APRIL a? 
JTndiffi’ jJoi1-(4olio. 
“ AFTER A DAY LIKE THIS.” 
One of the sweetest blessings, 
After n flay like this. 
Is the loving and caressing?. 
The welcome home and kiss— 
The rest and quiet 1 long for— 
Rest and refuge and Home. 
When worn and wasted and weary, 
tTnto my home I come. 
one of the sweetest, blessings 
Is love that blossoms through 
The loving and careaaings 
From hearts 1 know are true. 
The evening lies soft around them; 
Their faith is simply to be 
In the thought of him who loves them 
And give sweet welcome to me ! 
One of the sweetest blessings 
Js to know that lire )s mine— 
That loving and euressings 
Are all born of love lnrino— 
Ttiat the tender loach of lingers, 
The sweet kisses on my lips, 
And the loving look that lingers 
Arc but Angels’ finger-tips 
Wooing mo toward Home and Heaven. 
Soothing all ache and pain, 
Beek'nlng me, from morn ’till even. 
Back unto my Home again. c. n. b. 
--- 
ENGLISH AND AMERICAN GIRLS. 
The following remarks by an F.nglishmnn, 
contrasting the industrious habits of ISng- 
lish and American girls and women, are 
worthy the attentive consideration of pa¬ 
rents and daughters. How few American 
mothers, especially in cities and villages, 
compare favorably with the wealt hy, titled 
ladies mentioned, in activity and industry! 
“loan assure you that. Inning lived in 
different castles and manor-houses of (rival 
Britain, and being accustomed to the indus¬ 
trious habits of duchesses and countesses, I 
was utterly astonished at the idleness of 
American ladles. No Englishwoman of 
rank (with the exception of a few ya rve¬ 
nues), from the queen downward, would re¬ 
main for one-lnilf hour unemployed, or sit 
in a rocking-chair, unless seriously ill. They 
almost all (with hardly an exception) copy 
the business-letters of their husbands, fa¬ 
thers. or brothers; attend minutely to the 
wants of the poor around them, and then 
take part in their amusements, and sympa¬ 
thize with their sorrows; visit and superin¬ 
tend the schools, work in their own gardens; 
see to their household concerns; t liink about 
their visitors; look over the weekly ac¬ 
counts, not only of domestic expenses, hut 
often those of the farm and estate; manage 
penny-clubs in conjunction with the work¬ 
ing-classes, tobelp them to keep t hemselves; 
and with all these occupations, by early 
hours, they keep up their acquaintance with 
the literature and politics of the day, and 
cultivate the accomplishments of music and 
drawing, and often acquire, besides, some 
knowledge of scientific pursuits. 
The late Marshioness of Landsdowne was 
so well acquainted with her cottagers in her 
neighborhood l hat she used to visit and look 
at the corpses of the dead, because she 
found that her doing so soothed and com¬ 
forted the bereaved. I have known her to 
shut herself up with a mad woman in her 
poor dwelling, who iwul to lock the door, 
and could not be induced to admit any <>ne 
else. Lady Landsdownc's only daughter 
used one hundred guineas (given her by her 
father-in-law. Lord Suffolk, to buy a brace¬ 
let) to build pig-styes, with his permission, 
at her husband's little country residence. 
She educates her own children without as¬ 
sistance, teaching the boys Latin, and tho 
girls all the usual branches of education. 
The late Duchess of Bedford, 1 accidentally 
discovered, when on a visit to Woburn, had, 
for thirty years of her married life, risen at 
six o'clock Summer and Winter, lit her own 
fire, made some tea for the duke and her¬ 
self and thou, as he wrote hi-> own letters 
of business, she copied them, and they came I 
down to a large party of guests at ten 
o'clock, to dispense breakfast, without say¬ 
ing one word of their matutinarv avoca¬ 
tions; so that you might have beeua visitor 
in the house without finding out that tho 
duke or duchess had transacted tho neces¬ 
sary business of the day, before, perhaps, 
you had risen! I rather mention those that 
are gone to their reward than write of 
women still among us; but you may believe 
me when I say that 1 am constantly among 
those who live such lives of energy and use¬ 
fulness, but they so employ themselves 
without ostentation or an idea that they 
are doing more than their simple duty.” 
-♦♦♦-. 
Some reserve is a debt to prudence, as 
freedom and simplicity of conversation is a 
debt to good-nature.— Shemtone. 
MOORE’S BUR 
IN DEFENCE OF MOTHERS-IN-LAW. 
As a great deal is said and written aga inst 
mothers-in-law, it. is refreshing to find one 
man who can say somet hing in their defence. 
This singular character belongs to Fort. 
Wayne, fnd: “1 am not a mother-in-law 
myself, but my wife's mother is, and for licr 
sake I want to say something in behalf of 
that much-abused class of relatives. Since 
it, is become fashionable to rail at mothers- 
in-law in tho public press and in private life, 
the great American people, with that keen 
sense of humor peculiar to themselves—and 
for the possession of which a good many of 
thorn ought to be hanged—consider it in¬ 
tensely funny as well as fashiona ble. I don fc. 
I recognize the fact that my children s 
grandmother, who is one of their dearest 
and truest friends on earth, has a claim up¬ 
on my affections too. There are doubtless 
exceptions to this rule, as there are to most 
rules under the sun, but in tho main moth¬ 
ers-in-law are entitled to all the respect they 
receive and a good deal move of the same 
sort. Generally tho man who speaks insult¬ 
ingly of his mother-in-law would not be 
averse to whipping his wife when occasion 
offered, or is mean enough to accept his 
mother-in-law’s kindly offices when the chil¬ 
dren are down with tho measles and give 
her the cold shoulder afterward. At least 
it will be safe to say that the man who in¬ 
sults his mother-in-law by word or deed w ill 
bear watching.'' 
UNCONSCIOUS INFLUENCE. 
It is not. they alone who are trying pur¬ 
posely to convert or corrupt others, who ex¬ 
ert an influence. The doors of your soul 
ore open on others, and theirs on you. You 
inhabit a house that is well-nigh transpar¬ 
ent, and what you are within you are ever 
showing yourself to be without, by signs 
that have no ambiguous expression. If you 
had the seeds of a pestilence in your body, 
you would not have a more active contagion 
than you have in your tempers, tastes and 
principles. Simply lobe in this world, what¬ 
ever you are. is to exert an influence,—an 
influence compared to which mere language, 
and persuasion are feeble. Isyour example 
harmless? Is it ever on the side, of God and 
duty? You cannot doubt that others are 
continually receiving impressions from your 
character. As little can you doubt that you 
must answer for these impressions. If the 
influence you exert is unconsciously exer¬ 
ted, then it is only the most sincere, tho 
truest expression of your character. Do not 
deceive yourself in the thought, that, you 
are, at least, doing no injury, and are there¬ 
fore living without responsibility. By a 
mere look or glance, not unlikely, you are 
conveying the influence that shall turn tho 
scale of some one’s immortality. Dismiss, 
therefore, lhe thought that, you are. living 
without responsibility; that is impossible. 
The true philosophy of doing good is, first 
of all and principally, to be good —to have a 
character that will of itself communicate 
good. There must and will be active effort 
where there is goodness of principle; but 
the latter we should hold to be the principal 
thing, the root and life of all.— Horace Bush- 
ncll. 
-- 
A STRING OF PEARLS. 
Our own heart, and not other men’s opin¬ 
ions, forms our true honor. 
People seldom improve when they have 
no other model but themselves to copy after. 
—Goldsmith. 
An industrious and virtuous education 
of children is a better inheritance for them 
than a great estate.— Addison. 
Manliness— It is a higher exhibition of 
Christian manliness to be able to hear 
trouble than to get rid of it.— Bccchcr. 
LET no one count the number of his friends 
till they have been bolted In the sieve of his 
own adversity, for there is much bran in 
prosperous friendship. 
A deaf and dumb person being asked to 
give his idea of forgiveness, took a pencil and 
wrote, “HJs the sweetness which flowers 
yield wlietftcampled upon.’’ 
Fontenelll thus faintly compliments 
the sex when he compares women and clocks 
—the latter serve to point out the hours, 
the former to make us forget them. 
We make tho greater part of the evil 
circumstances in which wo are placed; and 
then wo lit ourselves for those circumstan¬ 
ces by a process of degradation.— Southey . 
Hide A Fmenu's Faults.—I t is a noble 
and great thing to cover the blemishes and 
to excuse tho failings of a friend ; to draw a 
curtain before his stains, and to display his 
perfections; to bury his weaknesses in si¬ 
lence, but to proclaim his virtues upon the 
housetop. 
NEW-YORKER. 
Alya (I ini] fm; the t) on mi. 
THE FIRST PANTALOONS. 
BY FLEDA. 
Must I put them on him ? 
I hardly think I cun, 
'Twill mnko the darling look 
So very like n loan. 
And must t nut away 
Those dainty little dresses. 
And take the mud shears, 
To golden, struggling tresses ? 
I’ve tried so hard to keep him 
In these little clothes; 
Saying every day I’ll wait 
’Till he older grows. 
For I know I'll sadly miss 
His winsome, baby ways, 
And look back with regret, 
To his sunny, baby days. 
Only see these tittle shoes 
With the pink toes peeping through! 
1 remember well the day 
When they were bright and now, 
And how I coaxed and petted 
And saug aglocsome song, 
To make him sit quite still, 
While I should " try them on.” 
I’ll put them with the treasures 
I’ve garnered from the past, 
In re men ib ranee of a childhood 
All too bright to last: 
Of a guileless, happy babyhood 
That disappeared, as soon 
As he stepped from little dresses 
Into pantaloon. 
I know that, lie must take 
This first Step, up the hill; 
And may he ever seek the good, 
And shun the ill. 
Tho way Is filled with tears 
As well as joy,— 
May the blessing of a mother prove 
A talisman for her boy. 
Indus-Wild. Warren Co., III. 
-- 
LETTERS TO YOUNG RURALIST3.-V. 
FROM COUSIN JOHNNIE. 
I was very much interested in Willie C. 
B. P.’s letter about his squirrel. The story 
was well and simply told -without any af¬ 
fectation of n style above his ability. I 
trust as lu: succeeded in saving even his lit¬ 
tle pet at the time of the “great lire,” that 
he has not had to mourn tho loss of any of 
his dear ones. Perhaps he will tell us, the 
next time, how they succeeded in escaping. 
Mattie W.’s letter was really quite an 
elegantly written epistle. She must be 
ettjaewlmt older than the other little Rural- 
ietor have had many more advantages, if 
she composed it entirely without assistance. 
Tier instructions with regard to taking im¬ 
pressions of ferns and grasses were so ex¬ 
plicit. that none of us, T think, will find any 
difficulty in following them. 
Lyuia O. says:—“ Wc arc not very fancy 
folks; we nil work.” 1 am glad she seems 
so fond of work, us it is undoubtedly her 
duty to assist her parents, who keep no 
servants. But Lydia seems to forget that 
those who keep no servants, and have to 
wa.--h, iron and milk, arc not the only work¬ 
ers in the wot Id. Many of those whom she 
calls " fancy folks,” have mental labor to 
perform, harder than anything she has an 
idea of. There is work for everybody in the 
world, the rich us well as the poor; nay, the 
rich because they have ten talents have the 
most work given to them, though unfortu¬ 
nately they do not always do it. if Lyiha 
is only able to attend school part, of the 
time she must makegood use of that part. 
Ucv work , while at school, should be to im¬ 
prove every opportunity for study. 
I have learned something from Homer S. 
I had never heard before that a pear cion 
could be grafted upon a mountain ash; but 
on inquiry I found that such was the case, 
as the two trees belong to the same family. 
We have not heard anything for some 
time from either Wrirn Rose or Trixie. 
Where are they? 
- +*■* - 
IMPROVED SOAP BUBBLES. 
We find in an exchange a paragraph which 
teaches the art of blowing soap bubbles that 
will show the changing colors of th© rain¬ 
bow, and may be of special interest to some 
of our juvenile readers. The directions are 
as follows: 
Take three-quarters of a pint of water 
that has been boiled and become cold, and 
it into it a quarter of an ounce of Castile 
uap, cut up fine. Put this into a pint bot¬ 
tle, and set, it in a saucepan on the fire; 
there let it remain an hour or so, now and 
then giving it a good shaking, till the soap 
is dissolved. Let the fluid stand quiet for 
the impurities and coloring matter of the 
soap to settle; theu pour off the fluid and 
add to it four ounces of glycerine and your 
soap bubble solution is ready. In an ordin¬ 
ary way you may blow t he bubbles easily with 
2B7 
a tobacco pipe, but if you wish to attain sci¬ 
entific perfection. a glass pipe can be em¬ 
ployed with better success. By adding a 
larger quantity of glycerine, you may make 
these bubbles so strong that you can play 
battledore with litem. 
---- 
TO BOYS AND YOUNG MEN. 
Boys and young men, you are the archi¬ 
tects of your own fortunes. Rely upon 
your own strength of body and soul. Take 
for your star, self-reliance, faith, honesty 
and industry. Inscribe on your banner, 
“Luck is a fool, Pluck is a hero.” Don't 
take too much advice; keep at your helm 
and steer your own ship, and remember 
that the great art of commanding is to lake 
a fair share of the work. Don’t pract ice too 
much humility. Think well of yourself. 
Strike out. Assume your own position. 
Rise above (he envious and jealous. Fire 
above the mark you intend to hit. Energy, 
invincible determination, with a right mo¬ 
tive, are the lovers that move the world. 
Don’t drink. Don’t chew. Don’t smoke. 
Don’t swear. Don’t deceive. Don’t marry 
until you can support, a wife. Be in ea rnest. 
Be. self-reliant. Bo generous. Be civil. 
Read t he papers. Make money anddogood 
with it. Love truth and virtue. Love your 
country and obey its laws. If this advice 
be implicitly followed by the young men of 
the country, tho miUoniutn is near at hand. 
— Selected. » 
--- 
Advice to Boy 8.—You are made to he 
kind, generous and magnanimous, says 
Horace Maim. If there is a boy in school 
who has a club-foot, don’t let him know you 
ever saw it. If there is a boy with ragged 
clothes, don't talk about rags in his hearing. 
If there is a lame boy, assign bin some part 
in ttio play which does not require much 
running, if there is a dull one, help him to 
get his lesson. 
■ - ♦♦♦- 
YOUTH is the t ime In which modesty and 
enterprise ought, chiefly to be found; mod¬ 
esty suits well with Inexperience, and en¬ 
terprise with healt h and vigor and an exten¬ 
sive prospect of life. Jolm-SOIl. 
ILLUSTRATED REBUS.-No. 17. 
DOUBLE ACROSTIC. No. 1. 
1. A fabulous monster. 
2. Small flowers in a head. 
3. A color. 
4. An alkali. 
5. An offering. 
0 . Honey cup of a. flower. 
The initials form the name of a river; the 
finals a city on its banks. M. Hunt. 
£2T Answer in t wo weeks. 
BIBLICAL ENIGMA.—No. 2. 
I AM composed of 48 letters: 
My 8, 40, P 10, 17, 11, 10, 45 was a king of the 
Modes. 
My 15, 00, 4, 0, 24,2- , " ‘ wns the mother of Cyrus. 
My 30.41, 10,40,37 was -MMshazzur'sgrandmother. 
My 38,44.22, 12,20, 42,3 wns Peniunah’s husband. 
My 2, 0, 48, 9 was David’s grandfather. 
My 1,10, 45, 3,27, 7,35, 20 is a. poetical name of 
Iaif.L 
My 21, 30, % 14,25, 30, 27, 40 was the first Gen¬ 
tile oo, art. 
My 33.38,19, t i was Brasilia's husband. 
My 18, 12, 29,10, . 32, 20 a celebrated city on tho 
Euphrates. 
My 23, 14. 8, 13, 40, 4, 11 is the art by which the 
high priest’s tunic was made. 
My 47. 30, 5. 3 is a city of Judah near which 
David lay hid. 
My 31, 27, 17, 7, 37, 35, 45 was n citizen of Corinth. 
My whole Is a sentence containing all the let ters 
of tho English alphabet. Yankee Jake. 
1ST" Answer In two weeks, when we will pub¬ 
lish tiie names of those who shall have sent us 
correct answers. 
----*♦-*- 
PUZZLER ANSWERS.—April 13. 
Illustrate], Rf.bus No. 15—Riches take to thora- 
selves wings and leave. 
Miscellaneous Enigma No. 5.—Elephant. 
ANSWERS TO A VAGRAMS OF FELID/E.—1, Tiger ( 
2. Lion ; a, Leopard ; 4, Ounce; 5. Jaguar; ti, Panther ; 
y Canada Lynx; 8, Ichneumon. 
