JMiqs' floirffalia. 
DAS VEILCHEN. 
FROM GOETHE. 
Lonely and sweet a violet grew 
The meadow weeds among. 
One morn a rosy shepherd rnnld, 
With careless heart and idle tread, 
Came by. 
Came by 
The meadow lands, and sung. 
“ Ah!” raid the violet, “ would I were 
Some stately garden flower! 
Then I might gathered be, and pressed 
One little hour to her sweet breast: 
Ah, me! 
Ah, roe! 
Only one little hour!” 
On came the rosy shepherd lass 
With heart that Idly beat, 
And crushed the violet in the grass. 
It only said, •• How sweet! 
How sweet !“ It said with fainting moan, 
“ If I must die, to die alone 
For lier. 
For ber— 
To die at her dear feet," [Old and New. 
LOVE. 
The love that will soonest decay, 
The love that Is surest to die, 
The love that will soon fly away, 
Is the love 
That is told by a sigh. 
The love that is surest to last, 
The love that a woman’s heart needs, 
The love that will be kept fast. 
Is the love 
That Is spoken in deeds. 
ANOTHER LEAF FROM VINE COTTAGE. 
BY IUTTA REED. 
The Bitter and Sweet of a Hot Day. 
“ O, DEAR ! O my senses! How dreadful hot it 
is! Thermometer most up to a hundred, and 
all these dishes to be washed and put. away, 
Just so particular, before f nan go oir to some 
shady place and try to 4 keep cool’ with any 
peace of mind audlltmiiE languidly wiped 
the perspiration from her shining face, and as 
she stood slowly rolling up her sleeves, gave 
expression to the wish that she did not have 
dishes t.o wash when it was so awful warm, and 
she “didn’t feel a hit like work,”- even coming 
to the conclusion that she would be willing to 
go without eating for awhile, if by so doing o 
could avoid the odious task—1 think that, from 
some cause Ruthie could not have felt very 
hungry just then, for I line! that a good appe¬ 
tite will reconcile and stimulate one to consid¬ 
erable exert lou sometimes, especially In the cu¬ 
linary line. But as I listened to her how vividly 
to my mind came t he memory of my own girl¬ 
hood, with its distaste for that particular branch 
of housewifery. At first, with a precocious am¬ 
bition to help, importuning so earnestly to he 
allowed to wash the dishes as to gain the desired 
permission, even standing upon u half-bushel 
measure to make me l ull enough to reach over 
the dishpan: then, when my services hid be¬ 
come too valuable to be dispensed with, how 1 
learned to dread the sight of the piles of soiled 
dishes standing In the sink for me to “ do up,” 
and how earnestly I would beg of my mother 
to “change works" with me, ami let ire do 
something else -everything, 1 didn’t much care 
what—anything but washing dishes. So when 
it happened that my generally bravo and cheer¬ 
ful Ruthik sighs and lool •, grave over her 
dish water, I think l know from experience 
just how to sympathize with her; but aa “every 
dog must have Its day,” so must every little girl 
have her turn at washing dishes—every little 
one, I mean, who is fortunate enough to be 
taught the invaluable art of domestic economy, 
no part of which requires more skill and under¬ 
standing, in my way of thinking, than “ doing 
up the dishes” properly, and by it I mean not 
merely the table dishes, but everything iri the 
dish line, from silver and china down to iron, 
tin and wooden ware. 
But this is undeniably a hot day—so hot that 
everything is industriously lolling or panting 
that has any tendency In that direction, even 
to the solemn-looking old toad that sits at the 
entrance of his shady bower beneath the nistic 
bee-stand, where he seems to have taken up his 
abode of late. And the bees themselves, those 
busy workers, appear to be indulging in a tem¬ 
porary rest, judging from the great numbers I 
see idling in the veranda. 
Yet this bas seemed a regular gala day to the 
wise little ant-ios. I think hot weather must 
agree with them perfectly, as they were out 
foraging in great numbers to-day. Flndingthat 
they possessed a marvelous faculty for excavat¬ 
ing secret chambers and intricate passages 
through berry pies, loaves of raisin cake and 
the like, and also that they seemed determined 
to “sample" evertiiing In the sugar line for rne 
—not seeming to consider any obstacles I might 
put in their way too great for them to overcome 
—I concluded that such persevering Industry 
should meet a “just reward so, though it was 
somethiug of a sacrifice, I gave up the use of 
our sugar-box to them. Dampening the bottom, 
sprinkling it with sugar and leaving the cover 
Invit ingly open a little at one side, I sot U where 
they 41 most do congregate.” Then several times 
a day T take a 44 peep” into the box, and If there 
is much of a “gathering” I hold the box bottom 
side up over a pan of hot water, or strong soap 
suds, am} jar the little intruders into it -treat¬ 
ing them to a quieting bath free of charge. As 
long as 1 am thus liberal and attentive to them, 
I am not troubled with them elsewhere at all, 
where there i3 considerable gratification in 
knowing Unit through my Instrumentality al¬ 
most eountlcjs numbers of the soul-frying 
marauders have found “ rest from their labors.” 
Now, T have great respect for these sable unt¬ 
ies, so much indeed l bat I seldom see one but I 
am reminded of the sage advice of Solomon to 
“consider her ways and he wise," and if I fail 
to learn the lesson of “eternal vigilance” 
through summer and harvest-time, it will be 
from no fault of theirs as apt teachers. 
But nowhere do wo see greater manifesta¬ 
tions of the heat than in the vegetable king¬ 
dom such will ing and withering beneath tills 
scorching August sunshine. Wherever wo turn 
our eyes they seem to he greeted with such 
silent pleadings for water from the drooping 
vegetation as to awaken feelings of sadness 
and regret at our utter inability toreador aid 
except to a limited extent. Thar magnificent 
Oleander tree, standing in Just a pleasant 
shade—whoso topmost blossoms are higher 
than I can reach—has been treated to all the 
water it would take, and still it inclines to 
droop; blit no wonder, it is so heavily laden 
with buds and blossoms—a most beautiful and 
refreshing sight for the eyes to rest upon, on 
such a day as this, and often as l feast my eyes 
on it s surpassing loveliness I am led to exclaim 
Truly, “ a thing of beauty Is a joy forever!" 
And thus are the bitter and sweet mingled 
together all through life—the sweet seeming 
but the sweeter from our having had a taste of 
the bitter, and our Heavenly Father knoweth 
that, we have need of all these things. But 
such excessive hot <U.VS have boon exceptions 
rather than the rule, so far this summer, com¬ 
ing 44 few and far between;" so that if, as 
Rimini wished, we had no work to do on such 
days, I think we might thoroughly enjoy one 
occasionally—just for the sake of variety, 
August 13,1874. 
Reading for tltg fmtng. 
AFPLE-TIME. 
Shower-time, flower-ttme, 
Barth Is now and fair; 
May-tiuie, bay-time, 
Blossoms everywhere; 
Neat-time, best time. 
Days have longer grown; 
Leal-time, brief time, 
Make it all your own ; 
Berry-time and cherry-time, 
Songs of bird and bee: 
But of all the gay times. 
Apple-time for roe 1 
Wheat-time, sweet timo 
In the closing year; 
Sheaf-tlmo, leaf-time. 
Now will disappear; 
ice-tlnie, nice time 
For a merry lad; 
Snow-time, blow-time. 
Earth is lone and sad. 
Yellow ones and mellow ones 
Dropping from the tree; 
Rusty coats and pippins: 
Apple-time for mo! 
I (h-urvr Cooper, in Nursery. 
-- 
ONE AND ONE. 
Two little girls are better than one. 
Two little boys can double tl’O fun, 
Two little birds can build u fine nest, 
Two little arms can love mother best, 
Two little ponies must, go to ii, span; 
Two little pockets has my little man, 
Two little eyes to open and close, 
Two little ears ami one little uosc. 
Two little elbows, dimpled and • tveet, 
Two litllu shous on tw j little feet, 
Two little bps and one lltllo ubin, 
Two little ohecks with a rose sli nt in ; 
Two little shoulders, chubby and strong, 
Two little lens running all day long, 
Two Jdtle prayers does my darling say, 
Twice does he kneel by my side each day— 
Two little folded hands, soft and brown, 
Two little eyelids Wist meekly down— 
And two little angols guard him in bed, 
“ Ouo at the foot, and one at the head.” 
( Mary Mopes Doclnr, in St. NlcholnB. 
JEREMY TAYLOR ON MARRIAGE. LETTERS TO YOUNG RURALIST8.—No. 20. 
TnE following extract from that sound old 
divine, Jeremy Taylor, is always read with 
interest, because of its simple truthfullness: 
Marriage has in It less of beauty, but more of 
safety than the single life ; it hath no more 
ease, but less danger; it is more merry and 
more sad; it is fuller of sorrows and fuller of 
Joys; It lies under more burdens, but it Is sup. 
ported by all the strengths *>f love charity, 
and those burdens are delightful. Marriage is 
the mother of the world, and preserves king¬ 
doms and (ills cities, and churches, and he ivon 
Itself. Celibacy, like the fly in the heart of nu 
apple, dwells in perpetual sweetness, hut sits 
alone, and is confined and dies In singularity; 
hut. marriage, like the useful bee, builds a nouse, 
and gathers honey fro n every flower, and 
labors, and uniles Into societies and republic*, 
and sends out colonics, and feeds the world 
with delicacies, and obeys their king, and keeps 
order, and exercises many virtues, and promotes 
the interests of mankind, and is that state 
of good to which God hath designed the pres¬ 
ent constitution of the world. 
--♦+*- 
GERMAN MARRIAGE ENGAGEMENTS. 
German newspapers often publish notices of 
births and deaths In a manner which seems 
strange to American readers. Engagements are 
also published. In the second sheet, for In¬ 
stance, of every Issue of the Cologne Gazette, 
theso announcements of engagements may be 
found throughout the whole year. When the 
engagements am broken off this is also at times 
published by one or both of the parties con¬ 
cerned. But It is very seldom that an armounoe- 
"ment such aa the following Is found, Which is 
quoted in the Cologne Gazette, of the 17th of 
June, from the Bresdencr Journal: 
44 With respect to the announcement by which 
1, at the cud of last November, gave notice of 
my being engaged to the Dowager Baroness Zoe 
von Kotzebue, I am now obliged to state that 
this relationship has, at her desire and to my 
groat regret, been broken off, because aho did 
not find In my deportmenL that gravity which 
she had a right to expect.—C ount Lucknkh." 
—-- 
ITEMS FOR AND ABOUT WOMEN. 
Miss Mary L. Booth of Harper’s Bazar, 
takes her vacation in New Hampshire. 
There is said to be a wonderful gir! in Ohio 
who, when blindfolded, can tell colors by 
touch. , 
MR8. Celia Burleigh is at the Dansville, 
N. Y., Water Cure, so seriously ill that she can¬ 
not be moved. 
Mas. Tilton and Mrs. Ovington of Brooklyn, 
have been camping out at Lake Wauramaug, in 
Bridgeport, Conn. 
QcEEN Isabella of Spain, has taken up her 
residence at Vichy. Her Majesty has hired the 
chalet of Napoleon III. 
The Empress of Austria is said to be the 
handsomest princess, and one of the hand¬ 
somest women of Europe. 
FROM COUSIN JOHNNIE. 
My Dear Young Cousins:— It is a long time 
since I have had the pleasure of writing to you, 
fori have been away off among the hills and 
mountains of the Granite State, besides making 
a visit at the City of Elms, and consequently 
have had so many other letters to write that 
n ; liitlo cousin* have been neglected. I have, 
therefore, not kept as well posted as I could 
wish with regard to your letters, so can ouly go 
back to sonic 1 find in the RURAL of Aug. 15. 
Young Mustache, Young Bach and Dew- 
Drop seem to havo won for Mump vivos a last¬ 
ing notoriety. Young Bach I find still under 
the lash of the female tongues ho so much 
despises; Young Mustache is twitted with 
the way lie spent lib Christmas, and Dew- 
Drop is still vainly IniDortuncd to write again. 
Kvila Brown, bravo little girl, urges her not 
to feel disheartened because her first letter was 
so severely criticised, and in order to show 
that she 44 practices what she preaches,” gives 
Cousin Johnnie full permission to criticise 
hers. There is nothing in the matter of your 
letter to find fault with, my dour, and as for 
the manner of it, it Is very good, with the ex¬ 
ception of this sentence, “ i have not seen 
much in your paper about temperance in the 
letters." Now, of course, you did not mean 
you expected Mr. Rural, in bis paper, to say 
something about the boys and girls being tem¬ 
perate In their letters, although from ihecon- 
-tructlon of the sentence that impression Is 
given. You probably wanted to say, “I have 
not seen much in the letters about temper¬ 
ance;” or else, “1 have not seen muob about 
temperance In the letters or In the other de¬ 
partments of your paper." One needs to be 
very careful as to the position of the clauses of 
a sentence, otherwise the most absurd mis¬ 
takes are ofton made. Thus the set tence 
quoted below, owing to the misplacing of (he 
clause, “for his own amusement,” reads in 
this ridJculous manner, “These letters were 
written by a young man, who has long lain in 
the grave for his own amusement 1" I, for one, 
Evila, am very happy to welcome you as one 
of the 44 cousins,” and I have not the slightest 
doubt all the rest of the “family" will gladly 
do the same. Myra N., also, T consider a de¬ 
cided acquisition to the 44 cousinhood," for she 
writes c.tsily and unaffectedly, and her letter is 
interesting, besides she has that indomitable 
spirit of perseverance which I admire in man, 
woman or child. 
Charles Barber, who seems to bo a smart 
little boy, is another new cousin. His letter is 
pretty good for a boy of ten, but would be 
better without the “ gots." When you wish 
simply to express possession, Charles, 41 1 
have" Is sufficient without the 44 got." It is 
also incorrect to say your hens “can't lie beat’. 4 
Beaten is the word you want; but even t hen the 
sentence Is not very elegant. You might tell .is 
In another letter something about hop-raising 
and hop-picking. Has M. M. B. M, ot Indiana 
ever seen hens smaller than Bantams. While 
in New Hampshire I saw a variety of fowls as 
much smaller than Bantams as Bantams are 
smaller than ordinary fowls, but unfortunately 
I have forgotten their name. Can she or any 
of my other cousins assist my memory? Leta 
W. promise* t.o bo a 44 constant, correspondent.” 
That Is well, for she is a little philosopher, 
judging from I ho calm way In which she alludes 
to giving up witnessing the fireworks. This 
must have been a keen disappointment to a 
child, part icularly ono removed from any city, 
and having, therefore, but few opportunities of 
seeing anything of the kind. It was doubtless 
44 papa ’’ who prudently considered the crowded 
boats and possible dangers, and leta, svithout 
any fretting or whining. Immediately decided 
he knew hest.! Howl wish every boy and girl 
who roads the Rural could lie brought to feel 
that t heir parents know best and always yield 
a ready submission to all their decisions I What 
does F. W. mean by the “tort hills 7” I am 
obliged to confess my ignorance. 
♦ ♦ »-- 
ACTING CHARADES. 
The curtain of the. hack drawing-room was 
drawn aside, and wo were vather surprised to 
see nothing hut a wooden roeking-horso on the 
temporary -tago. We wore told to guess an 
island in the Greek Archipelago. After some 
demur one individual, brighter than the rest, 
exclaimed, “ Delos deal horse." Right. 
The curtain fell, and after a. pause rose again, 
displaying to the astonished looker,son t Ho very 
identical irrepressible rocking-horse, with his 
head in the contrary direction. We were told 
to guess another island in the Greek Archipel¬ 
ago. 
There was a dead silence. Home one vainly 
suggested 44 Chios," mispronounced aby horse; 
but that would not do, for the deal horse was 
as steady as old Time. At length a small hoy, 
late from school, exclaimed “ Sarnoss!" and It 
was the samo horse. 
The curtain fell. The next scone was a portly 
gentleman, who was mot by a young girl, who 
said: 
“ Doctor, I am glad to meet you." 
A word of five syllables. Give it up. 
44 Metaphysician "—met, a physician. 
The curtain fell, and was again drawn up- 
only to exhibit the same portly gentleman and 
the girl meeting again. 
A word of three syllables. 
“ Metaphor ’’—met afore was the solution. 
-- 
What is that which, though black, enlight- 
eneth the world? Ink. 
©hf |Ju2ider. 
PROBLEM.—No. 8. 
Wuten three unequal circles have a common 
tangent and a common axis, and havo tho in¬ 
termediate circle also tangent to the other two, 
what relation will the radius of this interme¬ 
diate circle bear to the radii of tho other two ? 
What relation does R'D' sustain to RD and 
RD' ? 
13. F. Burleson. 
H2T“ Answer in two weeks. 
MISCELLANEOUS ENIGMA.—No. 5. 
I am composed of twenty-two letters: 
My 13,18, 3,10 is something to wear. 
My 11,14, 3 is a domestic fowl. 
My 31, 8, 0, 32 is a collection of houses. 
My 9, 20,15 is a nickname for a girl. 
My 1,13,19,17 is what wo sometimes need. 
My 4, 5,10, 7 is a kind of instrument. 
My whole is a truthful saying. Minnie B. 
JArv” Answer In two weeks. 
-««« 
CHARADE.—Ho. 5. 
My first a young maiden of tenderest years 
(Then my second) accompanies often with tears. 
While a brother provoking beyond her control, 
Deriding her speaks in the terms of my whole; 
Yet he uses two words, so I find I have done, 
But my whole more correctly consists of but 
one, 
And enounces a pnizzlo to you and to mo 
Which perplexes us both by its intricacy. 
25g?“ Answer in two weeks. w. G. M. 
—- •*--*. - 
PUZZLER ANSWERS.—Aug. 2D. 
Charades.— No. 1. Dayton ; 2. Boston ; S. 
Hartford; 4. Garden; 5. Columbus; 6. Missis¬ 
sippi; 7. Rural New-Yorker. 
Word-Square No. 2.— 
STARS 
T U L I P 
ADI V E 
RIVEN 
SPENT 
Problem No. 8.— f 70.72734 rods. 
43.27260 44 
147.92313 41 
(.32.07687 “ 
