MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
THE WORLD AS IT IS. 
The world is not so bad a world 
As some would like to make it; 
Though whether good, or whether bad. 
Depends on how we take it. 
For if we scold aud fret all day, 
From dewy morn till even, 
This world will ne'er afford to man 
A foretaste here of heaven. 
This world’s in truth, as good a world 
As e’er was known to any 
Who have not seen another yet— 
And these are very many; 
And if the men, and women, too. 
Have plenty of employment, 
Those surely must be hard to please 
Who cannot find enjoyment. 
This world is quite a clever world, 
In rain or pleasant weather, 
I£ people would but learn to live 
In harmony together; 
Nor seek to burst the kindly bond 
By love and peace cemented, 
Aud learn the best of lessons yet. 
To always be contented. 
Then were the world a pleasant world, 
And pleasant folks were in it, 
The day would pass most pleasantly 
To those who thus begin it: 
And all the nameless grievances, 
Broughton by borrowed troubles, 
Would prove, as certainly they are, 
A mass of empty bubbles. 
For the Rural New-Yorker. 
THE BEAUTIES OF RURAL LIFE. 
Nothing can be more pleasant or beauti¬ 
ful than the rural home, surrounded by all 
the comforts and luxuries possessed by the 
residents of the country, and by the rich 
beauty so bountifully bestowed by Provi¬ 
dence, on the human race. The gorgeous 
tapestry which everywhere ornaments the 
limit of our vision,—the rich carpets of 
luxuriant verdure, spread in every direction 
by the kind hand of Nature,— the meander¬ 
ing brook that winds its way through forest 
and meadow, sonding forth a low, sweet 
murmur as it glides gontly along, or as it 
dashes from some high rock, giving a deeper 
tonod, more sublime music, its foaming bil¬ 
lows sparkling in tho sunlight with a dazling, 
silvery brightness as it moves swiftly on to 
its great destination,—the porfumo of beau¬ 
tiful flowers, which o’erspread the landscape 
in rich profusion, and send their fragrance 
to refresh the weary laborer—the incessant 
warbling of tho thousands of birds that 
throng tho forests, sonding forth their clear 
notes upon tho balmy breeze of morning,— 
all tend to render a residence in tho coun¬ 
try, the most pleasant, agreeable and de¬ 
lightful that can be desired. 
But not alone do theso all constitute tho 
beauty and agreoabloness of country life.— 
Something more is requisite. The hand of 
man must display its magic powor. The 
scenery, naturally so beautiful, must bo im¬ 
proved. This can only bo done by proper 
care and judgment witli regard to tho rural 
neatness and elegance of tho architectural 
department. Every thing should be done 
with a propor regard to neatness and beauty, 
as well as profit. All should harmonize 
with tho natural scenery, and not present 
universal discord. If every ruralist would 
give this branch of his occupation more at¬ 
tention, our country would soon present 
many more inducements than it now does 
—rendering Rural Life far more attractive 
and desirable. s. 
Newport, N. Y., July, 1853. 
TOWN AND COUNTRY. 
Wiiat eye can fail of being delighted, 
what heart fail of being inspired, by tho 
beautiful face Summer-nature wears in tho 
country, on every sido. The dweller in tho 
country onjoys the glories of the year. No 
matter how humble his rank and fortune 
among his follows, ho is as rich in the pos¬ 
session and enjoyment of tho beautiful, 
spread abovo him in tho skies and around 
him on tho earth as though his acres were 
countless and his treasures untold. No 
covetuous, monopolist hand can veil the 
splendors of tho universe from his gaze.— 
For him the sun shines, tho showers fall, tho 
dews gather and exhale, tho buds expand 
into blossoms, the air murmurs, tho waters 
glisten, and the birds sing. Fragrance and 
melody aro round about him as a heavenly 
garment. God has provided that he may 
enjoy tho visiblo and tho soul of Nature, 
whether ho be tho tenant of a cabin or a 
palace. 
In the country, away from the pent-up 
cities, and from the blighting spirit of fiorco, 
selfish, and contentious trade, man can best 
soo and know how bountifully God has pro¬ 
vided for him, as for all; can best realize 
that tho difference of men’s estates do not 
arise from the disposition of Providence, 
but rather from tho craft or covetuousness 
of man. Tho country, bearing all over its 
bosom waving grain-fields, orchards, “green 
pastures,” spicy shrubs and odorous flowers, 
and flocks and herds, is eloquent with the 
plenty God has bestowed on man, if ho 
would but sow and reap, and divide his store 
as boneficially as it is given to him. In tho 
city and mart, art and artifice have despoil¬ 
ed all this beauty and glory—all theso signs 
of impartial Providence, and written in place 
theroof; — Here is a man’s world — tho 
Town. 
Who can doubt that the truest life is to 
IBIS 
Wm BIa 
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THE MAGIC LANTERN, ILLUSTRATED. 
The Magic Lantern, one of tho most 
amusing of optical instruments, was invent¬ 
ed by Ivircher, about tho middle of tho sev¬ 
enteenth century, and was of tho greatest 
service to tho magicians of those times, en¬ 
abling them to work upon tho credulity of 
tho ignorant and superstitious, with the ut¬ 
most facility. As a vehicle of amusement, 
it contributes, in no small degree, in tho 
shape of a gallantee show, to the hilarity of 
a party of merry younkers in a long winter’s 
night; and as a means by which lectures on 
astronomy can bo elucidated, it arrests tho 
attention of the wise and old. 
Tho instrument, the construction of which 
demands our attention first, is represented 
abovo. A, is a box jnade of wood or tin, 
about eight inches square, having a bent 
funnel or chimnoy, B, at the top; a handle 
C., renders it a portable instrument; in the 
front of the box there is a tin tube furnished 
at the end near the light, with a plano-con¬ 
vex lens D, —which indeed is aflixod to the 
live in the country ? To live out amid tho 
fields and flowers, whore the air is always 
balmy and fresh; where Nature is never 
niggard of music and beauty : whore valleys 
and hills, yielding to tho hand of brave, hap¬ 
py toil, refuse no blessing the earth can give. 
Out in tho country, where tho seasons are 
not lost; where Spring, and Summer, and 
Autumn and Winter, have each a distinctive 
garb, and each brings its labors and its 
sports. Man may see fewer faces of men 
there; may find less feverish excitemont 
and hypocrisy, and chicane; but where olso 
can he see and find so much to feed the 
springs of sensitive, intelligent being, so 
much to purify, refine and exalt the brain 
and heart. What spot, bounded only by 
tho horizon, so fair for tho innocent years 
of childhood ; so charming to tho youth, so 
consoling in its repose for wearied manhood, 
or so beautiful for the gathering, like a ripo 
golden sheaf of old age ! 
The town is but a place of business. Its 
spirit is wearying and withering to all the 
gonerous instincts and emotions of man’s 
heart and soul. Man is consumed and lost 
in its rushing currents. Ilis cradle rocks 
there to a discordant jar ; his youth is jos¬ 
tled and despoiled of its bloom ; his man¬ 
hood is overborne and palsied, and if at last 
he finds a grave there, careless feet perpet¬ 
ually tread on his ashes. Tho country, 
alone, has tho spirit to preserve and culture 
whatover is most beautiful in man. Man 
in tho country, occupied with honest peace¬ 
ful pursuits and meditations is the happy 
man—tho true man. Ho lives all his days 
in the very prosonco of his Maker, and of 
beauties and enjoyments which no human 
art can equal, no fortune nor excitement 
supplant. 
CHINESE PROVERBS. 
Let every man sweep the snow from be¬ 
fore his own doors, and not trouble himself 
about the frost on his neighbor’s tilos. 
By a long journey wo know a horse’s 
strength; so" length of days shows a man’s 
heart. 
Do not love idleness and hato labor; do 
not bo diligent in the beginning, and in tho 
end lazy. 
Tho generations of men follow each other, 
as the waves in a swollen river. 
Tho spontaneous gifts of heaven are of 
high value; but the strength of persever¬ 
ance gains the prize. 
In tho days of affluence, always think of 
poverty; do not let want come upon you, 
and make you remember with sorrow the 
time of plenty. 
As tho scream of tho eagle is heard whon 
she passes over, so a man’s name remains 
after his death. 
If thoro bo a want of concord among the 
members of the same family, other men will 
take advantage of it to injuro them. 
Ho who can suppress a moment’s anger, 
will prevent lasting sorrow. 
Ho whoso virtues exceod his talents, is the 
great or good man; ho whoso talents exceed 
his virtue, is the mean or small man. 
The man of worth is really great without 
being proud ; tho mean man is proud with¬ 
out being really great. 
Do not anxiously hope for what is not yet 
come; and do not vainly regret what is 
airoady past. 
lantern itself.—and at the other, a doubly 
convex lens F ; this tin tube is fixed to the 
lantern by a square foot, the sides of which 
are open, as at E, to admit the sliders, and 
the end of the tube in which the doubly 
convex lens is fastened, is made to slide in 
and out for convenience, when adjusting 
the focus. The lamp, G, is a common ar- 
gand burner, furnished with a concave tin 
reflector, to concentrate the intensity of tho 
light. 
The sliders are made of a piece of glass 
with a slight frame. Few hints can he given 
beyond naming the colors, as taste is the 
best guide, and practice the most impressive 
instructor in all matters relating to paint¬ 
ing. The colors proper are only such as are 
transparent, and they are the following:— 
gamboge, scarlet lake, prussian blue, a green 
made of verdigris and a quarter of its 
weight of gamboge, burnt sienna, burnt 
umber and lamp black. Tho subjects in¬ 
tended for tho sliders must bo carefully 
drawn upon a piece of paper, which should 
be placed under tho glass and then painted 
from; and too much attention cannot be 
paid to the drawing of them, for when they 
ai’e thrown upon the wall, their defects, 
however minute, are enlarged to an aston¬ 
ishing extent. 
Although any white surface will do very 
well to receive tho objocts from the magic 
lantern, yet a clean sheet stretched tightly 
upon the wall, is by far the best, as the 
chief point is to have the medium of perfect 
whiteness and quite flat.— Yovth’s Casket. 
TRUE HEROISM. 
A hero is worthy of reverence. Let us 
bow down to him and liston to his words, 
and watch tho look of his face. A woman- 
hero is worthy of something more than rev- 
eronco. But what is a hero ? What is a 
hero-man, or a hero-woman ? Is it the man 
5^10 makes himself famous by battle-fields, 
by literaturo, by what is called statesman¬ 
ship ? Is it the woman who by wbatevor 
means rises into the light of fame, and has 
namo upon a million lips ? These may bo 
heroes after a certain sense, but it seems to 
me that the real hero—man or woman—is 
not so much known to fame as they are 
known to God. A man who devotes all the 
powers of mind and body to getting more 
bread for wife and children—who day after 
day, at bench or lapstono, spends all the 
force of his sinews and soul to buy bread, 
to pay rent, to keep the wolf from the door 
—this is a hero. History says little of such. 
But God knows their names, and their ago¬ 
nies are registered in tho annals of eternity. 
And a true woman, sitting in tho damp 
basement, (in one of the nooks of a largo 
city) plying her needle to give bread and 
roof shelter to tho aged mother or infant 
brother and sister—she is something moro 
of a hero-woman than all those woman wri¬ 
ters, woman-singers, whom tho world has 
mado famous. 
Truo Horoism is self-crucifixion. What 
namo, famous men, has undergone tho self¬ 
crucifixion which ten thousand of the hum¬ 
ble and unknown daily undergo ? Cruci¬ 
fixion, not for fame, but for bread—not for 
a big namo on tho lips of all ages—but for 
foot-hold upon God’s earth? How many 
thousands at this hour are toiling in tho 
kennels of society, whoso heroism is worth 
moro in the eyes of God than all tho illus¬ 
trious names of history, from Adam down 
to the last President ? " And whon tho light 
of the World breaks upon us, how many 
great names will bo forgotten, while mil¬ 
lions of unknown names will hear tho word, 
“ Come up higher !” 
Franklin. —George Brancroft, in a lec¬ 
ture before tho New York Historical Socie¬ 
ty, pays an eloquent tribute to the philoso¬ 
pher :—“Not half of Franklin’s merits have 
been told. He was tho true father of the 
American Union. It was he who went forth 
to lay tho foundation of that great design at 
Albany, and in New York he lifted up his 
voice. Here among us he appeared as the 
apostle of the Union. It was Franklin who 
suggested tho Congress of 1774; and but 
for his wisdom, and the confidence that wis¬ 
dom inspired, it is a matter of doubt whether 
that Congress would havo taken effect. It 
was Franklin who suggested the bond of the 
Union, which binds these States, fiom Flor¬ 
ida to Maine. Franklin was tho greatest 
diplomatist of the eighteenth century. He 
never spoke a word too soon; he nover 
spoke a word too much; ho nover failed to 
speak the right word at the right season.” 
Paper money was first made in Massachu¬ 
setts, in 1690, omitted by Rhode Island, 
1694; by Pennsylvania, 1775; first issued 
by Congress, May 15th, 1775; made a legal 
tendor, 1777, ceased to circulate after a 
gradual depreciation, 1781. The introduc¬ 
tion of paper money caused much misery 
and distress during the Revolution. 
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. 
A short time ago we gavo some statistics 
relating to the operation of the non-capital 
punishment law in Michigan, and stated it 
as our impression that previous to the pas¬ 
sage of this law, there were no convictions 
for murder, and consequently no execu¬ 
tions. In this we wore mistaken. In con¬ 
versation yesterday with Jonas II. Titus, 
Esq., who was several years Agent of tho 
State Prison, wo learned that there were 
four convictions for murder in the State 
previous to the passage of the law. Of the 
persons who were convicted, two were exe¬ 
cuted, and tho sentences of tho other two 
were commuted to imprisonment in tho 
State Prison. 
Thus, in ten years, from 1836 till 1S46, 
there were four convictions for murder, un¬ 
der tho capital punishment law, while in 
seven years, from 1846 to 1S53, thero were 
nine convictions under the present law. If 
we compare the relative population of the 
several years during tho two poriods, it will 
be found that there was an excess of mur¬ 
der committed during the former period 
over the latter. In other words, thero was 
a greater per contage of convictions for 
murder when the penalty was hanging than 
when it was solitary confinement at hard 
labor for life. 
Thero is an interesting fact connected 
with this subject which we will state. The 
two persons spoken of above, whose senten¬ 
ces were commuted to imprisonment for 
life, have since proved innocent, been par¬ 
doned, and are now leading a respectable 
life, engaged in the pursuit of an honest 
calling for a livelihood. One of them was 
a white and the other a colored man. Had 
the penalty of hanging in these cases been 
enforced two innocent men would have suf¬ 
fered death. Facts like these will do more 
to make anti-capital punishment men than 
all the reasoning that can be advanced. It 
is better that ninoty and nine guilty men 
escape than that one innocent man should 
sutler, is tho legal maxim; and if it be axi¬ 
om, it will be long before Michigan should 
have recourse to the “ bloody code.” 
YVe allude to this subject, not only be¬ 
cause it is desirable to know the results of 
so important a change as that which this 
State has been the first to adopt, but for tho 
reason that in other States movements are 
in progress to test a law which is called for 
by a very considoi’able portion of tho public 
voice. Our experience, so far as it goes, is 
valuable, and proves, at least, that there has 
been no danger in making the experiment 
of pulling down tho gallows. In other 
States, where tho death penalty is still re¬ 
tained, murder has increased to an alarm¬ 
ing extent, and, if we can judge by results, 
the gibbet has no greater terrors than soli¬ 
tary confinement for life. 
It cannot bo disguised that a great change 
has taken place in the public mind upon 
this question ; and not only upon this ques¬ 
tion. but upon the broad subject of punish¬ 
ment generally. It is only within the space 
of a few years that the use of means to re¬ 
form the criminal has been regarded as any 
part of the duty of tho State. The tenden¬ 
cy has over boen to still further degrade the 
guilty rather than seek to elevate and re¬ 
claim. Tho benevolent exertions of a few i 
philanthropists—and among these wo may 
probably mention the persevering Miss Dix 
—have done much to change the current of 
public opinion. Not only religious and 
moral instructors are furnished, but most of 
the State Prisons in this country aro fur¬ 
nished with libraries and all proper means 
are used to send tho unfortunate criminal 
out upon the world a wiser and better man. 
He is taught to believe there is yot hope— 
that he is not utterly lost. The benefit of 
this improvement in discipline is felt in the 
Prisons both in securing better order among 
the convicts, and in that cheerfulness which 
naturally flows from tho diffusion of moral 
principles. The salutary consequences to 
the thousands of discharged convicts cannot 
bo estimated .—Detroit Free Press. 
SOCIAL LIFE IN AUSTRALIA. 
Australia seems not to have escaped 
from tho general infliction that from a sort 
of necessity seems rightfully to belong to 
every gold-producing land. On the first 
mining discoveries in California being made 
public, many were drawn thither who would 
improve the character of a place more by 
leaving it, than entering within its limits. 
Many crimes were committed, and these 
were not unfrequently alluded to by the 
English press as indicating the lawless dis¬ 
position of the American peopl'o. But it 
seems the English people in liko circum¬ 
stances, are no more peacefully inclined 
than their Yankee brethren, nor do they, 
under like temptations, rule their lives by 
any stricter principles. A late writer from 
Melbourne says, that “ the moral condition 
of tho colony is sufficiently gloomy, notwith¬ 
standing tho oxtonsivo body of police and 
military, and tho self-congratulations of the 
Executive upon our peaceable state. The 
criminal calendar for the present month 
shows a list of one hundred and forty pris¬ 
oners for trial in Melbourne, although a 
separate Court has been established at Mt. 
Alexander. Tho principal crime is robbery, 
generally with violence; but murders of 
i peculiar atrocity are shockingly frequent. 
At the Ovens the other day, a constable ac¬ 
cidentally shot a man ; the populace sup¬ 
posed the act was intentional; they gather¬ 
ed in great numbers, and were very nearly 
lynching some of the constables.” Until it 
can be shown that tho English representa¬ 
tives in Australia are not responsible for 
these offences against laws and morals, we 
may justly conclude that human naturo is 
about the same everywhere. It differs very 
little in England and America, in California 
and Australia. 
TnE only thing which any and evory one 
can do, and need do, is his duty. 
Written for Moore's Rural New-Yorker. 
WHERE IS THE POET’S FATHER-LANDT 
Where is the poet’s Father-land ? 
Oh! who can tell me where, 
Where he may stretch his magic wand, 
Untouched by time or care : 
Ye bright and happy ones, oh tell, 
Where is the poets native dell ? 
Where is the poet’s Father-land ? 
Is it where, towering high, 
Huge mountains rear their giant heads 
Towards the bending sky I 
Oh no, ’tis not where the craggy steep, 
In Inna’s soft refulgence sleep. 
Where is the poet’s Father-land? 
Is it where old Ocean's roar 
Is echoed along the silent stand, 
As it dashes the rock-bound shore ? 
Oh no, ’tis not where the surging waves 
Sweep o’er the nymph’s in there coral caves. 
Where is the poet’s Father-land ? 
Is it ’neath Italian skies, 
Where the air is soft and the breeze is bland, 
’Mid the gardens sunset dyes ? 
Oh no, though all is bright and grand, 
’Tis not the poet’s Father-land. 
The poet's Father-land is known 
Where earth’s sad sons find rest, 
Around Jehovah glorious throne, 
Where dwells the bright and blest: 
There, mingling with an immortal band, 
Shall be his oicn, his Father-land. 
THE LELY AND THE ROSE. 
Tell me, yo lovely daughters of the rough 
black earth, who gave you beautiful forms 
—for surely you were fashioned by exquis¬ 
ite fingers ? What tiny spirits rose from 
your calyxes ? and what pleasures did you 
feel, when goddesses rocked themselves on 
your leaves ? Tell me, peaceful flowers, 
how did they distribute themselves in their 
joyous task, and beckon to ono another as 
they so variously spun their fine weft, and 
so variously adorned and embroidered it ? 
But ye aro silent, graceful children, and en¬ 
joy your existence. Well, the instructive 
table shall relate to mo what your silenco 
refuses to reveal. 
As once the earth stood a naked rock, lo ! 
a host of friendly nymphs carried the vir¬ 
gin soil upon it, and obliging spirits were 
ready to embellish tho naked rock with flow¬ 
ers. They distribute tho task variously 
among them. Modest humility began even 
under the snow, and in tho cold, tiny grass 
and wove the retiring violet. Hope stepped 
closely behind her, and filled the little 
calyxes of tho refreshing hyacinth with 
colling odors. Now came, since those suc¬ 
ceeded so well, a proud dazzling train of 
many colored beauties. The tulip elevated 
her head; the narcissus glanced around 
with her languishing eyes. 
Many other goddesses and nymphs busied 
themselves in various ways, and adorned 
the earth, rejoicing in their beautiful work. 
And lo, when a great part of their work, 
with its glory and their delight in it, had 
faded away, Venus accosted her Graces 
thus: “Why do ye delay, sisters of grace¬ 
fulness ? Arise! and weave also from your 
charms a mortal visiblo blossom.” They 
descended to the earth and Agla, in the 
grace of innocence, fashioned the lily; Tha¬ 
lia and Euphrosine wove, with sisterly bond, 
the flower of joy and love, the virgin rose. 
Many flowers of the field and garden en¬ 
vied one another; the lily and rose envied 
none, and wore envied "by all. Sisterly 
they bloom together in the fields of Hora, 
and adorn each other, for sister Graces wove 
them conjointly. 
BEAUTIFUL ALLEGORY. 
The following beautiful allegory is trans¬ 
lated from the German : 
Sophronius, a wise teacher, would not 
suffer even his grown-up sons and daugh¬ 
ters to associate with those whose conduct 
was not pure and upright. 
“ Dear father,” said the gentle Eulalia to 
him, ono day, when ho forbado her, in com¬ 
pany with hor brother, to visit tho gentle 
Lucinda, “ dear father, you must think us 
very childish if you imagine that we should 
be exposed to danger by it.” 
The father took in silence a dead coal 
from the hearth, and reached it to his 
daughter. “ It will not burn you, my child, 
take it.” 
Eulalia did so, and behold her beautiful 
white hand was soiled and blackened, and 
as it chanced, her white dress also. 
“ We cannot be too careful in handling 
coals,” said Eulalia, in vexation. 
“Yes, truly,” said her father, “ you see, 
my child, that coals, even if they do not 
burn, blacken; so it is with the company of 
the vicious.” 
Japanese Marriages.— A very singular 
custom at the marriage of the Japanese is 
that the teeth of tho bride aro made black 
by some corrosive liquid. The toeth re¬ 
main black evor after, and serve to show 
that the woman is married or a widow.— 
Another circumstance is, at the birth of 
every child, to plant a tree in the garden or 
court yard, which attains its full growth in 
as many years as a man requires to be ma¬ 
tured for the duties of marriage. When he 
marries the tree is cut down, and tho wood 
is made into chests and boxes to contain tho 
clothes and other things which are mado for 
the new married couple. The Japanese may 
marry as often as they please; marriages 
with sisters aro prohibited; but they can 
marry any other relative. 
Affection, liko spring flowers, breaks 
through tho most frozen ground at last; and 
the heart that seeks but tor another heart to 
make it happy, will never seek in vain. 
