L'VSIk'VriV 
Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker, 
A PURE HEART. 
BY GLENN IIEHBEBT, 
Little I5kh.mii: hung her stocking 
Close beside her little bed. 
Then, while many funny fancies 
Flitted through her little head 
Of tlie one who was to bring her 
Pretty gifts and pleasant things, 
Sleep came gently down and ’round her 
Closely wrapped his fleecy wings. 
In the morning, when she wakened, 
Would you really like to know 
What so deeply she found hidden 
In the stocking’s very toe? 
Many things site found before it,— 
Many beautifiil and bright— 
And she said “ I thank you. Santa, 
For remembering me last uiglit.” 
Folded in a dainty paper, 
All the other tilings below, 
Lay a heart of whitest sugar 
In the stocking's tiny toe. 
Folded with it, neatly printed, 
So a little girl might read 
Were tlie words that every Bessie 
O ught most carefully to heed: 
Strive to keep your heart, my darling, 
Evermore as pure as this, 
So your life, when it is finished, 
Will be crowned with perfect bliss. 
Far from every evil-doing 
See that it. may always be, 
And from evil thought and feeling 
I ry to keep it ever free I” 
pride attaching to good attainments m reading or 
spelling. Now a familiarity with squares and angles 
is very desirable,—but if a student draws a parallelo¬ 
gram never so deftly, and then spells tlie word with 
but two to, we feel to pity rather than praise. And 
there arc hundreds of thoroughly educated (?) col¬ 
legians who bluuder most stupidly in their spelling 
—who ought to go back to the elcmentarics and 
begin anew. 
The good old days of spelling schools, wc suppose, 
arc gone by. Time was when t,o be “ the best speller 
in school” was a genuine honor, and sought after 
with eager effort. The rivalry springing up, in con¬ 
sequence, served a most useful purpose. If all did 
not become the bent spoilers, all did become good 
ones. Can as much be said now of scholars ? Would 
not some kind of stimulus in regard to this one par¬ 
ticular elemental branch be productive of good ? 
We appeal to teachers, in all car uch these, to devote 
more time t,o their spelling classes. Devise some 
means by which you may more fully interest those 
classes, and excite the members to more careful 
study. Impress deeply upon their minds the fact 
that to 6pcll words correctly constitutes an accom¬ 
plishment. of no mean importance. Do not give, live 
minutes to the spelling lesson, and fts many hours to 
Philosophy, and Chemistry, and Algebra. To write 
out each spelling lesson upon the black-board may 
avail much in living correct renderings in the mem¬ 
ory. It might also benetlt greatly to have some 
member of the class write on the board a letter, at 
your dictation, made up in due form, and then ask 
the rest of the class to point, out any errors in spell¬ 
ing which they may discover. This will cause the 
writer to use care in regard to spelling, while 
writing, which is highly necessary. Many individ¬ 
uals cannot think while on their feet addressing an 
audience; so many others cannot spell properly at 
the. point of their pen. The exercise suggested, too, 
will have a two fold effect for good, as if will accus¬ 
tom the pupil to forma of correspondence, aud 
impart ease in composition. The ingenious teacher, 
•thoroughly intent on making his pupils proficient 
in spelling, can invent plenty of other modes to add 
a zest to the perhaps dry columns of words, and 
render orthography really attractive. UnlesB he 
docs it, his duty is not fully performed. 
And so with reading. It is too frequently con¬ 
sidered as of minor importance, ranking with spell¬ 
ing and writing. Very few good readers come forth 
from our schools. The majority are deficient in 
emphasis, in accent and Inflection—in everything 
that goes to make up fine expression—t.o an almost 
surprising degree. Mainly this is the fault of the 
educators. Not enough effort is made to awaken 
interest in the reading les&ons; too many of these, 
indeed, arc old and dry, and literally barren of aught 
agreeable and entertaining. Let new chapters, 
gleaned from current literature, be added nowand 
then, spiced with pleasant words of comment, ap¬ 
propriate and suggestive questions, aud the like. 
Thus will the reading exercises take on a freshness 
before unknown, by which will bo engendered a 
liking fruitful of improvement. 
Few as are the good readers, the good writers are 
fewer still. And this without any reason whatever. 
Penmanship has been reduced to au art distinctive 
arid beautiful, yet by uo means difficult to acquire. 
In the hurry of business aud pressing demands upon 
one's time, an illegible chirography is excusable; 
but in the years of student-life there is no such occa¬ 
sion for haste, and a graceful handwriting may he, 
and ought to be, diligently striven for. In the whole 
list of accomplishments there is nothing finer than 
that. It bias made t he fortune of many a man, and 
won admiration for many a woman. The idea that 
genius must sign its name with a horrid scrawl 
which might as well be put “John Smith, his 
mark," is altogether a mistaken one. Publishers, at 
least, do not believe in it. Illegibility never helped 
a manuscript along into editorial good graces. 
One of the qualifications demanded of every school 
teacher should tie, wc think, good penmanship. 
Unless the teacher possesses it, we need expect 
little from his pupils, save ungainly and ill-formed 
characters. Possessing it, he should make the writ- 
W INTER, SPUING. SUMMER. AUTUMN. 
ALLEGORICAL REPRESENTATION OF THE FOUR SEASONS: 
TOOM BRONZE STATUETTES EXHIBITED BY M. DETOBCHE AT THE PARIS EXPOSITION, — [ENGRAVED EXPRESSLY FOR MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER.) 
The above allegorical group is beautifully expres¬ 
sive, and we think cannot but win the admiration of 
all KokaIj readers. The lesson of each Season is told 
in a most charming manner, very poetically, indeed, 
yet with rare grace and truthfulness. Could any¬ 
thing be more suggestive of chilling blasts, when we 
involuntarily wrap our robes more closely around 
us,—of balmy breezes in which the buds open to 
beauty and fragrance,— of warm sunlight, when the 
grain ripens for the harvest,— and of clear, perfect 
days, when the gorgeous tints hold the glory of the 
year, than are the different figures? The taste for 
statuary is increasing. At, the late Paris Exposition, 
where the statuettes represented in our illustration 
were exhibited, the Bronze Court, was a marked fea¬ 
ture. Florentine bronzes, or, as the French call 
them, artistic, are admirably adapted for ornamenta¬ 
tion, and must tend greatly to popularize Art. 
YOUNG MEN — BUSINESS MEN 
It is easier to be a good business man than a poor 
one. Half of the energy displayed in keeping ahead, 
that is required to catch up when behind, will save 
credit, give more time to attend to business, and 
add t.o the profit and reputation of those who work 
for gain. Be prompt. Keep your word. Honor 
your engagements. If you promise to meet a man 
or do a certain thing at a certain moment, be ready 
at the appointed time. If you have work to do¬ 
do it at once, cheerfully, and therefore more speed¬ 
ily and correctly. If you go out on business, attend 
promptly to the matter. Do not. stop to tell stories 
in business hours, 
If you have a place of business be found there 
when wanted. No man can get rich by sitting 
around stores and saloons. Never •fool” on busi¬ 
ness matters. If you have to labor for a living re- 
member that one hour in the morniug is better than 
two at night, If yon employ others be on hand to 
see that they attend to their duties, and to direct 
work to advantage. Have order, system, regularity, 
promptness, liberality. Do not meddle with busi¬ 
ness you know nothing of. Never buy an article 
long distances under the ice. In their winter excur¬ 
sions to their feeding-grounds, which are frequently 
at great distances from their abodes, they take in 
breath at starting, and remain under tlie water as 
long tus they can. They then rise up to the ice, and 
breathe out the air in their lungs, which remains In 
bubbles against the lower surface of the ice. They 
wait till this air recovers oxygen from the water ami 
ice, and then*take it again, ami go on till the ope¬ 
ration has to be repeated. Iu this way they can 
travel almost any distance, and live any length of 
time under the iec. The hunter sometimes takes 
advantage of this habit of the muskrat in the fol¬ 
lowing manner: —When the marshes and ponds 
where the muskrats abound are first frozen over, 
and the ice is thin and clear, on striking into their 
houses witlrbis hatchet for the purpose of setting 
his traps, he frequently sees a whole family plunge 
THE HOLIDAY-TIME, 
O the glad holiday - time, when it is Saturday 
afternoon a whole week for all t.lio old Boys and 
Girls ! It is the week of all the weeks,—it is beauty, 
and cheer, and mirth, and music,—it is summer for 
the heart, let the rude December blasts blow never 
so wildly. 
And here we are once more, right in the midst of 
its gladness. Again have we come to the charmed 
place in the year’s ever rounding circle, whore the 
merriest laughter echoes and re-echoes with the 
clearest ring, and where gaiety holds highest ear 
nival. Hearken to the joyously pealing bells! Out 
on the street, happy parties dash by, and their laugh¬ 
ing voices overflow with tlie holiday exuberance. 
Hurrying crowds jostle one another upon the side- 
walks,—for all an: busy bodies now, and the business 
of each is to enjoy and be glad—to procure some 
thing which will give joy and gladness to another. 
Frond fathers and mothers peer curiously into the 
temptingly arrayed shop - windows, in their search 
for handsome toys for the “ wee ones;" lovers look 
longingly through the book aud jewelry stores for 
fitting souvenirs of affection—a volume of love 
songs in dainty binding, or a plain circlet of gold 
which shall typify plighted faith, and sweethearts 
turn over numberless specimens of worsted to find 
some pretty pattern for slippers or smoking cap, or 
conjure up gay trimmings for dressing gowns. 
On the day before Christmas we fancied we eonld 
take the measure of sundry little pairs of stockings, 
just from looking into the countenances of the papas 
and mammas. And we rambled up and down the 
streets for an hour, taking a certain kind ofpleusurc 
in the kindliness that shone out of the faces we met, 
and in our miud etching quaint pictures of Santa 
Claus cramming candies, and skates, and nobody 
knows what else, into the places where busy feet 
liid away only a few hours before. We all remember 
how it used to be with us, before our feet grew tired 
on the way of life, — when Santa was not a myth, 
but a veritable personage,—how we used to count 
the days till Christmas came, and how we kept our 
sleepy lids open just as long as we could, in the 
hope to see the funny old fellow when he should 
come down the chimney! Of course he always 
waited till we were sound asleep, and of course by- 
aml-by we came to believe that there was a little 
shadow of doubt about his identity, and then a little 
later and we were confirmed unbelievers concerning 
him! It is tlie one unpleasant feature of the years, 
that they bring doublings and unbeliefs. When we 
turn our backs on Santa Claus we forsake a whole 
catalogue of childish faiths that would, perhaps, 
insure us happiness If wc could but cling to them— 
could hut anchor alongside of them through the 
brief forever of mortality. 
But we drift out on the pleasant waters of youth 
and speculation, and find that life is not the long 
holiday we fancied; one by one the years hnrry by, 
aud one by one the glad things we covet glide out of 
our reach ; some Saturday afternoon proves cloudy 
and there Is a shower of tears; there's u boy-Jove 
cruelly slighted, and a pang of disappointment cuts 
keenly into the young flesh of tlie heart,—and then 
manhood is attained, and there is never any ouimy 
play days more, or if they come it is with this cheery 
holiday time, and with a whole year intervening. 
But a blessing on this week of all the weeks, with 
its gladness and Its gifts ! Gifts ! Let us echo the 
word again and again,—there is unheard music iu it. 
We all have gifts—gifts that are not bought, with a 
price, that were not put iu our stockings on a night 
beyond which our memory goes not — gifts to be 
happy and to do good, to see blessings under the 
cloud as in the sunlight, aud to call sweets from 
many a bitterness. Then may tlie gifts all be cher¬ 
ished lovingly, until there comes a holiday-time 
which shall know no ending forever aud forever! 
TEMPERANCE AND EXERCISE 
It is remarkable bow constantly, and with how 
little thought, we violate the laws of health. Look, 
for instance, cither at the quality or quantity of food 
we often take at a single meal, and sc if the human 
stomach is not a marvelous contrivance, to assimi¬ 
late the incongruous mess. A lecturer enlarges on 
this subject as follows:—Soup, fish, tlesh, oil, vine¬ 
gar, wines, pastry, ices, confectionery, fruits, and 
numberless minor Ingredients of oonilioting chemi¬ 
cal qualities are among the materials “ thrown in.” 
Stir these things together in a vessel and which of 
as would not sicken at their appearance and odor? 
Yet at a dinner party they are all crammed into the 
stomach, there tu ferment and generate pernicious 
gasses. Truly, man is “ fearfully and wonderfully 
made.” No other creature could exist on such diet. 
It would kill a gorilla in a month. It does kill, 
though more slowly, thousands of that high and 
mighty variety of the human nice commonly called 
gentlemen. Universal temperance in eating and 
drinking would quadruple the general health, and 
add years to the average life of the race. But exer¬ 
cise is us essential to health as temperance. In fact, 
intemperate caters and drinkers sometimes slave off 
disease for many years by using their muscles mac 
fully. As a rule, however, gormandizers aud guz¬ 
zlers are indolent. There is a story in the Arabian 
Nights of a physician who cured a sultan tf plethora 
by introducing certain medicaments into a mallet, 
with which the patient hammered every day until 
he fell into a profuse perspiration, when the virtues 
of the panacea in the mallet passed through the 
fibers of the wood into his pores. This is merely 
an allegorical way of enforcing the great lesson that 
bodily exertion Is beneficial to health—that exer¬ 
cise is excellent physic. Everybody who knows 
anything about the mechanism of the human frame, 
secs, of course, tlrnt it was made to work, and we 
may add that if It does not fulfill the conditions of 
its structure it is sure to corrode and drop to pieces 
prematurely. 
FRANK AND SUSIE 
1 hkhe . Unit kitten’* run into the pantry,” said 
Mrs. Lee, as she was hurrying about her dinner. 
“Children, one of yon get her out, won’t you?” 
“1 will, ' said Frank, clattering into the pantry: 
“Here! ’scat! clear ont!” 
Poor Kitty, frightened with the noise, ran wildly 
iu every direction but that of the door 
crept behind a barrel. 
and finally 
Frank, of course, could not 
move it, and as little eoukl ho get the kitten out. 
When he found that she would certainly stay where 
she was as long as he scolded, he tried coaxing, but 
it was too late for that; Kit would not trust him. 
“Hero, Kitty, Kitty, eomo, little Kitty," said 
Susie, in gentle tones, as she came with quiet foot¬ 
fall Into the pantry. Kitty knew that pleasant 
voice, and slie put her head ont, but hesitated. 
” Gome, Kitty, dear little Kitty,” said Susie again, 
and she came. Mrs. Lee had heard it all. 
“ Which do you think the better way, my boy?” 
she asked, laying her hand on Frank’s shoulder — 
“Susie’s or yours!” 
“Sasic’s,” Frank replied. 
" Kemember, then, little ones, always, that gentle¬ 
ness and kindness are better than roughness, and 
the rule of love better than that of fear.” 
THE WOODEN SPOON OF YALE COLLEGE 
It is the custom of the graduating class in Yale 
College to select by vote the most popular man in 
tlie class and make him the recipient of a wooden 
spoom Our illustration shows the one given to the 
lucky member of the class of 1 Sfifi. The presenta¬ 
tion Is made quite an affair, and the spirit in which 
the prize is offered and received prevents any hard 
feeling. One of the singular facts is that the re¬ 
ceiver of the spoon is very frequently also the gainer 
of the cradle, which the class on graduation votes to 
give to one of their number who first becomes a 
father. 8ucli a combination shows that the judg¬ 
ment of tlie class is not incorrect, and that there 
are not two standards for judging of a man’s 
popularity. 
Writers have often discussed the importance of 
correct habits of thought, and have dwelt at length 
on methods of mental culture. While it would be 
unjust to decry the value of their labors, it may be 
asked, “ Of what use are they to persons who do not 
think ?” Every intelligent limn must be conscious 
that there are many whose thinking is so extremely 
limited in its scope that they can scarcely be said to 
think Hindi. They are content to depend upon the 
thinking of others. Often they pay a heavy price 
for their folly. 
It is the business of the educated teacher to teach 
to think , as well as to teach how to think. It is well 
for him to cause his pupils to acquire as many facts 
for future, use as possible, and to give the memory 
its due share of culture. But let it constantly be 
borne in mind that the facts learned in the school 
room bear hut a small proportion to those acquired 
by observation and reading. A true education will so 
develop the mental powers, that they make a proper 
use of the knowledge thus gained. The result can 
only be reached by the cultivation of habits of think¬ 
ing in the pupil. 
Poweii of Kindness. —A poor woman used to 
give au elephant, who often passed her stall in the 
market, a handful of greens, of which he was very 
fond. One day he was in u great fnry, ami broke 
away from his keeper, and came raging down the 
market-place. Every one fled, and iu her haste the 
market-woman forgot her little child. But the ele¬ 
phant, instead of trampling It to death, picked It up 
tenderly and laid it on one side in & place of safety. 
Do you think she was sorry she gave him his handful 
of greens as he went by ? No. We never lose by a 
kind action, no matter to whom it is done. 
Mil T. P. Barkas states that the surface of the 
suu has become much disturbed, and that there is at 
present upon his disc a spot of remarkable magni¬ 
tude and clearness. Tin: approximate length of the 
spot is 50,000 miles, and its width 50,000; and so 
well defined is it, that it can easily be seen by the 
naked eye when protected by colored glass. The 
spotjforms a beautiful object for telescopes of very 
moderate power. 
Don’t Touch Cold Iron. —Henry Norrlson, a 
laborer at the New Jersey freight depot, while mov¬ 
ing some bars of iron on Friday morning, took up 
one so cold that it adhered to two of the lingers of 
his right band, and when he threw it down it 
stripped the flesh entirely from the first joints, leav¬ 
ing the bones bare, rendering amputation necessary. 
