Die. 20 
MOOBE’S ISEW-YOBKEB. 
LITTLE ANNETTE. 
Little Annhtte ! little Annette! 
With your rosy cheeks nml tresses of Jot; 
With the lashes concealing your gypsy eyes, 
Meet for a king's or an emperor’s prize? 
' our white teeth gloaming like drifted snow, 
Or shining like, pearls in a well-laid row; 
Idttle Annette ! little Annettet 
1 hear the ring of your laughter yet. 
Little Annette I darling Annette! 
Only a year has flown, and yet, 
Kre yon could mclttho snow with your breath, 
A messenger came, and hi« name was Death ! 
Little Annette! darling Annette ! 
Never your face can I forgot. 
Listen ! The angels are calling yet 
Over the pine trees, "Little Annette!” 
--«-»-«--- 
THE BIRD OF GOLD. 
[FROM THU FRENCH.] 
Upon a whltely-blossomed spray 
Chanted a golden bird one day— 
A strange, sweet bird, with rosy wings, 
Whloll only In the sUDriso sings. 
Its voice ruog as a spirit clear 
Might vibrato through a crystal sphere; 
And when high hope its heart would stir, 
It swept the »ir, a conqueror! 
Lis silent now. No more in sooth. 
Returns the golden bird of youth! 
[Appleton’s Journal. 
-- 
‘‘THE OLD HOMESTEAD.” 
Dkar Rural I cannot, withstand the temp¬ 
tation of expressing to you my sincere thanks 
for those words of love and thankfulness, for 
“The Old Homestead." Tor surely it Ls tho one 
oasis In our desert—tho beacon tower of our 
lives and tho one spot to which wo all turn 
when wo are weary of tho hustling, tolling, 
brain-wearing struggle of our lives. 1 r. gives us 
a restful fooling to think of the old home; it 
brings to our minds father, mother, brother 
and sister—all when the circle was unbroken 
and wo wore care-Tree and happy in “The Old 
Homestead.” 
lint you have written so much bettor than 
your readers can, that few will dare try on 
that subject; yet wo can all tell you how much 
we thunk you and what a tender* chord you 
have touched In our hearts, and, that our 
hearts will ho cheered for many a day. 
It soems to me that the Ritual grows better 
with each number, always containing some¬ 
thing now and delightful just what wo want— 
but did not know it before. This is (he evening 
of Thanksgiving, and nm thing which I am 
thankful for is the Rural ; not that 1 would 
have you think that the Rural is all I have 
tube thankful for, by any means—the blessings 
are too numerous to mention, and every breath, 
is, I hope, a thankful one. l. m. k. 
Nov. 27th, 1878. 
[Eds. Rural;—I was touched at tho senti- 
timent of one to whom some U URALS wore 
sent, by a friend, and the response made in ref¬ 
erence to “Home.” Will you not,, in some 
way, either by publication or otherwise, con¬ 
vey to this one the thoughts I here express.— 
A. L. L.] 
I read it. What? The response of the one 
to whom some of tho Kurals were sent, in 
reference to Home. Sho says “ I r my mother 
should die I would have no home." This 
thought touched my heart, and whilo thinking 
the tears began to fall, and, failing upon my 
knees, I said, “ Lord, give her a home, — n 
Heavenly Home.” Tho home of tho soul is 
where Jesus is. Will she not think of this ? 
“ I will sing you a song of that beautiful land, 
The far away home of the soul; 
There no storm* over boat, on t bo glittering strand, 
While the years of eternity roll. 
“O, that homo of the soul! In my visions and dreams 
Its bright jasper walls I can see; ' 
And I fancy but dimly the vail intervenes 
Between that fair city and mo," 
-f+v-- 
A POET SURPRISED. 
A correspondent thus tells how the Poet 
Laureate was recently caught “ in the suds” by 
Queen Victoria : 
“Tire Queen once sent, him word that she 
would honor him with a visit on the following 
day. Tho announcement was received with 
full loyal welcome from, tho poet and his 
household, which, be it said in all respect, has, 
with all the attractions, some of the disadvan¬ 
tages of the poetical atmosphere. Order does 
not there reign supreme In outward things. 
The house was, however, put under arms to 
receive the royal visit; Tennyson arrayed him¬ 
self in solemn dress-coat; Mrs. Tennyson 
wore an appropriate toilette; the younger 
'Penny.sons were snatched from mud-pies, 
washed and dressed, and kept In bondage to 
the best clothes for I he whole afternoon, while 
a delicate repast of strawberries and cream and 
flowers was prepared in an arbor out of doors. 
But the day passed, and the next, and the next, 
and no majesty appeared. The household 
drew a sigh of regret—and lapsed into slipper; 
and mud-pies once more. But Jo! one morn ¬ 
ing, as the children were at their favorite pas¬ 
D“ 
time in the garden, and the poet meditating in 
his dressing-gown, and Mrs. Tennyson on do¬ 
mestic cares Intent, a horseman dashed up to 
the gate, and shouted • The Queen 1’ and before 
Tennyson could don his coat or warn his wife, 
the royal carriage drew up before tho house. 
With tho instinct of n true gentleman, he went 
forward to greet hi; sovereign,called ills family 
to him, and led her majesty Into t he house. 
Then there was an awful pause. Suddenly the 
Poet raised his head, and looking at the Queen, 
exclaimed, * Oh, woo is me! For flve days I 
waited, ready in suitablo attire, to reeeivo my 
Queen. My wife was ready, and my children 
wero washed and pictures to behold, and her 
majesty came not; and now she has come, and 
found us In what a plight!' The poet groaned. 
The Queen broke Into a merry laugh, and the 
ice thus broken so gracefully and wittily did 
not form again during the visit.” 
SIMPLE ORNAMENTS. 
* — 
A pretty mantelpiece ornament may be ob¬ 
tained by suspending an acorn, by a piece of 
thread tied around it, within half an inch of 
the surface of some water eonIInod In a vase, 
tumbler or saucer, and allowing it to remain 
undisturbed for several weeks, it will soon 
burst open, and small roots will seek tho water; 
a straight and tapering stem, with beautiful 
glossy groen leaves, will shoot upward and pre¬ 
sent a very pleasing appearance. Chestnut 
trees may bo grown in the sarno manner, hut 
their leaves are not so beautiful as l lioso of tho 
oak. The water should ho changed once a 
month, taking care to supply water of the same 
warmth ; bits of charcoal added to it will pre¬ 
vent the water from souring. If the lit tie leaves 
turn yellow, add one drop of ammonia into the 
utensil which holds t he water, and they will 
renew their luxuriance. 
Another pretty ornament, Is made by wotting 
a sponge and sprinkling it With canary, hemp, 
and other seeds. Tho sponge should he refresh¬ 
ed with water daily so as to bo kept moist. In 
a few days the seeds will germinate, and the 
sponge will soon bo covered with a mass of 
green foliage. 
-- 
THE FAIR-GAMBLERS, 
The season of church fairs and festivals is 
rapidly approaching. AVc praise the ladies for 
their self-denying and laborious efforts to sup¬ 
port church works by the labor of their hands. 
Without their assistance many feeble churches 
would die and many good objects would lan¬ 
guish. The main Idea of tho church festival 
Is above criticism. It is tills, t hat those who 
have no money to give may give their labor to 
the Lord. But there arc many things con¬ 
nected with these fairs which cannot bo 
praised. Grab-bags, raffles, chances, are the 
worst of t hese. In those days these nurseries 
of gamblers should he promptly and decisively 
put down. In every congregation where youth 
disregards the instructions and entreaties of 
pastor and oldens we hope that some laymen 
will adopt sterner measures. In most of the 
States raffles are forbidden by law. The threat 
made by a man of determination and resolu¬ 
tion. to prosecute the thoughtless Violators of 
the laws of God and man, would generally free 
the Church from the disgrace of gambling.— 
Christian Observer. 
--- 
DON’T BE TOO CRITICAL. 
Whatever you do, never sot up for a critic. 
We don’t mean a newspaper ouo, but in private 
life, in the domestic circle, in society. It will 
not do any one any good, and it will do you 
harm if you mind being culled disagreeable. 
If you don’t like any one’s nose, or object to 
any one's ohin, don’t put your feelings into 
words. If any one's manners don’t please you, 
remember your own. I’eoplo are not all made 
to suit one • -‘to, recollect that. Take things 
as you find thorn, unless you can alter them. 
Even a dinner after it is swallowed cannot be 
made any better. Continualfault-lluding, con¬ 
tinual criticism of the conduct of this one and 
the speech of that one, the dress of the other 
and the opinions of t’other, will make home 
the unhappiest place under the sun. 
-V-o-V-- 
MARRIED OR NOT MARRIED. 
Mr. Gough thinks that, it is better for a 
woman to be laughed at for not being married 
than to be unable to laugh because she is mar¬ 
ried. The marriage that takes all the laugh 
out of a woman, like the sunshine that takes 
all the sweetness out of the grape, is an ex¬ 
ceedingly suspicious commodity, and ought to 
give the divorce doctors something to do. But 
tho idea of f rying to reconcile a woman to an 
unpaired life because another woman found it 
uncomfortable, is as absurd as to try to keep 
her from eating apples because or Mother Eve’s 
unfortunate pomological experience, 
— - 
The very latest thing in be advertising line 
is a lady who, through tie newspapers, seeks 
for employment as an rnamental guest.” 
She will assist at dinner or vening parties—by 
her grace, her wit and beau y, contribute to the 
entertainment of guests, and she will do every¬ 
thing In the highest stylo of art—only she de¬ 
mands that a handsome compensation be made 
therefor. 
-- . 
A pretty foot and ankle get up stairs easier 
than those not so pretty. 
THE CRICKET AND THE BUTTERFLY. 
A little black Cricket sat moping one (lay, 
Alone in his woody retreat; 
When a wandering Butterfly, coming that way, 
Alighted almost at his feet. 
“ Most beautiful, sure, of all beautiful things! 
And see! bow coquettish and bold. 
Was ovor such color! .Inst look at his wings, 
AH azure, and purple, and gold. 
Ye gods! what a life I to bo passing the hour* 
In roaming about at his will; 
Just sipping the sweets of tho daintiest flowers, 
And of luxury taking hts till! 
Ah me! what a different fortune Is mine ; 
Hew partial Dume Nature must be, 
Who gives to the Butterfly everything (lne, 
And nothing worth bavlng, to mo!" 
While thus the Cricket lamented hl» fate, 
A nd counted Ms Maker to blame, 
Into the meadow, with mischief elate, 
A ilevy of children came. 
And straight, nt the Butterfly every one goes, 
With bonnet, or kerchief, or cap ; 
Too late bo straggles to fly his foes ; 
He's caught In a treacherous trap ! 
Poor fellow! -t ho battle Is barely begun; 
Bach furious enemy piles 
His hands and nails—for every one 
Is eager to win tho prize. 
Off comes a leg In the terrible strife ; 
And now he has lost a wing; 
And now, another; and now, his life ; 
Poor little mangled thing! 
“ Sure merciful flcuvon Is kind to mo I” 
Was the Cricket’s penitent moan; 
" There are greater griefs than mine, I see, 
And each must suffer his own, 
“ A poor little Cricket, so homely and shy, 
From Envy has nothing to fear; 
While beauty—liku that of tho Butterfly- 
May cost a deal too dear !” 
-»♦» - 
LETTERS FROM BOYS AND GIRLS. 
As this is our last full number of tho Rural 
for 1873, (tho next being, or to be, hair occupied 
with Index, &<•.,) we thought to give the Boy# 
and Girls a “good show” by publishing a 
baker'* dozen or more of l.heir Letters; but 
lo! hero comes Mr. Foreman mid says he can’t 
give half so many, and must put wind lie does 
print in small type I Pretty treatment, that, 
when we wanted to give an many of our young 
friends a hearing and Rond “send off.” Well, 
“what can’t be cured must bo endured "—and 
so we must omit, or defer, a goodly number of 
nice letters from bright young folks. Tho feast 
we can do is to keep tho letters- they are too 
good to spoil -and print them when wo have 
space. Now, we want nil our young friends 
who have brains (an of course they all have) to 
think up and write ua brief, pithy, pointed and 
lively lotters—and we will show what the 
Rural's Boys and Girls can do in that line 
during Anno Domini 1874. Meantime, we send 
a Holiday Greeting— wishing onoaml nil a right 
“Merry Christmas" and “Happy New Year,” 
and many joyous returns of the same. 
From a Sensible Illinois Farmer’s Son. 
Mr. Editor:—AVc have long taken ybur val¬ 
uable paper in my father’s family, and think 
wc could not get along without It. I always 
read, With u good deal of Interest, the Boys’ and 
Girl*.' Loiters, hut have'never written to the 
Rural. When 1 read the letter from a "Prin¬ 
ter's Devil," in the last Rural, 1 thought I 
would respond. I am ;t little older than Frank 
S. 1 am. a fanner's boy, and have to “dig 
and push ’’ work, but I have a great many 
leisure moments. 1 have a brother, younger 
than myself, mimed Frank. We do not have 
to pull beans, but we have picked a. good deal 
of corn tide fall. Ail through Hu. pleasant 
weather wo had In October, we would go into 
the corn-field mornings with our team, as soon 
as It. was light, and pick two loads ,.f corn a 
day, and have lots of fun besides. My father 
let us have a piece of ground last, spring to 
plant to potatoes. Wo planted and cultivated 
thorn ourselves, and raised one hundred lm*h- 
el%of potatoes, and sold them for $1 a bushel. 
Wc have each of us a colt of our own; wo ca.il 
loom “ Kitty ” and “ Charleywo flunk they 
can’t be beat, and arc going to break them be¬ 
fore long, (perhaps I will write how we succeed 
in breaking them.) VVe have broken a pair of 
steers every winter for several years, and have 
some to break this winter. ( think if” Prin¬ 
ter's Devil " could be here and have * hand iri 
it, he would enjoy it as much as he docs to see 
some tilings time arc “going on in town." I 
think of all classes of people the farmer is the 
most independent, if I should, (like fitsstu 
AVinton in the last Rural,) write a list of all 
my blessings, 1 think not the least among them 
would be, " /am thankful I live on a farm." i 
•am attending Of- bool now, and intend to until 
next, spring, and expect then to go to work 
again on tho farm. ( should like to tell you 
about the sleigh rides we are having this win¬ 
ter, but 1 fear I have already made my letter 
too long, and w ill dose it by adding my request 
to that of a "Sunday School Scholar” for Mr. 
Moore to send his likeness In Rural for a 
Christmas present. Frank VV., ; subkite , 111. 
Letter from a Live Booster Boy. 
Dear Editor: As father has taken the 
RUkal for seventeen years, and I read in al¬ 
most, every week's paper letters from hoys and 
girls in different parts of t,he country, I thought 
likely you would publish a few lines from me. 
1 am a farmer's hoy. I live upon a farm, and f 
am glad I do. There Is plenty of work for me 
to do as most boys ana girls Mini read the 
Rural know and i have plenty to cat. I go 
dressed well enough. Father and mother, 
brother and sister, are good to me. I have the 
Rural to read, and two or three other good 
papers besides, and enough good books to read 
when I have time. I go to school about, five 
months In the year. I broke thirty acres of 
ground Inst, spring, helped to tend twenty acres 
of corn and two and a half acres of Irish pota¬ 
toes, sweet potatoes and cane: hut you must 
not think I um bragging. But, enough of this. 
Mr. Editor, tell Fra nk 8. C., the “ Printer’s 
Devil, ’ that I mi not going to fall out with 
him on account of his dislike to farming; 
neither am 1 going tu envy him his position as 
a “Printer’s Devil;” nottherwiU I in the future, 
if T live when he gets to be u HOHAOK Ghkeiey 
or a D. D. T. MOOlUt for T expect he will have 
to work as hard to climb up there as I will to 
puli beans. It Is all right; wc need editors, 
merchants, mechanics, professional men and 
so on, to keep the machine running. There is 
one thing I would like to any to Frank ; that 
is, be careful not to form any bad habits, such 
as swearing, quarrelling, drinking, etc., all nf 
which I am a stranger to, so far ns experience is 
concerned, and I am a little older than Frank. 
Tho soil out, here in Indiana Is pretty good. 
Most crops are nearly an average, except, corn- 
frost came a little too soon for it. Father and 
1 fattened twenty-four hogs; throe *f t hem are 
mine I have a very riiee young horse, which I 
bought a few weeks ago for $100. Good-by, 
Mr. Editor, for the present. AA'kustf.r S., U'm- 
ch ester , hid. 
A Farmer’* Clrl In Reply to Frank S. C, 
Mr. Kdttoii : As I have just boon reading 
tho Rural of Nov. 22, 1H73.1 thought 1 would 
try my lurk, and see if my letter would get 
thrown in tho wasio basket ; at. any rate I will 
write, trusting that it will not. 1 suppose Frank 
S. G. will not. be much anrprisnd at -eelng an 
answer to his letter, as ho said he supposed 
some farmer's ban would have something to 
say about farming; but instead nf a farmer’s 
boy, t will let him know that, a farmer’s girl can 
put in a word once in a. while. I will lea ve it to 
some of the other girls that, live on a farm, if 
we do not have more fun t han those in the vil¬ 
lage. Our brothers do not have to dig and 
push; they have a good many minutes to 
themselves, and I'll warrant they enjoy thom- 
selvefl ns much as any of the villa ye boys, r can 
sav that much nf the farm, and beside;; wo hnvo 
all the apples ami eider we want, and we nan 
get out doors and run all wo want to; and if 
we happen to fall down, why, we pick ourselves 
up as fast as possible, and away we go again 
and mind nothing about It. Perhaps some of 
you will think I am a good hand at scolding, 
but I love the farm too well to have anything 
said against it. It some of'the farmers' girls 
will write to me, through tho Rural, 1 will 
answer, and maybe sometime w e Hindi see each 
other and be great friends. I guess I have 
written enough for Ibis time; so | will chose, 
asking you to correct all mistakes. AVt la M., 
Maple. Grows N. V. 
From A Southern New York Clrl. 
Mr. Editor;— l am a girl twelve years of age, 
I am on a farm, and do not imve to li ve in the 
dirty, unhoalthfiil streets of some large city, 
where t he sun never sblrias through to brighten 
some children's homes, and the curtains are 
droppedfor fear Ike least, ray of the son may 
fade the carpet. We keep seven cows; l milk 
three and pa milks the others. 1 have a good 
home and a great, munv things to make mo 
happy. We tako (he Rural and like It very 
much, f take great pleasure in reading the 
Boys’ and Girls'Letters, Cousin John Mr. 'S Let¬ 
ters are very interesting Indeed,though Ido 
think she offended young Mustache some, I 
must, tell the girls about, my bed *piilt, for I 
havo pieced one which Inis six thousand pieces 
in it. If any of our many Rural reader i doubt 
this they can come and see it.— FLORENCE 
Ford, Tioga Co., JV. F. 
fhtxder. 
ILLUSTRATED REBUS.-No. 7. 
Answer next week. 
-- 
PROBLEM.—No. 15. 
There nro two nurnhers, each that the 
square of the greater increased liy their pro¬ 
duct and square of the less equals 87, and the 
fourth power of tho greater increased by the 
product of their cubes together with the fourth 
power of the less equals 2,065. What are the 
numbers? 8.G. Oaowin. 
J37” Answer next week. • 
CROSS-WORD ENIGMA.—No. 11. 
My first is cat but not in dog. 
My second is in rain but not in fog. 
My third is in driven but. not in led. 
My fourth i» In Thomas but not in Ned. 
My firth is In Olivo but not. in Kitty. 
My sixth is in benevolence but notin impletv 
My whole Is a large and distant city. 
l*r Answer next week.* Lillian. 
— - «->♦ - 
CONCEALED FLOW£RS.-No. 2. 
3. A stern look was all. 
3. Keep rivets on hand. 
4. He could ill afford it. 
5. The German derided him. 
fi. He held Erin in disrespect. 
7. Heotttatea.se loaning back. 
8. Him we call a vender of images. 
9. Small owls and great were there. 
10. Every arrow brought down its victim. 
Rockford, III. Fourteen. 
E3T* Answer next week. 
- - — 
PUZZLER ANSWERS.-Dec. 6. 
Cross-word Enigma, No. 10. Gentian. 
Square-word Enigma, No. o.—l. Head • 2 
Emma; 3. Amen; 4. Dank. 
