NOV. 2 ® 
ror, rage, and despair; then It faded slowly; a 
faint smile softened the rigid curves of his lips,his 
heavy haod felt feebly for his wife’s bowed head, 
then bis eyes closed, a long shudder went through 
his frame, and all was oyer. 
“ He Is dead!” said Dr, Mackenzie, ratsing quiet¬ 
ly ; and while the honsekeeper bent down and 
closed the staring eyes, a terrible cry broke from 
Jean as sho tottered to her feet. 
“It is all over,”repeated the doctor, quietly, 
looking at the young girl with close attention, 
noting the marble pallor of her face, the awful 
horror In her dilated eyes. “ You arc free now, 
Mrs. Blair.” 
“ Yes, free from her bondage I” cried the house¬ 
keeper, bitterly. “Even her hate must be satis¬ 
fied now.” 
Jean looked at her vacantly as she moved away; 
all her senses were contused by the sudden and 
awful death she had witnessed. She pressed her 
hands to her brow, and with wild, haggard eyes, 
shivering and trembling, she went to the door. 
“Yes,” repeated the doctor, distinctly, “even 
hate must be satisfied, ire has died trom the 
effects of poison.” 
“No—no—no!” cried out Jean, in a voice of 
such shrill horror and anguish, that It rang 
through the room with startling dist inctness; and 
putting her hands before her eyes, as It to shut 
out some horrible vision, she staggered forward a 
few steps, then fell heavily to the ground, striking 
her head violently against a heavy piece of furni¬ 
ture as she fell, and losing all consciousness. 
So the New Year’s night passed at Blair Oates 
sadly, wearily, slowly, and the second morning of 
the year found the master lying cold, silent, still, 
in the library, “ dead from the effects of poison,” 
while in her room above. Jean Blair lay uncon¬ 
scious of all that surrounded her, and never open¬ 
ing her lips, save to utter wild, raving words of 
delirium and horror. 
In the evening, Collins, who had dispatched a 
messenger to Sliolto Hall, was sitting by her mls- 
5tress’s bedside, her heart heavy, with a rote- 
boding of evil which cast, a dark shadow upon her. 
Her attendance on her mistress had prevented her 
from knowing what terrible suspicious were being 
entertalued hi the household below, or what hor¬ 
rible lnslnuailons the housekeeper was letting 
drop, or her heart would have been yet more 
heavy, and that little gleam of hope, which would 
sliltie through ihe darkness, would have been ex¬ 
tinguished forever. Her young lady was free now, 
and wuen her mourning was over, those happier 
days would come to her, bright with the suushlne 
of the Earl of i vor’s deep love. 
“ Collins,” said a ralnt voice from the bed; and 
the maid hastened to answer. 
“Yes, Mias Jean." Whenever her mistress was 
111 or in trouble, she became “Miss Jean” again 
to Collins. 
Jean put out her hand,“and grasped her maid’s 
Wrist with her Utile burning ringers. 
"ColUns," she said, hurriedly, “do they say 
there will be an Inquest V”. 
“Yea. Mias Jean.” 
“ Oh. Heavens 1” and Jean sank bank on her ptl- 
lows with a cry of aiigulsh so keen that It went 
to the servant's heart. 
she brought her mistress some restorative, but 
the girl turned away from It Impatiently. 
“Must it be ” she said, fixing her glittering eyes 
on Collin’s lace—“ must it be Collins V” 
•• The examination ? Yes, Miss Jean,” she an¬ 
swered, wondering at the agitation which shook 
her mistress’ (rame 
“it must be prevented. It Is loo horrible I” 
shuddered Jean. “1 could not bear it, Collins. 
I am sure he would not have wished it,” said the 
maid, soothingly. 
“Collins,” said Joan, after a moment, “go 
down to Dr. Mackenzie, and ask him to come to 
mo.” 
“You are too 111, dear Miss Jean,” remonstrated 
ColUns. 
“ No; I must see him ?” 
ColUus left the mom, aud Jean lifted herself 
from her pUlows with feverish strength. Her 
horror of a post-mortem, examination was ex¬ 
treme ; she could not quite account for It, but It 
weighed upon her like an awful nightmare, from 
which she could not escape. 
When the doctor came to her bedside she spoke 
with feverish rapidity and earnestness. 
“ Dr. Mackenzie, my maid tells me you think It 
necessary to hold an inquest,” she said hurriedly. 
“The Idea Is so very dreadful to mo that I am 
prepared to make any saeriuee to prevent It.” 
“ To prevent it, Mrs Blair!” he exclaimed. “ It 
is Impossible!' 1 
“1 will give money—anything you like! l will 
give a thousand pounds.” she said, In plUublo en¬ 
treaty. “ Don’t you see that the very thought Is 
killing me! Take my whole fortune If you will, 
only spare mo this awful trial!” 
“This Is most extraordinary,” he said, “It is 
Impossible, Mrs. Blair. Do you know to what 
suspicion such a request will make you liable ?” 
she did not appear to heed. 
WlU you stop It? Oh! Dr. Mackenzie, l have 
borne so much—this seems so horrible—it, fills me 
with horror, l would sacrifice anything to put a 
stop to It!” 
•‘It la utterly impossible, Mrs. Blair,” said Dr. 
Mackenzie, rising. “Itmust be done. Nothing 
can prevent it. it is but right In the Interest of 
Justice,” he added, gravely. 
••In the Interest of justice!” repeated Jean, 
looking at him with her pale face, and her eyes 
full of horror, and an undefined dread; and with 
a terrible cry, which brought ColUns to her side, 
t ho unhappy girl fell back on her pillows and her 
senses lied—To be continued. 
-- 
Annocnokment. The closing paper on “ Phi¬ 
lately,” will appear in Rural of Decembers. It 
will treat of the selection of an album; the mount¬ 
ing of stamps, and a description of the materials 
used for that purpose ; how to avoid counterfeits ; 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
where to buy genuine stamps, and conclude with 
general advice to beginners. 
-*-•-#- 
A “ CRICKET ” THAT SHOULD BE NEAR 
EVERY HEARTH 
Is the “ Rural” Cricket Clock (Premium No. 82) 
which is here illustrated at one-quarter Its actual 
size. This clock has three conspicuous merits. Its 
accuracy, Us thorough and durable construction, 
and Its beauty. The case is a single piece of cop¬ 
per, stamped out In the rorm as seen. It Is then 
heavily nickel-plated, and the works (which run 
thirty homs) are securely fastened and covered by 
a dust-proof metal back, hence It Is impossible for 
any inj urlous substauce to enter them. The wind¬ 
ing and setting are done by turning little buttons. 
This handsome clock is given by The Rural for 
only five subscribers at each. 
-- 
HITTING THE PRINCE OF WALES. 
The Sharp Rt>lmke of Canon VVilberforce. 
Canon Wilbekfokck, however, has used an in¬ 
cident which occurred Just before the Bernhardt 
departure to point a moral and adorn a tale, and 
In a powerful sermon preached at Westminster 
Abbey he lnvelghe d against the laxity of morals 
prevailing In the preset t day, and alluded to the 
Bernhardt lu the following terms: 
“ It was a strange commentary upon the blend¬ 
ing together of the world and the Church ’ * * 
to witness during this past season at the Albert 
HaU that wonderful gathering representing the 
wealth, the beauty, the high birth of our land, en¬ 
gaged, mark you, professedly in the godlike 
work of eliurlty lor the purpose of aiding the poor 
foreigners of London; and there, side by side with 
England's proud nobility, sharing, H not monopo¬ 
lizing, the homage ot the representatives of roy¬ 
ally, might be seen, a certain talented unmarried 
foreigner with her son openly by her side, vvhy, 
we dare to ask in grid and astonishment, does 
society tolerate now that which it would not have 
dared to tolerate in the days when the Consort of 
England's Queen was living? Why la vice per¬ 
mitted now to Haunt her painted cheeks in open 
day v” 
This Is rather .plain speaking to 11. li. 11. the 
Prince of Wales who attended the Albert Hall 
Bazar, and brought Ills wife with him to help him 
In throwing his £» notes right and left with a 
reckless prodigality which called forth from the 
Comodle Frauealsc ladles the oft-repeated eulo- 
glum, “Oh, qu'l est gencreux 1” No one can blame 
the Princess for going—very much against her In¬ 
clination, I am told—to patronize, or be patronized 
by a lady who, though possessed of undoubted tal¬ 
ents, has no more sense of propriety than to openly 
bring her illegitimate son into good society. 
If the Prince and Princess had not happened to 
be there, Belgravia would have been shocked long 
before ‘Janou Wilberforce called attention to the 
circumstance from the pulpit, l hope the Canon’s 
plain, courageous, outspokenness won’t interfere 
with Ills chances for a Bishopric; royal person¬ 
ages sometimes have inconveniently long mem¬ 
ories .—London Letter in Philadelphia Telegraph. 
- »♦» 
ALL ABOUT ONIONS. 
There are persons who have stomachs that will 
digest onions: but their asserted wholesomeness, 
cooling and tranquiltzlng qualities, gentle action 
on the liver, etc., Is all nonsense. Some persons 
make themselves believe that they are wholesome 
because they like (hem, but to a man or woman 
with an averuge digestion they produce nothing 
but lndlgestlou, wind la the bowels, and such an 
unpleasant breath as to be a nuisance to everyone 
who has not also been eating them. Wo have al¬ 
ways maintained that they arc not wholesome. 
However, a single onion may be eaten at din tier 
with relish as well as a single pickle; but there is 
perhaps no vegetable more misused than onions. 
We know housewives who imagine that they can¬ 
not make a good soup without onions, white all 
the effect Is to Ilavor the kitchen and the bouse 
with their odor. In boiling them the very volatile 
and abomtniblc onion ilavor disappears entirely 
by voUtllzatlon lu the air. Some people use them 
as a medicine tor all diseases; when any one has a 
cold they are given tried or boiled onions to eat, 
and when the cold gels better or Itsell, as Is the 
case with most all colds, the onions get the credit 
of It. Then they slice onions and apply them to 
rheumatic joints— In short, onions are used ex¬ 
teriorly as well as interiorly for most all kinds of 
common diseases, and It 18 to be regretted that 
some other less unsavory aud Inert article has not 
attained The reputation that onions have unde¬ 
servedly reached.— Munnjtivlueer ti faultier. 
-- 
RECENT LITERATURE. 
The Temple. By W\ O. Perkins, Mus. Doc. For 
Classes, couveutious aud Choirs. Bostou: Oliver 
Ditson & Co. 
This well-chosen name belongs to a new book or 
the composite order, bemg either a choir Book or 
a Singing Class-Book, as you please lo look at It 
it Is not so large as full-sized Church Music Books, 
and larger than those made of late years for 
classes. It is, however, very well put together, 
and has the advantage of an ante-teJlian price; 
being furnished at J9.00 per dozen. 
Considered as a Singing School Book, It at once 
pleases us by the assertion In the preface, that 
“ work, work, work" Is needed In the class, and It 
provides for that labor most generously. It h«3 161 
numbered exercises, most of them In the form of 
tunes, with words: alrout T- r > pages of Glees, quite 
fresh and wide-awake, and iso pages of Sacred 
Music, Including a forge number of Metrical 
Tunes, of Anthems, Sentences and Chants. 
Considered as a Choir Book, we have only to re¬ 
verse the order. The 160 pages of Sacred Music 
furnish abundant material for singing on Sunday, 
and the Anthems will serve as opening pieces at 
least for an entire year. The Glee collection fur¬ 
nishes just the practice that k» wanted in re¬ 
hearsals and social singing meetings. 
In Conventions, the variety of music provided 
answers an excellent purpose. 
Claxton, Reuses & Haffelfinger, publishers, 
024, 620 and 62 S Market street, Philadelphia, will 
publish. November 25, “The Egotist; Essays of 
Life; Its Work and Its Fortunes; Its Joys and Its 
Sorrows; Its Success and Its Failures.” By Henry 
T. Ring, member or the Philadelphia Bar. i2mo. 
Cloth. 2T0 pp. $1 so. In form, this book stands 
between Bacon's Essays and his Apothegms. In 
substance it la. as the author claims, an original 
book—very original—full of thought, and spicy. 
In the matter of style, It Is written in good Eng¬ 
lish-vigorous and forcible, condensed and to the 
point. On the whole, the work Is inauly, practical 
and well calculated to instruct. 
MAGAZINES FOR DECEMBER. 
Harper’s Magazine for December: The For¬ 
tunes of the Bonapartes, with seventeen Illustra¬ 
tions; The New York Cooking School, F. E. Fryatt, 
with six Illustrations; The City or Atlanta, Ernest 
Jngersoll, with fifteen illustrations; The Palestine 
of To-Day, Dr. J. F. Hurst, with thirteen Illustra¬ 
tions; The Jroa Pen ; A Poem, H. W. Longfellow; 
Sea-Drill from a New England Port, Lizzie W. 
Chatupney, with eleven Illustrations; Blossoms; 
A Poem, Philip o. Sullivan, with one Illustration; 
London’s Glory and WhltUngton’s Renown; A 
Ballad, with live Illustrations; White Wings: A 
Yachting Romance, William Black, with two Illus¬ 
trations; The Connemara Hills; If., J. L. Cloud; 
Y’oung Mrs. Jardlne ; A Novel. D. M. Cralk, with 
three illustrations; A New and True Gh 06 t Story; 
A Poem. James T. Fields; Will's Will, and His 
Two Thanksgivings, Rose Terry Cooke; Mary An- 
erly; A Novel, R. D. Blaektnore; Editor's Easy 
Chair; Editors Literary Record; Editors Histo¬ 
rical Record; Editor a Drawer. 
Napoleon's Marriages .— 1 The marriages of the 
RoamjarV's play an important part lu the story of 
their lortunes, and none of them were so«lgulfl- 
cant ami Important as those of the Emperor. To 
one who, like him, looked upon the world as made 
for him, and upon laws merely as something which 
were good for him to Impose upon others. It must 
have appeared that his two wives were admirably 
planned for his use. Josephine de Beauharnals 
was an Ideal wife for a young and rising man of 
genius. She had everything which would appeal 
to a fancy like his. at once selfish and passionate. 
She had beauty, rank, the power of pleasing, and 
a certain Indolent grace that promised an obedi¬ 
ence reasonably tree- from jealousy. Up to the 
time that he mounted the imperial throne and 
seated her by his side, she was all that his narrow 
heart and boundless ambition could desire. But 
after the marvelous victory of Wagram had opeued 
up to his fevered Imagination still wider perspec¬ 
tives of dominion, he looked for another style ot 
wife, and tuund her In Marla Louisa, of Austria. 
Her blonde beauty, formed of pink and white 
color and roundly curving lines and the golden 
floss of a child s hair, appealed strongly lo his 
Jaded taste. He was not old, but, as be said to the 
Directory, “ one ages fast upon the field of battle,’ 
and he wanted some such solace as this soft, un- 
lnteUeelual beauty (somebody has called It the 
Alderney style of prettiness) In his home, If such a 
word may be used or the ’Pufferies. Besides, he 
doubtless felt that, an emperor should have an 
emperor’s daughter to wife, and t his was a young 
girl who had a hundred monarchy for her an¬ 
cestors, and yet she would be gentle aud obedlenr, 
and not argue with him or answer him, and would 
give him heirs. He was genuinely attached to 
her, and If he knew nothing about her, and had no 
premonition of Count Nalpperg, It was all the bet¬ 
ter for him. She also was quite taken by storm 
with him, and for a while the novelty of being 
loved by an ogre—for such she had always con¬ 
sidered him—was agreeable to her. But his tu¬ 
multuous glory was quite too much for the daily 
food of such a tnunau small being as the Empress, 
and she was doubtless relieved when the indignant 
soul left his body at Long wood, and she was free 
to follow her Ignoble little heart and marry Xelp- 
perg. 
Josephine would have had her revenge If she 
could have foreseen the course of history for even 
a few years. It Is she, and not the pretty Aus¬ 
trian, who will be known forever as the wife of 
Napoleon, It Is her statue that rises lu marble m 
the public places of Paris, it Is her name and 
those of her children tliat mark the great avenues 
of the metropolis—Avenue Josephine, La Ueiue 
Horteuse, Boulevard du Prince Eugene, 't hough 
she was ousted remorselessly from a throne to 
make room tor Maria Louisa, it was her children— 
the children of the creole prescript—who should 
become the tenants or palaces, and not those of 
her rival. The Duke ot Relohstadt was to pass a 
youth of inglorious pleasure, and was to die before 
his prime, aud leave no son to Inherit his claims to 
empire; wht*e the Beauharnals line was to stretch 
out like the swarm of kings seen by the Thane of 
Cawdor lu his vision. Eugene, her heroic son, 
after the fall of the Napoleons, returned to the 
court of his father-lu-law, the Ring of Bavaria, 
and became Prince of Elchstadt, Duke of Leucblen- 
berg, and first nobleman of the kingdom. Ills 
daughter, united to the son of Bernadette, became 
Queen of Sweden; another became a princess of 
Hobenzollern, and a third Empress of Brazil. His 
oldest, son won the hand of the Queen of Portugal, 
and the younger married a daughter of the Czar 
Nicholas of Russia. And whatever doubt might, 
be thrown on the purity or the Napoleonic descent 
by which the Emperor Napoleon in. claimed the 
throne, he was unquestionably the son of Horteuse, 
and was Beauharnals and Teacher-la^Pagarle be¬ 
yond challenge. The grandson of Josephine, Louis 
Napoleon, ruled France in peace and with a sort 
of splendor for the apace of twenty-two years, 
while the period of the first Napoleon's reign, 
counting consulate and Empire together, was but 
fifteen—though so powerful was the personal Im¬ 
print made by the uncle, and so vague was the In¬ 
dividual character of the nephew, that the shorter 
reign seems like an age. and the longer like am 
episode.— Harper’* Magazine for December. 
Goon Company (S3.oo a year. Springfield, Mass.). 
Number Three. Three of the best known writers, 
of really good short stories are represented In this 
Issue; Mrs Rose Terry Cooke by Dooru and Dan, a 
characteristic specimen of her work; Miss Sarah 
O. Jewett, the author of Deephaven, by Good 
Luck, In her usual finished style; and M r. Edward 
Bellamy, whose story is called Jane Hicks. There 
are also two sketches based upon characters In real 
life; Saved from lllmsetf, aud a Holly Leaf, which 
last savors ot temperance and Christmas Borii 
are written In an Intense style. The most Important 
article, perhaps, Is An Answer lo the cry lor More 
English, by Prof. A. S. Hill, of Harvard College, 
which will be of interest to all who are Interested 
In educational matters, particularly such as believe 
In a more thorough training In English than 18 
generally given. Prof: Hill s opluions should (rout 
his position have weight. 
Mr. Geo. M. Towle's paper on Gladstone Includes 
personal reminiscences of the great sialesmaii asan 
orator, such as are always acceptable about dis¬ 
tinguished men. Mr. Towle will have several 
similar papers In Good Company hereafter. Includ¬ 
ing personal reminiscences In each case. The next 
will be about Gambetta. 
Mr. II. P. Goddard has a sketch of the late Rev. 
Dr. Horace Buslinell, drawn largely from penonal 
acquaintance. 
Tales ot the Civil Damage Law relates various 
cases that Illustrate how far retail liquor sellers 
can be held responsible lor the doings of persons 
when Intoxicated by liquor they have sold. 
Freethinklng gets vigorous treatment at the 
hands of a freethinker. 
Assaying In a New camp Is by Ernest Ingersoll, 
and an article on upporiunities - West makes euough 
remarkable statements to satisfy the most enthu¬ 
siastic westerner. , 
The Food ot t he Poor Is by William II. Rideing, 
aud Rev. Charles Caverno contributes The Judges 
and Crime. 
The editorial arUeles and notices of new books 
complete the number, in which are included poems 
by Rebecca N. Hazard, Emily A. Braddock, T. S. 
Collier and Caroline A Mason. 
Some “pelung by Candidates for admission 
to Harvard.— Many, a larger number than usual, 
spelled as If starting a spelling reform, each tor 
himself, ot i Peso, vagaries specimens are subjoined, 
Including vain attempts to reproduce proper names 
that were printed on the examination paper itself: 
—duells, jelosle, eheir, oppostL surprising, Collos- 
sus, compaired, repetedly, lourili («>r forth), to (tor 
too), thrown (for throne), fide, while-winged angle, 
beaverage, broak, carrlge, champaign (tor cham¬ 
pagne), lusted- haled (for huffed), cudcvors, sucess, 
preasant, and preasance, widly, waring, dlffer- 
anee, supereeedecl, prepaired, cornand, consplrlt- 
ors. to tlunlsh, avarittous. uncloubt.ibly. gran lather, 
pelce, fashionable bell, wrlten and wrltttngs, 
manlger(formanager),unttll jovfflty (forjoviality), 
ficticious, eouard and couardlse (for coward), ex- 
htsted, orlgeu and orlgonal (for origin and original), 
kneeded (for needed;, gentous. marrid, mad (lor 
made), wer (for were), cleaver I y, dlfferculty, exlst- 
ance, abscent, oiler, repare, ennoubiing, agrleved, 
of (for off), susceptible, proclarned, loose (for lose), 
principle (for principal), lead (for led), Kip Van 
IUncle, Adfson and Adderson, Qucenc Ann, Ma- 
cauley, Thackery, steel (Sir Richard), Uenery, 
Harries (tor Harry’s). Of these mistakes some are 
evidently much graver than others; but some of 
the worst were tound lo several books, <uid not a 
rew are apparently due to an unconscious effort to 
represent to the eye a vicious pronunciaUon. Many 
books were deformed by grossly ungrammatical or 
profoundly obscure sentences, and some by abso¬ 
lute Illiteracy.— [Prof, a, s. Hill; Good Company, 
Number Three. 
Every honest voter Is bound to take the ticket 
offered him and scrutinize It carefully, and erase 
every name of a candidate who Is unfit to hold 
office. The fact that a worse man is running ou 
the other ticket is no reason why he should vote for 
a bad man. lie cannot excuse lffmscff for doing 
wrong on the ground that lr he does not do it, 
somebody else may do a greater wrong.— editor's 
Table; Good Coin, puny, Xamber Three, 
The Saturday Magazine.— with the number 
for November 29 this magazine completes Its first 
year. In a notice written when only a tew num¬ 
bers had been Issued, we confidently predicted its 
success, and our prediction has been verified. The 
magazine has been all it promised to be. The selec¬ 
tions have been made with taste and Judgment., 
and have covered a wide field, embracing History, 
Romance, Science, Biography— In fact, the whole 
scope of literature, it differs from most magazines 
In that Its articles are. as a rule, complete in one 
number. There have been Improvements in its 
appearance since the beginning, but we miss the 
“Amenities” and brisk editorials troui the later 
numbers. The Saturday Magazine Is edited by 
Fred. B. Perkins and published weekly at 11 Brom- 
field street, Boston, Mass. 
