352 
THE RURAL WEW-YORKER. 
<3Ufj£ 2 
HUaMitjj for t|r imurg, 
THE THREE KINGDOMS. 
King Frederick William of Prussia walked la the 
fair prc.cn fielda one day, 
W hen trees and flowers were fresh with the life that 
wakes in the month of May, 
And as he walked, *twaa with Joy he saw the violet’s 
shady lied, 
The primrose pale, and the wind-flower fair, and the 
bmih-tasKols overhead. 
'Veil Pleased was he to have left awhile Berlin’s gay 
and crowded street., 
And foixet for a time his kingly cares ’mid the blos- 
soining hedgerows sweet, 
And laying aside his royal robes, unnoticed to walk 
abroad, 
Tolearn, from the. beauty of fields and flowers, new 
lessons of Nature’s God. 
Spring sunshine flickered across his path, as he strode 
through the leafy glade, 
Till he name to a glen where ia Joyous group of village 
children played, 
Gathering cowslips with eager haste, as happy as hap¬ 
py eould be, 
And the King looked on till his heart grew gay their 
gayety to see. 
He called them at last all round him there, in the 
mossy, flower-strewn dell, 
Ami soon they esmo clustering about him, for they 
know Ids kind face well, 
Then, smiling, he held up an orange that there chanced 
in his hand to be: 
“ To which of the throe kingdoms does this belong 
my little folks?” said lie. 
There was silence awhile to the question, till a bright 
little fellow said, 
"To the vegetable kingdom, your Majesty." Tbc King 
lie nodded his head; 
"Well said! Guile right! Now the oraugo shall he 
your own, toy bravo little man!’’ 
So saying, lie tossed it to him, crying out., •• Catch my 
COWSlip hall if you can!" 
Then gaily the King in the sunshine a crown-pieco held 
up to view : 
“Now to which of the kingdoms does this belong! 
W'lm guesses shall have this too." 
“ To the mineral kingdom, your Highness," a little lad 
quickly replies; 
As the silver coin in the sunlight shone, so sparkled his 
eager eyes. 
" answered, so here’s your crown,” said.the King, 
and placed the crown in his hand. 
While around him the other children delighted and 
wondering stand, 
“One question more I will ask," said the King, “and i 
’tin neither hard nor long; 
Now tell me, my little people all, to which kingdom do 
1 belong f" ( 
was a very zealous man, and he made them say 
their cathechlsm right through, from " What Is 
your name, N. or M.?" to the very last word. 
“ This is very tiresome," said Fred to himself; 
“we shall never have a nice whirr all to our¬ 
selves.” 
“Please, sir,” says John, out, aloud, “we are 
going to ho examined by the school teacher in 
mental arithmetic—not In theology." 
“ Ah," says the good pastor, “ but theology for¬ 
tifies the mind tOr anything." 
At last ho lot them go, but his dog suspected 
them, and sniffed round them in a very suspicious 
manner. 
“Thank goodness he is gone!” said the two 
boys, and, sitting down upon a log, they lit and 
began to puff their cigars. 
“ Isn’t it lovely ?” said John. 
“ Oil, isn’t It Just that ?” said Fred. 
“Then they said “Jolly,” and “Prime,” and 
“Blooming,” and "Screaming,”and “First-rate.” 
The more John and Fred smoked, the more they 
thought they lilted It. 
“ I say, Fred,” said John, “ 1 feel my head get¬ 
ting clearer and clearer every minute; J am sure 
I shall win a prize.” 
“So shall I,” said Fred; “my head is getting 
bigger and bigger. 1 can reel It swelling at the 
temples.” 
“Then they said “Jolly,” and “Screaming,” 
and such-llke, over and over again, and they felt, 
their heads growing bigger every minute. Only 
there was a servant-girl bclonglngto the house at 
the back, who was looking over the wall and 
watching them. 
"Dear me,” says she, “I declare those are the 
very boys that stole our golden pippins the other 
day." 
Then, having had a good look at them, she went 
to her master and said: 
“Master, here are the two young scamps that 
stole your pippins the other day.” 
“ <Jll < a,,(1 they V” said he, smacking his lips, for 
he was very proud ul his pippins. Ho he went to 
a cupboard and got a whip, and cracked It suv- 
agely, and sang a song about the beard of Barba- 
rossa, and other things that people usually sing 
about when they look forward to having a good 
time. 
the Rural. Dear Cousins, as this is my first at- 
1 tem Pt to write a letter for publication, you will 
please excuse any mistakes. Young Orator. 
Sensible Advice. 
Mr. Editor in your late Issue, I see consid¬ 
erable “ado” made by certain young corres- 
ponderita, about, Young Ehitor. as well as about 
others. Now, they should remember that there 
are two Young Editors—Nos. l and two. I sub¬ 
scribe myself as tho No. 2 . So, your correspon¬ 
dents should be particular about always express¬ 
ing the numeral appendage, and thus have a 
means of contradistinction. 
That quilting controversy Ls getting old. Sup¬ 
pose it, be dropped, Si.aykkokconckit thinks him¬ 
self quite a warrior. Suppose he give us a pre¬ 
amble, setting forth the causes in detail why he 
uses his weapons so unsparingly. Bless mel if 
there isn’t an Oregon cousin joining In the chorus. 
Now, if some one should rise up from South Caro¬ 
lina, Florida and Louisiana, why, they could form 
quite a returning board! Suppose, for a change 
from the quilt lug business, that the cousins give 
some April fool experiences. A change of diet 
often has good eff ects. Young Editor No. 2 . 
Look Out Boys! 
Dear Rural:—As my last letter was printed, I 
am attempting to write again to l,he cousins. As 
for piecing quilts, I too think the girls are all 
right, and the boys hail better keep quiet, or they 
will get a worse lecture than before. T think 
Rocky Mountain Jok talks entirely too hard 
about the girls, l think we are asking more 
questions than we arc answering, T cannot answer 
any of the questions that have been asked, so I 
will ask one—a Bible question: Who was smote 
In the temple with a nail V—Ai.uk T. 
That’s Right, Joe! 
Dear Cousins;— For my part.,! am glad, this 
bed-quilt fever has abated. I think it Just as 
well for us boys to ask, If we should plant our 
com In diamonds or drills, us It Is lor girls to talk 
about quilts all the time. Wake up, Hoi.umon 
SAr! don’t let the girls drive you completely out 
of the Held. I have heard it remarked that wo¬ 
man’s tongue was the longest. I suppose that ls 
one reason girls write the most.— Rocky Moun¬ 
tain Joe. 
In the group of little ones gathered there stood a tiny 
blne-uycd child; 
Full of thoughtful grace was ’her childish face, like a 
starry primrose mild; 
Wistfully gazing into his face, Nvitli an earnestness 
B vvoot til flee, 
simply she answered the King, "I think to the king- 
dom of Heaven," said she. 
King I rcdcrick stooped down, and in his arms took 
the little maiden then, 
And kissing her brow, he softly said, " Amen, dear 
child. Anion,” [ J. E . Brnd<M. 
-- 
HOW JOHN AND FEED COMPETED. 
We hear much In these days of the Ill-effects or 
excessive study. But John and Fred were two 
strong, sturdy boys, and their parents were not 
unwilling to let them go to the school to compete 
for a prize. Tiffs Was a competition In mental 
arithmetic that, the school teacher had tried to 
get Up among the boys i n the town, lie was very 
part la 1 to arithmetic, and had promised prizes to 
the best, boys. 
Mind you go straight to the school teacher’s 
house, said the good father. “ Don’t you loiter 
on the road." 
“ No, father," said John, “ we never do loiter.” 
The father frowned and took John by the col¬ 
lar, and was going to give him a shako; but the 
mot her 1 nterposed, saying, 
“ Fred, how many is twelve times twelve?” 
“A hundred and forty-four, even If you divide 
by nineteen," said Fred. 
“ Quite right,” said the rather. “ Don’t you go 
smoking cigars, as you did the other day." 
“ Wonderful boys, ours,” said the mother; “ they 
will be sure to win lr their health will stand the 
mental strain. But 1 have heard that competi¬ 
tive examinations are very severe nowadays.” 
“ I say,” said John, on the road, “ I have heard 
that tobacco lightens the wits, and mother says 
the mental strain Is very great. Lot us go and 
buy a cigar apiece—a big one, such as the school 
teacher smokes.” 
“ Certainly,” said Fred, “ If it makes the school 
teacher clever, so It will us." 
They then went to a shop kept by a poor old 
woman who had her face tied up for the tooth¬ 
ache. so that she was rather deaf. She was some¬ 
what surprised to see such little customers for 
big cigars, so she said: 
“ Who are these for?” 
“ Ain’t you a pretty fair guesser ?” asked John, 
evading the question. 
“ Oh," says the woman, “ for the school teacher, 
are tUey ?” So off they went. 
As they were passing along a green lane, they 
came full butt against the minister, with his dog. 
Then they hid the cigars behind their backs. lie 
All this while the heads or John and Fred were 
1 spreading wider and wider, and their stomachs 
were coming up higher and higher. At last they 
could bear it no longer, and they began to com¬ 
pete at once in being very sick. Now, the man 
who had lost the pippins was an unmerciful old 
curmudgeon, and he said to himself. “Yah. yah, 
they can’t escape mo now l" No he came round' 
from the garden wall and pitched into them with 
the whip. “ J’u cure you or being slelc under my 
apple-trees!” said he. Ho they had to leave off 
being sick In order to attend to the thrashing he 
gave them. 
As soon ms they thought the meeting at the 
school teacher’s was over, they sueuked home, 
looking the color of very poor tallow-candle*. 
“ Have you won prizes ?” asked tho father. 
“I’m sure they haven’t, poor things, they look 
solll; it’s the severity of tho competition," said 
the mother. 
The father was very Indignant. “ I shall peti¬ 
tion tho President about It,” said he. 
Now, in their first sleep, John and Fred tossed 
some of their clothes off. When their mother 
came In she had a look at them, and theu went 
down stairs and said to her husband : 
“ These competitive examinations must be put 
a stop to. Tho severity or the school teacher’s 
questions has brought out poor John and Fred In 
black and blue snipes. You had better write to 
the President at once." 
The next morning, just as the father was in the 
middle of a long letter to t he President, imploring 
him to Interfere, In walked the minister, who had 
heard the whole story. “ It Is difficult to know 
what to do with such depraved boys,” said the 
minister, •• but 1 can at leust hear them say their 
catechism over again.” Ho he did. and John and 
Fred hated him very much, and they went and 
stole some more golden pippins, and smoked some 
more cigars as soon as ever they had a chance, 
and they wore very bad boys, and smelt of tobac¬ 
co, and had the headache, and behaved more and 
more like curs every day of their lives. 
LETTERS FROM BOYS AND GIRLS. 
Eastern Pennsylvania Oratory. 
Dear Cousins —that Is, If f may be admitted 
as one:—1 guess I live in a part of the world that 
you don’t hear from. I live in Northeastern Penn¬ 
sylvania, on a farm, and am what the Cousins 
would call a farmer’s boy. I read the letters 
from the boys and girls, and think some ol them 
very silly, and others of them very good. Home 
of the Cousins tell about their pets, after some 
one else has tamed them for them; then they 
tell what nice pets they have got. Now, I have a 
pair of young crows that 1 am taming myselr. I 
should llko some of the boys or girls to get some¬ 
thing that ls wild anl tame It themselves, and 
then tell us of their success. Fll tell you by-and- 
by how my pets get along. I should like to ask 
the Cousins If they ever helped to get up an Ex¬ 
hibition, and how they liked it. I have helped to 
get up four or five of them, and llkcd^t very well. 
Now, boys and girls, let’s leave off quarreling, 
and all Join together in having a good time, and, 
with the permission of Uncle Mark, make this 
corner the best and most entertaining portion of 
A Reader Though Young. 
Mr. Editor : -I see there are a great many boys 
and girls write to you, so 1 thought I would write 
a few lines. T am a little girl twelve years old, 
and 11 ve two miles from Barnesvllle. We take the 
Rural, and like It very well. I like to read the 
boys' and girls’letters. There ls no school now, it 
begins soon, l like to piece quilts, i am piecing 
my third one. 1 have written enough for the first 
time, so good-night.— m. m. b. 
GEOGRAPHICAL ENIGMA. 
I am composed of SO letters: 
My o, 3, 48, 33 , 53, 2 , 23, l, is, 26 , 73 a town of Lux¬ 
emburg. 
Mj 4, 11, 10, 12, 72, 32, 28, 67, 30, 38 a town Of 
France. 
My 0, 00 , 40, 36, 60 , 20 , 13, 44, 65 a town of Flanders. 
My 17, 40, ol, 50, 27, 28 , 63, 69, 24 a city of Holland. 
yMy 22, 41, 43, 21 , 80, 2S, 3,16 a town of Germany. 
My 16 , 71, ifl, 2 o, 30.74 , 5, 44, 37 a town of Ilalnault. 
My 51, 09, 6, 02, 14, 31, 20, 49, 35, 58, 65 , 46, 7, 70 a 
town oi Haxony. 
My 54, 39, 17, 29, 42, 48, 06. 16 , 59, 66, 61, 64 , 36, 57 a 
town of Saxes. 
My 75, 32, 28 , 26 , 80 , 71 an Island off the coast of 
Norway. 
My 6, 11, 77, 67 a town of Croatia. 
My 20, 75, 52, 43 a river of Carinthla. 
My 68, 76, 63 a tow u of France. 
My 45, 34, 47, 64 a river of Bavaria. 
My whole ls an extract from Rasselas. 
!£f~ Answer In two weeks. Little One. 
--- 
RIDDLE. 
A monosyllable I am, a reptile I vow, 
If you take me apart 1 am syllables two; 
I’m English, I’m Latin, I’m one or the other, 
What’s English for one hall is Latin lor t’other. 
Answer in two weeks. Port Crane. 
LONG LIVING. 
1 - •_ 
'■ He liveth long who liveth well! 
t All other life is short and vain; 
e He liveth longest who can tell 
Of living most for heavenly gain. 
He liveth long who liveth well! 
All else is being flung away; 
1 He liveth longest who can tell 
Of true things truly done each day. 
-- *■•*■■* - 
THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST. 
The following description was found lr. an an- 
' dent manuscript sent.by PubliusLentullus, Presl- 
• dent of Judea, to the Senate of Rome: 
“ There lives at this time, In Judea, a man of 
1 singular character, whose name ls Jesus Christ. 
rim barbarians esteem liltn as their prophet; but 
! ,1,s followers adore him as the Immediate offspring 
of the Immortal God. He is endowed with such 
unparalleled virtue as to call back the dead from 
their graves, and to heal every kind or disease 
wit h a word or touch. Ills person ls tall and ele¬ 
gantly shaped; Ills aspect, amiable and reverent; 
his hair grows In those beauteous shades which 
no united color can match, falling In graceful 
curls below his ears, agreeably couching on his 
shoulders and parting on the crown of his head; 
Jils dress Ls or t he sect of NazarlU-s; his forehead 
ls smooth and large; his cheeks without either 
spot, save that of lovely rod; his nose and mouth 
are formed with exquisite symmetry; bis beard 
is thick and suitable to the hair of bis head, reach¬ 
ing a little below his chin, nod parting In the 
middle like a fork ; his eyes arc bright, clear and 
serene. He rebukes with mildness, and Invites 
with the most tender, persuasive language; his 
whole address, whether In word or deed being 
elegant, grave, and strictly characteristic of so 
exalted a being. No man has ever scon him 
la ugh; but the whole world beholds him weep 
frequently; and so persuasive are his tears, that 
the whole multitude cannot, withhold their tears 
from Joining In sympathy with him. He ls mod¬ 
est, temperate and wise. In short, whatever the 
phenomenon may turn out In the end, lie seems at 
present to be a man of excellent beauty and di¬ 
vine perfections, every way surpassing men.” 
-——- 
THE SABBATH. 
The Sabbath gives us a new start In our life 
Journey. It counteracts the gravitation of sin 
and sense and Mammon, and sends us forth again 
with new enthusiasm, thanking God t hat we are 
training for something nobler than this earth 
can give. Wo are in our lives like a school-boy 
learning to write, and every week Is a page In 
our copy-book. On the first line the Ixml Jesus 
has set before us his own beautiful example, and 
we start out to Imitate It. But as we go down 
line after line, we too largely lose sight of that 
which he has written, and when we gel to the 
bottom It ls all Irregular and blot ted, and the page 
Is blistered with our loirs of regret. Then comes 
the Lord’s day again; and Jesus, speaking to us 
words of Cheer, turns over the page and lakes the 
pen once more, giving us another pattern, and we 
are comforted and encouraged. Ho we try again. 
Thus page after page Is covered, It ls poor work 
enough, but the penmanship Improves a little 
every time, and It Is much bettor at, the end of the 
book than at the beginning, lor at the bottom of 
the last page the Master writes, “ Well done.” 
-- 
FAITH A CONQUEROR. 
Spiritual faith ls a wonderful conqueror. It 
subdues all mighty and multiplied obstacles which 
oppose themselves to the soul’s deliverance from 
sin. It vanquishes Its sell-righteousness, which 
ls loth to be luld aside as worthless; It annihi¬ 
lates its prtne, which stoutly resists the humiliat¬ 
ing surrender required by the Gospel; it triumphs 
finally over Its natural unbelief which cavils first 
at the efficiency of Christ’s atonement and then 
at the personality ot It. When It has thus sub¬ 
dued, by 11s blessed energy, the last obstacle to 
the soul’s bumble and hearty reception of Christ, 
a vital and spiritual union takes place between 
the soul and Christ, In which and through which 
springs that divine peace which ls the sure effect 
of this principle In Its perfect operation. 
THE LIGHT OF THE CROSS. 
TRANSPOSITION. 
Viles fo treag uem lal merdln su 
Ew yarn kame rou ovlls busmlle, 
Dan, pedartgln, veale behind su 
Tooftrlnps ni het danss lo mite. 
Answer In two weeks. Dr. 
♦ * ♦ 
PUZZLER ANSWERS.—May 19. 
Biblical Enigma.— 
“ What various hindrances we meet, 
In coming- to the mercy seat! 
Yet who that knows the worth of prayer 
But wishes to be often thero ?" 
Diamond Puzzle.— 
e 
ILL 
ELIOT 
LOT 
T 
Word-square Enigma.— 
hail 
acre 
IRON 
#; hSSfom AU<!4. Lydia ’ Iphi * CDia ’ Clari88a ’ 
The cross of Christ Is the great central point In 
the moral history ot our race. Upon It there 
shines tUe dlvlnesl splendors of glory, and from It 
are radiated, to the extreinest circumference of 
time’s mighty circle. Innumerable beams of grace, 
which are effectual In dispelling the moral dark¬ 
ness and stn-gloom ol every soul Into which they 
shiue, Men huve Ingeniously set up other lights, 
and proclaimed their efficiency to guide the soul 
to heaven; but not one of all these human devices 
can dart a single clear ray beyond the borders of 
the shadowy lund. They are false lights, and the 
damps of the grave extinguish them forever. 
Wk naturally know what ls good, but naturally 
pursue what ls evil; the rhetoric wherewith I 
persuade another, cannot persuade myself.— Sir 
Thomas Browne. 
The bright side of things ls the one we do not 
see In this world, but for all that, It exists.— Eu¬ 
genie de Guerin. 
Our chief want In life—is It not somebody who 
can make us do what we can 1 —Emerson. 
