370 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[DECKM3JE11, 
"ASTON ISHMENT."- from a painting by w. 
*v Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
The fifioy in the Picture— Self Control. 
"Very much astonished indeed this lad must be. His 
looks show that his senses seem to have escaped from his 
eyes and open mouth, even faster than the milk is pour- 
ing from the pan he is carrying, but which lie appears to 
have entirely forgotten. What he is gazing at, we can 
not even guess — perhaps at a while cow, which in the 
twilight he fancies to be a ghost ; or as a friend at our 
elbow suggests, perhaps he is " taken all aback by seeing 
a silver half dollar," which, in these times would be a 
novel sight. It Is very plain that he has never learned 
to be master of himself. He would certainly make 
a poor soldier ; the first shell that name whizzing 
near him would make him forget his musket, his compan- 
ions, and his duty, and he would be of no more use than 
a wooden image. But he may not be much to blame for 
all that. It is no easy matter to learn to control all one's 
powers. It takes years of practice to know how to man- 
age a steam engine, but what is that compared with the 
wonderful machine— the body with a mind in it — that 
every boy and girl possesses 1 The lad in the picture ap- 
pears like a neglected boy, kept by same unthinking 
employer just to do chores, and with no thought or care 
for him only to keep him at work. There are such men, 
but it is of little use to say any thing about them here, for 
they are not of ttie sort that take the American Agri- 
culturist or any other good paper for themselves and 
their girls and boys to read.— It is the testimony of the 
Wise Man that " He that ruleth his own spirit is greater 
than he that tuketh a city, 1 ' and it will be found that no 
one is fitted to rule others until he lias gained some 
mastery over his own powers. Strive to train your eyes, 
ears, tongue, hands, feet, all the faculties, to act rightly 
and at the right time, and it will save not only a good 
deal of "spilt milk" but of spoiled life.— The most diffi- 
cult thing to control is the temper. An aged friend of 
ours, who is noted for his calmness, says he commenced 
when a little boy to always count seventy-two before 
speaking, when he began to feel angry about anything. * 
"A Merry Christmas. " 
It will soon be here. Already the little folks are count- 
ing the weeks and days before Dec. 25th. Some boys are 
dreaming of new skates, sleds, knives, or books ; the girls, 
of dolls, play houses, puzzle.s, and other gifts of Santa 
Clans. Christmas should be the happiest holiday of the 
year. Most other holidays are in commemoration of 
events which pertain to the particular history of the na- 
tion in which they are celebrated. Thus we, as a people, 
have our Fourth of July and 22d of Frebuary ; in Eng- 
land, the Fifth of November is celebrated ; in Gemany, 
the 18th of October. (It will be interesting for you to 
learn from history why these days are specially regarded 
in those countries.) Christmas, however, is or should be 
a holiday for all nations. It is in rememberance of the 
Great Gift to mankind. In all Christian nations, it is re- 
membered with rejoicing. The exact time of the birth 
of Christ is not determined, but, as you know, all have 
agreed to keep up the 25th of December, to bring to mind 
that event. The word Christmas means a mass or spec- 
ial worship to Christ. It came to be called "Merry" 
from the revels and sports which were instituted in Eng- 
land, at Christmas times, extending formerly from Dec. 
25th to Candlemas (Feb. 2d). In the houses of the nobles 
a " lord of misrule " was appointed whose business it is 
said by an old writer, was "to make the rarest pastime?, 
to delight the beholder." An immense fire was built In 
the largest room in the oh! castles, on which a great log, 
called the " Yule log," was kept burning until Candle- 
inns. The laborers were alt invited into the castle, to 
feast, and dance, play games, and engage in every kind 
of amusement. These scenes must often have been tu- 
multuous, as barrels of ale and great bowls of punch 
were freely given out to the revelers. Although such 
scenes are not now enacted, Christmas is now here ob- 
served with greater spirit than in England. In Germany 
and the north of Europe, this day is often called the 
" children's festival," and the Christmas tree is introduced 
on the preceding evening* A very interesting custom on 
this occasion is observed in some places. After the pres- 
ents from the Christmas tree have been distributed, the 
mother takes opportunity to say privately to the daugh- 
ters, and the father to the sons, what has been observed 
most praiseworthy and what most faulty in their conduct. 
In other places, the youngest child on behalf of the oth- 
ers, makes a little speech to the parents, expressing their 
love and gratitude ; the writer once witnessed this per- 
formance where the occasion was kept in true German 
style. We are pleased to notice that in late years Die ob- 
servance of Christinas is becoming more general in the 
United Stales. Many families have the Christmas tree, 
bearing its beau-tiful fruit of presents for oh! and young, 
though inmost places the good old-fashioned plan still 
prevails of hanging the stockings in the chimney corner 
for Santa Claus to fill. From our hearts we wish you all 
a Merry Christmas this year, with stockings full of pres- 
ents to help make it so ; but all will be pretty sure to have 
it. who take care to keep their stockings filled with good 
children's feet, until that time. 
Amusing; Remarks of Children. 
A very talkative ..little girl used often to annoy her 
mother by making remarks about the visitors that came 
to the house. On one occasion a gentleman was expect- 
ed whose nose had been accidentally flattened nearly to 
his face. The mother cautioned her child particularly to 
say nothing about this feature: imagine her consterna 
tion when the little one exclaimed, " Ma, you told me to 
say nothing about Mr. Smith's nose, why he hasn't got 
any!" — This recalls an anecdote of a little girl whose 
teacher often had occasion to reprimand her. One day 
she gave the child an unusually long and sharp talk for 
some grave offence, and from the steady attention of the 
latter, supposed she was making a strong impression on 
her, when suddenly the little girl exclaimed, " Why Miss 
Jones, when you talk, your upper jaw don't move a bit." 
A Thick Fog;— A Quizzcr Relinked. 
A talkative individual encountered a quiet old gentle- 
man on the ferry boat one morning, and vainly endeav- 
ored to draw him into conversation — evidently with a de- 
sire to make spoil of him, but without much success. At 
length the talker remarked, "I suppose you consider 
Down East a right smart place ; but I guess it would puz- 
zle them to get up as thick a fog as we have here this 
morning." "Well," said the old man, " I don't know 
about that. I hired one of your York chaps to work for 
me last Summer, and one rather foggy rnornin' I sent him 
down into the meadow to lay a few courses of shingle on 
a new barn I was finishin' off. At dinner-time the fellow 
came up, am), sez he, "That's a long barn of yourn." 
Sez I, " Not very long." " Well," sez he, " I've been to 
work ail this forenoon, and haven't got one course laid 
yet." " Well," sez I, "You're a lazy fellow, that's all 
I've got to say." And so after dinner I went down to see 
what he'd been about, and don't you believe, he had 
shingled more than a hundred feet right on to the fog !'' 
"Answer a fool according to his folly said the Wise Man." 
Reading One's own Obituary. 
An eastern journal had a subscriber who had not paid 
up in several years, though he often promised to " call 
and settle." Finally after a sharp dun he said, " If I don't 
come and pay up to morrow, you may be sure I am 
dead." The next day came, but no money. On the fDl- 
low.'ng morning the subscriber was bonified nt readingin 
the journal a notice of his own death, giving a sketch of 
his life, and recounting many good qualities he possessed, 
but stating that one of his failings was his neglect to pay 
the printer. Seizing his hat he posted to the office and ex- 
claimed, " What docs this mean ?" " Why " replied the 
editor, "you told me I might consider you dead unless that 
bill was settled yesterday, and knowing you to be a man 
of your word, I wrote accordingly." "Oh ! ah ! yes, I 
see," said the subscriber, "here's your money; and now, 
if you please, contradict the report in your next paper." 
"That's not necessary," replied the editor, " the article 
was printed only in the copy of the paper sent to you !" 
He took the hint, and ever after paid the printer promptly. 
