m-m0^ 
<hi‘Y-i; 
Vtjk'T- 
MOORE’S  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
SUN  AND  RAIN. 
A  Tovyo  wife  stood  at  the  lattice-pane, 
In  ft  study  Bad  and  brown. 
Watching  the  dreary,  oeaeoleee  rain, 
Steaddy  ixvuring  down- 
Drip.  drip,  drip. 
It  kept  on  its  tireless  play ; 
And  the  poor  little  n  oTOan  sighed,  "  Ah,  me ! 
What  a  wTctchwl.  wear/  day  I” 
Ad  eager  hand  at  the  door. 
A  steji  »8  of  emo  in  haste. 
A  kiss  uiKin  her  hps  once  njore. 
An  arm  around  her  waist— 
Throb,  throb,  throb. 
Went  tlio  little  heart,  grateful  and  gay, 
,\.8  she  thought  with  a  smile,  “  Well,  after  all. 
It  isn’t  80  dull  a  dB>  ." 
I'orgot  was  the  plashing  rain, 
And  the  lowering  skies  above. 
For  the  sotiilH-r  room  was  lighted  again 
By  the  hlessed  sun  of  lOVO— 
Love,  love,  love, 
Kan  the  little  wife’s  murmured  lay ; 
•'  Without,  it  may  tlireatea  and  frown,  If  it  will ; 
Within,  what  a  glorious  day  !” 
(lI)c  .Stom-tTfllfr. 
o 
Oui  EASY  CHAIE. 
A  CHAPTER  ON  KINDS  AND  QUEENS. 
BY  OLD  KINO  COLE. 
Ouu  Home  on  the  Hu,LsrDE,  ) 
WeUavlUe,  Mlegany  Co..  N.  y7,  Jan.  I,  ISTit.f 
The  sun  is  lust  rising  in  the  cnBt  and  t,hpi  clouds, 
rod  with  tho  iiionimg  llsfht,  coupled  wit  h  tlio  balmy 
south  wind,  blowing  in  gcntlo  breezes,  speaks  of 
summer,  and  yet  the  almanac  tells  ua  It  Is  mid¬ 
winter.  We  have  been  re.'idlng  the  almanac— a 
lK)Ok  In  which  wc  learned  our  first  letters  and 
wherein,  a  half  century  ago,  look¬ 
ed  with  wondering  eyes  on  that  - - — 
ghostly  picture  of 
TIME  IN  TBE  EKIMEB, 
and  on  t  hat  too.  of  the  other  spec-  ^  ^ 
tcr-looklng  object  like  unto  a  man,  ^  ^ 
and  they  called  his  name 
ZODIAC. 
We  think  that  was  It-wlth  spears, 
and  darts,  and  sharp  sticks  point-  /f^rVCi 
ing  at  him  and,  in  scanning  ihb  ,  fj^t  ^ 
pictures,  wondered  whether  Old  ,,  , 
Time  had  a  demijohn  or  cornuco- 
pla  or  an  unlcoro  In  bis  hand:  but 
now  wc  know  It  was 
AN  nOITB  GLASS,  ^ 
from  which  tho  sands,  since  run- 
nlng,  have  dropped  noiselessly  ^^2 
away  and  now,  behold,  another 
glass,  the  rntn'or.  In  which  we  so  <  j/ 
looked  as  a  child  and  wondered  If  ■  i 
we  would  ever  grow  big,  tells  the 
story-  Thesands  are  still  dropping  \y--W 
out  from  Tlmess  hour  glass  and  the  ^ 
III  ng  gro^YS  old . 
A  hall  century  a.go,  and  we  wore  7^^ 
sitting  oii  the  knee  of  an  old  sol- 
dler.  Ills  locks  iverc  white  as  wool, 
and  on  his  cheek  wa.s  it  scar  made 
by  the  saber  of  a  red  coat,  and  many 
were  the  stories  the  old  man  toll 
US  about  the  KcvoluUon,  tor  he  was 
a  Revolutionary  soldier  and  drew  ^  j 
a  pension,  so  they  said ;  but  we  did  ^ 
not  know  what  was  a  pensioner 
nor  much  of  the  Uevolutionary  w’ar 
then  sUU  fresh  in  the  memory  of  ^ 
thousands  surviving  i  lor  w  o  were  ^ 
but  a  chUd  aud,  ua  wo  llatene<t  to  T 
the  stories  of  the  Old  soldier,  our 
eyes  opened  wide  with  wonder  as  -3^ 
he  lalked  about  bati  les  ami  swords,  ^ 
muskets  and  cannon,  and  showed 
us  his  old  coat  that  he  wore  In  tlm 
army  and  told  us  about  tho  Uorso  ^<3/1 
he  rode  and  said  he  was  a,  trooper; 
aud  that  w'as  a  .something  wo  could  7  '•jm 
better  undersUnd,  for  we  had  seen  ViJ|| 
worlds  of  troopers  on  general  mus- 
ter  flay.  Aucl  when  he  grew  weary  ^ 
of  lelilug  stories,  the  old  soiaier 
icould  sing  us  a  song,  the  first  we 
ever  heard  sung,  and  thus  did  the  1'1/M  IJ 
dluyruu:  WljB 
“  Old  King  Cole  wft«  &  merry  old  soul,  'l/WtKM 
X  merry  old  holU  wae  he ;  il  IrSB| 
And  lip  called  for  hia  pipe  and  called  V 
for  hie  bowl,  'Ygmr 
And  called  for  hie  fiddlers  three.”  mV 
A  nd  as  we  listened  to  the  old  mj  ]  ^  f 
man’s  stories  all  about  King  li  \  — 
Geokoe  and  hlsslttingon  a  throne  / 
and  hilling  courtiers  around  him  j  X  f 
and  his  wearing  of  a  crown  made  I 
of  gold  and  diamonds,  we  wondered  'I  ^ 
If  k 
OLD  KINO  COLE 
was  much  like  King  Geokoe  and, 
whether  so  or  no,  longed  to  be  a 
king;  a  something  we  have  be- 
come  t  and  here  we  are,  sitting  on  j  \m%ii 
our  old  throne,  tho  massive  Easy 
Chair  presented  to  us  by  Brother 
French,  an  excellent  MetUodlsl  ’ 
man  — not  of  the  Bishop  Haven  j 
kind,  since  Brother  Fkench  was 
and  la  a  Liberal  and  voted  for  Grkb-  I - 
LEY— and  that  Is  the  reason,  we 
pin.sume,  he  gave  us  this 
immense  easy  chair. 
As  we  said,  we  have  been  reading  the  almanac 
and  looking  over  tho  chronology,  tracing  back  to 
the  time  when,  fifty  years  before  we  sat  on  the 
knee  of  the  old  soldier;  one  of  the  many  myrmi¬ 
dons  of  King  Oeobob,  Dunmobe  by  name,  bettor 
known  as  tbe  British  Nero,  set  Ore  to  the  city  of 
Norfolk.  It  was  just  an  hundred  years  ago  this 
blessed  morning  when  the  flames  so  lit  up  the 
heavens  In  lurid  glare  and,  as  the  sun  rose  out  of 
the  waters,  looked  upon  the  scone  of  conUiigratlon 
while  the  wretched  people  stood  amazed  uit  nessi-.s 
of  tho  deHtnictlon  of  their  homos  and  the  breaking 
in  pieces  ol  their  household  goods;  and  within  a 
few  brief  liours,  what  had  been  one  of  the  chief 
cities  of  the  new  world  hecame  a  blackened,  ml  ued 
waste.  Not.  many  were  the  cities  of  America  then. 
Boston  and  I’hUadolphla  were  both  in  adViinoe  of 
NewY’ork;  aud  as  for  those  Utile  towns  out  to¬ 
ward  sunset  or  to-duy— Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Cincin¬ 
nati,  San  Francisco,  and  such  llko— they  had  not 
so  much  as  existence  In  the  fancies  of  fairies,  to 
say  nothing  of  tho  dreams  of  men.  But  Boston, 
the  scene  of  that  first  great 
AMERICAN  TEA  rAKTY, 
was  a  proud  and  rich  town  oven  then,  for  It  was 
tho  home  of  Jou-v  Adams  and  possessed  Bunker 
Hill,  and  was  only  a  IK  tie  way  off  from  Lexington. 
It  had  Its  kings,  too— not  tilled  and  tinseled  and 
crowned  like  to  those  of  the  old  world,  but  of  tho 
order  of  Cromwell  and  Aloebnon  Sidney— de¬ 
scendants  of  the  old  Uotuidheads ;  and  queens  too. 
had  Boston— fairy  queens  of  oatlvo  beauty  and 
bloom  who,  while  their  lords  went  forth  in  helmet 
and  buckler  to  tho  wars,  staid  at  home  and  did 
wifely  duty,  as  bccoraeth  the  t  rue  woman  always, 
nor  forgets  tho  lint  and  bandages  for  the  boys  In 
the  field,  but  boro  them  over  In  mind,  Just  as  did 
our  queenly  mothers,  sisters,  wives.nnd  daughters 
who,  a  little  while  back,  looked  sorrowing  and 
sadly  on  tho  bloody  scenes  of  fratricidal  strife, 
now  happily  ended;  and  who,  binding  up  the 
wounds  a  little  while  ago,  now  unlto  In  strewing 
flowers  on  the  graves  of  those  who  sleei),  forgot- 
gled  bannf’r  or  the  bonny  blue  Hag;  or  marched 
to  the  tune  of  “Dixie”  or  “Yankee  Doodle,”  or 
wore,  as  ho  ivent  down  to  death  on  the  hat  tlo  field, 
rilK  HI.OK  OR  THE  OUAY. 
Boston  was  under  siege  (possessed  rather)  by 
tho  Jaulzartea  of  the  Klug  "iin,  giving  command 
from  across  the  seas,  tiade  hla  minions  do  ivoll  tho 
work  norsparc  the  rebels.  While  rcd-coatcd  Brit¬ 
ons  paced  the  streets,  ket-plng  guard  however,  and 
making  biimck.s  ot  t  lie  iiouses  oi  the  descendants 
of  the  lloiindheiids,  proml  kings  and  queens,  the 
first  cltD.e.ns  of  nnston,  a  little  way  off  stood  our 
Republican  KingGKOKi!E,suriinmed  wasoinoton, 
tho  great  Amerii.’an  Jailor,  enecDially,  with  lila 
brave  band  around  him,  nmklng  prisoners  of  tho 
enemy  within  the  cliy.  D.  was  just 
AN  HlTNDRKl)  YE.iK.S  AGO 
to-day  thuts  amid  the  siiovNs  of  winter,  Wasiiino- 
TON  and  tils  Utile  army  so  Siit  there,  and  eating 
their  hard  Uck  byrtnyand  lying  down  In  their 
tents  at  night,  gave  to  Britons  their  first  lfis.son.s 
of  Atueiican  plimk,  perseveivmce  and  endiiriinco. 
.Vnd  there  were ghints in  those  da.vs.  Gon’sklngs, 
tlwi-lllng  among  men,  iw  in  iiges  before,  and  none 
greater  than  Gborok,  wiio  iwl  tlio  armies  tliitmgh 
tho  wilderness  of  t  hosa  days.  Thomas,  wiio  wrote 
t.ho  declaration. 
JOHN  HANCOCK 
who  with  boldest  hand  signeil  It,  saying,  “  There  I 
Johnny  Bcll  can  read  that  without  spectacles"— 
or  words  to  that  effect.  Not  to  mention  Doctor 
Ben  Franklin,  who  sent  up  his  kite  after  tho 
lightnings,  printed  tho  first  American  newspaper, 
brought  to  ua  Lakavettk  and  his  gallant  French 
compaf.riote  who  so  helped  us  to  whip  the  Urif.tsh 
lion— tosaynotnlngof  thousandsof  others,  mighty 
kings  and  bravo,  each  In  ills  day  and  generation, 
living  lives  of  valor  and  shuflUng  off  this  mortal 
coll,  going  away  to 
A  NOTH  KB  COtTNTBV, 
waiting  each  In  turn  tho  calling  of  tho  long  roll. 
Nor  havo  the  names  of  the  bravo  all  been  yet  re¬ 
corded,  since  many  were  hut  common  soldiers, 
privates  In  the  ranks,  all  npinlly  kings  lu  their 
ting  whetner  this  or  that  bore  aloft  tho  star-span-  I  day,  and  all  had  crowns  too  of  a  kind,  but  many 
WALTER  8C0TT.-HIS  EARLY  DAYS.  (See  next  page.) 
more  of  thorns  than  of  roses ;  so  has  it  ever  been 
and  so  shall  It  ever  be  till 
TIME  SHALL  BE  NO  LONGER. 
And  who  shau  write  thost-orioaof  thekiugs  and 
chronicle  their  deeds  of  glory?  Echo  answers, 
VSlio  ? 
AN  HUNDRED  YEARS  AGO, 
and  Skirting  the  Atlantic  from  the  rocky  coast  of 
New  England  to  the  coral  reefs  of  Florida,  were 
seen  cltlos  and  towns  with  their  few  hundreds  of 
Inhabltontis,  the  housoa  of  which  were  In  man.y 
InsDinccs  built  of  bricks  brought  bitos.s  the  ocoiin 
In  ships,  since  Americans  had  not  then  Touim!  out 
thatlhey  could  not  only  boutF.Dgllshmen  In  bnlld- 
tug  houses  and  ships  hnt  In  m.iKing  bricks  and 
roaring  soldleraand  educntlag  sailors.  There  were 
no  steamslilps  In  t.hose  days,  aucl  as  for  railroads, 
cars  and  hx’omollve.s  I  hey  had  only  been  dreamed 
of  by  the  author  of  t  he  hook  of  .fob;  and  for  the 
matter  of  electric  Udegraphs,  It  took  ns  long  to 
curry  the  news  from  Boston  to  Bunker  Hill  a.s  now 
from  .fapan  hi  -San  Francisco  and  back  by  way  ot 
Now  York  'Hid  London  to  Hong  Kong.  Ncnriy  all 
the  nations  wore  cursed  rather  than  blessed  by 
kings— real  pOtealutcb,  who  sported  crow  n.s  a  ud 
scepters,  thrones  and  armies,  and  ypi ,  not  ono  In 
ten  could  wTito  his  namca.s  well  as  n  modern  Bow- 
cry  b<.»otblack,  and  for  the  making  or  lUs  mark  in 
tho  world  to  any  purpose,  wasnotlobcraoulloued 
In  tho  same  day  with  an  American  newsboy  of 
tho  present.  There  have  always  been  kings,  so 
wo  are  told,  from  the  days  of  Nimrod,  the  mighty 
hunter,  who  Ls  presumed  to  have  been  one  ot 
earth’s  earliest,  raonorchs,  to  the  present  iinie ; 
and  these,  with  Uiclr  crowns,  scepters  and  arm¬ 
ies,  havo  been  <'reallng  something  of  a  stir  In  tho 
world;  and  yet,  not  Xerxes,  with  all  his  ixiat.s, 
crows,  soldiers  »nd  sailors  brldgbig  tho  Hellespont 
shore  to  shore,  could  have  resisted  for  an  hour  tho 
grape  and  canister  from  one  of  the  sl.x-poundors 
which  King  OKOROB  used  with  lUs  wni'  In  the  colo¬ 
nies;  and  these  in  turn,  had  an  himdroi  been 
molded  Into  one,  would  not  havo  m.ideagmiof 
half  the  caliber  of  an  eighty-pound  Parrot  of  to¬ 
day,  mere  playthings  In  American  arsenals,  aud 
sitting  jilvot-poiscd  on  decks  of  our  ships  of  war, 
a  terror  to  evil  doers. 
- - ,  And  now,  silting  In 
WtliW  OCR  EASY  CUAIR, 
we  will  not  write  a  history  of  the 
hmidrcd  years  dm’lng  which  ono 
nation,  from  being  the  smallest 
kind  of  i)  babj  wi'iipped  In  swad¬ 
dling  clothes  and  all  that,  grew  to 
he  a  big  hoy  and  wu,^  iriillcd  Broth¬ 
er  Jonatii-vn;  and  llicnre  up  to 
fullest  manhood,  now  chnllcuges 
.TonNNv  lirLL  to  any  kind  of  a  trial 
either  of  skill  or  raiisclo— having 
bigger  livciN,  miliT  mountains, 
broader  lakes,  finer  cities,  faster 
Bt  earners,  more  railroads  and  tele¬ 
graphs,  livelier  newspapers,  more 
enterprising  Joiirnallsts  and  bigger 
guns  all  round— kings  and  queens 
Included— than  a  dozen  tlnj'  islands 
like  Great  Britain. 
KINfW  AND  QUEENS, 
did  wo  say?  Aye,  that's  ’what  wo 
sat,  flown  to  ivrlte  .about,  it’s  tho 
first  day  of  January,  In  tho  year  of 
grace,  one  thousand,  eight  hundred 
and  H«iventy-stx— 
CENTENNIAL  TEAR-- 
and  thi.s  la  our  first,  iiossibly  our 
last ,  Easy  Chair,  and  wo  must  havo 
oursity  al'OUttliekiDgs  and  queens, 
'  especially  tho  latter.  As  regards 
'  the  kitigs.  It’s  the  kbig  bees  wo 
niust  notice,  and  neiirly  cAfiy  uve 
Yankee  In  America  -to  say  nothing 
of  onr  Dutch  umiesand  irtsh  cou.s- 
Ims— arc  king  bees;  and  for  the 
qucciLs,  tho  whole  land  abounds 
-  "'*’-**  “’"I lalrer,  more  cbarin- 
lug  fiiKl  heautlful  qiieens  havo 
never  bc«>n  3(;cn  since  the  days  of 
^  MOTHER  KVANOELINK. 
lilome,  It  Is  true— most,  Indeed— iiro 
y'*”  bidter  dressed  and,  though  they 
11^1^  \  couldni  probably  get  uj)  a  finer 
court  costume  out  of  fig  leiives, 
they  can  heat  all  to  pieces  some  of 
BlW'  the  fnilts,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
r  i  h  flowers  ivhlch  are  understood  to 
have  grown  In  Eden,  tho  plucking 
J  :  i?- 1  Rurt  eating  of  a  single  blossom  or 
'  ■  S  itliplc  of  which  Is  presumed  to  havo 
-  fioph  the  OTicaslon  ot 
oi.d  kino  oeoboe 
playing  the  tyrant,  thereby  begetr 
»  I  mg  the  big  boy  Brother  Jonathan, 
since  grown  to  be  well  known  as 
UNCLE  SAMUEL. 
It’s  a  wondeiTul  story  Is  that  ot 
Time  In  tho  primer,  and  were  wc 
only  young  again,  we  might  IncUno 
W\  to  sK,  down  In  Our  Easy  Chair  aud 
Wa  //  \  ^  It  all  outr-tho  story  of  tho 
“tid  queens,  InchLSlve  of  that 
yl"  of  King  Solomon  with  all  his  glory, 
I  ‘  the  icDiplo  which  he  built,  the 
greatest  and  most  wonderful  of  Its 
I'  M  tlay  and  generation,  nor  forgetting 
ill  '1  jjtT'  to  menfiou  the  *'  stone  deft  out  of 
tev-  •  the  mountain  without  hands  whhii 
tJio  builders  rejected,  since  made 
the  chief  of  the  corner”— or  tlio 
crow'n,  rich  In  jewels  which  sat  on 
the  brow  of  David,  Israel ’.s  .iwect- 
est  singer,  and  of  the  thrones  and 
scepters  of  failmr  and  son,  since 
gone  to  decay.  And  our  .story  should 
