3>U> ■ *" 



MOO&E'S RURAL EF3SW-YQRKER. 





WOMAN'S PRAYER. 





A* harps of gold by n 



In'gnlnalThyl 



is steps aright. 



Grant hlminer 

 rhli world of bo 



a glory bright 



As blooming maidenhood gradually advnm 

 dark-haired youth, whom I will cull Edhund, 

 denly discovered that bo loved me, and bi 

 the master's back, perfect as Edmtob was, a frank 

 declaration of his attachment came across the 

 aisle, which only received a non-acceptance and 

 promise of remembrance. But when be declaim- 

 ed that evening, I as suddenly discovered that he 

 was noble, intellectual and good, and one in oil 

 respects fat to be the recipient of my affections, 

 which hud never before flowed so pure and ten- 

 der, constant and exalted, as in this, my first lore. 

 As the years passed swiftly and happily away, I 

 knew naught of disappointment. But while 

 Ediitnd was at a neighboring academy, a change 

 came. Through the secret agency of a malicious 

 person, a misundcrstandiug arose. I censured 

 lud be me, until the last farewell waB said, 

 aoh returned to toke up the burden of life 

 . Often since has he sought to renew the 

 old love, but I, proud and unyielding, repelled 

 advancement until now, ulas! my blooming 

 ■ will, ere loug, be folded to that heart, which 

 should have been the high prerogative of mine. 

 o late. Truth nnveiled her mysteries. Now 

 I, the taught, am myself the teacher, and as these 

 familiar walls echo to the sound of merry voices, 

 it seems but the dirge of childhood's departed 

 joys, or the requiem of departed friends who nro 

 now scattered far and wide, from the shores of 

 the mild Pacific to Atlantic's troubled waters. 

 Although but five years have passed since then, 

 it seems that the sorrows of a longer life, and the 

 experience of niuturer years than mine, have been 

 crowded into the short space which has sufficed to 

 work so many changes. Vet I can take up the 

 duties of life with a firmer hand, and bear its 

 disappointments with a moro chastened spirit 

 than would have been possible had I been the 

 happy recipient of consummated hopes. May I 

 be thankful that the admonition has come thug 

 early. "The glory of man passeth away," 

 Prospect Cottage, N. T., 1S59. Ida. 



Oh, let Thine angels v. 



oTfay holj t 



MEMENTOES OF THE PAST. 



The memory of the olden time. 0! how it 

 comes rushing over my heart to-day, as 1 sit alone 

 in the place hallowed by so many youthful associa- 

 tions, more lovely and holy than it is often tbo lot 

 of man or woman but once to experience. Yes, 

 once in the life of all there is a time of vernal 

 bloom, when fragrant flowers spring up around 

 our path, and Hope whispers that they are ever- 

 living — when the mind, exulting in its glorious 

 freedom, soars to reach at once the heights which 

 maturity alone can scale — when the earth seems a 

 paradise, unsullied by the feet of Sin, and Fancy 

 paints her most gorgeous landscapes, luxuriant 

 with golden fruit, to be ours with the simple 

 grnsp. This is the time of youth. Slowly, but 

 surely, tbe realities of life creep over our path, at 

 first dimly and in misty obscurity, like the sub- 

 dued sunshine of the early summer; dreamy 

 hours of life's rising sun, when the mind strive 

 read the foreshadowing of its sober destiny, 

 fulfillment of which forms a leaf in the biography 



COMFORT va, SHOW. 



Fashiovaulb society contrives very ingeniously 

 destroy the happiuess of its votaries. It makes 

 them live for others, not for themselves, and yet 

 bestows none of those substantial joys which fol- 

 low self-denial. The Jfta Fork Timtsanjs : 



all in at any brown stone front above 

 Bleeker, at any time, except on the occi 

 great 'spread,' and it has the air of a vei 

 maid in morning-gown and carl papers 

 between iron precision and painful 

 Everything exists in a state of bagginess. Tbt 

 sofa is a mute, inglorious corpse in a dimity wind- 

 ing-sheet. The chairs are put away in aprons and 

 pantalettes. The chandelier wraps its nicht-gown 

 around it. The shutters are closed to keep from 

 fading the carpets, and only here and there, 

 through the cracks, a little bit of scared light 

 peeps in and looks around, in a tremulous and 

 sickly way. Everything smells of brown Holland, 

 and everything looks as if it considered you fear- 

 fully impertinent for daring to come and disturb 

 its elegant uselessness and brown linen repose. It 

 is very much like going into a family vault after 

 uu epidemic, and having a lively time with a party 

 of corpses in fresh grave -clothes. In fact, you 

 feel decidedlyliko asking the mistress of the house 

 why she doesn't complete the picture by putting 

 up the clothes-lines in the parlors, and hanging 

 up the week's wash. 

 "Soberly, this s 



out of doors for 



THE AMERICAN AUTUMN. 



Bed la 



..H-Un 





light of day 



With amber e 







Thewl 







s sli-eplng lie 







venlng's wing of gol> 









reast the sky 









ogled hues unfc 



















Likec 

















The sloping sun 





arrows bright. 









Thoun 



verso ec 





rapt In light, 



3 bow in humility and adoration 



And Nature's shield the shadow of his hand 

 whose words spake into existence this vast aggre- 

 gation of suns and worlds, and whose kingdom 



THE PHILOSOPHER. 



The philosopher 

 cupy, or whatever may be his si 

 er a palace or a cottage, i 

 fellow-men. He deols in r. 

 sighted enough to discover 



I lies at the 



-shop arrangement, which 

 ', and drives father and son 

 comfort which their own 



ttom of half tbe social 





ishable bea 

 That gloi 



ag characters of impe 



- thri 



The school-In 



but new and™ lute. We had no brook 

 but there was one down the great hill, and a beau- 

 tiful place it was in the warm, bright summer. 

 We reveled amid the trees aud rejoiced by the 

 dancing brook till our cup of happiness was full 

 —yet mine was not so full that after years did not 

 drink it all. The other girls had their boyish 

 lovers and I had mine, for now I remember a 

 fancy wedding by an old gray stone on the mossy 

 hillside. There, where the blue sky bent tenderly 

 above us, and the swaying trees nodded assont to 

 the mimic ceremony, Rufus Allen called me his 

 little wife. We all thought it very nice — and so it 

 was. I wondered if I ever should be really mar- 

 ried, but I have ceased wondering now, since my 

 maiden love has been turned to its fountain, and 



Allen that I loved bo much. His was not tbe 

 ardent and impulsive nature which my earnest 

 spirit sought. It was a mercenary disposition, 

 and young as he was (only thirteen,) his conver- 

 sation was of sheep and cattle, dollars and cents, 

 and of his future f ftrm in hio. Surely, be was 

 goo a specimen of a rustic farmer's son as 

 ever entered into the conceptions of a city belle. 

 tie v.ai edonme to and from the little linrinfr 

 school where we sang Ortonville, Lanesboro 

 Dundee, Marlow, and a aCorc Q , . ' 



to our fathers and mothers, for 

 old-fashioned man. 



This school-boy preference.* 

 last, and now California is his 

 his silent grave. His sordid 

 glittering baubles, all bis own 

 grave may be made 



e teacher was an 

 not destined to 

 •ul may feast on 



When a man cc 



show -shop bouse. He doesn't want an invisible 

 ble home. He wants something 

 made to wear and use, and allowed to be U3ed after 

 its kind. He wants chairs that be can lean back 

 in; and carpets made to be walked on; am 

 house alive all over; and a wife and childi 

 whose daily thought is how it can all be mi 

 happiest, cfieeriest, most thoroughly comfortable 

 for him." 



COLOR AND DRESS. 



You ought never to buy an article because you 

 can afford it. The question is, whether it is suita- 

 ble to your position, habits and the rest of your 

 wardrobe. There are certain clothes that require 

 a carriage to be worn in, and are unfit for walking 

 in tbe streets. Above all, do not buy wearing 

 apparel because it is miscalled cheap. There is no 

 such thing; cheap clothes are dear to wear. The 

 article is unsalable because it is either ugly, vul- 

 gar, or entirely out of date. One reason why you 

 see colors ill-arranged is, that the different articles 

 are purchased each for its own imagined virtues, 

 and without any thought of what it is to be worn 

 with. Womeu, while shopping, buy what pleases 

 the eye on the counter, forgetting what they have 

 got at home. That parasol is pretty, but it will 

 kill by its color one dress in the buyer's wardrobe, 

 and be unsuitable for all others. An enormous 

 yearly upon women's dress ; 

 yet how seldom a dress is so arranged as to give 

 bo beholder any pleasure! To be magnificently 

 trussed certainly costs money; but to be dressed 

 vith tasto is not expensive. It requires gooc 

 leoso, knowledge, refinement. We have seen fool 

 sh gowns, arrogant gowns. Women are too oftet 

 tempted to imitate the dress of each other, withou 

 considering "the difference of climate and com 

 " The colors which go best together an 



"THE DAY OF DEATH IS DARK." 



Is it a dark day for the warrior when ho rests 

 from the battle be has won, when the laurels are 

 brow?— dark for the tempest-tossed mor- 

 ho has gained the post he had despaired to 

 Is it a dark day for the cberub child who, 

 ied away from 



■ bin. 



this cold clime to i 



and skies are fore 

 day for the Christian, v. 

 great tribulation, when 

 " Well done good and f 

 This life is but a prob 

 endless existence, — wh 



s forever bloor 



e -]L.i]lm-...i 

 ithful serva: 

 tion, the fir 

 should we 





the second? All 

 can carry with u 

 wealth we can accumulate in 

 pure gold which pays better fo 

 the mines of California. Bui 

 we gather knowledge, — what 

 to comprehend the geography 

 — there r 



knowledge we acquire here we 

 ) only imperishable 

 his world,— this is 

 the search than all 

 here, how slowly 

 lard work wo bave 

 ittle pli 



pidly on in our celestial 

 education. That bright comet which we saw 

 careering in its orbit through the heavens yester- 

 night, will no longer be a source of mystery and 

 wonder to us, for, if Astronomy is true, — and who 



thousands of these splendid bodies are coursing 

 joyous journey 

 ■second stage c 



ay be able 

 go from 



r , for instance,— where tb< 

 tbe hot as boiling water 

 erne, how life can be sus 



\ Dice, observes 



handiwork of Goi 



r beings, at all constituted 

 or planets, Mer- 

 ean temperature 

 or. in the other 

 ied in Neptune 

 in our system 



position he may oc 

 ■oundings, wheth- 



pies, and is clear- 

 i in facts and cir- 

 ommon observer would think trif- 

 searcher after truth, both in the 

 things of nature and in the actions of men. If 

 any assertion or opinion can be proved false, he 

 rejects it, though it may have received the homage 

 demonstrate a 

 truth, he embraces it though all the world oppose. 

 thinker. Though in society he 

 may appear tbo most absent and unobservant of 

 yet his keen eye and quick ear, are ever 

 furnishing food for his busy brain to work upon. 

 From his point of observation, he watches the 

 of humanity surging around him. He ob- 

 s, but slightly shares in their ambitions. He 

 re a teacher than an actor. He seeks quietude 

 than tbe busy scenes of strife, and in his 

 calm retreat, does the thinking for that portion of 

 inity which never stops to think for itself.— 

 he read a book, it is to him rich in sugges- 

 and often does he pause in its perusal to fol- 

 ome train of thought it awakens. Pleasure 

 t the object of bis search, but truth. Does 

 me in contact with anything unaccountable 

 or new, he rests not till reason and investigation 

 have done all they can to cast light upon it. He 

 loves truth more thao notoriety, and the success- 

 ful solution of a problem in nature or science 

 gives him more pleasure than all the garlands of 



tinier, wi- 



the POETS SLEEP. 



That sensitive organization which causes vivid 

 impressions, that fertility of the mind that makes 

 it, as Herbert says, a kingdom, accounts for the 

 peculiar enjoyment of sleep by the poets, both as 

 a vital foct nod a subject of contemplation. Its 

 luxury has never been more attractively set forth 

 than by Tennyson in his "Palace of Sleep," and 

 "Sleeping Beauty;" and one of the bitterest 

 touches in the "Locksley Hall" is the "drunken 

 sleep" of tbe unloved bridegroom; Shelley cele- 

 brates its "mighty calmness;" and Wilson's Ode 

 to a Sleeping Child is full of pathos ; Keats enfolds 

 it in a classic voluptuousness. How exquisite is 

 the description of Madeline asleep : 



THE RECORDING SPIRIT. 

 "ns sun has through his full course rush. 



TothatsTrifts 

 With others, to 



trlt who has Down 

 on Eternal Thxene. 



Will meet thee 



on a coming day. 



Not only all th 



Hare numbere 

 Nor has thy bo 



sleeping dead, 

 r- ivbidi crown Ibf held 

 a been by Lflm who's Bed 

 om heaved a sigh, 



Whose record 



oes not stand on bfgk. 



The pages of t 



at book on/old 



a day when thon s 



THE SABBATH. 



When the heavens and ibe earth were finis 

 and all the host of them, Goo rested on tl 

 ;nth day, wherefore God blessed the seven 1 

 , and sanctified it." Well did the mornii 

 ■s sing together, and all tbe sons of Gon sho 

 for joy, as lookiDg through the vista of comii 

 years, they saw all the blessings which would a 





• ugh a r 



indie 



; of 



'lw;.:, ; 





■ habitants of which c 

 down to the size of a star. Hundreds of such 

 mysteries puzzle and bewilder the student in 

 Astronomy, for, alas! here we see "through a 

 darkly," bnt in the bright day ahead wo 



■hall ■ 



a face to face." 



Tbe great telescope, Mr. Ckaig's, has revealed 

 thousands of stars so distant that a ray of light 

 from them takes sixty thousand years to reach our 

 earth — or, in other words, tbo light by which we 

 would see them to-night left those stars sixty thou- 

 sand years ago. As Mr. Craig remarks, "the 

 themselves may have been extinguished 



appear t 



n space, and ; 

 he light t 



ifltne theory that we do n< 

 ilace they really occupy ; c 



past ngi.-- 

 ;e the star 



the s 





i the 



for light 



the rapidity of twel 

 ite." There are, too, according te Mr. 



supposition, suns and systems stretching 



I. I&ck . 



green with violet , gold color with dark 

 ; pale blue with scarlet; pink ^ 



white, and groy with scarlet or pin_ 



color generally requires a warm tint to givi 

 Gray and pale blue, for instance, do n< 



bine well, both being cold colors.— Dicl<n' 



tht You- found." 



It requires not time nor proof to make virtuous 

 hearts coalesce; there is a language without 

 sounds, a recognition, independent of visual 

 organs, which acknowledges the kindred of con- 

 genial souls almost in the moment they meet 

 "The virtuous mind knoweth its brother in the 

 dark."— Jane Porter. 



n the place 

 looked at it, as it 

 el; though it does 

 of miles 

 every i 



away and away beyond those revealed 



nd which, to even his powerful telescope, appear- 



1 a dim light, but which he supposes will yet be 



efined and resolved into separate stars or suu 



i the before mentioned have been. 



We will now close this too lengthy paper in tb 



ords of a rare lover of and writer on ustrononiy 



When we cast a rude glance upon the evening 



sky, we behold a few whitish spaces, which may 



appear as no more than an accidental tinge across 



the firmament, but which are, in reality, composed 



of millions of splendid suns, where not a single 



orb can be seen by the naked eye. The distance, 



the number, and the magnitude of these brilliant 



globes overpower the imagination; the grandeur 



and magnificence connected with such august 



objects are utterly overwhelming. We cannot 



comprehend tbe extent of the solar system, or 



even the dimensions of tbe sun ; but what is one 



sun or one system, in the presence of twenty 



millions of suns, perhaps far exceeding ours in 



magnitude and splendor, and forty times that 



of mighty globes that revolve around 



What is the number of the inhabitants 



to the countless myriads that populate 



■-'V]'i'''S 1 1 1 <■ emotions ol the miud 



Notwithstanding the eloquent beauty and the 

 profound truth of such apostrophes, perhaps the 

 ndirect aud casual references of the bards to sleep, 

 iiore nearly hiut its benign economyand its latent 

 iignificance. Thus criticism has recognized a 

 peculiar aptness in the phrase of Shakspere— " how 

 sleeps the moonlight on this bank;" so to the point 

 of Collin's description of Fear is that on the " ridgy 

 steep" of "some loose overhanging rock, 1 

 throws himself to sleep." Leigh Hunt utters 

 natural exclamation in his vigil by a sick child- 

 "sleep breathes at last from out thee." Talfourd 

 well attributes an invigorating rest to the " select- 

 est fountains of repose ;" and Coleridge has a fine 



•*•"■' 



a the 



t Mai-.i, 



UC-nLI. 



while Mrs. Browning describes the aspect of death 

 as "long disquiet merged in rest." 



An infinite variety of epithets might be gleaned 

 from Sbakspeare to tbo same effect, as when be 

 lis sleep a " golden dew," and compares patience 

 tho " midnight sleep." But it is in its relation 

 the passions that he bos treated of this mystery 

 our being as only tbo Poet of Nature can. How 

 memorably the wakefulness of Remorse is unfolded 

 cbethl— of Jealousy in Othello, whom "not 

 poppy nor mundragora, nor alt the drowsy syrups 

 of the world, can medicine to that sweet sleep he 

 but yesterday,"— of haunted and cruel ambi- 

 n the dream of Richard, and of fantasy in 

 Mercutio's description of Queen Mab; how chastely 

 beautiful the sleep of Imogen, how innocent that 

 of the infants in tho Towerl How Duncan's ven- 

 erable sleep unnerved his murderer's handl How 

 I'irrl'.Hiinlly II. unlet muses id' its relation to immor- 

 tality — "to Bleep — perchance to dream I " — and 

 how natural, in tbe midst of the supernatural, the 

 Ghost's allusion to hia custom in life " of an after- 

 noon" to sleep. Cleopatra's wonderous fascina- 

 tion is indicated memorably in death : 



The Sabbath is always and everywhere beauti- 

 ful ! As the dawning light throws open its aacrcd 

 portals, what a throng of hallowed memories rush 

 into every willing heart, and brood with a dove- 

 like peace over the slumberiDg world. We in- 

 vely allow our memories to float backward 



nd.., 





.like 



r of cloud, 



i;..lu>i: i 



rof 1 



■ough t 



■ark 



refresh - 

 i all its light 



stands forth more beautiful than when its rays 

 were reflected from the tiny dew-drops, or imbibed 

 by the flowers of Eden, — more owful than when 

 it was proclaimed by the thunder-toned trumpet 

 of Sinai. It stretches up its hand to heaver, and 

 plucking beauties which "bloom eternal" upon 

 the green banks of the " River of Life," it strews 

 tbem at the feet of every humble worshiper. 



A Sabbath in a crowded city is beautiful, but te 

 my mind a Sabbath in the solemn stillness of the 

 country is far more sublime. All nature both ani- 



s coming. 



lich breaks upon tho 







a gentlei 



the birds send forth their sweetest strains, — the 

 of beauty takes possession of the hours and 

 them on from the time the sun rises above 

 stern hills, until ho hides his brightness bc- 

 ;he pleasant glories of the western sky.— 



Aud when the Sabbath-bell sends forth ll 



nag u 



"Old Will, t 



■* pnl 



Ir, I, 







atony 



And what a comprehensive epitaph is this — 

 " after life's fitful fever he sleeps well? " or where 

 shall we find in the same space a better picture or 

 philosophy of tbo whole subject than in King 

 Henry's familiar soliloquy 1—H. T. Tuckerman. 



CONVI 



-Corjvi 





and respectful to bo cither pleasant or profitable. 

 It is the collision of the flint and steel that brings 

 the fire out. Southey says, finely and truly : 



" There la a pleasure In frank dialogue, 



Whoa mind meet* mind in froa and full debate; 



Men may llvu yours and never know the strength 



Thallsluothersorv. 



of nature, meihinks earth can present no lovelier 



only discordant notes which are heard are 

 from man, for whom the Sabbath was created.— 

 He will not allow all this glory to have its design- 

 ed effect upon him, but would willingly raise bis 

 tiny hand to pluck from God's Holy Day its robe 

 of hallowed rest, and mar the perfect picture. Sad 

 indeed must be the state of those who will shut 

 their hearts against all the sweet, wooing influ- 

 ences, which would fill them with love and praise 

 to Goo, and willfully trample, not only upon 

 God's command, but upon their own most blessed 

 privilege. Man may say, I will use the Sabbath 

 for my own pleasure.— I will not interfere with 

 others,— but this cannot be. We are all so placed 

 by DivineProvidence that each has a 



t influence,— 

 fall without 



tbe lowest, all 

 a social compact that no one cii 

 drawing down others. 



The steps which lead to the desecration of Ibe 

 Sabbath are easy and regular, and may tempi you 

 to follow them, but shun them as you would a 

 dtadly viper, for if you begin with no Sabbath, you 

 will end with no Gon. "■ '• °- 



Newark, N. T., 1859. 



Only Believe.-Jcsi 

 remedy for sin, for sorn 

 these two words convey. 

 of his own distress, ant 

 edness, he could only sal 

 troubled; ye believe in 



Believe, only believe. 



Demttifi 

 II. I the questic 



L was the reply of a venerable r 

 ], whether he was still in the I 

 1 No, but I am almost there." 



:s*v-2S 



