228 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
pairing for % JJouitg, 
THE LARK. 
A BOHEMIAN SONG. 
Alb in a lordly garden. 
And in the suu and shade, 
Among the flower-beds weeding, 
With fingers torn and bleeding. 
There went a little maid. 
The lark Loheld her overhead . 
“ Why da you sigh 7" he sang or said, 
“ And why are you afraid ?” 
“Beeanse I am in danger— 
(But who Is corning ? llarlt !) 
As you would soon discover, 
If they hud taken your lover, 
And In a dungeon dark, 
Where neither sun nor moou can shine, 
Had shut htui up, as they have mine; 
You pretty little lark ! 
“ If 1 had but u pen, now, 
I would a letter write; 
For ink 1 would notlinger, 
It drips from every finger; 
Nor would I heed the night— 
The glow worm would give light to me, 
And you ruy messenger would lie, 
And love would wiug your Bight! 
“ I weed among the roses, 
With many a sigh and tear; 
The glow-worm lights its taper, 
But I have no pen, no paper, 
To write a letter here. 
Fly to him, then, and toll him this: 
‘ She loves you, and she sends a kiss— 
A kiss to you, my dear !”' 
If. H. Stoddard. 
■-- 
FEELINGS OF THE FIRST MAN 
WHO WAS ASKED TO SWALLOW AN OYSTER. 
BY “BIVALVE." 
Ilow' should I know his feelings? 
This Is the nest question that doubtless occurs 
tx> you, as It did to me. 1 knew that I wasn’t the 
nrst. man who was asked to swallow an oyster, 
and I gave It up as almost impossible to discover 
the gentleman who once performed that Impor¬ 
tant duty. But one day I was down by the sea- 
coast, where I met an old, gray-lialred man, who, 
after some conversation, disclosed to me the fact 
that lie was the loug-lookcd-for man. Other per¬ 
sons may think that they have long since found 
the first man Who was asked to swallow an oys¬ 
ter, but they art mistaken —I have found him. 
Eureka! 
The mime of tills wonderful personage, 1 was 
Informed, Is Smith— minus the usual handle John 
—Chaklkb Smith, sura&tned “Mollusk.” As be- 
rore Intimated, he Is a gentleman far advanced 
In years, somewhere up among the nluotlos. 
Putting ou thu appearance of an interviewer, 1 
learned the following Important facts relative to 
our subject: 
“ It. was long, long years ago," began the aged 
Mr. Smith, “ when J had the privilege, or rather 
mortification, oi itrat swallowing an oyster. Being 
down by the beach, I there mol, an old purd, who 
vowed that, i was afraid to cut one of those ‘con¬ 
temptuous bivalves down thar,’ pointing to an 
oyster habitat, 1 refuted this statement, and to 
prove my willingness to try a few of the species, 
1 procured three good-sized oysters one afternoon, 
and after cooking Hu m for about ten minutes, 
placed them In cold water, thinking they would 
taste more agreeably when fixed up In that fash¬ 
ion. I put a tork through the smallest of the 
‘ Greeters, ’ and thought 1 would test its sortnesa 
with my teeth before eating. 1 did so; and the 
oyster ilia something too. With the cool raws of a 
piece of ice, It started downward before I was 
ready—not that I was going too, but 1 wasn’t 
ready for It to leave so soon—I wanted t.lme tor 
examination. The oyster slipped so sottly and 
noiselessly down my throat that I hardly knew 
that It had gone, but I could fed it. Ob! it was 
cold, ’most froze,—’twas In December, you see. 
Why, I thought If It was so wnluborlous and such 
little trouble to eat, oysters, 1 might, as well dis¬ 
pense with my tooLh, tongue and eating apparatus 
entirely. 
“The. next oyster that I decided to try I exam¬ 
ined closely In my hand (not, tn my mouth) before 
devouriug. i thought, l would equalize lt,s tem¬ 
perature by putting a little pepper on it. 1 did 
su—so did the oyster; that Is, It peppered me. I 
put the morsel to my mouth and let It slide. But 
the oyster ‘got shod’ or the pepper and Macad¬ 
amized my throat with it halt-way down. Alas! 
Alas 1! my experience thus far had been dread¬ 
ful. l determined to try It In a different way. 
All my previous exploits had been splendid fail¬ 
ures. This tune, H it proved to bo a failure also. 
It should be my last attempt. So, with a hold 
face, but with an aching stomach, I sailed in once 
more. 
“ Tills oyster was going to be the oyster—the 
others had been naughts. I now commenced over 
again. A small bivalve having been soaked in 
hot water (the programme had been changed), I 
sliced It up in quarters, and seasoned with salt, 
vinegar and a sprinkling of—sugar and butter, 
which, by the way, proved to be respectively Sweet 
and Rlt'owj ingredients, Qne at, a time the quar¬ 
ters slid down my throat, which they cleared of 
pepper as they journeyed. JL Is needless to say 
that the oysters tasted better—Quite an Improve¬ 
ment. I was satlBtled. Those oysters were de¬ 
licious, with which belief 1 went to bed. 
“Now. I’d like to stop right here," said Mr. 
Smith, “but justice forbids, Well, you see, I had 
OCT. 6 
swallowed three oysters, and—but—but (there 
are huts in everything) the truth Is, that night, 
In the language of Mask Twain, l believe I threw 
up my Immortal soul, and With it the oysters! I 
have arrived at this conclusion—oysters are de¬ 
licious when cooked properly, when not swallow¬ 
ed whole, and when not seasoned with sugar and 
vinegar.” 
Thus ended the old man’s story. 
--- 
AN ORIGINAL SHORT STORY AND A TRUE 
ONE. 
BY YOUNG KAKMBRINE. 
Biographies of wise men, or those noted for their 
great talents, are useful for the lessons they af¬ 
ford. “ Plutarch's Lives’’ seem to mo to be full of 
instruction. The sayings of Solon, 8ockatk« and 
Plato, and other ancient philosophers, touch upon 
subject* which are often presented to us, but, of 
which we, unaided, cannot form an opinion. 
While one Is a child, all that, he reads makes an 
Impression deeper than in after years; and so we 
that are young should seek such reading as will 
make us wiser, better, and more thoughtful. 
LETTERS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS. 
abkt| ^Uabiitg, 
LOVE NOT THE WORLD. 
“If any man love the world, the love of the Father 
is not in him."—1 John ii., 15. . “Noman can serve 
two masters. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."— 
Matthew vi., 4. 
Comic Lack, my thoughts! I kneel in prayer. 
And fain would meet ray Saviour there 
I lowly bend my reverent knee. 
And, Lord, 1 seek—in truth—seek Thee. 
Tijeke were two of them. Their names were 
Prince and Frank. The children called the 
latter Ben. Franklin, one was large and black, 
and the other small and brown. There seemed a 
deep feeling of enmity between, thorn. Occasion¬ 
ally they wrestled, and frolicked, and played in a 
most amiable way and seemed to exhibit as much 
love for each other its one dog l>i capable ot outer- 
t,sluing for another dog. Hut It proved but a 
pro tarn reeling after all. And lo! a change 
came, as changes ever come to beasts as well as 
men. Three times the small brown pet was 
rescued from t he Jaws of death, or in other words 
the black dog’s mouth. 
Frank was not, free from tantalizing ways. 
Ills life was a lazy one. Not so Prince’s. Ifo 
dally turned the wheels of t he machinery which 
turned the sweet, rich cream Into delightful, 
goldon-hued butter. For this reason he did not, 
roam the fields at the pleasure of his own swlrt 
feet. Frank knew and to)k sly-dog advantage of 
his confinement, and many were theseomlngly In¬ 
telligent ways he contrived to taunt, his superior- 
sized foe; but only when Ills enemy’s glittering 
white teeth were separated from him by a stout 
board fcnco. And that fence now hoars telling 
marks of where Prince fought out bis angry 
feelings. But the time to revenge his long-tried 
feelings came at la.t. The precautionary 
measures so long used to keep the dogs separated 
at night were overlooked; and, In the silent hours 
or thuL quiet summer-night, when the children 
dreamt notol danger, Prince, by right of greater 
strength, slew his enemy. We knew our loss 
next morning, and he was a peaceful dog then. 
Prluco has been dog-monarch over since. Not, 
another lias usurped bis lights In any way. Wc 
missed our pet Frank. 
-- 
THAT “ FIRST MAN.” 
The first man who was asked to swallow an oys¬ 
ter might have been Adam, but I dou’t, say It was. 
I don’t even say It was any one Of our yrcul men. 
not, the ones that, lower the scales with four hun¬ 
dred and fifty pounds, avoirdupois. Columbus, 
when lie landed, may have stumped ills ** great 
toe" against a mollusk In Its shell, and thinking 
It a new sort of nut,, peculiar to America’s soil, 
eaten It ou the sly ; but I dou’t say he, did. The 
Indian braves may have wandered along the bil- 
lowy-tossed bUui’cn finding and eating the deli¬ 
cious bits In all their pristine ppotf-huss; but, did 
they 7 Again, may not the first man have been a 
woman ? What, positive assurrance Is there that, 
the first, person swallowing the oyster was a man ? 
At all events a woman prepared and gave It him 
to eat, and he did out and say “ o, Nancy Jane, 
but this Is rich, go tlx yourself just, some of slch !” 
In Reply to Number Six of “ Proclamation.” 
Mow can a tmy possibly know anything about 
croquet, 7 A boy who never indulges lu a game 
unless a fair lady assists him, and only then that, 
he may study the graceful curves of the dainty 
foot set occasionally upon a ball, or watch the 
crimson wavos ot color sweep across the pretty 
cheeks, at his oommoh-plftoe compliments. A 
croquet-ground Is a right royal place to filrt,, and 
nobly does Ae improve tlio opportunity. if fortu¬ 
nate enough to win the game, then, oh ! then, do 
we all learn of his dexterity and knowledge. 
nan we learn how well he plays and understands 
the game ol wwo-quet. Then again, his spare 
moments being occupied with base-ball or batl- 
hase, whichever It Is, how can he, when he does 
play croquet, ever know whether It Is “ much of 
a game” or hot 7 Young Farmekine, 
THOUGHTFUL SUGGESTIONS. 
Dear Rural:—T here la a part of one’s mind 
which Is peculiar to one’a-self aloue; yet leaving 
this out,, are wo not formed by opinions and sen¬ 
timents which we Irnblbo from what we read? 
Authors who are no longer living, from the grave 
exert an influence upon us by the works they 
leave. Very many of our thoughts we get directly 
from them, or else they are suggested by them. 
Byron speaks of 
“ The dead but sceptered sovereigns, who still rule 
Our spirits from their urns” 
He means the Influence which the records of 
their deeds exert upon us and the thoughts they 
suggest; perhaps, a certain awe we feel even 
toward the tombs which contain their ashes. 
It would he hard If we had to acquire by experi¬ 
ence, all the wisdom we possess; so It Is fortu¬ 
nate for us that we can protit by tho experience 
ot others which they have recorded. The benefit 
of reading History comes, not rrom a knowledge 
of the facts or ovenla, hut from seeing the connec¬ 
tion between them; from knowing that such a po¬ 
litical measure will produce such an effect,. This 
Is wisdom, rather than knowledge, and Is Inval¬ 
uable to a statesman, for then he kuowa from the 
experience of other nations, how to mako laws 
for Ills own country. It Is, therefore, Important 
to read thoughtful books of pure, moral tone. 
A Visit to My Cousin. 
I ii ah rur some time a great, desire, and also 
many Invitations, to visit one of my Cousins, liv¬ 
ing by the tails of a beautiful river nearly 8<m> 
miles west or my homo; but, the summer 1 intend¬ 
ed te go, mother also formed her plans of going 
on a visit to her friends In the east and. of course 
I was obliged to submit to clrcumstan les, as fath¬ 
er could not afford lo supply us all with traveling 
money. 
But the young mind is always busy In contriv¬ 
ing a way, and as I was, Irurn a child, a great alr- 
costle builder, I soon had one built which suited 
mo and also suited my sister who, of course, In¬ 
tended to go with mo. It was simply tills: 
Artcr mother had gone, say about In the month 
of September, we would take one of our horses 
which was quite a fast traveler, and drive up 
across the country. 
Our minds wore busy with the subject more 
than hall of the time, while our hands were busy 
with the various din les of farm life. 
Well, at length mother had gone, and all the 
harvest, work was tlulshod. My oldest sister was 
at home, to keep house, and so wc thought It, about 
time 1 1 brooch the subject to father. We soon 
gained fils consent upon tho subject, (as lie had a 
great dual of confidence in Ills girls,) and one 
beautiful autumn morning you might have seen 
three very busy girls: my sister Nell and I get¬ 
ting ourselves ready for our Journey, and my 
other sister putting up our provisions. 
At, 5 o’clock A. M., wo wore off, t wo of the hap¬ 
piest girls this side of the Rocky Mountains. We 
were not afraid te drive our horse rant, as It was 
so strong, and It was such a lovely, cold autumn 
day. And soul noon, when we stopped to rest 
and toed our horse, we were H miles from home. 
Well, after resting about an hour, we proceeded 
on, enjoying tbe scenery very much as wc drove 
along, and at fl O’clock slopped at a very pleasant- 
looklng farm bouse where, after a little explana¬ 
tion, wo were kindly welcomed and made com¬ 
fortable (or tho night. Wo round ourselves then 
so miles from home. 
The family were very agreeable, uud the next 
morning when wc bade them adieu, with prom¬ 
ises to stop on our way home, wo felt as though 
we were parting from old friends. Wc proceeded 
on our Journey at about the same rate as on the 
previous day, passing through numerous pretty 
villages and by many beautiful (arms, stopping 
at about the same hour in the evening to rest lor 
the night at another nice farm, and glad to And 
ourselves |do miles from home. 
After a good night’s rest wc again pushed on, 
very happy to know tliat wc would reach our 
Cousin’s at about in o’clock, two very tired but, 
supremely happy girls. 
We will leave the reader to imagine the surprise 
and delight of our cousin. We did our best te 
enjoy ourselves while there — boating, fishing, 
playing croquet, in fact, a little of everything; 
and when we started for home, we were accom¬ 
panied by our Cousin.—.;. & s. 
An Original Topic. 
U nulr Truk :—An original topic J And must It 
really be that? Here am X by the west wludow 
of tho great attic room that crowns our home, 
thinking, and busily tlfinklug, too, tor an original 
Idea. Will it never comev Eureka! it has 
come at last! Euo lias triumphed ! 1 am surely, 
topic original, by right, of a first appearance. 
And, In saying the self-same Ego is a youthful 
maiden, addicted to the habit of wearing 
“ bangs ” and spectacles, I bid adieu. Your not 
very ego-ustic niece— Egoanna. 
% 4!uiiln-. 
CROSS-WORD ENIGMA. 
My (list is In Iris but not In Juno, 
My second Is In 1’hcenlx but not In Hero; 
My third is lu Nlobe but not In Aurora, 
My fourth is In Flora but not Minerva; 
My fifth Is In Vulcan but, not Apollo, 
My whole was the father of the Centaurs. 
t&~ Answer in two weeks. Little One. 
-- 
PYRAMID PUZZLE. 
1. A consonant. 2. A river of England. 3. A 
hay of the Maine coast, 4. A native of an Euro¬ 
pean country. 5. A city uf Hindustan. 6. Refer¬ 
ence te polities. 7. Makers of fireworks. Cen¬ 
trals form a river of Now Jersey. 
Answer In two weeks. Balto. 
- - - — 
PUZZLER ANSWERS.-Sept. 22. 
Geographical Enigma.—B eloocblstan, 
Cboss-woku Enigma.— Etna, 
Ah ! why my soul so vainly tost ? 
In what lulxi'fi maze my senses lost? 
Why is my heart like tx*aten froth, 
Unequal to a thought nl worth? 
How can I pray when I have borne 
Unto the world its irrcatcst Bcorn ? 
Amid its tolly and its pride, 
The cross of Christ the crucified ! 
I vowed to Christ—I, child of God— 
A chosen warrior of the Lord! 
And bide by all the power of Jesus’ iSve 
My hatred of the world to prove. 
Oli! little wonder that niy prayer 
Falls lifeless on the midiiiaht air, 
Or that my fevered brain doth teem 
With every worldly, worthless dream. 
Oh! God of Mercy, hear my prayer ! 
Dear Jesus! with tile sinner boar; 
What plcaseth Thee, teach mo to do, 
And cull false sacraments from true. 
I cannot serve the world and Thee, 
Then from its boudaKc sot me free: 
And this one thing I only pray, 
Tod yell with Thee, Dear Lord, alway. 
- 
THE TONGUE. 
The Kkv. E. M. Goulbchn, In speaking of tho 
government of the tongue, quotes James III, 2: 4 
for Ills text, and continues that tbefiegree In which 
one governs Ills tongue Is an Index to one’s whole 
moral suite. II, cannot ho questioned that a 
proper control Is not exercised over tho member. 
And this will become quite obvious If wo reflect,, 
first, that, to govern the tongue Is a task so dllll- 
CUlt, that he who has grace te aceomplLsh It, has 
grae.fi to accomplish anything. Tho exceeding- 
great difficulty or governing Mho tongue con¬ 
sists principally In ifie great scope there Is for 
going wrong. Other temptations only havo scope 
ror t heir enticements occasionally. When a man 
Is In health and spirits, friends all around him, 
and affluence and prosperity Ills portion, he has 
no temptation to murmur. When he Is poor, and 
obliged to toll hard, t here is no great scope for 
self-lndulgenco, But because the business ot life 
cannot be. carried on without speaking, there Is 
always ample verge for offences of the tongue. 
And the Word ol Goh Infers upon the same prin¬ 
ciple, that, he who can stand against sin suc¬ 
cessfully, when the avenues or temptation are 
numerous, can stand also when they are few. 
“If any man offend not In word, the same is a 
perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole 
body.” 
Bat now Tor a second reason why the tongue 
should be an accurate Index or the moral state. 
Offences of the tongue arc thought so tittle or by 
mankind In general, that ho who is strict with 
himself here will he strict with himself, we may 
be sure, in all departments of duty. If he tMnks 
gravely of wrong words, lie cannot think lightly 
of wrong actions. You know how very little Im¬ 
portance men goneraliy attach to sins of the 
tongue. Is not the tendency of our minds to 
reason thus—“A hasty word, ventod in a moment 
or excitement—a slight misrepresentation, a pro¬ 
fane Joke, an impure lnuendo—why it, Is all 
empty breath—nothing serious Is Intended by It, 
and a man may be a very good man, who Indulg¬ 
es In such words occasionally ? ” Bueh Is the 
prevalent notion. Ills radically erroneous. It Is 
wholly contrary to God’s Word. But however, 
such Is the sad fact, that men do take a very light 
vlow ot sins of the tongue, very much lighter 
than they do ot other violations of duty. Now, 
If a man should he found, who, In his own ease, 
takes a very grave view of this subject, watches 
and weighs hts words strictly, and rejects scrupu¬ 
lously all that It comes into his inlnd to say, 
which would not tend either to some good end 
or to Innocent amusemeutr-lt Is Impossible, la 
It not, that that man should be a careless liver ? 
Therefore watch tho tongue. it. k. w. 
- +++ - 
THOUGHTS FOR THINKERS. 
Old age Is a tyrant that forbids the pleasures 
of youth, on pain of death. [ Rochefoucauld. 
Benefit your friends, that they may love you 
still more dearly ; benefit your enemies, that they 
may become your friends. 
Do thou thy work, it shall succeed 
In thine or in another’s day, 
And if thou miss the victor’s meed, 
Thoq shalt not miss the toiler’s pay, 
N aturks that have much heat and great and 
violent desires and perturbations are not ripe for 
action till they have passed tho meridian of their 
years.—I Baeow. 
Man, bolug essentially active, must find In ac¬ 
tivity Ids Joy, as well as his beauty and glory; and 
labor, Uko every thing else that Is good, Is Its own 
reward.—I Whipple, 
Pride of origin, whether high or low, springs 
from tho same principle in human nature : one Is 
but the positive, the other the negative pole of a 
single weakness.— [itowell. 
Si 
