412 



MOORE'S RURAL KEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 



DEC. 18. 



<&U\tt f«ftg. 



b p uo j rigbUd bigot* d 



gMfa-Mwl. 



LIZZIE fflttSON'S CHRISTMAS. 



LdZETJ Mason sat at the window of her father 

 largo aud rlobly furnished drawing room, and, with 

 her cheek pressed tightly against her jeweled 

 fingers, gazed not upon the street. The snow was 

 packed, crisp and hard, and the clear, winter eon 

 shine seemed to have do effort hut to brighten it, 

 while the sleigh*, which tiltted hither and tbi'her, 

 laden with the ilch and the fair, attested the enjoy- 

 ment of the pleasure-loving city. Lizzib's Tery 

 pretty faco waa darkened by a I'rowr, and the look 

 o( resignation which wreathed her month wontd 

 have done credit to a martyr. Something had evi- 

 dently gooo wrong that morning, and from the 

 fact that tbero was to be a large ball on Christmas 

 Eve, and that Lizzie held In ber band a roll of bills, 

 we can cully surmise that she bad just received a 

 long lectin e from her father oo tbo extravagance of 

 women Id general, and his only daughter in partb 

 lar, winding np wiih the very reluctant bestowal of 

 fifty dollars or more for the wlshcd-for occasion. 



A little cutter, light a.i thistle down, and heaped 

 with furs, daahed by, and Likzik starts up jast in 

 time to receive a gallant bow from a fine-looking 

 young man, and a sculling glance from a gaily 

 dressed lady seated by bis side. 



" Well, there ! I wonder what disagreeable thing 

 will happen nextl" she exclaimed aloud. " I 

 thought I had bad enough to vex me for one day 

 at least. Now, there goes Ned Ritcbib in hisband- 

 some sleigh with that detestable Kate Wells! I 



dear, Twisu t had never eeen him! What a fool I 

 have been to think he cared anything about me. — 

 And what n triumphant look she gave me with 

 those black eyes that Ned so much admires,— I 

 could have crushed herl Heigh hoi I don't sup- 

 pose It entered bis mind that / might like to ride 

 this lovely morning." 



Tho sequel to this most charming soliloquy was, 

 that the young lady slammed the door after ber, 

 a Intbe oi.joymentof a copious shower 



Oft 



Wen 



t try to excuse 

 it from school, and 



her for she was only eighti 

 Ned was her favorite among several ndmirers of 

 herself and her father's money. As is generally 

 the case, half her bitter feelings were swept away 

 with the flood, and were replaced by more sensible 

 thoughts. She wiped her eyeB with a resolution 

 which was truly commendable, and having looked 

 In the glass to see that her face was not very red, 

 she resumed her seat in the comfortable arm-chair, 

 and thus reflected: 



"Howfoolbhl am! Why should I care for Nfd 

 Ritchie? True, be knows more, appears better, 

 is more agreeable than any other gentleman that 

 I know, but if I live, I dare say, I shall see plenty 

 more as good. Eighteen last March,— it Beems a 

 good many years, but it isn't so very old after all,— 

 ■0 I've lime enough before me to see aBy number 

 of people i fcbould like betler. 



■■I'm afraid f m very wicked and selfish. Be- 

 cause papa looked distressed and grumbled some 

 when I asked for the money for my ball dreBs, I 

 looked crow, and I know \ Ba ,id some unkind words, 

 for papa looked back when bo went out and said 

 with suoh a sorry look, 'Lizzib, 1 wonder sometimes 

 If you care anything about your father except when 

 he handi out money for your pleasure? 1 



"1 don't think that was fair, — be knowe I think 

 everything of him, and if bo bad not felt cross he 

 would never have thought of it. Perhaps I on ex- 

 travagant,— all tho girls are,— but he Is partly to 

 blama for that, for he never denies me anything. 

 He says that my education has cost so much that I 

 ought to economise now, but now is the very time 

 when I want money, if ever I shall, for I have jest 

 entered aocioiy, and it is expected that I shall 

 appear aa well as the rest. Dear me, I sometimes 

 wiih I was poor!" 



"Do yon!" aald a pleasant voice, in reply to the 

 Wt sentence, which was impatiently spoken aloud, 

 «*d turning hastily, Likzib met Mrs. KrssHLi., a 

 wIAqw Udy who waa formerly her governess, and 

 to whom she was much attached. 

 "I came right up, and have knocked twice, bnt 

 P*«»uo you did not hear me. How cony and 

 warm u u n6It . i jli£lli you woaI( . t n0K jj ow 

 to i approbate J0nr delightful home If you bad been 

 where I h*, , D , B moP1 , , lhlrik no onft can 

 truly value fc, bi ejfclDg9tbeyeLj , tbevh „ e 



contrasted Ibeta wtm tho 6itD8tion of ^ , eu 

 fortunate." 



■■ Ml.. .boot IJ Vj.. Rl , m .„ „ 



engaged in some charh*ii e , ork wtQ &n To ^ 

 last proteges?" 



-You remember To* Kirx*, who used t. be 

 Mr. 1 uomnn'8 gardener, and who takes care 

 of yoar father's lot in Greenwood! PoorTou'— 



He haa sot had any steady employment this t*o 

 months, and I fear be Is getting into bad habits. 

 On Saturday he went off wiia a parly of men in a 

 alelgh. The tleigh was opset, and Tom waa picked 

 up by a farmer and brought borne, having frozen 

 both of b it feet to badly aa to be useless for a while. 



"They are Tery poor, having scarcely the neces- 

 saries of Life, and their fuel will not lost a week 

 longer. His wife doc* the best she can, but she is 

 a poor, ignorant woman, with hall a doz«n little 

 ones. O, dear! our city is full of just such, and 

 when I look around me my heart acbea to think 

 how they will have to eoffer this winter In spite of 

 all that will be done for them. 



"But I most go,— I stopped totskeapeepatyou, 

 on my way to the widow Taylor's. Her two 

 yooogest children have had the scarletfcver. How 

 I pity Mart! Sue Is just your age, Lizzis, and a 

 lovely girl, but she is a perfect martyr to the family. 

 Her mother is not strong, and baa her hsnda fall, 

 so that Mart pretty much supports them all on the 

 scanty proceeds of ber school teaching." 



"Don't be In a hurry. Mrs. IIcssbll. Wait a mo- 

 ment, and 1 will go with you aa far as Broadway. 

 I waa going to Stewabt's to look at some laces. 



Taking a coach down Fifth Avenue to Broadway, 

 Mrs. Rcbsill got out at Spring street, telling 

 I.izzit that if she would accompany her she would 

 not stay long, aud would then go with ber to Stew- 

 art's. Lizzib bad hut a moment to think about it, 

 and before Bbe fairly thought whether she wished 



..*■<- 



v, ay. 



Taylor lived on Centre street, nef 

 mse which bad once been a handsr 

 ice, but like hundreds of others in N 

 :ay, (aa othei 



rTori, 



ty became more fashionable ) and are now either 

 cheap boarding houses, or are rented out to several 

 fjmilieE. Mrs. Taylor occupied the lower story 

 aud basement cf that in which she lived. 



It was their dinner hour, aud she came from the 

 kitchen to meet her visitors with a oare-worn look 

 that bespoke sleepless walcblogs by a sick bed and 

 countless cares by day. Lizzib waa Bhocked, — 

 aud with natural delicacy she withdrew ber atten- 



ahe 



i-gbt i 



her apparent interest in the poi 



conversation. Glancing around the 



that, though poorly furnished, it cou 



little articles of feminine laste, suchi 



a vase or two, and on the table lay 



reotypes. She took up one. It wai 



smiling face of a girl of not more than fourteen 



years, and seemed strangely familiar. 



which she opened teemed the same face, but there 



was such an anxions, prematirely thoughtful look 



about it that Lizzib thought it might almost be the 



mother of the other. On the table lay a book- 



Pope's Essay on Man— and turning carelessly to tl 



fly-leaf, Lizzie read "MahyTatloe— MIssPortei 



Select School, Aug, 1849." 



"Why I" she exclaimed, bnt checking herself 

 instantly, no notice was taken of her surprise, and 



Stewart's splendid assortment seemed to have 

 st its charms for LlEZTJ that morning, else she 

 »s absent-minded, for nothing suiied her, aud 

 tor turning over quantities of needle-work and 

 luncings, she went away, saying she would look 



All that afternoon LizztB^ieemeTTin B Dream, 

 and her Sogers lingered so long over the rich 

 slippers which she was embroidering, that she 

 would never have finished them at that rate. She 

 thinking of a little, rosy-cheeked girl with 

 beautiful curls, who used to be the pet and p'ay- 

 3 of the girls at Miss Poetsr's school. The 

 ;y Taylor that Lizzie used to know when she 

 about twelve years of age, was such a bright, 

 happy child, that it teemed impossible to identify 

 her with the pictures that she had that morning 

 Tet they muBt be the same. There was the 

 old school-book from which the older girls had 

 read and parsed, and there, In the picture of the 

 young girl, were the aame blight eyes, but the 

 rla were gathered np. Could Mary have grown 

 be like that pale, thoughtful womau, whose face 

 had looked up from the picture oase with an ap- 

 pealing expression? She remembered that Mary 

 had a father theD, but she had neither seen or 

 heard anything of her since they left New York 

 for the Wes», years ago. 

 Thinking thus, Lizzie looked aronnd her, and 

 e contrast between the after-lives of the two girls, 

 mid not bat rise strongly before her. On retiring 

 e sat down, as was her wont, to read a portion 

 Bcriptare, a practice acquired at boarding- 

 school, and continued from respect to her teacher. 

 , the largo family Bible, and bad been her 

 mother's. Turning to EcclesiasticuB of the Apoc- 

 pha, Bbe read for the first time these words: 

 " Prosperity and adversity, life and death, poverty 



They spoke like a spirit voice in answer to her 

 mights. Never had the idea come home to her 

 i entirely as now, that all she waa and all she en- 

 joyed, Bbe owed to the goodness of God, and not 

 any merit of her own. We will not Intrude upon 

 r thoughts, for they were too sacred, and when 

 length she sought her pillow, it was in a more 

 humble and serious frame of mind than for a long 

 me before. 



When Ljzzib met her father at breakfast, it was 

 ith a ktaa and a smile so sunny, tha'. he could not 

 sip saying, " So, I suppose the new dress is fairly 

 nderway.you look so nnusnally joyful?" But she 

 only answered with a knowing shake of the head, 

 'as the day before Christmas, and Lizzie had 

 been out all the morning. She bad been to their 

 grocer's and ordered a bushel basket full of packa 

 ges of tea, coffee, and eatables, to be sent to Tom 

 N*a family. Had sent an order to the wood- 

 yard for aload of wood for them, and, accompanied 

 by her housekeeper, had selected a joint of meat, 

 with vegetables, for their Christmas dinner. But 

 fine turkey, the barrel of flour, and those two 

 large mince pies, were sent to Mrs. Taylor, who 

 little thought who the donor could be, Lizzie's 

 purchases had been made ont of the money which 

 father gave her for her bail drear, and though 

 aa not half gone, there was not now enough for 

 the dress; but Lizzib seemed to have forgotten that 

 Having purchased a few useful article} as Chris-- 

 gift* to the servant*, she returned home ap- 

 parently quite happy. 



When the gas was lighted in the library, Lizzib 

 descended with the slippers in band, and opening 



the door softly, before her fa'her was awa-e of hei 

 presence, she placed the slippers on his feet say 

 ing. " See, papa, your Christmas gift I " 



"Why, Lizzie! I thought yon went to the ball 



What does this mean?" 



" It mease that I preferred to stay with yon. But 

 you don't say how you like the slippers." 



'• Why they're beauties! Warm as toast! Bat I 

 don't see yet, why yon didn't go. Have yon 

 Xed ijoarrelled ?" 



Lizzie blushed, but answered frankly, "0, 

 but when I came to think it over, I thought fifty 

 dollars was a good daal to spend on one evening 

 amusement, so when Ngp came to ask me, I tol 

 bim t should be happy to go with him, but I had 

 concluded to give up this ball Yon see I have 

 grown economical." 



1 Have? heyl Well, I can't tee ytt; bat, how 



H thC 



flW ' 



Here it is, or mo6%tot*,ibave spent part" 

 she spoke, she laid thfe®11s on his knee. 



" Come, puss, give so account of all this, for I 

 know yon keep something baok." 



Glad of a listener, Lizzie told the whole story, 

 and when she had finished, her father wiped bis 

 eyes euspicously, and said, -Here, child, take the 

 money back, yoa use it better than I should 



haven't bought near enough. Don't yon ^ 



make this girl a ChriBtmaa present? I have it!— 

 send her a note, telling her you beard fr 

 BBOSLL that they had returned to the city, and 

 you want her to spend the day with yoi 

 then you can cheer her np so she will grow young 



Lizzie needed no second bidding. She , 







> old I 



rpoor friend vl ac 



When her father had read the 

 "Bat, Lizzie, child, there is one thing, perhaps 

 she will not come. You know we live on Fifth 

 Avenue, and in such style aa befits our circom 

 stances, aud she may feel delicate about the con 

 trast Perhaps she haa not clothes that are Bnit, 

 able. Now, 111 tell youwbatwehad better do. It 

 is not late, we will send the note by T 

 we will go oat tonight and get some nice articles, 

 and have them Bent right away." 



It waa a new delight to Lijkih, and the enjoy 

 ment was doubled by her father's hearty partlci 



The frosty air, the brilliantly lighted and thronged 

 streets, the gay stores, and jiDgling sleigh-bells, 

 all combined to furnish a scene so exciting as to 

 make Lizzie's eyeB dance, and her cheeks gl 

 with animation. She could not have looked m< 

 beautiful at the ball, and I presume Nsn Ritchie 

 thought eo, judging from the admiring look he 

 gave her as he passed them. Lizzie was surprised 

 to see him, aud could not help wondering if he had 

 absented himself on account of her refusal 

 accompany bim to the ball. 



That night a large bundle was left at the widow 

 Taylor's for Mart. With eager, trembling hands, 

 she untied the strings, wondering who could bo 

 liefriend those who had long been nearly friendless. 



A warm blanket Bhawi, a woolen dress with 

 materials for making, a worsted hood, and a pair 

 of white mittens, two pairs of weolen stockings, 

 and a piece of cotton cloth, comprised the con- 

 tents. Poor girl! She was quite overcome, and 



note was handed ber. Having read it overhand 

 over again, she was half inclined to think that she 

 had found out their benefactor, but still in doubt, 

 she retired to rest with fervent prayers for who 



Never had she spent so delightful a day aa 

 the Christmas which Lizzie and her father made 

 '■ merry " for her. This waa but the beginning of 

 happy da) s for her. and she was no longer at a lose 

 to know who were her secret friends. 



And Lizzie was no less happy. It is a remark 

 able properly of benevolence, that the more and 

 the wider It is shod abroad, the more it retnrnB to 

 enrich and bless the heart of Its possessor. Then 

 Lizzie had another, though inferior, source < 

 happiness, in the fact that ber father told her, jui 

 before the holldajs were over, that a young ftllo 1 

 named Edward Bitcbie had been trying to coa 

 his daughter away from him, and, really, the poor 

 man Beemed to want her so much, that ho bad 

 fairly wrung a consent out of him. 



Curiosities of thb Earth.— At the city of Mc 

 dena, in Italy, and about four miles around i 

 wherever the earth is dug, when the workmen ni 

 rive at a distance of sixty-three reet, they come t 

 a bed of chalk, which tbey bore with an augei 

 live feet deep. They then withdraw from the pit 

 before the auger is removed, and, upon ita extrac- 

 tion, the water bursts up through the aperture 

 with great violence, and quickly fills thia newly- 

 made well, which continues full, and is affected 

 iithor by ralnB nor drouths. Bnt what is moBt 

 marhable in this operation is, tbe layers of earth 

 we descend. At the depth of fourteen feet are 

 fonnd the roins of an ancient city, paved streets 1 , 

 houses, fljors, and different pieces of mosaic work. 

 Under this Is found a soft oozy earth, made up of 

 vegetables, end at twentysix feet deep, large treeB 

 ', such as walnut trees, with the walnuts still 

 Bticking to the stem, and the leaves and branches 

 In a perfect Btate of preservation. At twenty-eight 

 feet deep, a soft chalk is found, mixed with a vast 

 quantity of shells, and this bed is eleven feet thick 

 Coder this, vegetables are fonnd again— Pint- 

 burg Almanac. 



Fine TnotfonT.— A Greek poet implies that 



the height of bliss is the sadden relief of pain: 



ere is a nobler bliss still — the rapture of the con- 



ience at the sudden release from a guilty tho'L. 



Bulger Lyllon. 



The Trie Gemi.eman. — He la courteous and 

 affable to his neighbors. As the sword of the 

 best tempered metal is most flexible, so the truly 

 ona arc most pliant and courteous in their 

 behavior to their inferiora. 





$>vmn fm tbf f onnrj. 



[As the subject is aga'n attracting attent 

 and being noticed in the papers, we re publish 

 following for solution by the thousands who were 

 not readers of the P.c&al when it was first gi' 

 —two or three years ago.] 



IDBCELLANEODS ENIGMA. 



I ah composed of is letters. 



My 2, 6, 1, 3 is a kind of fruit. 



My 9, 14, 8, 17, 3 is good to drink, but is not cider, 



My 10, 11 is a conjunction. 



My 15, G, 1, 16 Is what young ladies should be. 



My 3, 4, 18, <; Is what young ladies should not be. 



My 13, 14, 3, 8 is much disliked. 



My 10, 17, 15, 8 is used by soldiers. 



My 1,7. 15, 1-1 Is a lady's name. 



My 14, 7, 5, 3, 12, 13 is a gentleman's name. 



My 11, 1, 0, 7 is a young animal. 



Young ladiee now may try their akil', 

 For there's a way when there's a will— 

 My whole expresses an urgent need, 

 Felt by a farmer, lonely, indeed. 





^9- l 



i weeks. 



U1DDLE. 



There was a man of Adam's race, 

 Who had a certain dwelling place, 

 A home complete, well covered o'er, 

 Where no man dwelt since nor before. 

 'Tivas not composed by human art. 

 Brick, stone, nor wood in any part; 

 Its windowB bright, its structure neat, 

 Its porta were everywhere complete. 

 'Twas not on the hill, nor in the glen, 

 'Twas not fn tbe air, nor yet among men, 

 'Twas neither in heaven, nor was it in hell, 

 But in a world where mortals dwell. 



JLS* Answer in two weeks. 



ANSWERS TO ENIGMAS, Ac, IN No. 4 



Answer to Biblical Enigma: — Remember the 

 Sabbath day to keep It holy. 



Answer to Miscellaneous Enigmar—Love God 

 and keep bis commandments. 



Answer to Geometrical Problem:— 120 and 1G0 



mmm. 



"Cappiso thb Climax," — A certain political 

 speaker was addressing a large audience in Vir- 

 ginia, and doscanting vehemently against pro- 

 scription of foreigners, when his eye fell upon a 

 little German Jew, a peddler of ready-made cloth- 

 ing, who seemed to bo very moch impressed with 

 the argument of the orator, greedily swallowing 

 up everything he uttered. Thle was too good an 

 opportunity not to make the most of, and looking 

 the little peddler full In the eye, he exclaimed: — 



, di'-ln 



■ this 





cape from tyrannical, down-trodden and oppressed 

 Europe? Didn't you flee to these happy shores to 

 live in a land of freedom, where the great right of 

 sufferoge is guaranteed to all ? Ddn't you, furrin- 

 er?" He paused for a reply, when the little peddler 

 squeaked out — " No, Blr; I comes to dis country to 

 Bell sheap ready-made clothes." 



The astonishment of the orator, the shouts and 

 roars of the mnltitude, cannot be described. The 

 speech woe finished. 



A PoNGBKT Dialoguk-—Gto«t—" Mr. Editor, 

 I'll thank you to say that I keep the best grocerleB 

 in the city." 



Editor — "I'll thank you to supply my family 

 with groceries gratis." 



Grocer—" I thought you were glad to get some- 

 thing to fill up your paper." 



Editor—" I thought you were glad to fill op 

 etore-rooma for nothing." It'a a poor rule that 

 won't work both ways. 



Exit grocer in a rage, threatening to kill the 



So tAle my utiulc trig," tbo aweet oreiture replied. 



The man who is too poor to take a weekly paper, 

 haa bought a slab sided dog, an old shot-gun, and 



twenty shilling gold watch. He educates bis 

 children in the street, and boards his shanghali 



doctor and a military officer became en 

 ored of the same lady. A friend inquired of her 

 which of the two suitors she intended to favor. 

 Her reply was that it was difficult for her to deter- 

 as they were both such HUta 



O'Try lad saya his Uncle Ben made a scare- 

 ) very frightrol that one of tbe black featbr 

 deves actually went and brought back all 

 n he had stolen during several dan, 



^dfrrtiscments. 



FUBS] FUBSI FUBen 



LADIES' FURS. 



Fancy Sleigh and Buffalo Robes. 



Office 343 Br 



DQQQgoOQQQC 



GIFTS-GIFTS .'-GIFTS!! 



Splendid Gifts! 



At No. 4-39 ChPBtnut St. 



THB ONLY ORIGINAL GIFT BOOK STORE ! 



r* IJ ! \ VN* mM l.,fbnn hi. Irr.id. «rf [to y.bllc th.1 hi. 



..tnbll.hiril II 



LEA & PERKINS' 



worcestersiiTke sauce, 



l.OO o 



SALESMEN WANTED, 





MOdKE'S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 



D. T. MOORE. ROCHESTER, N. V. 



Office. Union Buildings, Opposite the Court House. 



and spare the chil 



i definition .f a proverb: "Spoil the rod 



