MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
ifor t()c liming. 
Written for the Rural New-Yorker. 
THE SAPPHIRE GROT. 
A cave, of a character entirely unique, 
v j ♦ I perhaps too late, that for the want of a cor- . v -ijV 
(fK 0 It C it t I Q It ft I rCCt e >’°» rather tban from mere ignorance, Ifj f|T f ) ( s 4 j f| )t IT fY 
V^niUtUlDlUUf he has a reputation for scholarship which is c 5 j U 1 K g 1 H } U 1 JJ ♦ 
_ . anything but enviable. -___- 
ERRORS IN TEXT-BOOKS. Tho 0tllei ' lad early comes to the very Written for the Rural New-Yorker. 
- sensible conclusion that his eyes were not SAPPHIRE GROT 
Errors in the text-books used in our given him for nothing, but were actually _ 
schools aro far too common — errors in ma de for use. Ilis teacher never has oc- a cave, of a character entirely unique, 
, . ... casion to say to nun “ where were your eyes. , , ,, .. ,, T , , 
orthography, errors m syntax, errors m the that di( ] not sec that mistake?” for he has been recenU y discovered in the Island 
arrangement of subjects, errors in matters never lets his “ composition” go to tho teach- of Capri, at the southern extremity of tho 
of fact, or in other words, in presenting to or’s hands, till he has carefully copied it and Bay of Naples. At tho base of an almost 
both teacher and learner as fact, what is corrected all errors. He does, indeed, make perpendicular limestono cliff, which rises 
not fact. Now these things ought not so to S 0 !! 1 < j, n ,’ :st;ibcs 5 but bis attont!0n ne °d be f rom tll0 gea to a g roa t bight, a semicircular 
, ° “ . called but once to each, for he never makes . , ,, „ „ , 
be. If a person undertakes to write or h the seeond time . He carefully cultivates °P emn g abovo tbe surface of tho water is 
compile a manual of any kind, to bo placed a habit of observation, and never allows an seen, the shape of which resembles the 
in the hands of a learner, it should be accu- opportunity of learning anything useful to mouth of an oven, and but little surpassing 
rate in everything pertaining thereto, before pass, without improving it. If, on his way 0 no in size. When the sea is calm, the cav- 
the manuscript is sent to the publisher, and Gy ’. e " bci 0 , a 1 itten , at !' 01 " ern may be entered in a small skiff, by bend- 
then it should be carefully attended to ascertain its nature; and having done that, mg below the sides of tho boat. On dear- 
while passing through the pross, or elso tho ho proceeds to criticise it. First, he looks ing this narrow passage, the visitor is usher- 
printed page will not truly represent the to seo if all the words are spelt right, for lio ed into a grotto of considerable dimensions, 
manuscript page. Tbe Pennsylvania School regards bad spelling as a grievous fault; the roof arched liko a dome, tho floor of wa- 
Journ.il contains an extended table of dis- 1 1Ga0 tx,l! J ,ni, ' s t k. punctuation, tl.<n, tho ter, and tho whole lighted up with a rich 
crepant datos m the different School iiis- then, whether the capitals aro where they b ‘ ue “' om wal ch peculiarity it is called 
torios, showing that this subject has not been should be; and finally, he notices any pe- the Sapphire Grot. 
properly attended to. 
THE EDUCATION OF THE EYE. 
culiarity of the penmanship , and if this be 
unusually good, lie carefully observes where¬ 
in it differs from his own. Now this inci- 
It is an interesting question, why this 
cavern, with such a narrow opening, which 
We roccollcct of reading in our school him with a lesson in five different branches 
dent, unimportant in itself, has furnished would render it dark _ and gloomy, is found 
.. i - • n . _ .i tn hr* fin hnnnhifn IIv ll lnminnt.ml 'THa ay- 
to be so beautifully illuminated. The ex¬ 
planation is, that the rays of light pass into 
it through tho azure waters of tho sea, which 
boy days, a story entitled, “ Eyes and no Moreover, the habit of criticism thus acquir- planation is, that tho rays of light pass into 
eyes; or the art of seeing .” The burden od, is invaluable to him, and tho beneficial it through the azure waters of the sea, which 
of the story was, that on a certain occasion, results of it will follow him through life.— imparts to them its deep blue color. A 
two school boys were allowed a holiday ino moment ms eve rests upon anything ,. ,. , 
which was spent in roaming over the fields, wrong, tho error is instantly detected; and P™of of this, at once curious and interesting, 
On their return, each was questioned by his tho slightest mistake could no more escape ' s hmnd in the fact that tho shadow of the 
tutor in relation to what ho had seen. The * ds notice, than a discordant note would boat is thrown on the roof; and by covering- 
first had seen nothing , or at least, nothing that of tho most skilful musician. tho entranco, and thus excluding tho direct 
had intoiested him, and he could give no Again observe that proof-reader. See rays, the intensity of the cerulean tint is 
account ot any thing that had occurred dur- how quick he is to discover anything wrong ,, v • , , , - ^ . . , , 
ing tho day. Tho other, on tho coot,ary. Was ho always thus? Nolho hi sS heightened. Capr,its now resorted 
gave a full, interesting and minute account years in acquiring knowledge sufficient to t0 by man y travelers to behold this beautx- 
of evei’y thing he had seen ; and the anima- enable him to correct “ proofs’* on all con- fal wonder of nature. It is supposed to 
tion ot his recital, gave evidence of the ceivable subjects ; but that is not all. He have been known to tho Romans, the island 
had enjoyed the same opportunities for time when, with all his knowledge, ho was 
THE WOODFECKER’S TREASURES. 
pica ure and intsruction. and both had about not thus expert. So, too, the teller of a A „ _ , , ~ ... . 
the same natural faculties. Whence the bank, or a money broker, will run over bun- . LATE writer ° a work on California, 
d.fferonce, then, in the results? We answer; dreds of bank notes, faster than ordinary gives somo curious tacts in relation to tho 
one had exer dsed his facultr s of perception persons can count them, and at the same treasures laid up by the woodpecker in that 
and observation, wh !o tho other had not. time detect any spurious notes that may country. Ho says : 
At the time wo read this story, the full happen to bo among them. These illustra- T , . ~ . . T . 
force of the moral which it was evidently tions show that there is such a thing as so 'I stll PP in g bark I observed it 
intended to teach, was not fully compro- disciplining the eye. as to make it exceed- P G1 !^ ratud wuh holes larger than those 
headed. Buo wt have often thought of it ingly quick to discover whatever is not as it which a musket bullet would make spaced 
since, and the result of our cogitation shall should be. niGSt accurato percision, as if bored 
bo given to our readers. " But this habit of close observation, like un 7 cr tho gai . d u ance a rul ° and c o m pass, 
If we carefully study tho history of great all others of real value, must be acquired and many of them filled most neatly with 
men, we shall find one of tho principal ele- early in life. Tho school-room is tho proper acorn3 ; Earlier in thG season 1 remarked 
ments of their greatness to consist in their place to dovelope and cultivate it. and the . . . 111 “early all the softer timber but 
constant habit of carefully observing every skillful teacher is tho one of all others to ima g>nmg they wore caused by wood in- 
thing that transpires about them. Much is call the attention of his pupils to its impor- f ec ' tS ’ 1 /! 0t st /'l' to examine or inquire; 
doubtless learned from books, but more tauce. Once get them started right, and GUfc ^°w, Adding them studded with acorns 
from intercourse with the world. A shrewd, they will pursue the course from tho very | irnil . v dxcd '»• which 1 knew could not have 
inquiring Yankee keeps his eye “ wkll skin- love of it. In a short time, a mistake even lC en driven there by the wind, I sought for 
ned” as he terms it, and with a moderate of the most trivial kind, will be looked upon an expiamition, which was^practically given 
amount or “ book learning,” often rises in a with abhorrence; and instead of performing uie y ( ^ a P ta ” 1 s pointing out a flock ot 
short time to posts of honor and distinction, every thing in a slip-shod, careless manner. w° od P cc . kurs busily and noisily employed in 
as well as usefulness. ’He “keeps his eyes they'will take great pride in having it done fc 10 l n ’. ovld °nt task ot securing their winters 
about him,” of, in other words, ho allows just right. —.TV* Y. Teacher. provisions. It appears that that sagacious 
nothing to come under his observation, with- ____ 011 ‘ > 8 1; ot all tne time thriftlessly engaged 
out learning something from it. He makes NATIONALITY IN HANDWRITING. mwo^idfe 1 puroose V^mniv^ou^ hut 
men and things his study, quite as much as _ moio imo pin pose ot empty sound, but 
books, though these ho by no means des- Among other developments made at a re- 'i I" . pick j"S tb ?. so 
NATIONALITY IN HANDWRITING. 
bird Is not all the time thriftlessly engaged 
“tapping the hollow beech-tree,” for the 
more idle purpose of empty sound, but 
spends its summer season in picking those 
DOORS, t ioiign tnese no by no means des- Among other developments made at a re- p 0 ] es j n u i. lvs t \ f d (V 
pises. I ho opinion ot such a man is worth cont s ; ttin<r of the Edinehiiroh Aeademv of i ni , 11 la ' s , st01 ° ot tood lo * 
bavin o- for it is gonerallv correct His views £ • g , ^Uingbuigb Academj ot t | !0 WIuter w h er0 the elements can neither 
*=, H it is gonci any coiicct. ins views Sciences, was the most remarkable tact, that ( qr oc t it nor nlice it bevnnd tlwGr ,.,,.,, 1 , 
are sound and practical; and though others no rnan can ovor 0 -.. t rid of the stvle of hand- t , P f 1 Ue - sond t f 1 , 611 1 ® aeh , and 
mav spin fine theories thev seldom arrive at ,• g . 1 . " is considered a sure omen that the snowy 
may spin uuu meories, uiej seiuom ari i\e at writing peculiar to his nation. It ho be Eng- nnn ,.„ Q .u: n „ 
sater conclusions, or more usotul results. ]; s h he always writes in Fnalish «tvle-^f 1 Cll0d ,s appioaching when theso birds 
But can the eye be educated? Certainly, French in So French stvle- if German c0 . mmenc e stow.ngaway their acorns, which 
as well as tho feet or the hands Let the !:‘encli, in tiie F lencfi stjlc . it Goi man. otherwise might be covered by its fall. 
11 . Jcc , s 01 1, 0 ndnas - , UU} Italian, or Spanish, in the stylo peculiar to T , . - , 
carpenter raise tho steps over which you hie n-Ltffin 1 frequently paused from my chopping to 
carpenter raise tho steps over which you 
have been accustomed to pass, a, single inch, 
and whether you know it or not, the first 
time you pass over them, you will stumble. 
Tho attention of the new born infant is first 
attracted to the light, and it will stretch 
forth its hand to get hold of the candle, 
though it bo ten feet off. The eye of that 
infant has, as yet, learned nothing of dis¬ 
tances. The man restored to sight bv our 
his nation. 11 ‘ J 1 ‘ I frequently paused from my chopping to 
T ’ . . , . , „ . . watch them in my neighborhood, with the 
I am acquainted with a Frenchman who acorns in their bills, half clawing half flyino- 
has passed all his life m England, and who round the tree, and to admire the adroit- 
isEnglish in dress, habits, tastes,everything; neBB with which they tried it at different 
who speaks English like one of our country- ho | os till they found one of its exact caliber; 
men. and writes English with ten times more when . inserting the pointed end, they tap- 
correctness than ninety-nine in the hundred p ed it homo most artistically with their 
of us, but who cannot for tho very life oi 
pod it homo most artistically witl 
beaks, and flew down for .another. 
depended upon. Things distant and near 
appear the same. It is idle to say. in rela¬ 
tion to such cases, that it is the \nind and 
not the eye that is to be trained ; for tho eye 
of a mere animal that has no mind, may be 
trained in the sa.no way. Jowler knows at 
him, imitate our mode ot writing. I have thoir natural instinct is even more remarka- 
also heard of a Scotch youth who was care- ble j„ t he choice of the nuts, which you will 
fully educated in this country, and for 18 invariably find sound; whereas it is a mat- 
years ot Ins life mixed exclusively with ter of impossibility, in selecting them for 
F rench people, but who, though ho had a casting, to pick up a batch that will not 
French writing master, and perhaps never hav0 ha if 0 f them unfit for use. the most 
saw anything but French writing m his life, sa f e and pol ishe*l looking very frequently 
always wrote m tlio same style as wo all do; containing a largo grub generated within.- 
it was really national instinct. In Pans all Even tho wiJv Indian, with all bis craft and 
liisinouth; though there was a time when 
he was not thus expert. Without reason to 
guido him, his eye has been trained until 
trained in the sa.no way. Jowler knows at p 10 N v, v ’ iti "g inast e r s profess to teach the experience, is unable to arrive at any thing 
what precise moment to snap at the bit of Mlg .’. sb maimer °t writing, but with all their fj^ e an unerr i„g selection, while in a large 
cracker thrown at him, so as to catch it in °“ rt f ,ons ' tbe >’ caa "ever get their pupils to bag-fuU that wo took from tho bark of our 
liisinouth; though there was a time when p °/ , al ^ but 1 10 eiamped hand ot the log,therewasnotonecontainingtheslight- 
he was not thus expert. Without reason to rGncI1 ‘ est germ of decay. They never encroach 
guide him, his eye has been trained until ^ome person protended that ho could on their packed store till all on the surface 
he can estimate distances quite as well as tho character of individuals from their are covered, when they resort to those in 
his young master. handwriting. I know not, whether he tho bark. 
But, in applying this principle to educa- s P obo tbe truth or not, but assuredly he ~ ^ 
tion, we do not mean that the mind is not m 'R d t have asserted, with tho most perfect ■* IlE Eannon Ball 1 kee. Among tho 
to bo employed at all, while the eye is being confidence that he could distinguish a man’s plants ot Guiana one of the most curious is 
trained. If the eye of a brute may be thus c0untl 7 by b is hand writing. The differ- the cannon ball tree. It grows to the height 
trained, how much more the eye of a being eneo between our writing and that ot the (d sixty feet, and its flowers are remarkable 
who has reason to <>-uido and control his French is immense—a scliool hoy would for beauty and fragrance, and contradictory 
movements. ^ distinguish it at a glance. Mix together a qualities. Its blossoms are of a delicious 
In giving this subject a practical bearing, hundred sheets ot manuscript written by a ciimson, appearing in large bunches, and ex- 
let us, as in tho instance already adduced^ bundred of our countrymen, and no one baling a rich perfume, 
illustrate the point, by the case of two lads w °uhl fail to 6 ay which was tho British and 1 be fruit resembles enormous cannon 
at school. One can spell orally any word. w b>cb was the French, oven though they b ads hence tho name. However, somo say 
no matter what, the instant it is given ; and s beuld all bo written in the samo language bus been so called because of the noise 
yet, require him to write half a dozen lines. and with fc he same pens, ink, and paper.— which tho balls make in bursting. From 
and half the words will bo misspelt. His Tbe difference between Italian, Spanish, and the shell domestic utensils aro made, and 
mind has been trained, but not his eye,* he Gorman styles of writing is equally as great, the contents contain several kinds of acids, 
did not see tho errors till pointed out, and lading burgh Weekly Review. besides sugar and gum, and furnish the ma- 
ho wonders how any one can ! His writing - — ---— -- torials for making an excellent drink in sick 
is also wrotched, because ho never looks at There is a groat deal said about Luther’s nC f‘ ? ut ' .singular as it may appear, this 
his copy, nor observes wherein his scrawls Sermons. His simplest thoughts w«re such wbyn ’J 1 a B (M ' f ectly ripe state, is very 
differ from it. He does not notice that he „ • simplesttnougnts w.ie such, filthy, and the odor from it is exceedingly 
.mat™ tho. auerl of tho o* n it»l lotto* K Ilcro 13 a g ood spccimon of his laconic unpleasant. 
The fruit resembles enormous cannon 
balls hence tho name. However, somo say 
did not see tho errors till pointed out. and 
ho wonders how any one can ! His writing 
.is also wrotched, because ho never looks at 
should all bo written in the samo language d has been so called because of the noise 
and with the same pens, ink, and paper.— which tho balls make in bursting. From 
Tho difference between Italian, Spanish, and the shell domestic utensils aro made, and 
German styles of writing is equally as great. f be contents contain several kinds of acids, 
—Edingburgh Weekly Review. besides sugar and gum, and furnish the ma- 
-——___ torials for making an excellent drink in sick 
There is a groat deal said about Luther’s ne ?’ ? Ut ’ . si »g"' a r as it may appear, this 
■makes the querl of tho capital letter, lv, 01 ms laconic 
turn to the right, instead of the left as it P reac h.ng : * 
should, although his teacher may have boxed “This little fellow,” said Martin Luther 
unpleasant. 
We rarely meet with persons that have 
a judgment; which, in many, render liter- 
his ears a dozen times for the same mistake, of a bird going to roost, “has chosen hh kSlXe Good 
In short, everything he undertakes is full of shelter, and is quietly rocking himself to iu d „ e8 aro J rare as 2 ood aiUhorf 
blunders, and the worst of it all is, he never sleep without a care for to-morrow’s lodg ® o as g< od authors. 
sees the errors till tho criticisms of others ing. calmly holding by his little twig, and He who has health should hopo, and ho 
cover him with shame, and ho finds, when leaving God alone to think for him.” who hopes must bo happy. 
WASHINGTON LOVED HIS MOTHER. 
Immediately after the organization of tho 
present government, General Washington 
repaired to Fredricksburg. to pay his humble 
duty to his mother, preparatory to his de¬ 
parture to New-York. An affecting sccno 
ensued. The son feelingly remarked tho 
1 ravages which a lingering disease had made 
upon the aged frame of his parent, and thus 
i addressed her: 
; “The people, mother, have been pleased, 
, with tho most flattering unanimity, to elect 
mo to tho chief magistracy of the United 
States; but, beforo I can assume tho func¬ 
tions of that office, I have come to bid you 
i an affectionate farewell. So soon as the 
public buisiness, which must necessarily be 
encountered^ in arranging a new govern¬ 
ment, can be disposed of, I shall hasten to 
Virginia, and—” 
Hero the matron interrupted“ You will 
seo mono moro. My great ago and tho dis¬ 
ease that is fast approaching my vitals, warn 
mo that I shall not be long in this world.— 
I trust I am somewhat prepared for a better. 
But go, George, fulfil tho high destinies 
which Heaven appears to assign you; go, 
my son, and may that Heaven's and your 
mother’s blessing bo with you always.” 
Tho President was deeply affected. Iiis 
head rested upon tho shoulder of his parent, 
whose aged arm feebly yet fondly encircled 
his neck. That brow on which fame had 
wreathed tho greatest laurol virtue ever 
gave to created man, relaxed from its lofty 
bearing. That look, which could have awed 
a Roman Senate, was bent in filial tender- 
noss upon the time-worn features of this 
venerated matron. 
The great man wept. A thousand recol¬ 
lections crowded upon his mind, as memory, 
retracing scenes long past, carried him back 
to his paternal mansion, and tho days of 
his youth ; and there tho centre of attrac¬ 
tion was his mother whoso caro, instruction 
and discipline, had prepared him to reach 
tho topmost height of laudablo ambition; 
yet how were his glories forgotten while ho 
gazed upon her from whom, wasted by time 
and malady, he must soon part to meet no 
moro on earth ! 
Tho matron’s predictions were true. The 
disease which had so long preyed upon her 
frame completed its triumph and she ex¬ 
pired at the ago of eighty-five, confiding in 
tho promises of immortality to tho humble 
believer. 
THE NEWSPAPER. 
No association of my early youth and 
childhood is more vi\!d in my recollection 
than tho eagerness with which I devoured 
tho contents of tho village newspaper.— 
From its columns I learned to read ; it was 
tho director of my first buddings of tho’t 
and reason. The day it was issued was 
with mo the most eventful of tho woek.— 
My childish impatience was so groat, that 
none dared to contend with me for the first 
perusal of it; and overy line of prose and 
poetry was read and re-read. To me it was 
the oracle of tho world, and tho editor who 
wielded so important an engine was no or¬ 
dinary man. I turned and looked after 
him, when ho passed mo in tho street, as 
tho crowd do upon an executive of the 
nation. 
We had plenty of books in tho house, and 
I read them; but I wanted something fresh 
and new to feast my curiosity upon, and 
tell mo what was stirring in tho world. It 
was enough for mo that a thing was in tho 
paper, to guarantee its truth. In vain was 
1 told that tho badly written fictions that I 
devoured so greedily, must not bo believed. 
I would believe them, and that was the end 
of it. Sometimes when I was in tho mid¬ 
dle of a favorite piece, in would come neigh¬ 
bor B. to borrow tho paper; and I, being 
but a child, would have to resign my right 
and see it carried away; and a newspaper 
borrower never appeared moro hideous in 
tho eyes of any editor, than ho then did in 
mine. But I was soon after it, arid had tho 
pleasure of cutting off in return Mr. B. or 
somo of his family, in tho middle of tho 
same piece, perhaps, and bringing the paper 
back again, to resume my reading. I of- 
tencr took it to tho barn, however, and read 
an hour or so, to avoid being scolded by our 
family for daring to go after the lent paper 
so soon. 
But not all tho pages of literature, that I 
can now peruse, will give mo half the grati¬ 
fication that was then afforded mo by tho 
village newspaper. And I think no father 
would suffer his children to be without a 
paper of somo kind, if he would but consid¬ 
er the eagerness of children, almost univer¬ 
sally, to read newspapers, and their acquire¬ 
ment of the habit of learning to read, so 
useful to them in after life. I think that 
tho habit of borrowing, which is so rank in 
some families, begins with borrowing tho 
nowspaper. And, in fact, if one will borrow 
a newspaper,— a thing to ho had on such 
equal terms by all,—he can borrow anything 
elso without blushing. 
IIo might bo expected to bo a subscriber 
for a newspaper, as much as his neighbor; 
his own money is worth no moro than his 
neighbor’s;—hut as regards other tilings, 
as implements of husbandry, &c., he, no 
more than his neighbor, can bo expected to 
have everything ho might require, for any 
exigency. In whatever part of the country 
I have boon, families and individuals have 
always been divided, or rather, have divided 
themselves into two classes, distinguishable, 
unmistakable, at first acquaintance—roaders 
and non-readers of the public news. The 
one aro really, worthily, inhabitants of en¬ 
lightened America. To tho others I might 
say, as Macbeth addressed the witches: “You 
should be Americans, and yet your ignorance 
forbids mo to interpret that you are so.”— 
Take tho nowspaper.— Olive Branch. 
Listen, if you would learn; bo silent if 
you would bo 6afo. 
SOMETHING BEYOND. 
Hk*rt, weary heart, what means thy wild unrest— 
Hast thou not tasted of earth’s every pleasure ? 
With all that mortals seek thy lot is hlest— 
Yet thou dost ever chant in mornful measure, 
Something beyond 1 
Heart, weary heart, ean'at thou not find repose 
In the sweet calm of Friendship's pure devotion ? 
Amid the peace which sympathy bestows, 
Still dos't thou murmur with repressed emotion, 
Something beyond I 
Heart, weary heart, too idly hast thou poured 
Thy music and thy perfume on the blast: 
Now, beggared in Afleetion’s treasured board, 
Thy cry is Still —thy saddest and thy last, — 
Something beyond 1 
Heart, weary heart, oh cease thy wild unrest— 
Earth cannot satisfy thy bitter yearning; 
Then onward, upward, speed thy lonely quest, 
And hope to find, where Heaven’s pure stars arc burning, 
Something beyond I 
For the Rural New-Yorker. 
CHARITY. 
Have you seen a man who rises in tho 
morning with a habitually clouded brow 
and an ill-natured look, and who, on reading 
his morning paper, or on loarning the morn¬ 
ing news, exhibits his displeasure by finding 
fault with almost every tiling upon which 
he fixes his attention ? That man, doubt¬ 
less, is greatly wanting in charity. 
Have you mot with one who, in his daily 
conversation, is over grumbling and growl¬ 
ing about tho apparent short comings of 
those with whom he has to do, and who un¬ 
hesitatingly forms and pronounces an opin¬ 
ion upon a subject, before he has becomo 
sufficiently acquainted with the facts in tho 
case, to enable him to form a true estimate 
of the same? You may mark that person 
as being very deficient in the virtuo of which 
I am now speaking. 
Show mo a man in whose character char¬ 
ity is not a leading feature, and I will show 
you ono who is wanting in one of the most 
essential qualifications necessary to fit him 
to maintain a true and desirable position in 
society, and to enable him to fulfil, bene¬ 
ficially, to all concerned, the relations which 
lie sustains to his fellow men around. A 
mistake, he tortures into an intentional 
wrong. Misfortuno finds no palliating cause 
with him. 
Many seem to entertain tho mistaken idea 
that charity consists almost exclusively in 
giving alms. It may modify our thoughts 
and our actions in half the affairs of human 
life. Nothing, indeed, will give better pro¬ 
portion to a man’s character, than charity. 
It serves to impart evenness and harmony 
to his whole moral and mental nature. In 
thought, in word, and in deed, in prosperity 
and in adversity, it shines forth among tho 
redeeming qualities of his character, tho 
loveliest of them all. It creates sunshine 
in his soul, tho irradiations of which cast a 
mellow and beautiful light around the path¬ 
way of his life. * 
Perinton, March, 1853. 
SORROW’S TEACHINGS. 
“ How is it,” said I, despondingly, to Aunt 
Milly, “that you, who have been steeped to 
tho lips in trouble, can be so cheerful?” 
“ Listen to me, Ellen. You know my 
first great sorrow, tho loss of my husband.— 
When the grave closed over him, the star of 
hope faded from my sky. I could soo no 
mercy in tho hand that dealt tho blow.— 
The green earth became ono wide sepulchre; 
the sweet ministrations of nature had no 
healing power. In my selfish despair, I 
would have shrouded the blue heavens in 
sable, and thrown a pall of gloom over every 
happy heart. Months passed away, slowly, 
wearily, and I found no alleviation of niy 
sorrow; no tears came to ease that dull, 
dead pain, that seemed crushing the life 
from out my heart; no star of Bethlehem 
shone through the dark cloud over my head. 
“I was sitting ono dreary afternoon, as 
usual, motionless and speechless. It was 
dark and gloomv without, as my soul within. 
The driving sleet beat heavily against tho 
windows. Twilight had set in. My little 
Charley had patiently tried for hours to 
amuse himself with his toys, now and then 
glancing sadly at my mournful face. But 
tho oppressive gloom was becoming unendu¬ 
rable to the child. At length, creeping slow¬ 
ly to my side, and leaning heavily against 
my shoulder, ho said, in a half sob, Does 
God love to see you look so, Mother? ’ 
“No, no, Charley 1” said I, as I clasped him 
to my heart with repentant tears. “No, 
no 1 I’ll cloud your sunny face no longer.” 
“ Alas 1 dear Ellen, I but turned from ono 
idol to another; I gave God tho second place 
and lived only for my boy; and so my way- 
wad r heart needed another lesson. Tho 
grave took in my last earthly treasure.— 
But when tho srnitcr had done his work, 
thoso little lips, though silent, still said to 
me, “ God loveth the cheerful giver;” and so, 
smiling through my tears. I learned to say, 
“Thy will bo done.” Dear Ellen, if the 
good Father taketh away with ono hand, 
Ho gives with tho othei\ There is always 
somo blessing left. “ Ilka blade of grass 
keeps ain drop o’ dew!” — Olive Branch. 
When a man has no design but to speak 
plain truth, he may say a great deal in a 
very narrow compass. 
