THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Slatting for % gjanj, 
THE WHITE CEDARS. 
A FABLE. 
HENKY S. CIXIiB. 
On a swamp near the eastern shore or Luke 
Michigan, there grew near together t wo specimens 
or the American Arbor Vine, commonly called 
white cedar, l'helr center stems were straight and 
their branches regular. Their foliage, however, 
was sparse and principally on the extremity of the 
branches, so that the lake breezes had tout little 
obstruction In passing through the trees. 
A gentleman who took great delight iu ornament¬ 
ing his grounds, marked one of these trees for re- 
movut by tying u strip of white rag to one of Its 
branches. When he had gone this tree addressed 
Us neighbor, saying: 
•• Do you see the white ribbon fluttering from my 
branch? it was placed there as a token of distinc¬ 
tion in admiration for my beauty of form,” 
“Did you hear what Lite man said when he lied 
that rag upon your branch?" said the other tree. 
"I did not. understand exactly, but 1 beard him 
whispering something to his little girl. 
“1 heard him say he would have you removed to 
his garden,” said the neighbor tree. 
“ Oh, I am afraid that will kill me. 
“ H e appeared to bea kind gentleman by the way 
he lifted bis little girl over the wet places, so per¬ 
haps he will not treat you so roughly as to kill you 
by removal. Almost any change would be better 
than remaining In this dull place.” said Arbor Vita? 
NO. 2. 
Hie next day the gentleman returned with a 
epade and dug around a circle, cutting' off the outer 
roots of the tree he had marked. The tree was 
frightened and trembled, bui stood Its ground until 
at last every root was severed that bound it t o the 
earth. It Tvfls then lifted from' Its tvet bed where 
it bad grown front a seed, placed In a wagon, and 
conveyed to the gentlemans grounds where a hole 
bad been dug for Its reception In some nice soft 
soli. It was placed upright. In Its new position and 
the soil pressed between its roofs, covering them up 
carefully—water belug thrown on lo make the soil 
pack lirmly on the roots. The soil being moist and 
worm, new shoots soon started, striking into and 
permeating the ground In every direction. Nothing 
was done To The branches, bur, they were allowed to 
grow a year or two so as to get accustomed to their 
new position. 
During the second Rummer, however, the geutle- 
nc.u noticing the Vigorous growth, sheared off the 
tip-ends of the branches. Every place where a 
brunch-tip wa3 sheared off two little shoots soon 
grew our, giving the tree a thicker lullage. The 
one operation was repeated on the young shoots 
ns they gave signs of growth beyond the desired 
limits, for each "-hoot thus shortened in, two or 
mure appeared and In lour years from the time It 
was transplanted, the tree, instead of being so 
sparsely covered with foliage that the wind could 
pass lively through H. bad heroine a beautiful 
tbli i: evergreen, and was prized beyond all the 
trees in. the garden for Its dense foliage aud com¬ 
pact form, several pairs of birds had built their 
nesm In It and these were completely hidden from 
i he sight of passers by. Persons passing In the 
Hired frequently stopped to admire the tree, and 
often inquired where the proprietor obtained 
that magnlticent evergreen, and were nstonlshed 
hd leu rn that it had been removed from a neighbor¬ 
ing swamp, as they had never seen anything there 
so beautiful. 
finding how successful he had been in removing 
lids tree from the swamp, he concluded to remove 
others, and among lliosc which he removed was 
the one that had been neighbor to the first one. i 
Tlds he planted near (o the other, so that they be- j 
taine neighbors again. At ilrst neither recognized i 
the other. No. 1 had not grownmueh larger, but * 
was so compact, and solid that it: looked like a rim- i 
class nursery tree, while No. 2 lxad grown taller, | 
and Its branches were spread out with very little j 
foliage ou their up ends. 
The next day a breeze that came through the c 
brunches of t lie new-comer waited an odor or fra- c 
gmuce to the naturalized tree, and it at once reeog t 
nlzed the same peculiar perfume that used (ode- r 
IfgliL It In Its former lire In the swamp; and gently c 
inclining its head as tlie force of the wind abated n 
it said: ’ 
“ Am TOU not the same tree that was my neigh- j 
bur lu the swamp?'’ ° 
“ fan that be you ?” replied No. 2 . “ How beau- v 
tlfully you have thickened up since you left xaj u 
neighborhood. W hat can have caused, so great a si 
change?” j 
“ Oh, i have gone through u great deal to attain 0 
my present condition,■' said Arbor vide, so. l vV 
“ ffy roots were shortened, my long, graceful n 
brunche- pruned, many times my tenflerest parts g 
wi re nipped off, which caused me Intense pain. \v 
Ai times li seemed impossible for me to withstand tl 
suen rough treatment, and i often thought i must w 
succumb to li, mu at last I perceived that the g] 
nuiii was improving me, I gained confidence in w 
him, and resolved to bear courageously whatever w 
trials i might be subjected to, and now you see the e\ 
result or my training lu my beautiful, compact y,~ 
form and tlilck foliage. You snow In the swamp I so 
was always a Utile \ uln 61 my tail, stately appear- t i 
am c Now l have learned the pleasure uf being ot 
useful as well as beautiful: the birds have Become se 
mu,r delightful companions touio—they India their es 
mute hi my branches, and their songs cheer me as to 
well up. please the children.” 0v 
It must be mortifying utter sending our such in 
ion" loots and branches to hum t hem lopped off,” th 
said No. 2: ' but if tluj result Is to produce such ga 
a respectable louklng tree as you base become, i foi 
suppose I had better submit uud make the best of til 
It us you have done, although It Is harder on me th' 
than It was on you, as I am more set in my habits ga 
of growth than you were when you were trans- vie 
planted.” t .n, 
Just as they had reached this point in their con¬ 
vocation, the owner came along with Ills little girl 
and showed her the two trees. He said: “ Do you 
remember, Cello, when we were In the swamp and 
l tied a piece nf white rag on a tree to indicate the 
one I intended to remove?'’ 
“Yes, ' said C'clla; “there were two trees to¬ 
gether, and you chose this one because you thought 
it would be the easiest to remove.” 
“l have now brought ,tlie other tree to try if I 
can improve It as I did ihe first.” 
■ oil l what a difference in the i wo trees: one. ik so 
ililii and spreading. Its branches are long aud al- 
mosi bare, u Wiethe one you transplanted Is so thick 
and green that the birds build In it, aud we cannot 
see their nests for the deep, thick foliage,” and 
< <fin clapped her hands In admiration of her favor- 
lie Arbor Vita?, ai this moment n bird flew out, 
Horn its nest in search of food for Ks nest full of ilt- 
Ue. unfledged ttrdllngs. *'Oh, Du, lift me up so 
fiiai I can look Into the nest.” As site peeped In 
she sun tour broad bills wide open in the nest, 
i lie lilt lo ones were all expecting the return ot the 
luorher-bird to drop somethlag nice into their open 
mouths, l ids was an unexpected sight, as the last 
time cella had seen The nest there were tom- spor¬ 
ted blue eggs, uud now they had disappeared and 
the Midi's had taken their places, she clapped 
her hands again, and said she would fetch, the in tie 
birdies sometuing to eat. 
“You had better throw u oufctor the old bird 
and she will take li to them, if you leed them 
yourself you may give them too much and kill i 
(hern, v Idle their mother know ■ exactly how much 
they need.” raid her father-, putting her down. 
“ But f would rather feed them myself,” said 
fella, pouting. 
“ ft la not always best to do as you would rather, 
my per,” said her papa. •• You see these two trees. 
Just now y ou were praising the beauty of the one 
I transplanted years ago, while the other, as you 
say, is not so ornamental or useful either, us the 
birds dare not build in a tree, that would not hide 
their neats from the gaze of Idle boy s or protect 
them from the cold wind or hot sun. 'ibis tree 
wbl' -n gives you so much pleasure and Is admired 
by ull wiio pass by. lias not had Its own way for 
three or rour years. Every thue it has sent, out a 
shoot beyond the rest I have cut It off. If I had 
lot It have Its ow n way It would have been no bet¬ 
ter than tlds tree just taken from the swamp, so 
my pet, If you are to grow up compact aud beau¬ 
tiful in character and use mi h, your life, you must 
submit to have your wants limited: your shoots of 
pride and self-will must be pruned off, every ex¬ 
cessive growl n must be moderated by culture, and 
In a few years you will find your character wdl be 
us Completely Unproved, as is this tree In its ap¬ 
pearance and utility, i lu- tree had to submit to a 
good deal of pruning' before it attained the solid 
and compact form you now so much admire. It 
sdbudtled quite gracefully to all my shearing and 
now Is the most beautiful object on the lawn, so 
if my darling girl will submit graeeiuUy to the cul¬ 
ture. and trust her father for the result, she will 
become not only au object of admiration to others, 
but a source of satisfaction and happiness to her- 
self aud the delight of all who love her.” 
Celia saw the point, and although she lelt the 
rebuke, she knew her papa was right, and wben- 
ever she became unwilling to submit her will to 
proper control, the tw o White Cedars on the lawn 
were pointed to ns reminders of the beneflts to be 
derived from wise and careful culture. 
- - + » - - 
THE MALAY SWORD-DANCE. . 
Waiix on a cruise umong the islands of the Ma¬ 
layan Archipelago our ship put in at Batavia for a 
v eek’a repairs. Batavia is the Dutch capital of 
Java, wholly under the control of Holland; uud its 
Dutch architecture, and Dutch manners of living, 
make one fuel as if every house hud been built in 
lar-away Amsterdam, then boxed up, people, rurnl- 
ime aud all, and sent by ship across the waters. 
So ’ to know anything of the natives to whom tins 
great, beautiful Island originally belonged, of their 
habits, dress and amusements, one must visit the 
Malayan settlements of the interior; and a little 
party or us determined thus to spend the week of 
oil! ship's Stay ttf Batavia. We had made the ac¬ 
quaintance of a petty chieftain, who ouce had been 
tu the service ot the Rajah oi Djokjakarta; and 
for u smalt fee Seljm Introduced our party to the 
court or his tenner master, ilera, one day, we had 
an opportunity of witnessing the “sword-dance” 
of ihe -Malays, ihe most noted of ail their nauonnj 
dances, ordinarily, it Is performed by some thirty 
or forty ten-year-old lads, who are trained to their 
vocation from a very early age; but who practice 
It In public only tor a year or so, before they are 
set aside as no longer sufficiently light and agile 
for this very peculiar dunce. The boy’s are Jigged 
out In very fantastic costumes, their hats especially, 
which tiro fancifully adorned with the plumage of 
many-colored birds, intermingled with brightly 
gleaming jewels. The only weapons used are 
wooden swords; but the youthful gymnasts seem 
thoroughly lu earnest, and rush upon one another 
with all the fury of real combatants, their eyes 
gleaming fiercely, and their dark races glmvlng 
with excitement. They ull brandish their gwords 
w im great dexterity, dealing blows sidewise, and 
even backward, while they are in the very act of 
whizzing and whirling round the room in u rapid 
gallopatle. Their motions are not less graceful i ban 
enthusiastic; and though the company Js numer¬ 
ous, and ihe turns and thrusts are sudden, none 
seem taken uiuw ares; nor is there even the slight¬ 
est apparent confusion. Sometimes single combats 
tolh.u iiw general engagement, each selecting his 
own opponent; but the boys are so well matched 
in regard to size, and all are so ptiieeUy trained, 
that really there seems lime advantage to be 
gained. The grand climax of the whole affair Is to 
force two or their leaders into a corner, surround 
them with a circle ot crossed swords, and hold 
them prisoners until one or the other succeeds lu 
gaining possession of hla opponent’s weapon. The 
victor then receives as a prize a real sword, and is 
thenceforth honorably discharged from further 
trials of his skill, while the unfortunate lad who 
permitted himself to be disarmed has to go through 
an additional season or probation. The ordinary 
dress of the lower class of Malays is verv simple 
consisting ror the most part of a long, loose “sa¬ 
rong,-' or petticoat, in place ot trousers, and a 
tight-fitting jacket of white or red cotton; but the 
garb ot the Princes is very goreeous. The Rajahs 
wore sarongs of heavy silk, jackets of velvet, Hch- 
ly embroidered In gold and tiny seed-pearls, and 
Jeweled girdles that seemed all ablaze with dia¬ 
monds. Both tmbaus and sandals were uduined 
In the same costly fashion; and as for the creese or 
serpentine dagger, without which a Malay, what¬ 
ever his rank, never appears, those of the Rajahs 
were marvels or costly wommushlj). The display 
“i wealth in the palaces of these native chiefs was 
iur beyond wluir we expected to llnd; but we 
learned afterward that Malayan “SUltam are 
pirate chiefs as well, and though ihey don’t, in 
person, rob or murder on the high seas, they derive 
enormous revenues from thepirattcul hordes that 
everywhere infest the Malay Archipelago. Sf. 
Xic/tofas. 
FROM A NORTH CAROLINA COUSIN. 
Jh..ut l. NYLE Tnc e since you. so kindly request 
me to contribute to The columns of the P.cnat for 
the henetit ot the cousins, 1 will toll them some- 
tliljjg aboul iay Southern home. I live on the 
banks ofarlver In the •• Old North state.” a beau¬ 
tiful flowing river, whose gentle murmur makes 
music to our ears, and the banks of which are 
green the whole year round, (when the winters are 
not too severe). We have many evergreen trees, 
such as cedar, pine and holly with Its bright crim¬ 
son bemes, all of which present quite a contrast to 
the other forest trees, which at tlds season of the 
year are brown and bare, aud stand shivering In 
the blast. The holly is especially appreciated lor 
our Christmas decorations. We always choose a 
Christmas, tree of holly, for wo thlni: it preltv with 
the bright red berries winch uature lias given It, 
before Santa ' la us adds his store of treasures rare. 
0n the south side of Our river, towering fur above 
it, and sloping almost perpendicularly do a n to me 
water's edge, is a large rock which has become 
famous since the Revolution, it is said that when 
the daring and brave Hunter was pursued by fan¬ 
ning, be made bis escape by riding down this steep 
and dangerous rock and crossing the foaming river 
just below, since then lr has been familiarly 
known as “ Faith Rock,” and Is one of our natural 
curiosities which we take pleasure in snowing to 
Strangers and mends, when they visit, us. it has 
been said that tut- print of the horse? boor can be 
traced on the rock, but this Is all tradition, which 
imagination tends to keep up. should anj of the 
UiUe cousins visit us, we will take pleasure in help¬ 
ing them look lor the hoof-prlnt, 
our summers are veiy pleasaut here, and in win- 
ter the thermometer seldom stands lower than 12 
degrees above zero. Yet tiffs is considered real cold ' 
by those who live In tlds Southern ellme. Many 
plums and flowers that could not stand the North- : 
era climate thrive anil grow here all whiter; but 
the tropical plants aud rare flowers that blossom 1 
in sunny Fiondu. can only be kept hereby giving 
them a groat amount or care and a nice Lot-house 1 
in winter. 1 would like LO send the Cousins u boll- 5 
quet from my “flower house' as a New Years c 
greeting: Instead thereof, I hope they will accept 1 
my love and best wishes, which after ull are the 1 
brightest flowers that grow lu the garden of the s 
heurt. Lest I weary your patience I w ill close, and £ 
at another time If you wish you shall hear more A 
about the home or Cochin •* Evipsie ” I 
“Riverside.” N.C.,,Dm. nth, 1979. ' u 
>afiktlt failing. 
THE WINE GLASS. 
Who hath woe? M ho hath sorrow? 
Mho hath contentions? M'ho 
hath wounds without cause? 
Mho hath redness of eyes? 
They that tarry long at the 
wine’ They that go to 
seek mixed wine! Look 
not thou upon the 
wine when it is red, 
when It giveth Its 
color in the 
CUP; 
when it 
rnovetb itself 
ailght. 
At 
the last 
It blteth like u 
serpent, and sthigeth like an adder. 
AFTER THE REVIVAL. 
KEY. A1.KX. U. JACK. 
A LETTER FROM OLD b'NCLE MARE, 
Dear Girls and BoTsr-Though i am an old friend 
of yours, it 1 b so veiy long since 1 have had anything 
to say to you through this column, that l fear 
you have forgotten all about old L'ncle Mark, and 
Perhaps some or you will disclaim all relationship 
with me whatever. I will say that It la not at all 
from lack or interest In you that I have been si¬ 
lent, but by reason of uneontrolable circumstances. 
I nclc True has for a long time past so com¬ 
pletely monopolized the correspondence with you, 
that I confess 1 um not a little Jealous ot him, and 
In the ini me I propose to share some of your hon¬ 
ors, with your permission, i desire to renew my 
acquaintance with my friends of old, If'they will 
sail own me as their uncle, and to make the ac¬ 
quaintance of those that have Joined the cousins 
lately. Not knowing whether or no, you win cure 
to renew our friendship and consider me In the 
light of un uncle us tu Uni's gone by, l shall say 
nothing further at tlds time; bm If you say so, l 
may hereafter write you an occasional letter, and 
be assured ibutuiall limes, no one will be more 
pleased to hear from you than L’ncle Make. 
“FOOL TINGS.” 
Anyeouv who criticises unfinished work, and 
sees notning In drill but Its drolleries, will be likely 
to get as badly nulled as the Dutchwoman did. 
The new course of instruction In gymnastics and 
object teaching introduced into the schools or Phil¬ 
adelphia is responsible for the following incident: 
Indignant mother sands for •* the teacher” to 
call at her house on her way from school. The 
teacher complies with the request. ish you do 
teacher of dat school vat my poy goes to ?" 
•• Yes.-" meekly responds the teacher. 
v I takes my poy away!” (Teacher locks In 
mild surprise.) “ My poy come home the other 
day—he behave like Crazy, lie (row up Ms hands 
and say, * Dls mine eye 1 dls mine nose! dls mv 
mouth!’ Now, what ho go to school for lo learn 
datHe know dut perore*. Anudder lay he go 
round de house like mad; he any 1 Che, die, chi?; 
pe, pe, pe; ke, ke, key now what Jbol Una's dat?” 
'The teacher tries In \ uln to explain that the new 
course requires “object teaching” and “phonic 
spelling." 
The Indignant parent only flings back the retort, 
“Too many fool tings; I keeps my poy at home.” 
—Boston Advertiser. 
e l here Is a Bible In England bound In solid gold. 
i. flhges are the finest parchment, Its margins are 
, a fllumlnaled with rare and curious workmanship 
e H Is a costly relic, the property ot the British Soy 
e ereign, kept under lock and key, and guarded with 
s untiring care. YOt, after all. It la only a dead 
thing, penned by the hand of some old monk 
0 Painted by the anger of some cloistered nun 
e khere It lies entombed In Its grave or glass; in it 
u solr 11 has no life, neither can it give lire t.o others. 
r It is not for a moment to be compared with the 
. humblest Christian who lives or lodges in some 
j low ly cottage, and who is not a dead but a living 
Bi bio. Pearls or 11 ie East, diamonds Of the sea, are 
’ 011 me boards Of (hat Bible; what are these to the 
? ornaments of a meek and quiet, spirit ? M hat that 
1 dead parchment to a deathless soul and a heart ln- 
» stluct with life? M 1 hat that ink fadiug and rusting 
1 beneath the eye of Time to the blood in which the 
ypliit dips ids finger aud writes living truth upon 
, a lh Ui S soul v Any body could write a 1 Uble. tt’Jtb 
, a 1 earner plucked from a sea-bird's wing I could 
win<• the Bible on a paper page, w 1th Iron forged 
in the lire 1 could trace the Bible ou the nigged 
rock. But nb l to write living truth upon a m lug 
ben it, that is ihe work of me Holy Spirit, it is 
only the spbit that can write on spirit, it 13 only 
tin- nod who created that t an convert tne soul. 
M lnu is true or the reading is true of the preach¬ 
ing or the word, select tne most gifted minister 
alive, seek out the man who lives lu the closest 
communion with (tod, who is skilled in reading me 
secrets of the human Heart, and who has above all 
other men that electric anil magnetic power by 
which he leads others to himseit.’ Now', take 0110 
in whose salvation you feel a deep anxiety, aim 
who Is yet lu the gall of bitterness aud bonds of In 
iqulty send Mm to mat minister to be con vetted. 
I know what his answer would be. His answer Is 
in the Bible; Ms answer is a royal answer In more 
senses man one. When me servant of the Syrian 
came before the King of Israel with a letter, say¬ 
ing, I have herewith sent my sonant Naaman un¬ 
to thee that thou mayest recover him of Ms lepro¬ 
sy; Immediately the King rent ids garments, and 
appealing to Ms courtiers, cried, “ Am 1 a fiod to 
kill and to make alive, mat mis mau doth send 
to me to recover a mau of leprosy?” Even so, send 
a man to a minister to be converted, and If that 
minister knows his business, u be knows what he 
can do, he will say, “Am I a uod to kill and to 
make alive, that you send that sinner to rue to be 
com ei tod ?■’ A minister may make an impression, 
lie may make an Impression on a dead soul, just as 
1 can make an Impression on a dead bod;.'. I have 
seen a cotpse galvanized, so that It seemed In every 
limb alive and life-like, so a man gifted with me 
power of moving other men may mine a tide of 
emotion In the human heart; but li i- a tide like 
that of ocean when rained by the wind, its surface 
swells, and rolling along ihe beach tears the sea¬ 
weed from the rocks and easts the sea-shells on ilie 
shore, i he tide-dial tells tne that it never pene¬ 
trates the dark depths of ocean. After a heavy 
swell for a tide or two it soon returns to Its wonted 
calm; aud that Is Just the result of many a prom¬ 
ising revival and the history of many a Sabbath 
days lajbor.— ovsprnr. 
- -» « ♦ —-- 
BUNYAN S IDEA OF THE DOCTRINE OF 
PERSEVERANCE. 
The doctrine of perseverance is a iso a cross to the 
flesh; which Is not only to begin but to hold out, 
not ouly to bid fair, aud 10 say, would I had 
Heaven, but so to know Christ, pur. on Christ, and 
walk wit h Christ so as to come to Heaven, indeed 
it Is no great matter to begin to look for Heaven, to 
begin to seek the Lord, lo beglu to shun sin; o, but 
It is a very great matter to continue with God's ap 
probation: “My servant Cideb,” saltU God, “Is u 
man of another spirit, he hath followed me (fol¬ 
lowed me always, he hath continually followed me) 
fully, he shall possess the land.' Almost all me 
many thousands of the children of Israel in their 
generation, fell short of perseverance when they 
walked from Egypt towards the land of Canaan. 
Indeed they went to work tu first pretty willingly, 
but they were very short-winded, they were quick¬ 
ly out of breath, and lu their hearts they turned 
back again uuo Egypt. 
Nay, do you not see with your eyes dally, that 
perseverance isu very great pail of the cross? why 
else do men so soon grow weary .■ J could point out 
a many, time after they have followed me ways 
of 1 Jod about a twelvemonth, others It may be two, 
three or four (somc more and some less) years, they' 
have been beat out or wind, Lave taken up their 
lodging and rest before they have got half-way to 
Heaven, some in this, some luthatsLu; and have 
secretly, nay, sometimes openly said, that the way 
Is too strait, the race too long, the religion too 
holy, and I cannot hold out, 1 can go no farmer. 
