'TWALMYO/Iteff: £/VC,C 
is the ordinary lot of the young American, ho 
rehearses every phase of the public life of his 
country. There he receives that awakening of 
the mind and the rudimentary knowledge 
which help him to be an intelligent citizen. 
There he gains the more important instruction 
in personal character as related to others and 
living under law. There he learns how to live 
with his fellow-men, and respect their rights. 
When we consider the exclusiveness of fami- 
Jy life, the clannish tendency of business con¬ 
nections, the violent prejudices that beset, us 
ns individuals, members of homes, churches and 
professional cliques, we can realize how hard 
it is to gain the generous discipline of manhood 
and womanhood that fits us for American citi¬ 
zenship. The American common school best 
among American institutions can instruct the 
Query—W ould it be propor to call a danciYig- 
master a hop merchant ? 
A distinction without a difTerenco-to be 
chosen to office without opposition. 
Content Is to the mind like moss to a tree ; 
it bindeth it up so as to stop its growth. 
Cities force growth, and make men talkative 
and entertaining, but they make them artificial. 
You may glean knowledge by reading, hut 
you must separate the chaff from the wheat by 
thinking. 
A Galesburg barber advertises himself as a 
“ Professor of crinicultural abscission and cran- 
iologicnl tripBis." 
Ridiculously enough, a two-hundred pound 
poetess Is writing about what she would do if 
she were a sumheam. 
LIFE’S LESSONS 
NEW PUBLICATIONS 
How confident wo felt at twenty! We were 
ready for life then. We understood all the mys- 
teries of college lore, from the declension of a 
Latin noun to the demonstration of the Bino¬ 
mial Theorem. Surely, thore was nothing more 
for us to learn. Nothing more for us to learn ! 
What a delusion life is I We plucked t he flower 
we thought fairest, and a sharp thorn stung us; 
we chose the path that seemed most invitiag, 
and lo! right in our way a serpent hissed; we 
centered our affections on an earthly idol, and 
a voice said to our dear one, “ Come up higher.” 
ine A morion u Cyclopaedia. A Popular Dic- 
tionnry of General Knowledge.— New Vork • l) 
Appioton & Co. 
Sucii has boon the vast increase of knowledge, 
the advance of the arts and sciences, and so 
great have boon recent political revolutions, a 
new edition of the American Cyclopedia was 
greatly needed. Tills the Messrs. Appleton 
have undertaken to give us, ami two large and 
handsome volumes have already appeared', 
taking the reader as far as “ Bol ’’ in the alpha¬ 
bet. Tho matter of these volumes is new, fresh 
A. SCOTCH 
masses of our youth in wbat pertains to public I 
character and public virtue, and the most un- [ t 
just and injurious perversion of any public in- fi 
stitution would be the changing the people's 
school to the organ of scholasticism, ecoiesi- j 
asticlam or polite society. It stands next above t 
the family, is the first, stop out of that divine I 
institution to that other divine organism, the 
State.—Rep. Mr. Mayo. i I 
Looking hack to-day, and reading our past as 
we would read a written page, we realize how 
easy were the lessons that we had learned from 
our school books, in the days when life was 
young and rich and warm, compared with those 
that, since then,the years have taught us. Ah ! 
it was hard, hard when our darling’s fingers 
unclasped themselves for the last time from 
about our neck ; hard when the friend we 
trusted betrayed us with a Judas’ kiss ; hard 
to see the plans we had formed ruthlessly shat¬ 
tered. But never mind, my friend; you and I 
needed every one of those trials, and they have 
made ua stronger for all future time. Perhaps 
the lessons that have seemed so bitter in the 
learning may prove, by-and-by, each one a star 
for our crown—a medal far more precious than 
the ones we used to carry home so triumphant¬ 
ly in those childish days. Neal, Newton. 
and ascomprehenf ive as we could expect in tho 
limited space. The text is beautifully and pro¬ 
fusely illustrated with fine wood-cuts and col¬ 
ored maps. Many of the moat eminent Ameri¬ 
can writers of the day are engaged upon this 
work, including men and women versed In par¬ 
ticular branches of knowledge. Those who 
propose purchasing a set of Cycloptedias can¬ 
not do better than get this now edition. 
A SCOTCH FERRY, 
Yale 
_ lectures on Prcnchinjr. — By Henry 
Ward Beecher. New York : j; B. Ford & Co. 
All who have read the first series of these 
delightful lectures -will be clad of the chance 
to purchase the second series, now just oui, for 
the reasonable price of $1.50. These lectures 
were delivered before the Theological Depart- 
I ment of Yale College, and were a success in 
! every sense of that word. The lectures con¬ 
sider the social and religious machinery of the 
Church in relation to preaching. Under this 
| scheme are treated In characteristic manner 
such topics as prayer meetings, revivals, Bible 
classes, music, etc. The volume la compact 
! with the be3t of advice, and as readable for lay¬ 
men as for students of theology. 
The accompanying illustration represents a 
characteristic scene among the Highlands of 
Scotland. It is from a celebrated painting by a 
distinguished artist— Richardson, of the Royal 
Academy—and shows how flocks of sheep, and 
shepherd dogs, are conveyed, morning and 
evening, to and from the pastures on the friths 
and forths of the bonnie land of Burns. Any 
one who has sojourned in the Scotch Highlands 
will at once reoognize the picture, and to others 
the scene cannot prove devoid of interest. 
THE COMMON SCHOOL 
The American Common school, as planted in 
New England ard transplanted In every free 
State of the Union, is essentially a political in¬ 
stitution, the corner-stone of our Government. 
It is not a scholastic, a domestic, an ecclesi¬ 
astic institution, though it has close relation 
with the university, the family and the church. 
It i3 the first drill of American people on the 
field of public life. The child who enters the 
public school-room for the first time knows 
public life, and there i$ no substitute for tho 
peculiar education in citizenship lie there re¬ 
ceives. A public school in America Is a little 
republic, where children representing all orders 
of society and every grade of culture are taught 
to live together under a common system of 
law, governed by public officials whose authori¬ 
ty is backed by tho whole power of the State. 
There, during the six years of school life, which 
SPARKS AND SPLINTERS, 
A bolt that can’t be drawn—a thunder bolt. 
“ Weight for the wagon,” sang the fat lady. 
The first stirring event of the day—sweetening 
one’s coffee. 
How to make an Indian loaf—give him a gal¬ 
lon of whisky. 
Better make penitents by gentleness than 
hypocrites by severity. 
A THY-anglk. Fishing for trout—A right 
angle. Catching trout. 
Somebody says “ tall men like short women.” 
How very true this may be, tall women seldom 
like men who are “ short”—financially. 
Silver and Gold.— By Rossitor W. Raymond, 
Ph. I>. New York: J. B, Ford Co. 
Under this shining title Prof. Raymond 
gives an exhaustive account of the mining and 
metalurgical industry of the United States, 
chiefly with reference to the precious metals. 
The book contains a vast number of facts, well 
arranged, displaying the natural resources of 
the country. It contains556 pages, is illustra¬ 
ted with diagrams, ahd sells for £3,50. 
The Hclrexs in the Family.—By Mrs, MACKEN¬ 
ZIE Daniel. Philadelphia. T. B. Peterson & Bros 
An English story »f a girl who had a large 
fortune left her. Of course, she has heart strug¬ 
gles, as all young girls do, 
