FEB 8 
90 
for positions here, promising them a liberal 
monthly salary. This was never paid and the 
“security” could not be recovered. A number 
of sorrowful dupes appeared against him and 
he was “sent up. 1 ” 
Citerari}. 
THE FARMER’S PRAYER. 
Thy blessiuK, Father, 1 would ask. 
And shall l ask in vain? 
Give to the soil iuy plow share turns, 
The sunshine and the rain. 
Give to the seed I scatter here 
What Thou alone const Rive— 
A spirit with dea l matter joined— 
To die and yet to live. 
Watch o’er the germ, the blade, the ear; 
Protect the ripening grain; 
Give in the joyful harvest time 
Reward for toll and pain. 
Give grace to wait and faith to trust 
Till these results 1 see: 
Then help to use what Thou hast given 
As best shall honor Thee. 
Thy blessing, Father. I would ask, 
1 shall not ask in vain; 
Give to the.soli my plow-share turns. 
Thy blessing with the rain. 
BENSON BEVERLY. 
AMERICAN GIRLS—THEIR PHYSICAL 
ATTRACTIONS. 
MARY IVES TODD. 
Herbert Speucer says: “The truth is that 
out of the many complex elements uniting in 
various proportions to produce in man’s 
breast that complex emotion which we call 
love, the strongest are those produced by 
physical attractions; the next in order are 
those produced by moral attractions; the 
weakest are those produced by intellectual 
attractions.” We cannot but admit this state¬ 
ment to be correct, however much we may 
deprecate tbo fallibility of Cupid. 
And oh, this foolish, foolish Cupid! Surely, 
evolution has not done much for you. Al¬ 
ways have you been ready to chime in with 
Pope; 
" If to her share some female errors fall. 
Look In her face and you’ll forget them all.” 
But we realize that we are going off into 
wind, though prophetic Carlyle is no longer 
hero to warn us—so proceed we to our busi¬ 
ness, to examining the physical attractions of 
our girls. 
To say that the American girls are the most 
beautiful in the world is to utter a truism. 
All admit that they are more exquisitely 
molded than the German or English, possess 
more of that “infinite variety ” as regards 
action, utterance and expression, t au all 
other girls. But cau we speak of her as 
Shakespeare spoke of that.magnificent beauty: 
” Age canny I wither her?” 
Concisely, age does wither our girls, aud 
before they reach their midsummer. By age 
we mean, in this instance, the premature in¬ 
dications of the Spoiler; the cheek losing 
something of its fullness, the eye its brilliancy, 
the early creeping around the eyes and on the 
forehead of the tell-tale lines of anxiety—in 
short, a faded, tired look. 
But wbouee comes this early drooping, this 
“ worm f the bud?” We cannot help think¬ 
ing that the mothers, through their very ten¬ 
derness and ambitiou, prepared the way. 
We shall not hint to-day of the many errors 
as regards clothing, feeding aud dosing, 
which were ever thinning the ranks of our 
girls some eighteen years ago. Happily, 
many of these errors are laid away with the 
little ones they robbed us of. But let iis turn 
our attoution to the rouud. dimpled darlings 
that, are left. 
Auiougst muc h questioning as to what was 
truth, and whut, was not; what was worthy of 
regard, and conversely, we have always felt 
with Richter, that, we “ loved God and little 
children " They are beautiful, aud we are 
proud of them. We naturally desire our own 
to look as well as Mrs. A ’s across the way; 
aud by dint of much sly observation, much 
contriving, much tedious sewing, the desired 
result is obtained. What, lias cost so much 
we desire to preserve. At every’ turn we 
caution our little ones about their clothes— 
thus making their clothes the grout deMdemto 
instead of the little creatures, which are “so 
fearfully and wonderfully made.” But we 
gain our point. Our girls grow less restive, 
more “ lady like;” engage iu fancy work; 
weep over scores of luckless heroines aud 
storm-tossed heroes; learu to play the piano 
“a little;” to paint a few pictures for the par¬ 
lor with the aid of the teacher; to stammer iu 
two or three languages, aud behold they are 
“ finished,” the only wonder is that any “ one 
head cau contain it all!” 
But. seriously, uur girls are too often “fin¬ 
ished” in more senses than one; aud we Hud 
w hen too late that we have defeated our own 
THE BUBAL NEW-YOBKEB, 
purposes. For certainly we cannot regard 
with satisfaction the beauty and accomplish¬ 
ments of our daughters when we perceive how 
frail they are—the victims of morbid circula¬ 
tions, shattered nerves, capacious appetites, 
aud unequal to auy serious effort. 
But pause we here in condemnation of our¬ 
selves—the mothers. We have erred, it is 
true, terribly, almost fatally, but we erred 
ignorantly. Science had not iu our day placed 
within easy reach such a vast amount of truth 
as to-day waits for our daughter’s uotice and 
adoption. And if only the time given to ap¬ 
plying face nostrums, to extra complexity in 
hair arrangement, to ueedless adjustment of 
many buttoned “ glove ftttiug” articles and 
garments, were to lie devoted to the study’ aud 
enforcement of the law’s of hygiene our health 
average would soon show notable results. For 
the very’ girls who spend the most time upou 
these time-eating, body-destroying fripperies 
are the ones, with the exception of the demi¬ 
monde, who have the most leisure, the most 
culture—such as it is—the most means, and 
w’ho could afford to be really indejieudent and 
work miracles for our devitallized country’. 
Everywhere the cry is going up that we are 
rushing into physical bankruptcy; that we are 
not able to bea r the increasing pressure which 
our highly-iuvolved civilization is crowding 
upon us. 
And now’ we entreat you, girls, to lay more 
substantially, more wisely', the foundation 
upon the strength of which the security' and 
well-being of the coming generation w’ill iu 
large measure depend. We leave our places 
with the uneasy feeliug that we have left un¬ 
done those things we should have done; and 
done with infinite pains things w hich hud bet¬ 
ter been neglected. 
But the places themselves are grander for 
the display of every* grace, the practice of 
every virtue, the enforcemeut of truth than 
all other places combined. And while we bow 
ourselves out we pray that you may’ fill them 
a thousand times better than we have done, 
so that the future generation may regard you 
wdth reverence and bless your memory. 
Prof. H. A Beers, if Yale, is to write the 
life of N. P. Willis. 
-- 
The wisest man may be wiser to day than 
he was yesterday, and to-morrow than he is 
to-day.—C olton. 
The organized home-reading circle is 
worth a trial. This statement is, of course, 
not needed by any’ who have tried it. 
OONDUCTED BY MISS KAY CLARK. 
A MILE-STONE ON THE JOURNEY. 
“Another great epoch in the children’s his¬ 
tory’ fairly over w ith.” said Mi’s. Williams, a 
little wearily as she settled hack in her easy 
chair the night after Christmas. ‘ By the 
time they have seen 157 Christmas days, life 
will not look quite so much like a loug holi¬ 
day’ to them. I am glad to have them so free 
from care, and so happy while they cau be. 
Still 1 am glad, Jane, that Christmas is over, 
aud that they all felt they had had such a good 
time.” 
“I caunot feel that it is all over, sister. In¬ 
deed, I am uot sure hut the best is yet to come. 
The memory of such joyous occasions is 
almost better than the reality. Nothing is 
quite as perfect while it is passing, as is the 
remembrance of it after the lapse of a few 
yearn No words are quite so sweet as those 
we hear through memory’s telephone. I think 
it is true philosopny that we are happier all 
our lives for having been happy once.” 
“Then you would uot subscribe to Tenny¬ 
son’s sentiment that— 
•A sorrow’s crown of sorrows 
Is remembering happier things.’ ” 
“l)u the contrary, I look upon it as one of 
the mitigations. I think with a dear little 
girl I knew, whose father was dead und whose 
mother had to work hard to support them, 
but though all was so dark, she could still say, 
•Well, our troubles cannot take away the good 
times we have had.’ Those, she felt, were sure 
aud safe. You know w lmt a miserable home 
poor Hannah had when my husband first 
brought her to live with us. She was out 
chopping wood when lie first saw her. But 
she hud one pleasant remembrance of her 
childhood she told rue. Her father used every 
Christmas to buy a few of those clear candies 
that so abounded then, and divide them around 
among the ten. Not a very large share fell 
to each most likely, but bow they did enjoy 
looking them over, and she enjoys still remem 
boring the old happiness.” 
“Well if you take that view of it, Jane, it 
does pay for all our troubles to make the day 
bright for the children. I believe I shall teach 
them to remember Christmas time all through 
the year in one way’, aud that is to be saving 
aud careful of their c wn possessions, with a 
view’ to mailing gifts to poor children less fa¬ 
vored. After all it is what we do for others 
that is always remembered most happily. 
Little Carrie crept up iu uiy lap, the last thing 
before she went to bed: and as she looked into 
the bright coals, she unised pleasantly’ over 
little Freddy and Norali O’Brien’s happiness 
because of the Christmas basket she packed 
for them last evening. It w’as one of her 
pleasantest Christmas memories.” 
“And so it is with children of a larger 
growth, as you aud I have found these many 
years, sister.” olive. 
>♦»- 
“NO MAN LIVETH UNTO HIMSELF.” 
of cross stitch embroidery on linen in 
Germany and France. We shall give from 
time to time some of these, and as they 
require no explanation, our readers w ill, we 
are sure, use them to their owu satisfaction. 
“Such as are careless of themselves arc seldom 
mindful of others.” —Old Proverb. 
Very’true indeed. Take the slothful man 
who dreads action of auy kind; who is too 
slack to keep himself tidily’ dressed that he 
may’ appear at his mvn table as a gentleman 
should, and see how disagreeably his habits 
alTeet every one about him. His children are 
allowed to bo rude to his guests, aud lawless 
concerning the minor qualities which go so 
far towards form iug their characters; all lie- 
cause he is too indolent to correct them as he 
should. Is such a man a farmer, then his 
fences are never kept in good repair and his 
cattle and swine mu over his neighbor s fields, 
destroying not only the crops, but also the 
good feeliug that ought to prevail between 
them. 
Is he a merchant’s clerk, he is careless 
about being punctually at his post as he 
ought to be to attend properly to his employ¬ 
er’s concerns, and often iu this way loses a 
good position, merely by being too self indul¬ 
gent to be scrupulous about the rights of 
others. If be is so easy aud clever as to lend 
money here and there to habitual borrowers, 
he will in his turn borrow from others aud 
never trouble himself about their being re¬ 
paid. 
Thus no man lives to himself, but his char¬ 
acter and habits unconsciously affect the com¬ 
fort and happiness of all those around him. 
for good or ill, according as he is conscien- 
tious iu his behaviour towards them, or care 
less aud uuthinking. b. c. d. 
TOBACCO. 
CROSS STITCH EMBROIDERY. 
Domestic Ccoitom^ 
CONDUCTED BY KMII-Y MAPLE. 
And uow, some oue suggests tobacco as a 
profitable crop. I hate the very name ! Oh, 
don't l know < haven’t I had experience with 
the vile weed when a certaiu member of 
the family, w’ho insists upon doing my copy¬ 
ing, passes it over for inspection, the fair 
pages sullied with suspicious-looking spots < 
And often when 1 insist on those pages being 
recopied, the same accident w ill transpire 
again and then very likely will be surrepti¬ 
tiously’ slipped in with the rest. I have oltou 
wondered what must the publisher think w lieu 
he views these tell-tale marks. Does he lay it 
at the door of my amanuensis ( or does he— 
oh, horror of horrors! does he think me a con¬ 
firmed tobacco chewer ? It has been the way 
of the world from time immemorial, the in¬ 
nocent suffer for the guilty. Is not this veri¬ 
fied every day in the home of the tobaceo- 
chewer ? Stoves, carpets, door-sills, spittoons, 
papers, your favorite magaziue, all are sullied 
and left for some feminine member of the 
family to purify. 
Ah, I have felt on such occasions that I 
would willingly be a martyr for my suffering 
sisters to exterminate this vile weed from the 
laud. If It were only iu my power to grasp 
every seed of this aliominable plant, 1 w ould 
hie me to the center of the sea, and there 1 
would go down, and down, into the fathom¬ 
less depths, taking with me and holding fast, 
through all eternity, the last seed of this ac¬ 
cursed plant. MH8. L. FISHER. 
P. 8.—He declines to copy this. 
Cross stitch embroidery is now enjoying a 
wide-spread popularity; for with hardly any 
other kind of work can such good effects be 
obtained with few colors. 
Old pattern books of the sixteenth century 
V’ « — - '*• ’ r T“ 
Five o’clock Tea. 
HOUSEKEEPERS’ MUTUAL HELP CLUB. 
THE WEARY HOUSEWIFE. 
1 know from experience that the actual 
burden-bearer of the household often grow’s 
weary and longs for rest. Very many of us 
feel that our strength is unequal to the daily 
cares and duties of life, aud while conscious 
that to persist iu taxing our strength to its 
utmost, and knowing that such a course must 
sooner or fitter result iu bankruptcy of health, 
it ofteu seems impossible for us to avoid it. 
Mv heart goes out to all weary, over-worked 
women. God forbid that one such asking for 
the “bread” of helpful sympathy should re¬ 
ceive from any of us "a stoue.” I kuow that 
many a worn out, over-worked womau is 
what she is mainly through the force of un¬ 
avoidable circumstances, and that instead of 
being a “disgrace” she is worthy of the high¬ 
est honor —a monument of the noblest princi¬ 
ples. But 1 also know that it. is wrong to bur¬ 
den ourselves w ith needless work, recklessly 
squauderiug the precious boon of healt h And 
I think that with mauy of us habit and train¬ 
ing have been such that we repeatedly do this. 
Shattered nerves aud enfeebled constitu¬ 
tions are not conducive to cheerfulness, or to 
a true appreciation of life and its blessings. 
And is it not as criminal thus to unfit ourselves 
for the better part of life when we could avoid 
doing so, as it would be to do ourselves vio¬ 
lence in other ways? Shall we not, then, with 
the sanction of our Editress, baud ourselves 
together in a club of mutual helpfulness, 
striving to aid each other in devisiug w’ays to 
lighten and lessen the burdens of household 
cares, aud adopting as our motto the beautiful 
iu junction, “Bear ye one another’s burdens and 
so fulfill the law of Christ.” gladdys waynk. 
(The Mutual Help Club has our most cordial 
sanction. Let us hear from oue aud all of 
our womeu readers). 
REPLY TO “A MAN.” 
Im\e been reproduced, and many line designs 
brought to light by able urtists who have 
been searching among the old specimens 
“A Man” says: “If you have judguieut 
enough to publish a paper, jou know’ that 
such men as she describes are very scarce, if 
they exist at, all,” That there are such men 
as she describes is but too true. They are of 
a selfish disposition, ignorant to the last de¬ 
gree, and as hard us the cider the praise of 
which they never tire of singing; men uot fit 
to lie the fathers of families; shiftless as far¬ 
mers, ex|>eeUiig the work to do itself, aud 
then grumbling that farming does uot pay. 
They are to be found lounging around beer 
saloons aud hotels, talking against the new 
Improvements aud the use of labor-saving 
machinery they do not know the value of. 
They never read a paper, for want of time; 
they do not tighten the barn for wont of time. 
For the same reason they do uot lioe their 
corn the second time; they do not plant small 
fruits for family use, as there is nothing made 
by it. They are to be seen at ejection time at 
street corners, talking of the necessity of re¬ 
ducing taxes, using profane words to make 
their arguments more impressive. (The louder 
the talker the less his tax is apt to be.) I 
might, not have been so ready to espouse the 
cause of “Disgrace” if I Imd not seen cases as 
bad as hers. When 1 read her article I had 
sympathy for her. May she look for help and 
comfort to Him w ho is ever ready to give to 
those who seek. When she speaks of her little 
ones as gone before, it is better so a thousand 
times than that they should live to be like 
their father. Such men do not lieget, sons re¬ 
nowned for anything but their coarseness. 
