her place wherever the gentleness of Christian vir¬ 
tues ought to be united with the strong arm of 
power. It is only in the enlargement of human 
freedom that we may determine the extent, and 
adaptation of human ability. 
Woman's mental organization possesses the same 
diversity of characteristics, and why should she, 
any more than inun, be content with affection and 
respect, be they ever so lavishly bestowed? Every 
natural desire is satisfied only in its own peculiar 
gratification, and no one is evil In itself when rightly 
cultivated. The vanity of seeking a low grade of 
admiration should be developed into aspirations for 
deserving honorable reputation. 
Josephine, with all her wealth oi feminine vir¬ 
tues, did not willingly descend from her high posi¬ 
tion; and need we a better example than is afforded 
in our own time by England’s queen, that woman 
us for the weary hours of toil wo have experienced. 
Many are the enigmas to be solved in this life. The 
Christian many times has sorrow, poverty, and, as 
it might seem, all that would cause him the keenest, 
anguish, while to the man of the world he has all 
the happiness which this world can afford; but. 
think you Ike Christian would exchange the peace 
which reigns within his bosom tor all the pleasures 
of the world? Ah no! he feels to kiss the hand 
which lias allowed these sorrows to come upon him, 
for lie feels that they have accomplished their mis¬ 
sion in his wayward heart, and have taught, him to 
see life as it is. The further we advance in wisdom, 
the more will we realize our utter nothingness, until 
we shall sec how little a finite mind can contain in 
comparison with that of the Almighty. It is well 
we cannot know all, for if we could, the power and 
wisdom would not be felt In our hearts as they now 
are. As it is, we must ever look with awe and 
reverence upon the high and holy attributes of the 
Ruler of the Universe. Nellie. 
St. Charles, Kane Co., Ill., 1862. 
TWritten for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker] 
YES, BUT A COUNTRY LIFE FOR ME 
[Written for Moore's Rural New-Yorker.] 
APPLE BLOSSOMS. 
[Written lor Moore's Rural New-Yorker.] 
I CANNOT SING. 
BY W. II. MORR1SOK 
RY ANNIE M. BEACH 
Akak removed from bustling life, 
Remote from cities gay. 
The valley spreads its carpet green 
For Nature out to play; 
And waving in the singing winds 
That carol o'er the plain 
The tall tree bends its graceful form 
To list the song again 
In brilliancy the orb of day 
Smiles from the eastern sky, 
And sweetly breathes its gentle breath 
From heaven's arch-way high; 
The wild flower blushes fairest there, 
IJntrammeled in its pride, 
While Nature wreaths a garland rich 
To deck its noon-day bride. 
The streamlet O'er its pebbled bed 
Flows rippling from its source, 
And Javes the moggy rocks that stand 
To sentinel its course; 
Tlie warbling songsters of the wood 
Their softest wild notes blend 
In mingling cadence With the winds 
That up to heaven ascend. 
As evening follows day’s decline 
The twilight shadows seem 
To cluster phantomly arouud, 
Beneath the starlight gleam, 
Until the rising moon dispels, 
With silvery mys of light, 
The ideal pictures painted by 
The pencil of the night 
A country life, ’mid leafy woods, 
’Mid flowers, and streams, and love, 
’Mid wild delights, ’mid blessings pure, 
Beneath, around, above— 
A calni that's fascination's self, 
It woos the mind with truth. 
The birthright valued there alike 
Is found for age and youth. 
O, urge me not to sing to-day, 
The lyre’s sweet chords are all unstrung, 
Thougli summer uow her rosy robe 
Around my path has flung. 
I strive to wake the glad, free notes 
I warbled in the hy-gone days; 
An unBern spirit on my heart 
A wand of silence lays. 
I know the spell must break ere long, 
But, ah, what will its breaking bring? 
Father of All, upon Thy care 
My destiny I fling. 
O, teach my heart the seraph's song. 
And tune anew the trembling lyre, 
Till Thou shnlt call me hence away 
To join the angel choir 
Cambria, N. Y.. 1802. 
It is the early evening, 
And as I walk beneath the moon; 
My trembling voice is singing 
The sweet words of an old hymn-tune; 
But suddenly my eyes grow dim, 
And sobs choke down my half-sung hymn. 
The south wind from the orchard 
Is heavy fraught with sweet perfumes, 
And trees and ground are covered 
With dainty, blushing apple-blooms; 
It turns me sick; and kneeling low, 
My tears baptize those flowers of snow. 
O, Gon, ’tin hut a twelve-month 
Since he—my lover, friend, my all- 
Went bravely forth to battle— 
Responsive to his country's call; 
And, ob. tvvas such a night as this 
My Ups received his parting kiss. 
[Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker.] 
SIXTY-FIVE, 
“ It was that Mary Which anointed the Lord with ointment, 
and wiped his feet with her hair.' 1 
Mary! sweet name! dainty ami beautiful! There 
are not many households on this fair, green earth, 
but cling with unwonted tenderness around a Mary’s 
memory, living or dead. Touching, and sweet, and 
tenderly beautiful is the simple act recorded in our 
Savior’s history of Mary of Bethany; touching 11 is 
tribute to her devotodnote: “ Wheresoever this Gos- 
| pel shall bo preached in the whole world, there shall 
afeo that this woman hath done he told for a memo¬ 
rial ofher.” What a fountain of passionate earnest¬ 
ness It reveals in her woman heart! it could not 
satisfy the restless, yearning spirit, to pour the oint¬ 
ment, precious though it was. over the Savior’s holy 
person; but the rich hair must tie unbound, and 
kneeling there before the indignant and mercenary 
throng, sho must tain wipe his sacred feet. Beauti¬ 
ful are*the Savior’s words of commendation, as he 
turns to the murmuring hearts before him. from the 
kneeling Mary, “ She hath done 'what she could.'" 
Precious, indeed, must they have been to her who 
had performed this act oflovo and devotion. 
Oh, if the world would but look with half of the 
Savior’s love and tenderness on the erring Marys, 
how many a heart would grow strong and true agai 
Many feet, treading wearily the paths of sin, won . ’ 
eagerly seek for the way of life. Many a brow that 
bears the impress of sin, would be shadowed once 
more by the wing of the angel of purity. But the 
[Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker.] 
THE LAST LOOK. 
“ Thy Father is growing old very fast.’’ So writes 
one about the gray-haired sire who has long pre¬ 
sided over the old homestead. Toil, and care, and 
pain have done their work, and the strong man 
hows beneath the growing pressure of years. Faith¬ 
fully has bo toiled, early and late, in sunshine and 
in storm, to sow and reap on the old ancestral farm; 
but nature refuses longer to obey the iron will that 
would not yield “his row” to the stronger arm and 
fresh ambition of youthful manhood. It is time for 
thy rest, now, honored sire! The burden and beat 
of tin* day may well be given up to the sturdy son 
who will inherit thy broad acres. And henceforth 
may the Good Shepherd gently lead thee in green 
pastures, and by the side of still waters. Bo shall 
peace overshadow thee with her brooding wings of 
quiet, while war’s tumult and strife are only heard 
from afar, as the daily or weeklies bring its doings 
to thy rural home in softened tones and colors. 
Very gentle and pleasant is the picture which fancy 
paints of thy rest in “the old arm chair,” with thy 
glasses and the Holy Book upon thy knee, from 
Which thou Invest to draw waters from the well of 
life — and of thy goings out and comings in with 
pleasant words, as in the olden time. 
Nor is he alone, for well we know who tills that 
other easy chair. She who gave to ns the holy 
A few days since, I attended the funeral of an 
aged man. His four sous, now in the prime of 
manhood, were present to pay the last tribute of 
respect to their departed father. As they ap¬ 
proached at the close of the services, and bent over 
his remains, I could not repress the tears that came 
unbidden to my eyes at the thought, which at that 
moment came home to my mind with all the power 
of reality, “they are taking the last look of their 
father.' And then the question occurred to me: 
What is il that most engages their thoughts and 
feelings as they stand there, gazing for the last time 
upon those features so familiar to them from their 
earliest childhood? In a moment they will turn 
away, never to behold the face of their father again. 
What are the thoughts awakened in their minds as 
they stand there silent and sad? A re they thinking 
of the wise counsels and good instructions they 
have so often received from those lips, now closed 
Beneath the apple blossoms, 
Whoao fragrance filled the evening air, 
By his dear arms encircled. 
W c held our lant, aad trusting there; 
With trembling hand those blossoms fair 
1 plucked, and wove them in his hair. 
With smiles and tears alternate, 
1 picked the dainty buds so fair, 
And twined them in Ills dark locks, 
His looks of graceful, waving hair; 
’Twas thus my warrior-love I crowned, 
And sent him to the battle-ground. 
In a low grave and nameless, 
Beneath the sunny southern skies, 
Wrapped in ids cloak all blond stained, 
My gallant soldier-darling lies; 
I know he's joined the ranks Above, 
And safely rests in Jicsrs’ love 
[Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker.] 
MORAL AND MENTAL CULTURE 
I know some day, my warfare o’er, 
I’ll meet him on that shining shore; 
And now, with eyes no longer dim, 
I walk and sing my sweet old hymn. 
“Errors, like straws upon the surface flow ; 
He who would search for pearls, must dive below." 
How much is container] in those two lines! If 
we but bear them 
mind while striving for an 
education, they will greatly aid us; for while we 
search the mines of knowledge, we must look for 
that which will give us strength of mind as well as 
adorn our outward appearance, inasmuch as all the 
embellishments of art will be of no avail if we for¬ 
get the object of this culture. The showy accom¬ 
plishments which require no mental exertion on 
our part, are very pernicious in their effects upon 
our intellects; lor we Boon lose what strength and 
vigor of mind we have ever possessed, and we shall 
come far short of attaining the true object of an 
education, Besides, we have no right to allow 
those faculties of mind with which we have been 
endowed, to lie dormant; for we would not have 
been made possessors of a mind with which to study 
[Written for Moore's Rural New-Yorker.] 
THE INFLUENCE OF WOMAN, 
When men advise women to be content to exor¬ 
cise their influence at home, I know they have a 
reason for it, and a selfish one, too. But when 
women reply that they are. content, and disavow 
any rebellious longings for a wider range of liberty, 
I want to have a chance to cross-question them, to 
see whether they really mean what they say, or only 
say it for the policy of making the best of matters 
as they are. 
Now, 1 think “ Nellie ” says some strange things 
about “The Influence of Woman,” in the Rural of 
May 17th. Her “winning way” softens down my 
adverse propensities into the momentary reflection 
that it is very wonderful women can have such 
different opinions; and the wonder leads mo back 
to my old challenge ground, with the inquisitive 
impulse to ask Nellie from what law of reason or 
analogy does she conclude that woman would not 
be able to preserve her most refined graces in any 
circumstances into which her natural aspirations 
lead her? And if sho could once get a pass to go so 
far outside the domestic lines as to approach the 
atmosphere of llie political world, what latent evil 
lies hid away down beneath her external virtues 
that would suddenly transform her attractions into 
bideousness, so that her appearance would make 
the “political arena present a far more deplorable 
picture than it now does”? In my unsophisticated 
mind, just the opposite result is most probable. 11 
is my opinion that the absence of woman’s influ¬ 
ence is the very reason that political circles are 
corrupt to the extent they are. Men know that 
women are more conscientious than themselves, and 
I imagine they would sometimes blush for their 
reputation, were all the political transactions acces¬ 
sible to free investigation which are now kept 
behind the scenes. 
If it is an immutable law that all purity evapo¬ 
rates in the light of fame, better have the sex which 
is most feebly endowed with that desirable qualify, 
kept ill the home-shadows, 
MARRIAGE OF DAUGHTERS. 
Henry Taylor, in his “ Notes from Life,” com¬ 
prises not a little sound as well as practical 
philosophy upon the incidents leading to marriage 
and the relations of mothers thereto. We give it 
for the. benefit of both mothers and daughters: 
“ It an unreasonable opposition to a daughters 
choice he not to prevail, f think that, on the other 
hand, the parents, if (heir views of marriage bo pure 
from worldliness. 
are justified in using a good deal 
of management—not more than thoy very often do 
use, but more than they are wont to avow or than 
society is wont to countenance—with a view to put¬ 
ting their daughters in the way of such marriages as 
they can approve. It, is the way ot the world to 
give such management an ill name, probably be¬ 
cause it is most used by those who abuse it to 
worldly purposes; and I have heard a mother pique 
herself on never having taken a single step to get 
her daughters married, which appeared to me to 
have been a dereliction of one of the most essential 
duties ot a parent. If the mother be wholly passive, 
either the daughters must take steps and use man¬ 
agement for themselves—which is not desirable—or 
the happiness and thf most importantin terestsof their 
lives,moral and spiritual, must he thosport of chance, 
and take a course purely fortuitous; and in many 
situations, where unsought opportunities of choice 
do not abound, the result may bo not improbably 
such a love and marriage as the mother and every 
one else contemplates with astonishment Some 
such astonishment I recollect to have expressed ou 
an occasion of tho kind to an illustrious poet and 
philosopher, whose reply I have always borne in 
PLEASANT NEIGHBORS 
One’s pleasure, after all, is much affected by the 
quality of one’s neighbors, even though one may not 
he on speaking terms with them. A pleasant bright 
face at a window is surely better than a discontented 
cross one; and a house that has the air of being in¬ 
habited is preferable to closed shutters and unsocial 
blinds, excluding every ray of sunlight, and sympa¬ 
thy. We like to see the glancing cheerful lights 
through the windows, of a cold night, orwatch them, 
as evening deepens, gradually creep from tho parlor 
to the upper Btories of the houses near ns. We like 
to watch the littlo children go in and out the door, to 
play or go to school. We like to see a white-robed 
baby dancing up and down at the window, in its 
mother’s arms, or the father reading bis newspaper 
there at evening, or any of these cheerful impromptu 
home glimpses, which, though we arc no Paul Pry, 
we will assert make a pleasant neighborhood to those 
who live for comfort instead of show. Sad, indeed, 
some morning on waking, it is to see the blinds down 
and the shutters closed, and know that death’s angel, 
while it spared our threshold, has crossed that of our 
cheerful neighbor,—sad to miss the white robed baby 
from the window, and see the little coffin at night¬ 
fall borne into the house,—sad to see innocent little 
faces pressed at eventide against the window-pane, 
watching for the “ dear papa” who has gone to his 
long home. 
Every Christian life now passing on earth, faith¬ 
fully prosecuted to the end, wherever and however 
death comes, that life cannot bo a failure. Com¬ 
passed by tho Savior’s interest aud prayers, going 
on in accordance with His intercession to issue in 
being with Him and like Him, whatever its earthly 
conditions, it must be a success and a victory. A 
philosopher said, as his life closed, “1 liave con¬ 
sumed life in laboriously doing nothing.” A Roman 
emperor said, “I have tried all things, and nothing 
profits.” But these are not the words in which a 
Christian can fitly describe his history as death 
approaches, but rather those words of Paul, declar¬ 
ing, in the retrospect, a work accomplished and a 
victory achieved, and, in the prospect, an eternal 
glory;—“I am now ready to be offered, and the 
time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a 
good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept 
the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a 
crown ol righteousness, which the Lord, the right¬ 
eous Judge, shall give me at that day ."—Rev. S. 
Harris. 
to the trash Wo must remember that the work of 
training our thought is left to ourselves, and that it 
is for us to decide whether we shall have for our 
Standard Truth and Goodness in their highest 
meaning, nr whether we shall bo pontent to have 
lower conceptions of life and the purposes for which 
we live. The mysteries of life may be great, but 
the further wo advance in heavenly loro, the plainer 
to our vision will appear the true object of life, and 
all the more glorious will he our conceptions of the 
life that has been given us, and we shall feel a 
greater desire Jo go on improving our minds and 
bringing ourselves to a closer union with His 
wishes. Life then will not seem so great a mystery, 
for we will see. in all the ways of Providence, things 
that are intended to teach us new truths, and that 
everything is tending to draw us nearer to Him 
who is the source of all light 
This world has been compared to a stage, where 
the drama of life is acted out Life is no idle farce, 
but instead it is ever a scene of busy activity. It 
is just as essential that we should begin to live 
right, as that the child should be taught the rudi¬ 
ments of an education to acquire a knowledge of 
hooks. If we would grasp great truths, we must 
Search the inmost recesses of knowledge, and not 
be content with anything short of the highest truths 
within tho reach of man. Gun has conferred upon 
some a greater amount ot intellect than upon 
others; and we who have not been the recipients 
of so great natural abilities, must labor nil the more 
It is a puzzle to rue 
that we may bo able to keep, not only ourselves, 
but our brothers, also, from falling into evil, while 
walking “ the slippery paths of youth;” but if we 
should once venture out with them into tho broad 
highways of manhood, our moral strength would 
become frailty, and we would he only a burden to 
drag them deeper into crime. How many of the 
evil snares thai we are exhorted to guide them safely 
over, lie within the home influence of pure minded 
mothers and sisters? How can it he expected that 
men will be moral and virtuous if their “guardian 
angels ” suffer them to go out alone into the intoxi¬ 
cating labyrinths ol political strife? If we may 
judge from what they choose to report to us of their 
conduct in all places from which we are excluded, 
our influence upon them, like that of the sun’s light 
on its companion spheres, diminishes with the 
increase of distance. 
If we are to be examples of purity and goodness, 
let us have the chance to set such examples every- 
where they are needed; and where have pure prin¬ 
ciples been more needed than in our national assem¬ 
blies? Tho cause of our present national affliction, 
it is evident to every unprejudiced mind, lies chiefly 
in the long continued disregard for the rightful 
claims of humanity. Wise men have held long and 
eloquent debates for half a century on a question 
that the first principles of Christianity readily 
decide. They have possessed sufficient wisdom to 
foresee the Impending calamity, while they lacked 
the inclination to obey the nobler instincts of 
humanity. 
Our Union, like an inexperienced youth, has gone 
out into the world with an uneven balance ofmoi'al 
character, and has strayed into slippery paths and 
fallen! Now wo are called on to do what we can to 
raise it to its former upright position. Tearful eyes 
and busy hands express how willingly the call is 
answered; but if we can do something to rescue our 
country in its peril, are we powerless to assist it to 
move on in the uprightness of integrity? 
The range of woman’s usefulness may not extend 
in the direction of state legislation, but that it is yet 
to be enlarged in many directions, is as certain as it 
is that her position in the present differs from that 
of the past; and I believe she would not be out of 
Hasty Marriages. — A thousand hearts and 
homes of sadness respond to the oft-quoted passage 
on hasty marriages, which, we believe, appeared 
first in the New York Tribune: 
There Is not a city, there is scarcely a township, 
which does not number among its inhabitants 
women who have married on very short acquaint¬ 
ance, only to be abused, deserted, and left a life-long 
Borrow to the families in which they were born and 
reared, and which they most imprudently and im¬ 
properly deserted to share the fortunes of relative 
strangers. If young ladies would realize how 
grossly indelicate as well as culpably reckless such 
marriages appear in the eyes of the observing, they 
surely would forbear. A year’s thorough acquaint¬ 
ance, with the most circumstantial accounts, from 
disinterested and reliable witnesses, ol the antece¬ 
dents from childhood, are the very least guarantee 
which any woman who realizes what marriage is, 
will require of a stranger. Even then, if her parents 
are not fully satisfied us well as herself, she should 
still hesitate. Marriage is an undertaking in which 
no delay can be so hazardous as undue precipitation. 
The Lower Class.— Who are they? The toiling 
millions, the laboring men and women, the farmer, 
the mechanic, the artist, the inventor, the producer? 
Far from it. These are nature’s nobility—God’s 
favorites—the salt of tho earth. No matter whether 
they are high or low in station, rich or poor in pelf, 
conspicuous or humble in position, they are the 
“upper circle ” iu the order of nature, whatever the 
factitious distinction of fashionable society. It is 
not low; it is the highest duty, privilege, pleasure, 
for the great men and the whole-souled women to 
earn wlmt they possess, to work their way through 
life, to be the architects of their own fortune. Some 
may remark the classes we have alluded to are only 
relatively low, and in fact the middle classes. We 
iota in me wisdom which wilt inevitably be ours. 
If clouds of disappointment many times envelop 
our pathway in thick darkness, be assured we will 
emerge from these clouds into a brighter sky. But, 
if we lie supinely down iu our weakness, we will, 
instead oi’ becoming better by the discipline for 
which Gon has given ns these dark moments to 
accomplish, have implanted within our hearts germs 
of evil, that will eventually bring a long train ol 
kindred evils, which will usurp the place ot the 
good that is found in every heart. We are ever 
studying, thinking of the ways of Providence, and 
many times we find ourselves wondering why Gon 
has allowed these trials and vexations to overtake 
us in our journey through the pathway of life; and 
as often as we conjecture on this subject, just so 
often do we come to the conclusion that He has 
permitted these little clouds to come athwart our 
sky for the purpose of strengthening us, and we 
cau see the truth contained iu the lines of the poet; 
“The shadow is dense, but Faith's spirit-voice sings 
There’s a silver lining to every cloud.” 
If we but labor on, we will at last gain rich 
gems that will fertilize our minds, and richly repay 
Doing Goon.—There is nothing makes earth so 
much like heaven as doing good, no left the joys 
and adorations of heaven, to come down and show 
us what the spirit of heaven* was; aud what was it? 
He went about doing good, and turned away from 
no case that appealed to his humanity. When they 
crowded around him in the wilderness, he magnified 
a few loaves, and fed thousands. The lepor came, 
and was cleansed. His delight was in ministering 
to the wants of the poor and needy. Nay, if we 
may be allowed to speak of the upper sanctuary, 
God himself is gratified to stand in the attitude of 
infinite benevolence, and show his creatures that 
he delights in doing good.—A. Watson. 
Controlling the Inclination.— It is hard work 
to control the workings of inclination, and turn the 
bent of nature; but that it may be done, I know 
from experience. God has given us, in a measure, 
the power to make our own fate; and when our 
energies seem to demand a sustenance they cannot 
get., when our will strains after a path we may not 
follow, we need neither starve from inanition, nor 
stand still in despair. We have hut to seek another 
nourishment for the mind as strong as the forbidden 
food it longed to taste, and perhaps purer, and to 
hew out for tho adventurous foot a road aB direct 
and broad as the one Fortune has blocked up 
against us, if rougher than it—Charlotte Bronte. 
“Dear mother," said a delicate little girl, “I 
have broken your china vase.” 
“Well, you are a naughty, careless, troublesome 
thing, always in mischief; go up stairs till I send 
for you.” 
And this was a Christian mother’s answer to the 
tearful little culprit, who had struggled with aud 
conquered temptation to toll a falsehood so as to 
screen the fault. With a disappointed, disheartened 
look, the child obeyed; and at that moment was 
crushed in her little heart the sweet flower of truth, 
perhaps never again to be revived. 0, what were a 
thousand vases in comparison! 
“Let the thoughts of a crucified Christ,’’ said 
one, “be never out of your mind. Let them be 
your sweetness and consolation, your honey and 
your desire, your reading and your meditation, your 
life, death, and resurrection.” 
Minutes are but drops to the ocean of eternity, 
yet they can never be recalled. 
If yqp would know a man, mark his gait Most 
men step to the tune of their thoughts. 
