SMILE WHENE’ER YOU CAN 
hawker.’ The testimony, however, concern¬ 
ing these robberies is so conflicting that I 
si mil rentier for Mr. Jay the Scotch verdict, 
‘ Not proven.* His voice, too, is a source 
of complaint, anti I must confess that it is 
morn powerful than melodious. 
“ Then, what iu the world is such a bird 
good for? Of what use is he to the agricul¬ 
turist or horticulturist? Why not vote him 
good for powder? I will tell you one thing 
that I saw last week. I was out in my orch¬ 
ard removing nests of the full web worm 
(Ilyghantria factor) that were in a few of the 
trees, when 1 noticed a Blue Jay paying his 
attentions to the same business. Mr, Jay 
lighted near a large nest ami commenced 
picking at it with evident relish. I crept up 
as closely its L could without danger of 
frightening him,and watched him‘gobble’ 
those horrid worms. Adler a halt hour’s in¬ 
dustrious labor he flew away, and i proceeded 
to examine his work, aud tbe closest scrutiny 
failed to find a single living worm in the 
nest. I afterwards found a large number of 
nests similarly torn and robbed, and l gave 
my old enemy credit for if all. 
“ 3Ir. Jay:—I beg your pardon for the ill 
usage you have received at my hands in the 
past, and you may be sure of one fast friend 
until you am fairly convicted of 'Jayhawk¬ 
ing.’ But if you murder my young singing 
birds look out." 
the hope of drawing the gentleman into 
conversation. Just as he was getting des¬ 
perate lie perceived that the fine looking 
stranger was about to speak, and be listened 
for the eloquence that he felt smc must fol¬ 
low. The man surveyed a plate of dump¬ 
lings that, a servant was placing on the 
table and remarked briefly:—“Them’s the 
chaps for nie.” Nothing further was needed. 
Those live words were decisive. 
aftmtUst 
matronal 
BY KATE CAM EUO S’ 
When things don't go to suit you. 
And tho world scorns up-side down, 
Don’t waste your llino In fretting, 
lint drive away that frowu; 
Since life is oft perplexing, 
it Is the wisest plan 
To hear all trials bravely, 
Aud smile whene’er you can! 
THE ELAND, 
ERRORS OF SPEECH, 
BY FEN DENNIS. 
Last Saturday morning John Mills 
stopped me on my way to the post-office, 
and asked me to look at a magazine for 
which he was soliciting subscribers. He is 
a bright lad of fifteen, and I was somewhat. 
in the way he commended tbe 
Wily should you dread to-morrow 
And thus spoil your to-day ? 
For when you borrow trouble 
You always have to pay. 
It, is a good old maxim. 
Which should bu often preached 
Don’t cross the bridge before you 
Until the bridge <* reached! 
STUDYING THJ", DICTIONARY 
Surely a teacher should make proper use 
of words. Such use can only result from a 
full knowledge of their meaning. Such 
knowledge cannot be gained solely from tli • 
usual definery in schools, or in conversation. 
The shades of meaning which many words 
take on,—many commonly deemed synony¬ 
mous,— uru numerous, and may be employed 
to excellent advantage. Only, however, by 
a careful study of words, can any one hope 
to profit, by this advantage. 
On this account we commend a diction¬ 
ary,— the, dictionary, nothing less than Web¬ 
ster’s Unabridged,—to all teachers, as a text¬ 
book. In the language of the advertise¬ 
ment—although this is not an advertisement, 
by any manner of means,—“get the best;" 
and having gotten it, use it freely. Let it 
lie close at hand. Consult it often. When¬ 
ever, in your writing, a choice of terms is to 
be made, see what the dictionary says on the 
subject. If puzzled as to the comparative 
merits of any forms of speech, refer the doubt 
to Webster, and abide by his decision. 
Such a studious reference will soon bring 
its abundant reward. You will grow more 
fluent of speech; your peu will halt less 
interested 
merits of the periodical. But his syntax! 
Here’s one of his sentences, and not the worst, 
by any means: 
“ I tell ye,” said be, “ them that’s seen it 
thinks it’s the cheapest magazine they’s ever 
seen.” 
I talked with him a few minutes, and his 
whole conversation bristled with similar er¬ 
rors. I learned that he attended the “ dee- 
strick'’ school, and that the teacher thereof 
was a “ splendid feller •” so I made it con¬ 
venient to spend the next Monday afternoon 
in this identical school, for the sake ot satis¬ 
fying myself with regard to the educational 
efforts of the young man to whom the sum 
of $G0 per month was paid for services sup¬ 
posed to be rendered. 
1 found the school-room dark, low and 
cold. Pellets of paper took tbe place of 
whitewash upon the ceiling; wood carving 
had evidently many devotees, judging from 
the well-hacked desks. As for the ink, it 
spattered the walls, and speckled the floor, 
spread its blue and black rivulets over the 
and stained the 
pupils. A few dilapidated 
Yon might bo spiirod much sighing, 
If you would keep In mind 
Tho thought, that good iitul evil 
Are always hero combined. 
There must be something wanting 
And tho* you roll In wealth, 
You may mlao from your casket 
That precious Jewel — Health! 
And tho’ you're strong and sturdy 
You may have an empty purse; 
(And earth ho* many trials 
Which I consider worse!) 
But whether joy or sorrow 
Fill up your mortal span, 
’Twill make your pathway brighter 
To smile whene’er you can ! 
ST. BERNARD DOGS, 
THE VOICE THAT CHAEMED 
St. Bernard dogs arc not an original 
race; they are traced back as lar us the 
Fourteenth Century by tradition, as no relia¬ 
ble records have been obtained as to tlunr 
exact origin. It would seem that on fouml- 
SiNt'K his father’s death, Guy Britton, with 
his old housekeeper, had lived alone at Ihe 
Elms. A naturally retiring disposition had 
combined with the circumstances of his early 
training to make him rtyoid so¬ 
ciety ; and although still young, lie 
Sp, seemed to the villagers already 
,/te- middle-aged. A less healthful na- 
ture might have preyed upon itself, 
growing morbid and morose with 
solitude, but Britton's mind and 
jpr hands were alike too busy to droop 
for lack of exercise. Inside be had 
his books for company; outside 
5 there were bis farm laborers to be 
>- directed, and a hundred plans of 
• improvement to be arranged and 
matured. Nature,whom beloved, 
opened to him a page of wonderful 
illuminations. His lands lay along 
*' - • a river valley unsurpassed in quiet 
beauty; full of still places where, 
shut ii* by the thick foliage, of the 
wood from all inharmonious sights 
• -. and sounds, one might sit. as it 
were between two heavens, the 
one reaching far and blue above, 
and the other mirrored in the 
smooth stream below. 
It was in these years of self-con- 
tained and artful restfulness—to 
• ’’ use a seeming paradox—that Brit- 
^ ton gathered strength for a very 
different after life — striking its 
roots deeply into society, and over- 
arching so many burdened and 
: sorrowful ones with its benificeut 
~ shadow—that my story 1ms to do. 
Adjoining the Elms was the 
*1 - ; summer residence of the Gibsons, 
_-S^3r a family of little education ur na- 
five refinement, who, having been 
>, G suddenly made rich by speculation, 
fyM&S devoted their best efforts to the 
task of maintaining an appearance 
becoming their wealth. Season by 
gjpyftfry season Britton dreaded the open- 
iggp^ ing of the house. The very pres- 
encc of his neighbors, with the 
/ft^- train of company, their showy 
_J_- dress and boisterous mirth, seemed 
. - to hurt tho simplicity of his own 
home. Mrs. Gibson, confusing her 
servants with contradictory orders, 
or scolding them for real or fancied 
remissness,little suspected that tbe 
tone in which she exercised her 
brief authority was itself a proof 
of her unfitness for the circle to 
which she aspired. The familiar friendship 
of the master of the Elms was a good upon 
which her heart was set, and she plied poor 
Guy accordingly with her most transparent 
blandishments—he groaning in spirit, mean- 
seats, defaced the books, 
clothes of the 
maps drooped from the pencil- 
marked walls, and a very small 
space of miserable “ black-board” 
completed the embellishments. 
Everybody was busy. A number 
of girls were eating apples aud 
counting the seeds; others were 
writing to their rough-headed 
lovers, who nodded and winked 
encouragingly. 
A class in arithmetic was called, 
and after running his eye over the A 
same the teacher placidly in- tS 
“ Is all the class here ? ” ajjfl 
Mary Porter was reported 
absent, and mildly requested to 
present herself with the others; 
but she excused herself on the plea R 
that she hadn’t learned the lesson. KjF 
“ Haint no lesson ?” echoed the 
teacher, and with a complacent 
“Wal,” he proceeded. He ex¬ 
plained the mysteries of duodeci¬ 
mals quite fluently, and the various . 
members of the class acquitted ". 
themselves with a good degree of . g— 
credit, save iu respect to language. _ 5gS||i 
Proper pronunciation and careful 
attention to the construction of 4^S§|il 
sentences were entirely ignored. 
Several times I heard “ substrac- jfegglg 
lion” and “ mul’plication,” and ' |§||J . 
as to feet, the avoid “foot” was 
constantly substituted. 
A geography class appeared, and ^5H|§ 
I learned, to my surprise, that 2f§§8B 
“ the Adirondack^ mountains rises 
in the northern part of New York, . 
and flow from northeast to south- 
west; that “ the Hudson begins 
aud run* south;” while a young 
lady comparing Luke Erie with 
Ontario said that Ontario is the 
“biggest.” Utica, Niagara and 
Elmira were pronounced as if the \ 
final letter were y; and once a U.VV <' ‘ 
reference was made to the latter 
as “ Almiry.” Even in the gram- gp 
mar class the same unpardonable 
' errors were made. -T— ; 
Now, it seems to me that a very 
important characteristic of a good 
teacher is that he can use rjood 
language and pronounce correctly. 
A bad expression is quickly learned by 
children, and when wrong, habits of any 
kind are formed they are difficult to change. 
If teachers don’t give good models to young 
people, where shall they find them ? It is a 
lamentable fact that very many heads of 
families have falleu into careless ways of 
speech; a large majority say, " Ain’t it so ?” 
“ Be they goin’ ?” and “ Them’s the ones.” 
We want a reform in this matter. A good 
rule for everybody is,—“ Whatever is worth 
doing at all is worth doing well.” Let a re¬ 
form be begun by educators, and the rising 
generation freed from errors of conversation. 
Two months ago I visited a school quite 
the reverse of the one I have described. 
Grammar, instead of being the abomination 
1 of the pupils, was studied practically. No 
x faulty sentence passed unnoticed, and the 
^ teacher said that after a few weeks of care¬ 
ful attention an improper or inelegant ex- 
pression became rare. 
It is related of Coleridge that he was 
>/ v once favorably impressed by the appearance 
“Jk. of a stranger who sat. at the same table. 
.V The poet introduced topic after topic with 
' SwilTHFlELO CLUB 
Cattle Snow 
Extra Class 
WEIGHT |1 6i| PT-J"* 0 : 
TtIBITCR % BREEDER! 
[V Viscount HilW 
I-UVWK stonc 
r l-, r?tv 5 ft l H Y LA EC 1 
seldom for the most fitting expression. Your 
command of language will be astonishingly 
increased. You will be enabled to convey 
instruction in more pleasing and intelligent, 
terms, and will add greatly to your agree¬ 
ableness in conversation. Common conver¬ 
sationists have comparatively few words in 
their repertoire of language; the most bril¬ 
liant are t hey whose resources in this respect 
are most extended. 
All description requires a wide range of 
expression. That range may be easier to 
some than to others; but it can be acquired 
by all. Especially can it be acquired easily 
if taken hold of in youth. It is the duty, 
therefore, of all instructors, to sec that those 
under their instruction are taught the full 
meaning of language. How can they teach 
if but half informed themselves? Too little 
regard is paid to this matter hy those who 
ought to consider it of paramount import¬ 
ance. The meanings of all words may be 
arbitrary; but, arbitrary or not, words have 
come to have their meanings, and when em¬ 
ployed they should bo used with regard 
thereto. So again we say to teachers,— 
Study the dictionary! 
ing the monastery of St. Bernard, these 
Augustine friars obtained for their Hospice 
the largest and strongest dogs that they 
could find, without respect to race, and, 
from the mixture of these varieties, their 
needs and experience taught them which to 
retain as the most serviceable for their pe¬ 
culiar wants. 
After centuries of experiment in intermix¬ 
ture, guided by experience, the monks were 
rewarded by the Napoleon of its race in the 
celebrated dog “Barry,” which commenced 
its renowned career about seventy years ago, 
and has left behind it a name and fame that 
bids fair to live with the monastery, which 
it, so well and faithfully served during twelve 
long years. . 
Since Barry reached the culminating point 
of perfection, the race has been degenerat¬ 
ing, as all mixed races will continually vas- 
cillate, and several parties have made it an 
object of special effort to revive the race 
from an original stock. The most success¬ 
ful of these is a gentleman of Berne, who sent 
his dog to Paris, and succeeded in obtaining 
the only first prize iu that field. 
Antelope kind, being very much in contrast 
with the Gazelle, and one or two other va¬ 
rieties notable for their beauty and graceful¬ 
ness ; but we deem it worthy of illustration 
on account of its rarity, and because of its 
resemblance to, yet wide difference from,our 
useful tribe of bovines. 
THE BLUE JAY, 
D. W. Adams, an Iowa horticulturist, 
writes to the Iowa Homestead as follows: 
“ We have always been taught that the Blue 
Jay was a thief. We have noticed him in 
autumn industriously engaged in stealing 
corn and flying with it to the woods, where 
it was carefully hid under the rough bark of 
trees or other secret places; so slyly that I 
doubt very much if Mr. Jay himself could 
ever find it again. lie gathers acorns and 
conceals them iu corn shocks and bean 
stacks—and altogether Ids harvest is a berry 
season. He has also been accused of robbing 
the nests of smaller birds, and from this trail 
of his character, my friend, Judge Knapp of 
Madison, says he is the original ‘Jay- 
ii«| 
XHl 
. \ . ■ . ' T 
