312 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
No. 153 . 
THE FIRS 
The Editor with his Young Readers. 
Did ever any body see a more thoroughly self satisfied 
countenance than that of the boy in the above picture. 
Ho certainly thinks he has done it. True, the picture he 
has made on the slate, is not handsome to our eyes; it 
looks very little like a human figure, but this boy, who is 
just beginning to draw, thinks it a great performance, and 
is as happy in this idea as Benjamin West could be over 
one of his great paintings. This is probably his first at¬ 
tempt to be original. He has before copied figures from 
• he book now thrown aside on the floor, and this picture is 
l/: Ms own. There is a real pleasure in such a feeling. 
You have no doubt experienced it; perhaps in just such 
an exercise, or it may be in writing a composition, or 
solving a hard question in arithmetic, or you may have 
made a windmill, or a box. or something requiring pains 
and skill. However poorly the work may have been 
done, it gave great pleasure becau-e it was your own work. 
We should be encouraged by the happiness thus afforded, 
to try and succeed by our own efforts. We will give ibis 
hoy a word ol caution, to which you may listen. “ Very 
well done my boy, for a first effort, but don’t bo too proud 
of it, ; don’t be satisfied yet, for after all it is nothing to 
what, you win r>e able to accomplish by repeated trials.” 
This is a poor noy, as you can see by his coarse cloth¬ 
ing, bis rough woolen cap and his clumsy shoes. He ap¬ 
pears to be in a cabin, with not even a chair to sit upon, 
and vet be is happy. Ah ' happiness is like the sunshine, 
w hicb beams as brightly into the poorest hut as through 
the plate glass window of a palace. 
When tempted to repine because you may not have 
some privileges which others possess, think of this boy 
T EFFORT 
happy with only a slate and pencil, and learn the lesson, 
ihat the sources of enjoyment are in ourselves, and not 
in surrounding objects, as most persons are apt to think. 
“ OLD PATCH.” 
Here is a little narrative which we have seen in print 
two or three times, but it deserves stereotyping : A poor 
boy came to school with a large patch on his knee. One 
of his school fellows, who was a little haughty, and with¬ 
al a great “ tease,” began to nick-name him “ Patch,” and 
finally “Old Patch.” The other boys who had perhaps 
suffered in the same way from the teaser, said to “ Patch,” 
“Why don’t yon Mick him!’ Yes, give it to him! I 
wouldn’t be called names so by him ; I'd give it to him 1” 
-“Pooh!” answered the boy with the patch, “you 
don’t suppose I'm ashamed of my patch, do you ? For my 
part, I am very thankful for a good mother who, though 
poor, toils to keep me out of rags. A neat patch looks 
much better than a slovenly ragged hole in my pants. 
Yes I honor this patch for my mother’s sake.”-There 
was a true and noble philosophy in this, and his compan¬ 
ions felt it. “There’s no getting the better of Patch” 
said the boys ; “ not a bit of false shame about him.” And 
now tlie boys honored him for it. 
WALKING ON THE TIGHT HOPE. 
A great deal has been said lately about Ihe perform¬ 
ances of Mr. Blondin. who as you have probably all 
heard, has several times walked over a rope stretched 
across the Niagara river, a short distance below the 
falls. It is said he does it almost or quite as well as 
an ape could. Many people applaud him for it, and he 
has received considerable money for his exhibitions We 
should not have taken any notice of the matter, but in 
many places boys are imitating his example by trying tc 
walk on the tops of fences, ropes, and other Uangt-rous 
places. Not one of these buys can ever hope to equal a 
cat in such performances. But is it not brave to perform 
such feats? No. It is rashness, foolish, because useless 
and wicked, because trifling wiih life Leave such 
tricks for those who have no higher aim than to be 
mere agile animals. 
THE UNKIND WORD. 
Many children, usually good tempered, sometimes 
thoughtlessly speak in a cross unkind manner. We want 
them to read this little story we found in the S S. Ad¬ 
vocate. Little Nellie was such a girl, and allhough she 
loved her sister Katy, dearly, she sometimes grieved her 
very much by answering her crossly. One day Nellie 
had just found a fine large apple, and Katy who was 
several years younger, wanted it. She asked as sweetly 
as she knew how, “ Please give it to me Nellie” But 
Nellie quickly refused her in a very unkind manner, and 
Katy turned away grieved and crying. She was notoniy 
disappointed, but the harshness of her sister made her 
very sad. That night, poor little Katy was attacked 
with croup. She suffered severely, and the next day, in 
spite of all the physician could do. hereies were closed 
in death, and her sweet voice forever hushed. Then 
Nellie bitterly remembered her unkind words. “Ob'” 
cried she, “if Dear Katy could only come back for one 
minute Ihat I might ask her forgiveness.” She hung upon 
her neck, and kissed her again and again, but all in 
vain—and though she may live many years, therecollec 
tion of her unkindness will always give her pain. If 
you must refuse a favor, do it in genlle and kind words 
winch leave no sting behind. 
ABOUT THAT PICTURE—AND POCKETS. 
We have been much interested in reading the letters 
w hich a number of our young friends have w ritten, as we 
requested, about the picture, (“Stand behind me,”) in the 
September Agriculturist. They generally agree in pro¬ 
nouncing that boy a good specimen of young .America. 
The following ietler expresses partly what we thought, 
when studying the engraving, and is so well written, that 
we have selected it to fill all the spaee we can spare : 
Mu. Editor: 
Allhough I am but a small girl, I must say from what I 
can see in the picture, that I am strongly inclined to like 
that boy, I think I would be pleased to make his acquain¬ 
tance, and would not give him the "mitten” should he 
ask me to go home from spelling school, or singing school, 
or any where else. I don’t think it fair lo make fun ol 
him ; lie seems to be kind hearted, he speaks respectfully 
to the old lady. I don’t care if they do say he is bold and 
forward—1 call it courage of the best kind, and what will 
make him a more than common man in the world. I can' 
not help laughing every time I look at the picture—still I 
like that boy. and am not ashamed to own it. I do not 
see why little boys and girls should be laughed at when 
they act like gentlemen and ladies I do not believe Ihat 
boy will ever be seen in a fight with other boys, although 
he is a brave boy. I would like to have seen him where 
he was, as they made the picture of him. Sabah. 
Sandusky, Vt., Sept. 1, 1859. 
Another young correspondent, “John,” criticises the 
altitude of the boy, because “ he stands wiih his hands in 
his pockets—a habit w hich our editor has told us is not a 
polile one.” This criticism is perhaps a just one, though 
in the picture the boy seems to have almost accidentally 
got his hands where they are, rather than from force of 
habit. No boy should carry his hands in his pockets, nor 
put them there except to withdraw a knife or key. Nor 
should the pocket be turned into a store-house for all 
sorts of things. A little three-year-old boy may be ex¬ 
cused if he makes pretty free use of his first pocket, for 
his handsor anything else, but boys who have got beyond 
baby-hood should learn better.A Tennessee friend ol 
our young readers, sends the following which has 
MORE ABOUT FACES. 
Children read people’s faces long before they learn to 
read books. This makes me follow up what was said 
about faces in the August Agriculturist. There are no 
two people in the world wiih faces exactly alike; and 
there are no two people in the world exactly the same in 
character. If you could travel all over the world, and 
talk with all the people in it, you would not find one per¬ 
son who thinks and feels just as you do. Children com¬ 
monly think and feel most like their parents, broihers, and 
sisters, and they generally look most like them. Tcose 
twins who look so much alike that you (•an hardly ted 
the one from the other, are very much alike in disposi¬ 
tion. Y’ou have probably heard of the Siamese twins. 
They are joined by a tie of flesh ami blood, which 
unites their bodies. One is larger than his brother, but 
they resemble each other very much. If they weie un¬ 
like each other in their dispositions and actions they 
would be very uncomfortable, for they are co iipelled to 
