YOBMEB. 
<a(m\ Studies. 
KINDNESS. 
BY MBS. M. A. HOLT. 
“ IF we knew the Baby fingers. 
Pressed against the window pane. 
Would bo cold and stiff to-morrow— 
Never trouble us again— 
Would the bright eyes of our darling 
Catch the frown upon our brow? 
Would the print, of rosy fingers 
Vex us then as they do now ?" 
I think but few human beings really under¬ 
stand the power of kindness in this world of 
ours. If this great principle of love and gentle¬ 
ness combinod was better understood by people 
generally* there would be fewer breaking hearts 
and tears of lonely grief in this bleak old world. 
Rut, alas, there are some truths that human be¬ 
ings never learn until they are just ready to enter 
into the deat h valley; and ho the lesson that they 
have gleaned by living is received too late. It is 
strange how blind people are to the workings 
and results of certain principles of right and 
wrong. I cannot just understand the mystery 
of this seeing and yet not seeing. 
The law of human kindness Is a strong one, 
and the world, with all Its wickedness, finds It 
very hard to resist it. Vico and evil hide away 
from it, while folly and waywardness are wholly 
subdued by It* gentle Influences. Thereissomo 
Invisible charm lingering wherever it rules, and 
peace ami quietness dwell in the serene atmos¬ 
phere. It costs but a littleeffort toenforce this 
law that regulates so gontly the conduct of 
mankind. It save* many scenes of wild com¬ 
motion, and leads the votaries of error quickly 
upon the stepping-stones of right and truth. 
Yet people do not adopt this law of kindness 
very generally, although it is such a grand gov¬ 
erning principle. 
The fact Is that, passion and tyranny usually 
crush out from the soul tills little germ of kind¬ 
ness given to us by our kiud, Heavenly Father. 
Wo cannot bear the Ills and vexations of life 
gently and patiently, and so we let passion con¬ 
trol us, which is usually succeeded by a desire 
to force wrong-doers to desist. We generally 
fall to regulate the conduct of those who trouble 
us, in a satisfactory way; and so we are discon¬ 
tented uud unhappy. Alas, wo did not let the 
sweet principle of kindness rule. Lesson after 
lesson of sorrow wo glean, and yet we do not 
learn the hotter way. Wo sow and reap a har¬ 
vest of tears and sorrows, and thus journey 
along through life. At last we discover our sad 
mistake. 
“ Strange we never prize the music 
’Till the sweet-toned bird is llown! 
Strange that, wo should slight the violets 
’Till the lovely flowers are gone. 
Strango that Summer skies and sunshine 
Never seem one-half so fair 
As when Winter’s snowy pinions 
Shake the white down in the air." 
Oh, why do we not scatter sunbeams and a 
flowers along our life path, Instead of thorns ^ 
and brambles? We know that thoy will ^ 
bring sorrow and pain to ot hers, and yet we 
scatter them. 
A word of kindness and a look of sympa¬ 
thy cost but little, and yet we frown 
and condemn, and let the evil principle r 
govern us. The love of the sweet child is 
chilled, and friendship robbod of its sweet¬ 
ness, by deeds of unkindness. 
If we only knew and understood bow to 
live In the bright valley of sunlight, Instead 
of wandering out upon the lowlands of mis¬ 
ery, then we might be happy. Let us try to 
understand better thiB grand secret of hu¬ 
man kindness. 
“ Let us gather up the sunbeams 
Lying all around our path; 
Let us keep the wheat and roses, 
Casting out the thorns and chaff: 
Let us find the sweetest comforts 
In the blessings of to-day,'; 
With a patient hand removing 
All the briers from the way.” 
ness from some great orb of discontent to scat¬ 
ter it over their neighbors. 
If the husband conies home from his busi¬ 
ness in the evening with a stnilo on his face, his 
appearance will be the moment to which his 
wife looks forward through the day. But, if be 
comes home grumbling, his presence will only 
add a shade to the burden and weariness of the 
day. And if mothers and sisters are cross and 
fretful as if they had the toot hache, they will 
drive all happiness from their home. There are 
a great, many people who seem to think that 
their special mission in this world is to grumblo 
and find fault and nutke everybody miserable. 
They keep their mouths puckered up all the 
the rich richer, or in any way to improve the 
condition of man. On the contrary, it has done 
plenty of hurra. The Israelites murmured, and 
God sent the most terrible punishments upon 
them. They found fault with that Providenco 
which led them forth from Egyptian slavery. 
But It only made their forty years' wandering 
In the desert the worse. A nd that, is a type of 
the fruit that murmuring always bears, it is a 
three-fold sin, toward one’s own soul, which it, 
weakens, towonl one’s neighbor, whose happi¬ 
ness it mars, and toward God, whom it insults. 
For grumbling implies a rebellion against God s 
will. A person who is all the time complaining 
at the dealings of Providence, cannot offer up 
SKATING COSTTJME.-[See 3?age 95.] 
GRUMBLERS TALKED TO. 
In almost every community you will find pro¬ 
fessional grumblers. Nothing seems to agree 
■with them. Now they grumble at hard times, 
and now at their neighbors; if husbands, they 
grumble at their wives; if wives, at their hus¬ 
bands. They grumble at the church, at the na¬ 
tion, at the world of mankind, at other grum¬ 
blers! They find fault at the allotments of 
Providence, and blame God for crosses that are 
placed upon them, supposing that everybody 
has a lighter cross than they have. Say to such 
a person, “ This is a floe morning," and he will 
answer, “Yes, sir, but I shouldn't wonder If it 
should yet turn out to bo a disagreeable day." 
“ You have a fine-looking field of wheat over 
there?" "Well, it luoks so now, but likely 
enough the rust will yet ruin It." “ Our church 
is in a flourishing condition." "Ah, but no 
telling how long it will last." “ Our new neigh¬ 
bors seem to be very good Christiana." “ Yes, 
sir, but nearly everybody now-a-days is dishon¬ 
est, and It Is not likely they are bettor than 
other people." 
Such people always live under a black cloud, 
and carry darkness and gloom wherever they 
go. The moon borrows light from the sun, that 
It may shed Its rays upon the earth. But these 
professional grumblers soem to borrow dark- 
time, as if they were determined to be ready at 
the shortest possihle notice to grumble. They 
seem to be closely allied to the cuttle-fish. This 
little sea animal has the power of ejecting from 
a sack around ita head a peculiar liquid of a 
black color, by means of which It can so blacken 
the water that It Is as effectually concealed as 
If It was swimming in India ink. And so there 
are a great many people who have the power of 
filling any home with darkness and misery. 
Man has been defined as a “ laughing animal." 
But so seldom is a smile seen on a grumbler’s 
face that we are almost tempted to classify 
them In a race by themselves. A real, hearty, 
cheerful, ringing laugh from them would be as 
astonishing as a thunderclap In a clear sky. 
They have greater power of vision than the nat¬ 
uralist aided by Ills microscope, for they can 
see troubles that nevor had and never can have 
any existence. Every time any good work is 
proposed or begun, they predict a failure—a go- 
dowu, or a blow up. They complain at what is 
done and at what is not done. And when they 
drive every one from them, they complain of 
the why people shun them? Thoy are as touchy 
its a hair-trigger gun. 
Now, grumbling does no good, It was never 
known to dispel a dark, overhanging cloud, it 
was never known to make a warm day cool, ot¬ 
to make the ugly beautiful, or the poor rich, or 
the prayer, “ Nevertheless, not my will but thine 
be done.” These may bo the words of his 
mouth, but his heart refuses to give them utter¬ 
ance. The language of such a soul is, “ My will, 
not thine, be done.”—Net’. J. B. Mitchell. 
HOME INFLUENCE. 
Rev. Dr. Cutler talks in this wiseIf the 
fathor generally talks .money, money' at home 
he generally rears a family In worship of the 
almighty dollar. If ho talks mainly horses, 
games and races, he breeds a batch of sports¬ 
men. If fashion Is the family altar, then the 
children are offered up as victims upon the 
altar. If a man makes his own fireside attract¬ 
ive, he may reasonably hope to anchor his own 
children around it. My neighbor Q-makes 
himself the constant evening companion of his 
boys. The result is that his boys tire never found 
in bad places. But if Uie father hears the clock 
Btriko cloven In his clijihouse or the playhouse* 
bo need not he surprised if his boys hear it strike 
twelve in the gaming room or the drinking 
saloon. If ho puts 1 he bottle on his own table, 
he need not wonder If a drunken son staggers 
in, by-and-by, at his front door. When the best 
friend that childhood and youth ought to have 
becomes their foe, the homes become the‘start¬ 
ing post’ for moral ruin. 
NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
The Mother's Work \VH1i Sick Children. 
Now York: U. P. Putnam & Sons. 
Hr. F. P. Foster of New York city has trans¬ 
lated this handy book of 250 pages from the 
French of Prof. J. B. Fonseolyh rvK8. In Paris 
the book has passed through four editions. Wo 
are convinced Unit it is a readable and valuable 
work for the mothers and nurses of America. 
The whole subject of t he oaro of sick children 
is treated in a sensible and intelligent mannor. 
This book is very appropriate for a present to a 
bride or young mother, 
JinH im; A Treatise on Hardy und Tender Bulbs and 
Tnbers.-By 15. S. IU.\n, Jr. Boston- Shepard 
«x Gill. 
The culture of bulbs is yot in Its infancy, and 
any book giving the public information on the 
subject is welcome. This handsomely illustra¬ 
ted volume gives specific directions for t he cul¬ 
tivation of a large number of bulbs, such as 
tulips, hyacinths, lilies, etc. Wo Judge it a use¬ 
ful manual for all interested in this employ¬ 
ment. 
The Great Events of History. - By William 
Iuancis Collins, i.l. u„ Trinity College Lub¬ 
lin. New York: .1. YV. SeheriuurUorn & Co. 
This volume is principally a record of wars 
from the creation of Man to the present time. 
Perhaps it is as good as any coropilat ion of the 
kind; but, os a ride, wo have no great opinion 
of the kind. An American editor has added 
the facts of our history In a greatly reduced 
| form. 
The Use nnil Aim sc of Tobacco, lly JOHN Lr- 
7 . a us, Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blaklnton. 
A handsome, muslin-bound volume, of 128 
pages, from the pen of a professor of surgery In 
Edinburgh. This work has passed through eight 
editions in Edinburgh. The objoet of the au¬ 
thor has been to arrest t in: progress of excessive 
smoking. No more valuable or important work 
can bo put Into tho hands of young men. 
—■ 
The New York Observer .In hi lee Book, 1S73. 
Sidney 15. Morse A Co. Price $1.00, 
A VERY valuable book "f 200 pages, flllod with 
information rolatlvo to governments, churches, 
education, agriculture, etc. There are also fine 
portraits of the Morse Brothors, a reduced 
copy of the Observer, ole., etc. Wo regard this 
as one of the most valuable books of referonco 
of the kind over published. 
Home mill Ike Papery From tho French,bvB. 
L. Peterson, M. 1). Philadelphia: T. B. Peter¬ 
son & Brothers. 
A rook of more than usual Interest, being a 
history of the men, manners and Temporal Gov¬ 
ernment. of Home In the Nineteenth Cen¬ 
tury. It includes a life of tho present Pope, 
and contains many startling statements. 
fli* Level Best, and Other Stories.—By 
Howard e. hale. Boston: James It. Os¬ 
good * Co. 
= This volume takes Its mime from a short 
story, titled ns above, which opens the vol- 
- ume. The rest of tho book Ls made of seven 
A 1 sketches from Mr. Hale's pen, all of which 
» arc pleasant reading. The story of the 
— “ Brick Moon,” which caused a sensat ion in 
. - the “Atlantic,” Is also published in this 
s= r volume. 
Lectures Io Young Men on Vnrious Im¬ 
portant Subjects. — By Henry Ward 
Beecher. New York: J. B. Ford & Co. 
Ufe A neyv edition of an old and well-known 
volume. The topics Mr. Beecher discusses 
r' are Industry and Idleness, Dishonesty, tho 
ggr Strango Woman, Popular Amusements, 
gp Swearing, Vulgarity, Gambling, etc. A good 
gp 1 book to put Into any; young man’s hand. 
Maniinl of IjuimI Surveying, With Tables. 
-By David Murray, A. M., n,, D., Prof, in 
Rutgers College. New York : J. Y\ r . Seher- 
mernorn A Co. 1872. 
A compact volume of 250 pages, prepared 
as a text-book in this branch of practical 
mathematics, and for the use of surveyors. Wo 
have never seen a book of the kind which 
pleased us better. It Is illustrated, and appears 
to be all that the pupil or surveyor could wish. 
The Ilomcs Where R Should Bo, and What to Put 
in it. —By Frank it. und Marian Stockton. 
New York: G. P. Putnam & Sonn. 
Another neat volume of tho “Handy Book 
Series," useful for those who need explicit di¬ 
rections about furnishing a house and what to 
put into one, and what It will cost. No attempt 
is made by the authors to inculcate correct no¬ 
tions of taste, and some foolish things are 
recommended, as muslin-covered toilet furni¬ 
ture, etc. Aside from this, the book deserves a 
wide circulation, and will bo a boon to many a 
woman in the country. 
Coupon Bonds, und Ollier Stories, — Bv J. T. 
Trowbridge. Boston: James It. Osgood & Co. 1873. 
A very handsome volume of Hi pages, full of 
readable stories, by one of tho most popular 
writers for young folks we have. The Illustra¬ 
tions are very good. This volume will afford any 
family far more entertainment than it costs. 
Catalogue. 
A. S. Barnbs & Co. of New York have issued 
a grand illustrated catalogue of their publica¬ 
tions. It contains portraits of many authors of 
school books. 
