THE BUBAL WE 
fates' portfolio. 
Bruce had recourse to the sword and Tell to a 
bow and arrow; but when a woman strikes for 
liberty she uses anything she can lay her hands 
on. 
THE GIFT OF EMPTY HANDS. 
They were two Princes doomed to death; 
Each loved hi» beauty and hi# breath; 
“ Leave na our life anil wo will bring 
Fair gifts unto our lord, the King.” 
They went together. In the dew 
A charmed bird before them flew. 
Through sun and thorn one followed it; 
Upon the other’s arm it lit. 
A rose, whoso faintest blush w r as worth 
• All buds that ever blew on earth. 
One climbed, the rocks to reach; ah, well, 
Into the other’* breast it fell. 
Weird Jewels, such as fairies wear, 
When moons go out, to light their hair, 
On© tried to touch on ghostly ground; 
Geras of quick fire the other found. 
One with the dragon fought to gain 
The enchanted fruit, and fought in vain; 
The other breathed the garden’s air 
And gathered precious apples there. 
Backward to the Imperial gat© 
One took his fortune, one hi* fate; 
On© showed sweet gifts fmm sweetest lands, 
The other torn aud empty hands. 
At’bird. and rose, and gem, ai.d fruit, 
The King was sad, the King was ruute; 
At last ho slowly aaid: “ My eon. 
True treasurc is not lightly won. 
" Your brother’s hands, wherein you see 
Only these scars, show more to me 
Than if a kingdom’s price I found 
In place of each forgotten'wound." 
[Mrs. Piatt. 
- -- 
GRANDMOTHER SPEAKS. 
1 am getting to be an old woman. I’ve brought 
up a family of boys and girls; they all know how 
to work; they areatout, and healthy; they were 
brought up In the old-fashioned way. 1 never 
tried any new-fangled ways. 1 don’t believe In 
going contrary to Nature, even It It Is the fashion. 
1 think when children are hungry they ought to 
have something local; and w lien they are sleopy, 
let them go to sleep. Some children eat, more and 
sleep more than others. They are made go, and 
what Is the use In trying to make them over? i 
have, no faith In pcoplo knowing so much more 
than their Maker. Now, I do not like to seo old 
heads on young shoulder:-- I believe in boys and 
girls being young, and keeping young just aa long 
as they can; and 1 get disgusted with seeing boya 
strut around with a cane In their hands and a 
olgar In their mouths; and girls putting on airs, 
and wearing long, flounced dresses* trailing la the 
dirt. It does not look right. They ought to bo 
running and Jumping fences, skating and sliding 
down hill, and having a goad time; and never 
think of sweethearts or beaux till they are out of 
their teena. The girls should learn how to cook, 
and manage a house; and the boys know enough 
to earn their own bread and butter before they 
ever think of falling In love or getting married. 
No wonder so many divorces are obtained! Boys 
and girls get married before tliey are old enough 
to know themselves, much less what they want 
In a companion for Ilfo. It Is all bad; bad for 
themselves, bad for their partners, bad for chil¬ 
dren, bad for society. The world, or rather the 
people In the world are all too fast. Children 
think they know more than their parents, and 
the parents are proud of such smart, childreul 
I cannot gee where It Is all going to end. We 
see how It la now; families are not aa happy as 
they used to be. The men are small and dwarf¬ 
ish, the women are sickly and feeble; the orphan 
asylums and poor houses are filled to overflowing. 
There la more wickedness and crime In the land; 
Jails and prisons are crowded with criminals; the 
sexton and undertaker grow rich. A murder used 
to All the whole community with horror; now It 
Is an evory-day occurrence. Why are these things 
so? There must be a cause for such eft,-cts, Some 
people say It is because the world Is wiser—aa 
knowledge Increases so does sin. I do not believe 
that: it is not according to nature. The trouble 
Is In thp way people bring up their phtldren. They 
do not give them enough of King Solomon"# bit¬ 
ters to keep them In the right way; that’s one 
thing that Is the matter. Another thing la, they 
do not give them proper food to eat. People feed 
little folks too much high-seasoned food, victuals 
are not cooked decently for children local—they 
are too rich. Good bread and milk Is sneezed at 
as old-fashioned. Children must he pampered 
with sweet cake and candles, and then the stuff 
makes them sick: they dose them with medicine 
enough to kill a horse. All a mother thinks of is, 
to dress her baby nicest of anyone; she doesn't 
think whether the little thing Is comfortable, If It 
only looks pretty. What would our grandmoth¬ 
ers have said, to see the way a child of these later 
days Is dressed, and fed, and brought up? She 
would have hold up her hands in horror, and ex¬ 
claimed with St. Paul, “Oh, foolish Galatlanal” 
But people have got to change In their customs 
and habits, or there will uot be either muscle or 
brain enough left In America to get up a decent 
show at the next Centennial. 
There is more to this than a body thinks, unless 
he looks the matter over seriously. Seltlshness 
and extravagrance are the canker-worms that sap 
the lire from tbe roots or prosperity In any nation, 
and they are the crying evils of the present age. 
I know It Is the fashion to laugh at old folks, but 
“ old folks lor counsel ” are worth more than peo¬ 
ple think. That’s my Idea. ^Grandmother. 
[Poor Grandmother! She must have been very, 
very wicked In her youth, to have so thoroughly 
soured her disposition and darkened the glasses 
through which she views her fellow creatures. 
Will any of our friends, who believe wtt.h us that 
the world Is growing wiser and bettor every day, 
and that the croaklngs of age are generally but 
the echoes of a misspent life or the ineffaceable 
traces of wasted youth, see to It that Grandmother 
does not have things all her own way ?—F.d.J 
-- 
THE POWER OF MUSIC. 
Music possesses a power peculiarly Its own. It 
can exdtc the purely emotional portion of our 
nature io a degree without parallel in any other 
art In which a definite human feeling Is not pre¬ 
sented to us. In Its vagueness lies concealed a 
readiness to adapt Itself to the expression of com¬ 
bined thought and feeling with an Intensity alto¬ 
gether transcending any other vehicle which our 
nature possesses. And the secret of this power I 
take to be this; Every man and woman who 
thinks and feels, except In the most common- 
placo and superficial fashion. Is conscious, In some 
degree, of the Inexplicable raystertousness of the 
life we live and of the universe we live in. It Is 
not a tiuestlnn of this or that theology, or of this 
or that, philosophy, or of this or that, mode of liv¬ 
ing. AU of us are conscious of the game desire to 
escape from the bondage of our personal loneli¬ 
ness and ignorance into some sort of freer atmos¬ 
phere, In which our faculties may range and ex¬ 
pand in a now and more unhampered exercise, 
and our enjoyment of existence nnd our percep- 
tlonsof truths may become more definite and real. 
And It la because it puts into a species of articu¬ 
late voice tins undying desire., that music oxer 
clses Its spoil upon those Avho are sensitive to its 
charm. 
As In all other matters, men are variously en¬ 
dowed lu this respect, aud this endowment does 
not necessarily accompany any other peculiarity 
of natural endowment. At the same time, the 
sensibility to music takes various forms, iu exact 
accordance With the rest of a man’s nature. The 
man. of shallow nature likes one kind of music, 
the man of thought and depth loves another. 
There la music which touches the weak and mor¬ 
bid, but which Is repellent to all healthy and 
masculine minds. There Is music which by no 
possibility can be understood and enjoyed by a 
fool; and there Is music which Is essentially low 
and vulgar .—Comhill Magazine. 
THE MYSTERY OF DREAMS. 
A man fell asleep as the clock tolled the first, 
stroke of twelve. lie awakened era the echo of 
of the twelfth stroke had died away, having' in 
the Interval dreamed that lie had committed a 
crime, was detected after live years, tried and 
condemned; Urn shock of flndJng the halter 
around his neck aroused him to consciousness, 
when lie discovered that all these event# hail 
happened In an Infinitesimal fragment of time. 
Mohammed, wishing to Illustrate the wonders of 
sleep, told how a certain man, beingashelk, found 
lilmseir, on account of his pride, made a poor 
fisherman; that he lived as one for sixty years, 
bringing up si family and working hard, and how, 
upon waking up from Ids long dream, so short a 
time had he been asleep than the narrow-necked 
gourd bottle. Oiled with water, which lie knew ho 
overturned as he lei 1 asleop, had not time to empty 
itself. How fast the soul travels when the body is 
asleep! Often when wo awake we shrink from 
going back Into the dull routine of a sordid exist¬ 
ence, regretting the pleasanter life of dreamland. 
How la It that sometimes when we go to & strange 
place we fancy that we have seen It before? Is 
It possible t hat when one has been asleep the soul 
has floated away, seen the place, and has that I 
memory of It which so surprises us? In a word, 
how far dual ta the life of man, how far not? 
- » ♦ ♦--— 
A CHEERFUL WIFE. 
What a blessing to a household la a merry, 
cheerful woman—one whose spirits are-not affect¬ 
ed by wet days or little disappointments—one 
whose milk of bumuu kindness does not sour In 
t,ho sunshine of prosperity. Such a woman, In the 
darkest hour#, brightens the house like a piece of i 
sunshiny weather. The magnetism of her smiles, 
and the electrical brightness or her looks and 
movements, infect every one. The children go to 
school with the sense of something great to be 
achieved; the husband goes into the world Inn 
conqueror's spirit. No matter how people annoy 
and worry him through the day, far off lmr pres¬ 
ence shines, end he whispers to himself, “At 
home I Bball And rest!" so day by day she liter¬ 
ally renews his strength and energy. 
-- 
FOR AND ABOUT WOMEN. 
Aa Lady Teazle, Fanny Davenport wear# $so,ooo 
worth of diamonds. 
I No woman with a bucket of hot soapsuds In her 
1 hand Is superior to temptation when she detects 1 
her husband peeplDg through a knothole In the 
i garden fence. 
The lusliion among Parisian ladles of wearing a 
bunch of violets at the throat or waist belt has 
become very general, and has probably given a 
great Impetus to the florist’s trade. 
A Frenchman Is about opening a " Hymenlal 
Academy’’ In Covington, Ky„ In which young 
ladles will he taught the marriage service, with 
all the proper sobs, sighs and hysterics In three 
easy lessons. 
H^aMiig for tin ijoung, 
TIMOTHY TIGHT. 
Timothy Tight, Timothy Tight, 
Say# ho will ueither have hup nor bit©, 
Nor comb hi© hair, nor Bleep tn IiIr bed, 
TT11 he ha# done what he thinks In his head, 
Wbat m it txior little Tunulhy thinks 
To do before he cut#, or drinks. 
Or comb#, or Bleeps ? Why, Timothy Tight 
Thinks in his head to turn black into white ! 
He eauirkt a crow, nnd he tried with that, 
lie tried Afpiln with a ureal black cat, 
He tried attain with ilyea and inks; 
Ho keepB on trying to do what he thinks! 
He tried with lumps of coal a scoro. 
He tried with Jet. aud a blackamoor, 
He tried with thoan till he got vext— 
He means to try tho Black Sea next. 
LETTERS FROM BOYS AND GIRLS. 
Homes are Ornamented In Salem, 
Dear Editor :—Vke says, “ Give us something 
new, or describe your pets." Ours aro mostly 
flowers, nud what grandma calls her “Curiosity 
Shop.” Wo have three hanging shelves, made 
of lichens which grew on trees. On the top 
stands a little tree with’.five stuffed birds; of 
them three yellow, a swallow and an oriole. Sec¬ 
ond shelf: some red cedar from Long island, and 
moss that hangs on trees like a veil, some long' 
pine noodles, a sprig of rice, just, ,,s it grows at 
Savannah,ulso-a nest with Bantam eggs in it- Tho 
lowest shelf has two pots, with Madeira and Ger¬ 
man Ivy running up among the birds; a doer’s 
horn lies around, as if to keep them iu place. In 
one window hangs a docounut shpll, with a Dew 
plant; also another pot, of Geranium Vine at Mie 
side. In the other window a pot of Ivy. Over the 
folding doors hangs n squash with a Running 
I’lDlt. The little clock on the mantel shelf is sur¬ 
mounted by a bottle of water tn which grew tvro 
kinds of Jacob’s Ladder, reaching this way and 
that and looking very pretty against the light 
wall, in one corner to a shelf on which stands a 
bouquet mode of drooping grass with bitter-sweet 
berries tied on tbe ends. Our mountain scenery 
Is my pride, and grandma gave mo the privilege 
of arranging It. The mountain ft quite a large 
stone, covered with diamond# which glisten in 
the sun bcnttllluUy; for the snow-capped peak to 
an Indian's pounder, with while moss on top. 
This was round on my consul's farm in Jackson. 
For tho plateau, an oval, fiat stone from Schroon 
Lake, among the AdlrondiieUa; on this stands a 
llttlo house made of perforat ed hoard. For grass 
we have moss, and prince’s pine for trees. There 
is also a piece of rock from Mill River; and other 
things too numerous to mention which complete 
the figure. I am eleven years old.—F. ar, 0., 
Salem, .v. r. 
I Why don’t all tho little girls adorn their homes 
with tasty ornaments? A llttlo Ingenuity will 
accomplish It.— Uncle True.] 
The Divine Afflatus. 
Dear Uncle True;—M any thanks to you for 
printing my other letter. I might not have tres¬ 
passed on your indulgence, had not Altos Low re¬ 
quested me to “ favor the Cousins with some of 
my poetry.’’ I should deem It a broach of cour¬ 
tesy not to comply with her request, and yet I 
hope none of the Cousins will think that I con¬ 
sider my poetry a favor to them. On the con¬ 
trary, l consider It a test of their patience. I 
have never before offered any of my poetry for 
publication, and I doubt If you find I ho few lines 
which I shall write worthy of a place In the Boys’’ 
and Girls’ Department. I will not weary the Cous¬ 
ins with a long poem. 
A VIEW Ok 1.1105. 
Youth i# the morning of our years, 
A halo where the nun appear# 
And shines a little apace. 
Ere noon’s dark cloud© weep down their tears, 
Our morning’s hope# ar© drowned in fears, 
And niKht’comes on apace. 
ANOTHER VIEW OP LIKE. 
TIME’S car rolls swiftly on, and iu its train 
Fast bears u« onward to Eternity. 
A# from th© mountain side a drop of rain 
Is swept rclnntiose to the yawning sea. 
And swallowed up In bitterness, la lie 
’Gainst rocky eca-cowt* dashed and tempest-driven 
Until some pitying Saw iita tn acta it free ; 
Then to tho soa its bitter druse in given. 
And, spirit-hke, it mounts on unseen wing# to heaven. 
Poets have delighted to dwell on the Influence 
of bells upon tlio emotions, but what poet or phi- 
losopher ever dreamed that a Beu.b could calm a 
STORM7 That “Give me your hand and we’ll 
form an Independent partnership,” sounds a# If 
business was reviving. 
Harr— on the air a Belle's sweet tone# are pealing; 
The raging Storm, grown calm aa Galileo’s, 
And changed to.a mitumer zephyr, now comes mealing 
In gentle love sighs through the apple trees. 
—Young Poet._ 
Even New York City I 
Dear cousins:— I thought It would please you 
very much to hoar from mo, as 1 have not written 
for a long time, f picked up the Dural and cast 
a glance over the letters, and saw one from a 
teacher who wanted to know the hottest place in 
America. I was going to answer it, but 1 1 bought 
I would leave It for some of my Cousins. I agree 
with l.ho title of Yocm) Hunter to the little boy 
who went with his father to shoot squirrels. Tell 
Uncle Truk that 1 wish he would put some more 
of his prize Journeys In your paper. 1 have a great 
many pigeons, and I saw a plan for a poultry 
house and park In the Rural, so T would Uko 
to see a plan of a pigeon house.— u. c. v. 
[Does It not look as If this little correspondent 
didn’t exactly know which la the hottest place, 
but wanted some ono else to tell?—U ncle True.] 
She Knows the Cousins. 
Dear Old Rural.— l thought I would write to 
you for the first Umo, and If this finds Its way to 
the waste basket, r .shall not get discouraged, but 
will try again, I do not seu how Y, B. can keep 
quiet so long (Cousins, T wonder If he and Dew 
Drop have got tho sulks) while there Is so much 
fun going on. Storm ta trying his utmost to make 
It Uvely as storms generally do, at least, where T 
live. Ho Is splendid, showing people their weak 
sides. Most of the gdrls havo pieced quilts. As 
for me, I never pieced any, for 1 do not sec tho use 
of cutting doth up and thou sewing it, together 
again. 1 go to school and read In tho fourth 
reader. We expect to lmvo prizes this winter; 
but I do not think T shall get any more than my 
share. Well, If 1 do not stop, Storm will be toll¬ 
ing me that I have a weak side, whether it leans 
the same way his does or not; so good bye for 
this time.— Gertie, L. If. 
- 'J&i 
Tho Oneida Clrls Read The Rural. 
Dear Uncle True:— I thought I would write a 
letter, to ask if you would cake me in a3 a Cousin, 
as so many aro claiming relation to the Rural. 
i have three cats, a bird and a dog. One of my 
rata Ls all Maltese, the other two aro gray. My 
dog ls a noble fellow; he has a white head, and 
his udl Is tipped with white; t he rest of his body 
Is black. lie Is a good wa tch dog and a good cow 
dog. 1 go to school every day; the school house 
Is only a little ways from my home. 1 would like 
to correspond with Belle F,. F. We havo got 
sleighing tn Camden. 1 am glad to hoar from 
Young Editor unuo more. Why don’t Yottno Tom 
write again? If I were he, 1 would not let them 
drive me away. Will tho Cousins who attended 
the Centennial let. us hear from them? I am 
eleven year# old. I am a going to try to get up a 
club for tho Rural.—Carrie B. IL, cetnulen, ,v. y. 
Frosty Minnesota. 
Dear Rural Cousins : -I have read your letters 
for some time. I like them very much. I think 
tho boya aro too hard on us girls; but Just bring 
them down to It, and they could not, get aloug 
without ua poor, silly things. Boys! do not talk 
so much, hut act. Why do we .not hear from 
Youno Tom any more ? fs he sick ? I would like 
to know tho name of Youno Printer's paper. I 
agree With Gypsy Belle about piecing quilts. 
Some say It. Is only throwing lime uway, but I do 
nut lli I ok so. .ont: thing I know: it, Keep# some 
pcoplo out of mischief! I am a regular farmer 
girl, living on a farm out In tho cold, dreary State 
of Mlnnpoota, as somo call It,. But 1 would not 
exchange with any of you. If one winters are 
cold, we do have such good times. Think of the 
splendid sleigh rides we have! The frostier the 
air ls tho better wo enjoy the ride.— Mattie F. 
Saratoga County to the Front. 
Dear Cousins:—I have never seon any letters 
from this place, so 1 thought, that I would write 
ono. We have taken the Rural several years, 
and like It very much. I am a little girl, thirteen 
year# old. t go to school in winter, and some¬ 
times lu summer, but not very orten, as I have a 
TOUe and a-half to walk. I took my first, sleigh 
ride this morning, and enjoyed 11. very much. I 
navo mroo pets—two cat# and a dog. Both of my 
cats are black, and I could not tell them apart, 
only one lias a white spot on Its breast. Next 
time I write i’ll tell you about our Christmas tree. 
—Nellie W. 
[Nothing would be pleasanter than to have a 
full description of the Christmas tree.— Uncle 
True.] 
Information Wanted. 
Dear Editor:— We attended the Centennial at 
Philadelphia, and thought It grand. I hope you 
were there ulso, as every American citizen ought 
to have gone. We saw the great Corliss Engine, 
and It looked bo very largo Uiat I thought, It used 
a very large amount of steam to work It. We had 
corn In our yard twelve feet high. Do you not 
think that was very tall ? I have, a few questions 
to ask:—1. llow do you find the a-nswer to a 
Double Acrostic ? 2. Where did cauliflower orig¬ 
inate?^. v. h. 
[Who wishes to answer these questions ?— Uncle 
True.] _ 
Blue Jacket Finds the Hot Nest. 
Rural Friends:— I suppose 1 am not a Cousin, 
as I never have written to the Rural before, l 
think the Editor Is very kind to spare a corner of 
his paper to the young people. My father does 
not take tho Rural, so 1 do not have a uhance to 
read all the letters. I agree with D. B. about, ask¬ 
ing questions. 1 t hink the hottest town In Amer¬ 
ica Is In the southern part of Dade Co., Fla., but T 
do not know the name. Am I right? My ques¬ 
tion ls: It a man start at Cape Horn, and go di¬ 
rectly oast, what cape would be come to Orel ?— 
Blue J acker. _’_ 
Doe Run S«es tho Rural. 
Dear Cousins 1 havo Just been reading the 
boys’ and girls’ letters In the Rural, so I thought 
1 would write one myself. My grandpapa takes 
the dear old Rural, and I go up and read It. I 
grow more and more Inter'"rtf d in tbe Children’s 
I Column. I live In the country, about one mile 
from the village. Why don’t Youno Editor and 
Young Tom come again? I have been going to 
school, but am not attending this winter. My 
studies are Arithmetic, Geography, Spelling, His¬ 
tory, Writing, Drawing, &e. I made two visits to 
