me. e 
conflned my purchases In stamps entirely to New 
York dealers the others are given as they have 
been reported to me favorably. 
Do not attempt the collection of every kind cf 
stamps for unless you can spend several thousand 
dollars you will have a first-class collection of 
nothing. For Instance, take the postage stamps of 
Europe; collect, all the desirable varieties you can 
obtain; study them carefully; try and learn some¬ 
thing new and Interesting about them. Jf you do 
this you may obtain a line collection In a few years 
and will derive more pleasure from the study than 
If you had a collection of every class of stamps, 
and nothing complete, nothing rare In It, no 
stamp orsetot stamps which a Philatelist who saw 
It would care to possess. 
Those who take up stamp-collecting merely as 
an amusement will And that Uke other amuse¬ 
ments when the charm of novelty has gone It will 
become distasteful; while any one who really 
makes a study of Philately will Had the field of 
his researches constantly expanding. The science 
has an Intrinsic Interest aside from the mere fact 
of rarity, and after an experience of ten years or 
fifty years the subject Is not much nearer ex¬ 
hausted than when the Philatelist was dazzled 
with the llrst package of stamps. 
MARK TWAIN ON BABIES. 
At the banquet of the Army of the Tennessee, at 
Chicago, a toast was proposed to “ The Babies,” 
Mark Twain responded as follows: 
“The babies.”—As they comfort U3 In our sor¬ 
row, let us not forget them in our festivities. 
[Laughter] I Uke that. 'Ve haven't all had the 
good fortune to be ladles. [Laughter.] We haven’t 
all been generals, or poets or statesmen. But 
when toasts work down to babies, we stand on 
oommou ground, (or we have all been there; we 
have all been bablot. [Laughter and applause.] 
It Is a shame thit for thousands of years the 
world's banquets have utterly ignored the baby as 
It he didn’t amount to anything. It you gentlemen 
will stop and chink a minute; If you will go back 
fifty or one hundred years to your early married 
life [laughter], and contemplate your first baby, 
you will remember that ho amounted to a good 
deal, and even something over. You soldiers, you 
all know when that Uttle fellow arrived at family 
headquarters, you had to hand In your resigna¬ 
tion. [Laughter.] He took entire command. You 
became his lackey, his mere body-servant, and yon 
had to stand around, too. lie was not a comman¬ 
der who made allowances for rime, distance, 
weather or anything else. You had to execute 
his order whet her 11 was possible or not; and there 
was ouly one form of marching la his manual of 
tactics, and that double-quick, lie treated you 
with every sort of Insolence sal disrespect, and 
the bravest of you didn't dare to say a word. You 
could face the death-storm or L’o oeUon and Vicks¬ 
burg, and give back blow for blow [applause]; 
but when he clawed your whiskers and pulled 
your hair and twisted your nose you had to take 
it. [Laughter.] 
When the thunders of war were souudlng In your 
ears you set your face toward batteries and advanced 
with steady tread; but when he turned on the ter¬ 
rors of his war whoops you advanced In another di¬ 
rection [ laughterj; and mighty glad of the chance 
too. When lie called for soothing syrup, did you ven¬ 
ture to throw out any side remarks about certain 
service being unbecoming an officer and a gentle¬ 
man:’ [Laughter.] No; you got up and got It. If 
he ordered his pap-bottle, did you talk back ? No; 
you went to work and warmed It. You even de¬ 
scended so far In your menial office as to take a 
sup at that warm, Insipid stuff yourself to see If It 
was right, three parts water to one of milk, a 
touch of sugar to modify the colic, and a drop of 
peppermint to kill the immortal hiccough. 1 can 
taste It yet. [Roars ] 
And how many things you learned as you went 
along. Sentimental yoaug folks still take stock in 
that beau iful old saying, that when the baby 
smiles In his sleep it Is Localise angels are whisper¬ 
ing to him. Very pretty, but ton thin. [Laughter.] 
Simply wind on tne stomach. Mv friends if the 
haby proposed to take a walk at hla usual hour, 
230 In the morning, didn't you rise up promptly 
and remark with a mental addition which wouldn't 
improve the Sunday School book much, that It was 
the very thing you were about to propose yourself? 
[ Roars. 1 Oh, yes, you were uuder good discipline, 
and as you went Buttering up and down the room 
In your undress uniform, you not only prattled 
undignified baby talk, but you tuned up your 
martial voice aua tried to sing - Rock a by. baby, 
In the tree top,’ for Instance. What a spectacle for 
the Army of the Tennessee, [roars of laughter,] 
and what an affliction for the neighbors, too! For 
it isn't everybody within a mile around that likes 
military music at three o’clock lu the morning, 
and when you Uad bean keeping this sort of thing 
up two or three hours and your little velvet had 
intimated that nothing suited him like exercise 
and noise, w hat did you say ? You simply went on 
till you dropped lu r.he last ditch- [Great laughter. ] 
The Idea that a haby don’t amount to anything! 
If the baby can’t furnish more business than you 
and our whole Interior Department caa attend to, 
he la not enterprising. Irrepressible, brimful of 
lawlets activity, do what you please, you can't 
make him stay on his reservation. [Prolonged 
laughter ] sufficient unto the day is one baby. 
As long as you are In your right mind, don't you 
ever pray for twins. Yes, It was high time for the 
toast-ma3ter to recognize the Importance of ba¬ 
bies. Think what is In store for the recent crop. 
Fifty years hence we shall all be dead, I trust, 
and then this Hag, If It still survives—ami let us 
hope It may—will be Boating over a republic num¬ 
bering 200,1)00,000. According to the settled laws 
of Increase, our present schooner of stare will have 
grown into a political leviathan Great Eastern, 
and the cradled babies of to day will be ou deck. 
Let them be well trained, for we are going re leave 
a big contract on their hands, [Applause] Among 
the three or four million cradles now rocking In 
this land are some which the nation would pre¬ 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
serve for ages as sacred thlng3, if we could only 
know what ones they are. In one of the cradles 
an unconscious Farragot of the future Is at this 
moment teethlug. Think of It. And his father Is 
putting In a world of dead earnest, unutterable, 
but perfectly jus tillable profanity over it, too. in 
another a future renowned astronomer Is blinking 
at the shining milky substance with but languid 
Interest, the poor little chap, and wondering what 
Is to become or uim. In another a future great 
historian Is lying, and doubtless he will continue 
to lie till his earthly mission Is ended. [Laughter.] 
In another a future President Is busying himself 
with no profounder problem of state than that or 
what the mischief has become of his hair so early, 
and In mighty array In other cradles there are 
some i> 1,(0) future office-seekers getting ready to 
furnish him the occasion to grapple with that 
same old problem a second time. And still In one 
more cradle somewhere under the flag the future 
Illustrious commandcr-ln-chlcf of the American 
armies Is so little burdened with his approaching 
grandeurs and responsibilities, as to be giving IBs 
whole strategic mind at this moment to trying to 
And out some way to got his o wn big toe Into his 
mouth. [Applause.] 
- 4 ~*~*- 
SMOKING IN PUBLIC CONVEYANCES. 
The question has been asked, have the mana¬ 
gers of public conveyances the right and power to 
put off from their vehicles people who persist In 
smoking ? The answer Ls that the right and the 
power generally exist in such managers to make 
and enforce reasonable regulat ions for the comfort 
of the general public, and the prohibltlou of 
smoking comes within the rules, until It can he 
proved that tobacco smoke Is not noxious nor 
offensive, and that the great majority of persons 
are smokers. Smoking ls an Indulgence, not a 
necessity, and no nun has a right to procure his 
personal pleasures at the cost of Inconveniencing 
and annoying others. But underlying all this the 
point of gentility comes up. 
Will any gentleman Insist upon smoking In a 
public conveyance when ho cannot help knowing 
that in doing so he ls annoying both women and 
children, and often causlug them serious trouble 
and nausea ? some mppant reasoners try to draw 
the line at a cigarette or a mild cigar, but the 
offence against good man tiers is the same, differing 
only In degree. Tobacco smoke Ls tobacco smoke, 
though soma may only make a la iy sneeze, while 
some ls strong and rank enough to upset a delicate 
stomach entirely. A gentleman is known, not by 
his style of dress, but by his consideration tor the 
feelings and comforts of others. The same applies 
to tobacco cbewers, who distribute tbelr saliva In 
public places to the Injury of women’s dresses 
anti the annoyance of all people or delicate sensi¬ 
bilities. The difficulty, however, la talking about 
those matters with an eye to the public com ort 
lies In the fact that persons who are guilty of those 
habitual breaches of decorum arc not likely to 
heed any remonstrances, no matter how pointed 
and emphatic .—Bctuunore .imerlcnn. 
-» — . 
PREMIUM NO. 57- 
Tnrs premium ls the Charter-oak swivel plow, 
that ls made and supplied to us by tbe Hlgganum 
Mtg,, Corporation. In the Eastern States this 
3tyle of plow ls In very general favor, as ft ls pecu¬ 
liarly well adapted for slde-hlll plowing. 
Our Illustration shows the plow we offer, which 
is full-rigged. It Is a two-horse plow. This ls 
thoroughly a farmer's premium, and Is a capital 
gift to receive tor sending us only IS subscribers. 
Our ne w premium list contains quite a number of 
farming tools that will bi acceptable on almost 
every farm, and certainly no simpler or better 
way could b? devlse l to turn the Idle winter days 
toprotltaKe account than be placing a good paper 
In the hau l > of your neighbors, and receiving a 
useful present In return for your trouble. 
-♦ * » - ■ - — ■ 
RECENT LITERATURE. 
Ilnrrv Aaenlt Abroad- Bv Matthew White, .Tr. 
Nflw’York: Authi.-'s Pabhmias Co. 115 pi>, Price 
60c. 
This ls an American boy's experience abroad, 
charmingly narrated In genuine boyish spirt; and 
with a naturalness that fascinates while It In¬ 
structs. He hi a tel out the wonders which boys 
delight in, an i describes them with continuous 
Interest. 
The peculiar sights of Hamburg, Frankfort-on- 
the-Malue. neldalburj. Baden-Baden, Stuttgart, 
Nuremburg, Dresden, Berlin, Colo tne, Bale, Berne, 
Interlaken, Lucerne, Pavla. London, etc , falryllke 
castles, eccentric ao piUuaiacss, royal turnouts, 
curious student caps, chairs that played tunes 
when sa mpan guttering hussars la avnito boots, 
horse cars made wrong side out, ami thousands of 
other oddities an l pi airing curiosities for young 
eyes, are ch irmingly described. 
-- — 
MAGAZINES E0R DECEMBER. 
Apfletons’ Journal — Contents: Memoirs of 
of MadamedcReiuusat. (Continued); Vivian the 
Beauty, by Mrs. Annie Elwardes. (Conclusion); 
Some Aspects of Rob ' d Burns; The Seamy stile, 
by Walter liesant and James Rice. Chapters 
XXII. and XXtll.; Parliamentary Government in 
America, by Horace White; Ch.uTo? James Mat¬ 
thews; Doncstt ■ Art, by Eustace Balfour; Frag¬ 
ments: Dr. lliueorandon Modern England; George 
Eliot as a Godless Writer; Editor’s Table: The 
Purpose of Fiction — Histrionic Realism — The 
Obelisk; Books of the Day: The Light of Asia— 
Blanld—Bayard Taylor's Studies In German Liter¬ 
ature—Apthorp's Hector Berlioz—What Mr. Dar¬ 
win saw in IBs voyage round the World in the 
Ship Beagle—Jules Verne's Exploration of the 
World — Harper's New Latin Dictionary — Early 
Christian Literature Primers. 
Tue Purpose ok Fiction.— ’ * * Now, the real 
reason for the novel, the why and wherefore that 
men and women delight in tne BctUlou3 fortunes 
of other men and women, ls because something ls 
given which supplements nature, which bestows 
that which lire too often denies. Every man has 
at heart a passionate love for what may be called 
the symmetries of fate—for the rewards that fol¬ 
low earnest, and honest endeavor, and the justice 
that gives us finally full compensation for all that 
wo endure. T'hrough all the calamities and mis¬ 
haps that surround us. we dream of possibilities— 
we Imagine the good that will come by and by to 
cheer us; of difficulties that are assailed and over¬ 
come, of enemies that are put down, of the felici¬ 
tous completion of our schemes. And It ls exactly 
because these dreams so rarely come true in real 
life, that we delight In those inventions called 
novels, whoreln wrong and suffering are suitably 
rectified. When mischance pursues us, there ls 
sweet compensation in following the career of a 
hero who overcomes misfortunes, and wrests things 
to his own ends, lu real life, bitterness and jeal¬ 
ousy may he felt at the better rortuues of other 
men; but In the novel the hero Is the very read¬ 
er’s self, and all the felicitous achievements and 
successes are enjoyed with almost as much zest as 
If they were hU very own. The very foundation 
of fiction, its significance and meaning, Ucs m this 
power to refiecteach reader In one of the principal 
personages. It shows us what we would like to 
do, and vvh at wo know we feel. • * * If fiction 
did not succeed in getting us out of ourselves, lu 
creating worlds mare delightful than the world we 
experience, in fashioning things better to our lik¬ 
ing than Fate fashions them, It Is certain that 
novels would go generally unread. • ’ ’ 
Distinctly, nobody wants novels that reproduce 
all the sufferings and struggles of real life unless 
supplemented with those compensations tUut In 
real life ought to follow, but rarely do; for the 
novel Is nothing more than a device for setting the 
disorders of life right, and making us all happy by 
the contemplation ot tlu.al, and so often rightly 
called poetic justice. The novel that does not do 
this thing for us may entertain a good many peo¬ 
ple by its character sketches and Its descriptions, 
but. in missing the fundamental purpose of the 
novel, must fall to command the earnest sympa¬ 
thies ot the general world of readers.— i pputons’ 
Journal tor December. 
Phrenological Journal. Contents : — nenry 
Kiddle, Late Superintendent of New York City.— 
With a Portrait; The Vow of Faith; The Color 
Sense; The Elevation or the Individual; The Town 
at the End ot the Rainbow; llenry c, Carey; 
The Sktmmlas. — Illustrated ; llenry A. Hartt, 
M. D. — with Portrait; “ Unwarrantable Posi¬ 
tions ;” Comparative Value ot Common Articles of 
Food: The Earth Cure; Nurse Girls. Poetry—la 
the Van; A Boyhood's Memory. Editorial Items.— 
To the Reader; Sponges; Some Very Common Lu¬ 
natics ; Popular Inanity; Further Showings from 
French Sources; Memory strengthened by Prac¬ 
tice ; Causes of Sudden Death, etc Notes In 
•Science and Agriculture.—A Cave Wonder in Ari¬ 
zona ; Forest consumption; Iron uud Glue la 
Street Dust; Hard and Soft Water; The Produc¬ 
tion ot a single Bean; A Horse Killed by Tea; 
Apples Every Year; The Blood in Diagnosis; To 
Remove India Ink In Carpets; A Home-made Gal¬ 
vanic Battery; To Get Rid of Rats ; Grafting 
Grapevines. Answers to Correspondents.—Con¬ 
science ; Location ot organs: Mushrooms and 
Toadstools; Children and Flesh Diet; Physiogno¬ 
mical Sign: Unwholesome Cookery; Glucose and 
Digestloa: Immortality and immorality, our 
AVork, and What our Friends Think of It. Per¬ 
son als—Wisdom—.Ml rth -Library. 
Causes ok Sudden Death.— very tew ot the sud¬ 
den deaths which are said to arise trom disease 
of the heart do really arise from that cause. To 
ascertain the real origin of sudden deaths, an ex¬ 
periment was tried and reported to a scientific 
congress at Strasburg Sixty-six cases of sudden 
death were made the subject ot a thorough post¬ 
mortem examination; in these cases only two 
were found who died from disease of the heart. 
Nine out ot sixty-six had died from apoplexy, 
while there were forty-six eases of congestion of 
the lungs—that is. the lungs were so full of blood 
they could not work, not being room enougu for a 
sufficient quantity of air to enter to support life. 
The causes that produce congestion of me lungs 
are—cold feet, tight clothing, costive bowels, sit¬ 
ting still until chilled after being tvarmed with 
labor ora rapid walk, going too suddenly from a 
close room into the air, especially after speaking, 
too hasty walking, or running to catch a train, 
etc. But one ot the signal reasons tor congestion 
of the luugs and sudden, death ls the decreased ac¬ 
tion of the heart, caused by the use of coffee and 
tobacco The use of spices has a similar effect. 
The heart stops from a paralysis of the nerves 
which promote Its uctlon, and a post-mortem ex¬ 
amination would not reveal the fact. There ls 
really no disease of the heart, simply a suspension 
of its action by a paralysis or i lie. nerves which 
give Its motion These causes of sudden death be¬ 
ing known, an avoid nice ot them may serve to 
lengthen many valuable lives, which would other¬ 
wise be lost under the verdict ot heart, complaint. 
That disease is supposed to be Inevitable and Incu¬ 
rable; hence many may not take tne pains they 
would to avoid sudden death, If they knew it lay In 
their power. 
The Youth's Companion —The extraordinary 
popularity of the Youth's Companion, with Its 
circulation ot nearly 140,000, is a gratifying proof 
that a first-class, pure and high-toned family pa- 
785 
Peris widely appreciated. It may be safely in¬ 
ferred that, in any home where the Companion Is 
found, none ot the objectionable periodicals that 
flood the country can find access. The care with 
which the proprietors of this paper have guarded 
their pages against anything of a detrimental na¬ 
ture, either to mind or morals, has thus far been 
amply rewarded, and no publication In the world 
furnishes its readers with more narratives, stories, 
sketches, adventures, anecdotes, poems, jokes, 
puzzles, pictures, descriptions of foreign lands, 
travels, tales, biographies, articles on the social, 
moral, political, financial, literary and scientific 
questions of the day, than the Companion, all 
being original, and Horn the pens of the best wri¬ 
ters of the age. The Companion Is a weekly, pub¬ 
lished by Messrs. Perry Mason <x Co., 4l Temple 
Place, Boston, at tbe extremely moderate price 
ot $1.75 a year. 
-- 
VARIETIES. 
the health to miss o'neili.. 
The death and burial, last week of a poor for¬ 
lorn old Avoman ot 80, the once famous Washing¬ 
ton belle, Mrs Eaton, who in General Jackson’s 
time caused so much si lr, by her resolute will as 
well as her beauty, has revived, among other 
things, the fact chat It was she of whom Edward 
Coale Pinkney, half a century ago, wrote his fa¬ 
mous song, which was afterwards published under 
the caption “ The Health,” and was widely and 
deservedly admired as a fine and polished piece 
ot literary work, as well as lor Its spirit. Pinkney, 
though an American in every thing but the accident 
of his birth (his parents happened to be abroad at 
that time), was born, like Praed, In London, and 
In the same year -1302. Pinkney died prematurely, 
In 1829, or ho might perhaps bavo produced poems 
still more notable. Here Is hla famous *• Health,” 
In honor of the then beautiful Miss O’Neill 
“ a health to the most beautiful woman in 
AMERICA.” 
I fill this cup to one made up 
Of loveliness alone, 
A woman, of her gentle sex 
The seeming paragon. 
To whom the better elements 
And kindly stars have given 
A form so fair, that like the air, 
’Tis less of earth than heaven. 
Of her bright face one glance will trace 
A picture on the brain, 
And of her voice, in echoing hearts 
A sound must long remain; 
And memory such as mine of her 
So very much endears, 
AVhen death is nigh my latest sigh 
AVill not be life’s but hers. 
Affections are as thoughts to her, 
The measure of her hours: 
Her feelings have the fragranc.y. 
The freshness of young flowers. 
And lovely passions changing oft 
So fill her, sho appears 
The image of themselves by turns 
The idol of past years. 
I fill this cup to one mado up 
Of loveliness alone, 
A woman of her gentie sex 
The seeming paragon. 
Her health'. And would on earth there were 
Some more of such a frame, 
That life might be all poetry. 
And weariness a name ! 
The London Times thinks it ls well for the cred¬ 
it of the British nation "that foreigners do not 
habitually study the reports of the business done 
at assize towns, it is well, too, that races whom 
it is our work In the world to teach, elevate and 
civilize do not know of the uufalllog tale of brutal 
acts of violence which come before our criminal 
courts. The knowledge oi these ugly facts might be 
seriously injurious to the good name and moral In¬ 
fluence ot England.” The particular case which ex¬ 
cites this comment is as follows: A shoemaker asked 
his wife for a shilling. 8lie refused to give it to him 
and he accordingly rushed at her, struck her 
violently, knocked her down, dragged her across 
the road, dropped her In the gutter, kicked heron 
the head and upper part, of the body, and then took 
away her shilling. The next day he called lu the 
doctor, who arrived after the woman was dead. 
During all this time both the man and his wife 
were sober; drink was not the excuse. The man 
was put on trial for feloniously killing his wife, not 
for murder or manslaughter. He was lounJ guilty, 
but recommended to mercy. The lord chief j ustice 
or England sentenced the brute to six months im¬ 
prisonment with hard labor. It does not seem to be 
very hard to understand why violence 13 common 
In a country Avhere that Is deemed adequate pun¬ 
ishment for such a crime. 
Dyeing the Eyes.—A learned German doctor 
has, It ls announced, discovered a means of dyeing 
the eyes ot animals In general and of man In par¬ 
ticular any color he pleases. He ls accompanied 
ou his travels of propagation by a dog with a rose- 
colored eye, a. cat with ion orange-red eye, and a 
monkey with a chrome-yellow eye. But the most 
curious specimens of his art are a negro with one 
eye black and the other blue, and a negress with 
one eye gold-colored and the other sliver white. 
The doctor says the process of oeular transforma¬ 
tion, far from Injuring the sight, strengthens and 
improves it. 
According to the “ Parisian ” the wedding-dress 
of the future Queen of Spain will be of white bac¬ 
carat, covered with a court mantle of excessively 
flno lace. Alt the escutcheons of the aucleut king¬ 
doms of .Spain aud tin ir alliance are reproduced by 
a process hitherto unknown. The escutcheons 
form the border, and the ground ot the mantle is 
flowewd. The bridal veil Is a reproduction In 
ininltuo re or the mautle. The gala toilette will be 
of gold brocade embroidered with touffes of roses 
In relief, joined together by bands of uiyosotls and 
Uttle Beur-de-leua. Another grand reception toi¬ 
lette will be ot silver brocade embroidered with 
geranium [lowers of all shades. 
