inove- 

 ttienls; but they were soon explained by the 

 sight of a snake slowly winding ii|i the tree. 



Animal ningnetism was then unheard of; and 

 whosoe\er had flared to mention it, would donlu- 

 less have been hung on Witch's Hill, wiiliont 

 benefit of the clergy. Nevertheless, nmrvellons 

 and altogether unaccountable stories have been 

 told of the snake's power to chai'in birds. l\Iy 

 grandfather having a inind to test the truth of 

 such stories, thought he vvonlil watcli the pro- 

 gress of things, but being a humane man, he 

 resolved to kill the snake before be despoiled 

 the nest. The distressed mother meanwhile 

 eoiitinued her rapid movements and troubled 

 cries; jmd he soon discovered ihat she went and 

 came continually with somelhing in her bill from 

 one |iarticular tree — a white ash. The snake 

 wound his way up, bill ilie instant his head came 

 ni.-ar the nest, his folds relaxed, and he lidl lo the 

 ground rigid and ap|)arenlly lifeless. iVly graiiil- 

 (iitlier made sure of his death by cutting ofl' his 

 head, and then mounted the tree to examine into 

 the myslery. The snug little nest wa.< filled with 

 eggs, and covered with leaves of the white ash .' 



The little bird knew, if my readers do not, 

 that contact with the while asii is deadly to the 

 snake. This is no idle snperslitiou, but a verita- 

 ble fact in natural history. The Indians are 

 aware of it, and' twist garlands of white ash 

 leaves about their ankles, as a protection against 

 rattlesnakes. Slaves often lake the same prec;iu- 

 tion, when they travid thiougb swaiiips and for- 

 ests, guided by the North Star; or to the cabin 

 of some white man, who teaches them lo ri'ad 

 and write, by the light of pine splinters, and re- 

 ceives his pay in massa's corn or~r>bacco. 



I have never beard any explan.alion of the ef- 

 fect produced by the w bile ash ; but I know that 

 settlers in the wilderness like to have these trees 

 around their log bouses, lieing convinced that no 

 snake will voluntarily come near them. When 

 touched with the boughs they are said to grow 



suddenly rigid, with strong convulsions ; after a 

 while they slowly recover, but seetn sickly for 

 some lime.— Mrs. L. M. Child. 



Letter from a Farmer's Wife. 



Messrs. Editous.— I am a Parmer's wife, and 

 as such should bo pleased to becmne your cor- 

 respondent, if I could by that means induce oth- 

 ers of my own sex, who are much belter quali- 

 fied to write than lam, to become contributors to 

 your paper; fiir I really think you could ilevote 

 a column, or a part of a coluitin, fur our benefit. 

 Why should all yonr attem'ion be paid to cultivate 

 the mind of the fhriner, while the farmer's wifij 

 is wholly neglected. We have no papers devoted 

 lo ourselves. There are the fUshiouable Maga- 

 zines, &c., but Ihey are filled up with love luid 

 murder stories, the fiisliions of our great cities, 

 music, and a sorry kind of poetry, which are 

 good enough in their place perhaps, but ihey do 

 not furnish us with the information we vvant. 

 The farmer's wife wants something more. She 

 wants to know bow to fulfil her duly in the 

 sphere in which an all-wise Providence has pla- 

 ced her. I do not think you are'so mnidi of a 

 flatterer as to tell us that we are perlc;ct; neither 

 do 1 think yon so much of a slanderer, as to say 

 we are so proud, vain, or ignorant, as to be Un- 

 able to learn our duty as the wives of farmers. 

 As almost every thing, in and about the house, 

 comes under the superintendence of llie wife, 

 she ought to be widl instructed in the art of 

 housekeeping, taking care of the garden, dairy, 

 poultry, &e.; and let me tell you, I think the suc- 

 cess of the liirmer depends very much on the 

 proper management of his wi'fe. How can a. 

 firmer thrive, u hen liis « ife crawls out of bed 

 after the sun has been some time shining, jerk.-, 

 on ii dirty dress, jumps into her shoes slipshod, 

 which shous the lioles in the heels of her stock- 

 ings to advantage, and llien starts in a /lurry lo 

 get breakfast with her night-cap on, and her bed 

 left ill the way she got out of it .' In two boms 

 after all hands on^lit to have been at work, break- 

 last is ready, which may be a mixed up mess, 

 with sour bread or he;i-vy cakes, spre;id on a dinv 

 table by the side of ihe wall, which nothing but 

 a keen appetite, and one continued volley of 

 scolding, could make go down. With such a 

 start in the morning, it is not hard to guess how 

 business will go about the house as well as on the 

 farm, through the diy. Instead of ihis, we ought 

 tf) rise with the lark in ihe morning, and as clieer- 

 fidly jio to ihe business of the day, neatly dressed 

 from head to foot, our bouses in order, wiih a 

 (dean eood breaktiist ready by times. Then if 

 the firmer does not go to bis work with n light 

 heart and strong arm, it is not our limit. As a 

 well-wisher of the cause you are engage! in, I 

 send you these \'e\v hints, hoping you may do 

 mtich towards promoting the proper cultivation 

 of the soil, and the proper cultivation of the 

 miiul of the farmer.- and the fiirnier's wife.— .5/- 

 hanij CuUivalor. 



Yours respectfully. Sakah. 



Castle Building. — The habit of what in 

 common parlance, is called " building castles in 

 the air," has a most pernicious influence on the 

 healih of Ihe mind. There is a legitimate exer- 

 I'ise of the imaginative fiiculty wliich is ailvan- 

 lageous lo the understauding, and to this no 

 reasonable objection can be in<;ed : bin when 

 the fancy is allowed " lo body liutli the forms of 

 things unknown," wiihont being under proper 

 iliscipline. much evil will result.' Individuals en- 

 dowerl with tin unheallliy expansion of iinagm- 

 .■ilion create a world within themselves, in wWn-h 

 the ininil revels until all consciousness of ihe re- 

 ality which surrounds ihem is Inst. The dispo- 

 silion to reverie is very pernicious to intellectual 

 he;iltli. Many habituate ibeniselves to dream 

 with their eyes o[ien, without the sense being 

 literally shut; they .-ippear lo bi' insensible 10 the 

 impression of objects extern;il -lo themselves. 

 This condition of mind borders dfisely upon the 

 confines of iiisanilv- If the im.-igiuation bi' thus 

 permitted to obtain so predominant an influence 

 over the other fiicnliics of the mind, some [lar- 

 licular notion will fix itself upon the fancy; all 

 other intellectual gnitificntions will be rejected ; 

 the mind in weariness or leisure, recurs con- 

 stantly to the fiivorile conceptions, and feasts on 

 the luscious (iil.sebood whenever she is ofl'ended 

 by the bitterness of ihe triilli. By deirrees the 



