pairing for t|c IJoung, 
THE BOY THAT LAUGHS. 
I know a funny little boy. 
The happiest ever born; 
His face Is like u beam of Joy, 
Although his clothes are torn. 
I saw him tumble on hU noBe, 
Anti waited for a groan; 
But how he laughed! Do you suppose 
He struck his t unny bone ? 
There's sunshine In each word he speaks, 
Hi.r laugh is something grand: 
Its ripples overrun hisjchecks, 
Like waves on suowy sand. 
He laughs the moment he awakes, 
And till the day is done; 
The schoolroom for a Joke he takes, 
His lesson* are but fun. 
No matter how the day may go, 
You cannot make him cry • 
He’s worth a dezeu boys I know. 
Who pout and mope and sigh. 
—George Cooper. 
- . 
TWO DAYS IN THE LIFE OF POPE 
HILDEBEAND. 
IT Is ft raw, bitter January day In the year ion; 
the snow lies deep on the plains of Northern Italy, 
and In the courtyard of ihe fortress of Canossa' 
Around the unopened gate cluster a throng of 
penitents In coarse linen dresses, awaiting the 
Pope's forgiveness; while apart from the rest 
stands a tall, noble-looking man of commanding 
presence, though barefooted and roughly clad as 
they. 
“Who Is yon pilgrim?” asked one penitent of 
another. 
“ Knowest thou not? ’Tls Henry, King of the 
Germans, whom our blessed Father excommuni¬ 
cated but a few mouths since; and lol already he 
Is driven from his kingdom, and forced to come 
hither In pilgrim's guise to beg Ills pardon. 
Mighty is the word of St. Poter!” 
Such was indeed the case. But a year before, 
this woful pilgrim had bn.eu tho proudest mon¬ 
arch of Europe, supreme from Saxony to the 
Rhine, boating down Silesian rebels, and mena¬ 
cing dethronement in tho Pope himself. But one 
word from the terrible “Hildebrand” lia<l blast- 
ed all his greatness, and the head of the Empire, 
chased from ills own dominions, his few friends 
slain or alienated, his beautiful wife all but dead 
from the multiplied hardships of a winter Journey 
across the Alps, had stood for three days, bare¬ 
footed and bareheaded, shivering in the cold be¬ 
fore his enemy’s barred gates. For Gregory VII. 
was not one to spare the man whom he hated one 
drop in the cup of degradation; and It WAS only 
at the entreaty of his faithful adherent the Count¬ 
ess Matilda (who had still a woman's pity for mis¬ 
fortune) that be ungraciously yielded at last. 
On the fourth morning the gloomy gate slowly 
opened, and the harsh voice of a low-born cardi¬ 
nal-exulting, like all mean natures, In the abase¬ 
ment of anything greater than himself—grated 
upon the silence: 
“Let the man who called nlmself Henry of Ger¬ 
many enter 1” 
And the stately figure came slowly forward, to 
prostrate itself at the feet of the little, bowed, 
gray-halred man within, and receive a grudging 
and scornful absolution. Even the rude spear¬ 
men who guarded the door turned their faces 
away with a momentary touch of pity when, an 
hour later, the insulted king came forth again, 
pledged to absolute submission and the holding 
of his very crown by the word of the Tope, but 
with a gleam In his dark eye that spoke of undy¬ 
ing hatred and future vengeance. 
Eight years later, any one who had mounted 
the walls of Rome, and looked abroad In the sunny 
spring weather, would have beheld a strange 
sight.. Far and wtdo around the ancient city the 
whole landscape Is alive with white tents, and 
fluttering pennons, and shining helmets, and the 
gleam countless Bpcar-heads, while the air rings 
with the neighing of horses and the shouts of 
men, snatches of discordant song, bursts of noisy 
laughter or savage blasphemy. King Henry has 
never forgotten or torglvcu that day’s work In the 
court-yard or Canossa; and he Is here to-day, 
with fifty thousand men at his back, to thank the 
Pope for his condescension. 
High above the trembling city, on a marble bal¬ 
cony that stands out Irom the huge gray mass of 
the Castle of St. Angelo, is a solitary figure—the 
figure of a white-haired old man. There are 
many wrinkles on the Iron visage since we last 
saw It; but even In the face of this deadly peril, 
it blenches not a whit. Haughty, valn-glorlous, 
merciless as he is, there lives no braver man on 
earth this day thau Gregory VII.; and t he deep 
musical voice Is still unfaltering as It murmurs 
the wordsof that grand old psalm with which ho 
has so orten defied the might of congregated 
nations: 
“ 1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people 
imagine a vain thing? 
•’ * The kings of the earth set themselves, and 
the rulers take counsel together against the Lord 
and against his Anointed. * * * 
“ ' He that slttoth in the heavens shall laugh; 
the Lord shall have them In derision.’ ” 
But that unshaken confidence is sorely tried on 
the following morning; Tor the rising sun shines 
upon foreign banners and hostile faces, not with¬ 
out the city, but within. The malcontents of the 
lower town, weary with the long siege, have 
opened the gates to the enemy during the night; 
and, in one great wave, the besieging hosts pour 
Into their enemy’s last stronghold, nigh over 
aU, in the blaze of Its costly armor, towers the 
: stately figure of the King, and with him are Llc- 
mar of Mentz and Luigi Sebaldo, fiercest and 
bloodiest of Lombard nobles, and many an old 
foe of the Church besides, and, midmost of the 
throng, Gulbert, the traitor Bishop or Ravenna, 
on his way to be installed, as Clement III.. In tbe 
place of the man whose haggard race looked down 
upon him from the ramparts of St. Angelo. 
“Ha, Holy Father!” shouted the King at the 
full pitch ol Ms mighty voice, as he looked up at 
the hated figure with a smile of gratified ven¬ 
geance. “ Come forth and give us thy blessing. 
’Tift thy turn to go on pilgrimage now.” 
It was the heaviest blow, and the last. Two 
months later,'at Salerno, a few obscure monks 
reverently drew the pail over the dead face be¬ 
fore which all Europe had trembled; and all that 
remained of the great Hildebrand was the bitter 
boast which history has made Immortal : 
“ I have loved righteousness and hated Iniquity; 
therefore do I die In exile.”— Ilenry Wells. 
-- 
LETTERS FROM BOYS AND GIRL8. 
The Embodiment of Wisdom. 
If any thoughtless, mistaken action on the part 
of girls could surprise me. the way in which some 
of them have referred to my former inoffensive 
little screed In these columns, would have done 
so. In It, l treated them with the forbearance 
and tenderness with which such giddy, helpless 
creatures should always be treated by those to 
whom Nature has been more bountiful in her 
blessings, mental and physical. While upbraid¬ 
ing the boys fur t he absence of originality in their 
letters, I was charitable enough not to look for 
any virtue of tho kind In those of tho other sex. 
The faculty of Imitation Ls not, a very noble one, 
Tls true, but then 'Ms often a very useful, amiable 
and endearing one, and often also highly amus¬ 
ing. The last point ls equally well Illustrated In 
the tricks of a monkey and the passion of a girl 
for being In the fashion. I liberally conceded 
that boys had no chance in competing with girls 
in this pleasant trait, yot, despite my generosity, 
some of them have been ungrateful enough to 
speak unkindly of me, 1 have often read, and 
more than once heard my brother 8am say, that 
their sex, though sometimes capable of displaying 
generosity, ls always Incapable of appreciating 
It, and while Inclined to believe the latter, r am 
no more disposed to blame them for their short- , 
coming in this respect than for their luck of a , 
heard. ’Tlsu’t their fault, poor things, that Na- , 
lure has been niggardly to them In these gifts, as , 
well as in several others. In spite of the verdant 
opinion of Rocky Mountain Joe, J am convinced ‘ 
that Young Teacher ls not a foolish old maid, but 
rather a very young one. Foolish old in aids are 
seldom to bo found In the teacher’s chair, but 
young ones are often placed there In the hope 
that years will bring them wisdom. She blames 
me for saying girls are light-headed, but knowing 
well that lead Is one of the heaviest of metals, I 
neither could nor did make a Charge so ridicu¬ 
lous. She Inquires reproachfully whether 1 ob¬ 
ject to her asking for a recipe for making pie¬ 
crust. I assure her heartily that neither in my £ 
former letter nor In tills could I bo capable ot 
reflecting on a question so sensible that neither 1 
she nor any or the other girlish correspondents 
has ever asked tt. She starts with a charitable 1 
doubt whether I am guilty of the awkwardness 
of an overgrown lad or the folly or having given c 
ono of her sex a chance of glvl ng me the mitten, 
and then, very consistently, jumps at the latter J 
nonsensical conclusion. From absurdity she turns 1 
easily to cant, and inquires whether I ever had a s 
mother, volunteering the superfluous remark that 
she never knew a person without one. if she ex¬ 
pected to learn from me that I am au exception 
to her experience In this respect, truth forces me 
to disappoint her. But, though I may regard my 
mother a3 the embodiment of all tbe virtues, It 
would be as Illogical, as false, to Inter, on phat '] 
account, that all the millions of women on I 
the earth are as richly endowed. A similar piece 
ot cant ls ofteu on t he tongues of many sensible 
women and of not, a few roollsh men. With this 
bit of criticism of a very girlish letter, I cease, for 
the present, to trespass on the space ot the dear 
old Rural.—Solomon Sap. 
4 
- c 
Look Out, Clrls ! 
Editor of Rural ;— Although not a Cousin, I 
read the letters from the Girls and Boys with 
great Interest, and have been much amused at 
the broadsides of wit and sarcasm poured upon 
those of the masculine gender who have had the t 
courage to expose themselves to the tender mercy j 
of tliu girls—tho girls, meanwhile, considering 
themselves Imbued with an admirable spirit of 
condescension In stooping to notice such “silly 
things,” and supposing, with infinite satisfac¬ 
tion, that they have vanquished every boy In 
Christendom. And the boys take It as I imagine 
Moses ot old would have done. The girls who are * 
severest In denouncing us, are the very ones who r 
would go a square outot tholr way to meet a good- ® 
looking boy, and who are. better versed in hand- u 
kerchief flirting than in their lessons or any otlier £ 
useful thing. One. girl ol my acquaintance la par- v 
ticuiarlyfondofcalllngboys “good-for-nothings,” I g 
“ silly,” Ac. Said girl never baa her Latin or Go- J v 
ornetry lesson learned, but has a habit ol eating 1 
slate pencils and washing her face lu buttermilk, 
beslle being cross as Xanticfe. These mu not v 
be characteristics of all girls who talk In a similar o 
way. Boys, lei’s stop this talk about quilts; for p 
my part, 1 would as soon sleep under a horse 
blanket as a quilt of 3,000 pieces. Now, If thegirls 11 
Impale me on their pins, I hope that Hayseed and si 
seme of the other sensible ones will back me. If 
Cecil thinks herself “ too bashful by half,” I won¬ 
der what she would say bad nature given her a 
rightful portion of bashfulness, for I think she ls 
bold enough to wear boots and part her hair on 
tbe side now.—N emo. 
Printed as Written. 
Dear Cousins;—! saw In the Rural of May 12 , 
a letter from Bashful Cecil, in which she refer¬ 
red to me as a girl; now I am very glad that she 
liked my letter, but the fact that I did not men¬ 
tion bed-qullts. lamp-male or ple-cruFt, ought to 
have made it obvious to her mind that I was not 
or the long-tongued sex; but then I suppose she 
was so overjoyed at my reeble attack on Y. B. and 
Y. E,, tnat she did not stop to think of that. I 
have composed a short poem on women and their 
tongues; perhaps she will not like that so well. 
Ahem ! here it ls: 
WOMEN AND THEIR TONGUES. 
Miss Cecil say* that boy* arc Hilly; 
And it must to her appear 
That they, like my donkey Billy, 
Have two feet or more of ear. 
And why such ears on their heads are hung;. 
It must to her appear 
That while a woman wage her tongue 
The men will have to hear. 
A woman’s tongue i* very long— 
Of course Miss Cecil knew; 
Therefore, muni think she Is not wrong 
In the comparison she drew. 
Now Bashful Cecil’s in the wrong, 
And she’s dull ns any old hatchet; 
For she thinks If a woman’s tongue is long. 
Our oars had ought to match it. 
A woman’s tongue is never small, 
But we are all right yet; 
For if we have no ears at all, 
We all their sense could get. 
—Slavebofconceit. 
Do Dogs Think ? 
Dear Cousins :— This Is the first time I have 
written, and J would like to be one of you. I uotlce 
that most of you tell about your pets, and 1 shall 
do the same. I have one old oat and one little 
Kitten, and I can make them both jump over my 
hands when I hold them up, and Jump through a 
hoop with paper around It. l have one dog, whom 
I call Tiger, bast summer, when 1 went bathing, 
he Jumped In after me and put bis paws around 
ray neck, and tried to pull me out, for lie really 
thought I was going to drown; and to hear him 
cry, when I disappeared beneath the water,would 
make you buret your sides laughing, as my play¬ 
mate told me afterward. I have some more pets, 
and shall tell you about them another time.— 
Wild Jack. 
MALTESE CROSS. 
Top.— 1. Burnt wood dust. 2 . A river of En¬ 
gland. 3. A consonant. 
Right,—1. A mountain peak of Europe. 2 . A 
metal. 3. A consonant. 
Bottom.—1. A country of Asia. 2 . To shake 
like a dog’s tall. 3. A consonant. 
Left.—l. The friend of Pythias. 2 , Noise. 3 . A 
consonant. 
Center.—Top, An insect (transposed). Right, 
To coax a favor. Bottom, To stop the mouth. 
Left, Something used in custard. Center, A con¬ 
sonant. 
Centrals form cities of Asia. 
cw Answer In two weeks. Little One. 
TRIPLE ACROSTIC. 
1. A sea. 2 . A division of Arabia. 3. Old. 4 . 
To get thin. S. A river of Europe. 6. Selection. 
Prlmals, centrals and finals form boys’ names. 
tzr Answer In two weeks. Balto. 
-»*<-— 
CENTRAL PUZZLE. 
— 
1. A stiokt substance. 2 . A ramble. 3. Leaps. 
4. A man ’8 name. 6 . A grain. 6 . A gold weight. 
Centrals form a season. 
Answer in two weeks. Mrs. D. 
DOUBLE ACROSTIC. 
1 . Necessary to life. 2 . Ancient Britons. 3. A 
boy’s nickname. 4. Sex. 5. A city of Canada. 
Prlmals and finals form two signs of the zodiac. 
Answer In two weeks. b 
PUZZLER ANSWERS.-May 26. 
Geographical Puzzle.—I was going on a Journey, 
so I went to prepare for it. First I bought a hood, a 
blue dress and a rod ribbon. I asked the man the 
price. He said ;t w«s a guiuea. I started, and I saw a 
Russian with a hnld head, and a boy throwing a stone 
at a turkey. 1 went to another More and bought u din- 
BEREAVEMENT. 
BY VIOLET FULLER. 
When our beloved ones are torn 
From life and all that life hold* dear, 
Can we restrain the starting tear f 
What is there left us but to mourn, 
And stretch out yearning hands to clasp 
Those hands of unreeponaive clay 
That meekly folded lie to-day 
Quiescent in Death’s fey grasp ? 
O Father! o'er each wounded heart 
Pour out thy balm from Heaven above. 
Thou gayest ue this human love, 
Thou knowest It Is hard to part; 
For Jesne wept o’er Lazarus dead, 
Hir tears of sacred pity fell 
Above the friend he loved so well. 
He will forgive the tears we shed, 
And on these tears of wild regret 
His light will shine serene and fair; 
A rainbow glory in the air, 
A bow of promise fairly set, 
That, arched above our sorrow's night. 
Assures us of a coming dawn, 
A land where lives the dear ones gone, 
Rejoicing in the great God-light! 
-- 
VIRTUOUS ENERGY. 
The first thing to be attended to ls to have It 
distinctly and explicitly graved Into the soul, that 
there Is only one thing that can give significance 
and dignity to humanity, viz., Virtuous energy; 
and that tills energy ls attainable only by ener¬ 
gizing. ir you imagine you are to be much help¬ 
ed by books, and reasons, and speculations, and 
learned disputations, in this matter, you are alto¬ 
gether mistaken. Books and discourses may In¬ 
deed awaken and arouse you, and perhaps hold 
up tbe sign ot a wise tlnger-post. to prevent you 
from going astray at the first start, but they can¬ 
not move you a single step on the road; It, ls your 
own legs only that can perform the journey; It Ls 
altogether a matter of doing. Finger-posts are all 
very well where you find them: but the sooner 
you can learn to do without them the better; for 
you will not travel long, depend upon it, before 
you come Into regions of moor, and mist, and bog, 
and far waste solitudes; and woo be to the way¬ 
farer, in such case, who has taught himself to 
travel only by finger-posts and mile-stones! You 
must have a compass of sure direction In your 
own soul, or you may be forced to depend for 
your salvation on some random saviour, who ls 
only a little less bewildered than yourself. 
Gird up your loins, therefore, and prove the all- 
important truth that as you learn to walk only by 
walking, to leap by leaping, and to fence by fenc¬ 
ing, so you can learn to live nobly only by acting 
nobly on every occasion that, presents Itself. If 
you shirk the first, trial or your manhood, you will 
come so much the weaker on the second; and If 
the next occasion, and the next again, fl ads you 
unprepared, you will Infallibly sink Into baseness. 
A swimmer becomes strong to stem tho ride only 
by frequently breasting the big waves. If you 
practice al ways In shallow waters, your heart will 
assuredly fal l you In the hour of high flood. Gen¬ 
eral notions about sin and salvation can do no 
good In the blessed life. As In a Journey, you 
must see mile-stone after mile-stone tall into 
your rear, otherwise you remain stationary; so, 
In the grand march of a noble life, one paltriness 
after another must disappear, or you have lost 
your chance.—Prat. Blackte. 
-■ - 
THOUGHTS FOR THINKERS. 
We do not believe lm mortality because we have 
proved it, but. we forever try to prove it because 
we believe 1 L—Marttneau. 
Nature has many perfections to show that It ls 
an Image of the Deity; and It has defects to show 
that It is but an Image.—Pascal 
Goon thoughts (though God accept them) yet 
toward men are little better than good dreams, 
except they be put in act.—Bacon. 
None are too wise to be mistaken, but few are 
so wisely just as to acknowledge and correct their 
mistakes; and especially the mistakes of preju¬ 
dice.— Barrow, 
Faith may sometimes exceed reason, but not 
oppose it; and belief may be often above sense, 
though not against it. Beware, therefore, not 
only ot an Implicit faith, but of being too closely 
tied up to reason, where faith ls required. 
Do little helpful things and speak helpful words 
whenever you can. They are better chan pearls 
Dr diamonds to strew along the roadside of life. 
They will yield a far more valuable harvest, as 
you will find after many days. 
An unsuspecting, unquestioning, unhesitating 
spirit, God delights to honor. He does not delight 
- - • - — — .. .v hum vwu* 14* u ujn- — — 
ft?®*' u , br ™ u cloak, ana a pearl; i In a credulous, weak, unstable mind. He gives 
weather, I hiuTjtd homr anS patUdYbol of !ro ! us IuU evidence when He calls and leads; but He 
tumline 'I'his Iw.* .... . .-.er .. a. .. .a . .* - __... _. ... ... 
visions. The box wu* made of codur; it contained 
salt, saliuoii, rod, milk, onion, buzzard, sutfar and rat- 
sin It liwraii to clear oil', so I bade mv friends fare¬ 
well. and taking a lily which was in full bloom, fora 
friend, departed. 
Cross-word Enigma.— Mobile, Lowell. Toledo. 
SvNuOPATiONs.-l, When, wen; 2. Whist, whit; 3, 
WUt, wit; 4, Wore, woe, 5, Wring, wiuir; 6, Trip, tip; 
-.Tran tap: 8. Turn, ton; w. Three, thee; in, Tiger* 
tier* 11,Tine, be , 13, Thine, tine; 13. Paint, pant; 14, 
Pond.pod; 15, Pole,Poe; 18,Poet,pot; 17, Point,pint. 
tuxi"on BLE AcK08Trc - — Initials, Cornelius; finals, Cen- 
Historioal Enigma. —As drinks have their (Irons 
so does every life have it* sediment, 
expects to find In us what He Himself bestows— 
an open ear and a disposed heart.— Cedi. 
The design of God In placing the soul within a 
material body was, doubtless, to secure for It a 
proper limitation. Both soul and body are en¬ 
dowed with matchless qualities. They are both 
God’s creaLlon. They are both God’s possession. 
Both suffered the curse of sin; and both were re¬ 
deemed by the Lord Jesus, who came not to save 
the soul alone from death, but also to ransom the 
body from the grave. 
