THE GENESEE FARMER. 



287 



(tang feofk'a page. 



THE TALENTS, 

 iread of the servant who hid in the earth 

 [ents his master had given, 

 y dilligent use, to redouble its worth, 

 rht to have faithfully striven ? 



, you have talents: God gave them to you, 

 ill surely require them again, 

 e not to waste them ; if ever so few, 

 m not have been given in vain. 



s speech ; then remember to watch your words well, 



I them be gentle and kind ; 



scni a small matter, but no one can tell 



mfort a word leaves behind. 



; time. Every minute and hour of the day 



by your Father in Heaven, 



>te to improve, ere it passes away, 



ent so graciously given. 



; influence, too, though it seems very small; 

 greater or lesser degree, 

 !t the improvement and comfort of all 

 'horn you may happen to be. 



;hild who in earnest endeavors to live 



leir of eternity ought, 



ent example a lesson may give, 



by words he could never have taught. 



sider the talents entrusted to you, 

 ay they be duly improved ; 

 service be hearty and free, as is due 

 hiklren so greatly beloved. 



yoor Mark. — Charles and Robert were two 



went to their good grandfather's place in the 

 It was a beautiful farm, with broad, green 



s and great shady trees, and the hay-fields were 

 tratvberries, and the pastures were covered with 

 id lambs. The grandfather was a kind old man 

 f fond of children, and he let the boys do pretty 

 ; they pleased. And so Charlie trampled down- 

 ieal of grass in pursuit of flowers and berries, 

 3ed the sheep and lambs, just for the fun of see- 

 ii run, until they became frightened whenever 

 f him, and one poor little lamb, when he saw 

 ! behind him, ran off" in such great alarm that he 

 stop to see where he was going, and he fell from 

 rock and was killed. One day Charlie saw a 

 dbreast with a worm in her bill which she was 

 j to feed her little ones, and he caught up a stone 

 ew it with all his strength at the poor little 

 and she fell to the ground, and when Robert 

 ter up she was dead. Robert was a kind-hearted 



1 he made the pretty robin a grave under a wild 

 sh; and all night long he heard the little huugry 

 ) in the elm tree calling, "Mother! mother!" but 

 er came to feed them any more. 



i was a beautiful spring under an oak tree in one 

 )f the meadow, where the two boys used often to 

 l the weather was warm, and when their visit was 

 i their clothes and playthings were all packed for 

 Iobert planted a lily by the side of the spring; 

 he last thing he did before he set out for the sta- 

 ^he two boys were walking slowly along, for there 

 jnty of time before the train would come, and 

 rods were full of fruit which their grandfather had 

 lem when he bade them good-bye. 

 at were you doing there by the springV" asked 

 e of his brother. 



"I was setting out a lily, so that grandfather might 

 see it sometimes, and have something to remember me 

 by when I am gone." 



"Nonsense!" replied Charlie. "There's something 

 to make hitn remember me," and he lifted a large stone 

 from the wall, and aimed it at the little mound on the 

 margin of the spring. It did not touch the lily, but it 

 sank into the soft earth by its side, and the beautiful 

 green moss that grew there was ashamed of it, and crept 

 round and leaned over it, and finally covered it up ; so 

 that in a few years it looked like a green velvet cushion, 

 and not like a stone. But Robert's lily grew and blos- 

 somed a great many years, and made the air sweet with 

 its fragrance, and the mowers were careful not to cut it 

 down. Now, which do you think you are planting — 

 stones or lilies? — Springfield Republican. 



Farmers' Boys. — In the wide world there is no more 

 important thing than farmers' boys. They are not so 

 important for what they are, as for what they will be. 

 At present they are of little consequence too often. But 

 farmers' boys always have been, and we presume always 

 will be, the material out of which the noblest men are 

 made. They have health and strength ; they have bone 

 and muscle ; they have heart and will ; they have ambi- 

 ,ion and endurance : and these are the materials that 

 make men. Not buckram and broadcloth, and patent 

 leather and beaver fur, and kid-gloves and watch-seals, 

 are the materials of which men are made. It takes bet- 

 ter stuff to make a man. It is not fat and flesh, and 

 swagger and self-conceit ; nor yet smartness, nor flip- 

 paucy, nor foppery, nor fastness. These make fools, not 

 men ; not men such as the world wants, nor such as it 

 will honor and bless. Not long hair, nor much beard, 

 nor a cane, nor a pipe, nor a cigar, nor a quid of tobacco, 

 nor a glass of beer or brandy, nor a dog or gun, nor a 

 pack of cards, nor a novel, nor a vulgar book of love and 

 murder, nor a tale of adventures, that makes a man, or 

 has anything to do with making a man. Farmers' bojs 

 ought to keep clear of all these idle, foolish things. 

 They should be employed with nobler objects. They 

 have yet to be men of the clear grit— honest, intelligent, 

 industrious men. — Valley Farmer. 



" If Ton Please."— When the Duke of Wellington was 

 sick, the last thing he took was a little tea. On his ser- 

 vant handing it to him in a saucer, and asking him it he 

 would have it, the Duke replied, " Yes, if you please." 

 These were his last words. How much kindness and 

 courtesy is expressed by them ! He who had commanded 

 the greatest armies in Europe, and was long accustomed 

 to the tone of authority, did not despise or overlook the 

 small courtesies of life. In all your home talk, remember, 

 " If you please." Among your playmates, do n't forget, 

 " If you please." To all who wait upon or serve you, 

 believe that " If you please" will make you better served 

 than all the cross or ordering words in the whole diction- 

 ary. Do n't forget three little words, " If you please." 



Maxims of Order and Neatness. — Perform every ope- 

 ration in proper season. Perform every operation in the 

 best manner. Complete every part of an operation as you 

 proceed. Finish one thing before you begin another. 



