4886 
THE RURAL MEW-Y0RKIR. 
On August 16, 1839, Gen. Noble married 
Harriet J.,daughter of Benjamin Brooks, Esq., 
of Bridgeport, Conn., and they have four chil¬ 
dren, two sons 6nd two daughters. He has 
beet! an occasional contributor to the Rural 
New-Yorker during the past 10 years. 
Woman s Worh. 
CONDUCTED KY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
THEN AND NOW. 
A teak ago! that perfect day 
As I wove my garland of popples gay, 
These thoughts came to me: 
Life, thou art. sweet! Earth, thou art fair, 
The fullness of beauty Is everywhere 
For my love and me. 
I have no thought of pain or unrest, 
Anchored safe on my Lover's breast. 
What to me Is the world and Its ways? 
The present Is mine; and the years to be 
Lie peaceful and calm as a wareless sea, 
The to-morrows sweeter than the to days. 
Love is God; 
In my dreams I see the long grass wave. 
And the violets blue that grow on a grave 
In a far off land, 
I feel the approach of the Silent Guest, 
And shrink from the chill of my Lover’s breast. 
What to me now are the dreams of the past? 
is of cream-white surah, faced with deep or¬ 
ange satin and finished with a bunch of white 
pond-lilies with orange centers. 
Handkerchief cases are now made to hang 
upon the wall, so as to save the trouble of 
opening and shutting drawers. They are 
sometimes made like au ordinary wall-pocket, 
padded and perfumed, or in the shape of a 
hand-bag. A handsome one in the latter 
shape was made of three widths of ribbon two 
inches wide, dull blue, shrimp pink and old 
gold. The ribbon was sewed together on the 
wrong side, but was left unsewed above the 
place where the bag was drawn in at the top, 
so as to form six loops. The bag was lined 
and perfumed and had a spray of flowers 
painted slanting across one corner. 
CONFESSIONS OF A COUNTRY GIRL. 
in. 
Among subjects near to any woman's heart 
I think we all give a prominent rank to the 
matter of wardrobe, only many of us are 
afraid to acknowledge the fact. Not that 
there is anything to be ashamed of in such a 
thing. Of course we do wrong if we think of 
our clothes to the exclusion of higher things, 
or if we spend more thau we can really afford. 
mm 
-'/A 
GENERAL WM. H. NOBLE. From a Photograph. Fig. 460. 
Biographical. 
GENERAL WILLIAM H. NOBLE. 
General William H. Noble, a likeness of 
whom is given at Fig. 460, was born August 
18th, 1813. His parents—the Rev. B. G. Noble 
and Charlotte (Sanford) Noble—were respect¬ 
ively of New Milford and NeWtmriij Conn. 
His father was Rector of Christ Church; Mid- 
ilietowii, Conn., and with him ho lived imtil 
the age of 15. From the age of 11 to 15 he at¬ 
tended Captain Partridge’s Military Academy 
at Middletown, and celebrated, with 200 of its 
students, under arms at New York, the fiftieth 
anniversary of the Declaration of Independ¬ 
ence. In the Fall of 1828, at the age of 15, he 
entered Trinity— then Washington College— 
at. Hartford; Conn,, and in tile Spriugof 1830, 
entered the Sophomore Class of Yale. He 
graduated from Yale with honors, August, 
1832, at the age of just 19 years; taught for a 
year and a half a private academy at Stn m • 
ford, Conn., and began, in the Spring of 1834, 
at Bridgeport. Conn., the study of the law. 
He was admitted to the bar of Fairfield Coun¬ 
ty in the Spring of 1836, The same year he 
aided in procuring the charter of the Housa- 
tonic R. R. Co., the second railroad in Con¬ 
necticut, and became its secretary, and was 
for many years active in its organization and 
construction. The same year he procured the 
charter of the City of Bridgeport, and was 
Clerk of the Courts of Fairfield Co., Conn., 
and States Attorney for that county for a 
number of years. 
From 1836 down he was active iu promoting 
the growth of East Bridgeport by building 
bridges and other connections, and in 1850, 
having purchased of his father’s estate and 
others about 70 acres, he mapped out that por¬ 
tion ol' the city, aud connected it by a short 
foot-bridge witli the center of Bridgeport. 
Iu 1851, P. T. Bo rating the great showman, 
purchased of him oue-half his interest in this 
property, atid they went on purchasing to¬ 
gether until their area covered over 200 acres, 
on which were worked streets and avenues and 
a public park of native woodland, and they 
connected the same by a new and more direct 
carriage bridge with the center of the city. 
Thus was laid the foundation of that which 
will soon be the second city in Connecticut. 
In 1850 General Noble was nominated for Con¬ 
gress from the Fourth Congressional District 
of Connecticut; but his large majority in 
Fairfield County, where he resided, was over¬ 
come by the adverse vote of Litchfield County. 
In 1861 he took a very active part in the or¬ 
ganization of the Union Party in Connecticut, 
and iu the nomination aud election of Gover¬ 
nor Buckingham. In July, 1862, he was com¬ 
missioned by this Governor Colonel of the 17th 
Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers, the Fair- 
field County Regiment. Their camp was form¬ 
ed on what is now the Seaside Park of Bridge¬ 
port, and inside 80 days he had over 1,000 men 
ready for the front. Sept. 3d, 1862, they left 
for the field destined for Siegel's 11th Corps. 
Their fiist battle was that of Chaneellorsville, 
at which Col. Noble was severely wounded and 
where his regiment—as stak'd in Greeley’s 
“American Conflict”—“bore a resolute part 
and had its Lieutenant-Colonel killed.” From 
this wound Col. Noble barely recovered in 
time to reach Gettysburg on the fight of the 
last day, in which battle the regiment was se¬ 
verely handled aud lost another Lieutenant- 
Colonel and many of its men—a monument to 
whose memory stands on Barlow’s Knoll on 
that great battle-field. 
Co|. Noble’s regiment was then sent to Folly 
Island, S. C., to take part in the siege of Forts 
Wagner and Sumter. After the fall of these 
forts the regiment was sent to Florida, where 
he finished bis active service iu command of 
the territory east of the St. John's River, with 
headquarters at St. Augustine. While hold¬ 
ing this command he was captured by the eue- 
tuy and confined for a time in the Andersou- 
ville Confederate Prison; on his release from 
which he was brevetted Brigadier-General by 
General Grant’s recommendation, and muster¬ 
ed out of the service with his regiment, July 
10th, 1865, at the close of the war. Among 
the well-known men who served in the ranks 
of this regiment were Elias Howe, Jr., the iu- 
voutor of the sewing machine; Anthony Com¬ 
stock, Esq., President of the Society for the 
Prevention of Vice iu New York City, and 
Hon. I’hiueas C. Lounsbury, Governor-elect 
of Connecticut. 
Since his service Gen. Noble has returned to 
the practice of law, aud interested himself, as 
before, in horticultural and agricultural pur¬ 
suits. He has been Aldermuu or Common. 
Councilman of the City of Bridgeport, ehair- 
uuui of its Board of Park Commissioners for 
several years, and a member of the legislature 
of Connecticut, retaining bis active interest in 
public affairs, especially in the improvements 
of the city and the care of its beautiful parks. 
Earth’s yield for me Is but thorus and briers, 
To Heaven I turn for my heart's desires. 
There my heart and my hopes are anchored fast. 
God is Love! 
—.Vrs. frank Beard in Chautauquan. 
OF INTEREST TO WOMEN. 
The Staten Island Rapid Transit Road is 
trying the experiment of women as ticket sell¬ 
ers at some of its stations. If satisfactory, 
they will replace men in this capacity entirely. 
It is said to be a measure of economy, as they 
are not likely to pay women the same wages 
as men, even though they do exactly the same 
work. 
A dainty gift is a tea apron. It may be 
made of the finest India mull, open hemmed 
on all four sides. In one corner a spray of 
wild roses may be painted. Pink ribbou is 
slipped through tho hem at the top for strings; 
it is tied on one side. 
The prettiest scent sachets are iu the form 
of a bag, five inches wide and nine inches 
deep. The top of the bag is edged with lace 
aud faced with a contrasting color to the 
depth of two or three inches. After being 
tilled with perfumed cotton, the mouth of the 
bug is gathered up, leaving the faced portion 
like a frill. In front this is turned down, so 
as to display the contrasting liuing. A spray 
of artificial flowers is fasteued on the front 
and loops of narrow ribbon are put ou one 
side, to hang the bag by. A very dainty one 
Polonius showed both prudence and worldly 
knowledge when he said “Costly thy habit as 
thy purse can buy.” 
But since so much power, both for good aud 
evil, lies in personal attractiveness it is cer¬ 
tainly every woman's duty to dress as taste¬ 
fully and becomingly as she can. aud the se¬ 
renity of a peaceful conscience is only equaled 
by the feeling that one is perfectly aud becom¬ 
ingly attired, so as te> set off oue’s graces and 
hide oue’s defects. 
We often notice that a girl who has been 
compelled to wear unbecoming or dowdyish 
clothes, when she is free to do as she pleases, 
is more likely to set undue value on such 
things thau one who bus always been tastefully 
dressed. When I say tastefully I don’t mean 
elaborately for the two words are uot by auy 
means synonymous. And here is one point I 
mention, as a country girl speaking to country 
girls. It is a noticeable fact that elaborate fussi¬ 
ness is more a failiug with country girls than 
with c ity girls. A woman of fashion dresses with 
studied simplicity save ou ceremonious oeca- 
sious. So, to alter the whist-player’s maxim, 
when iu doubt play a trump—when in doubt 
discard trimmings aud trinkets. I have seen 
a pretty count ry girl making a neighborly ‘'all 
clad iu a stiff silk gowu,crackling with jet. with 
heavy bracelets, ortast-pin, locket aud chain 
aud ear-rings. I recently saw the lovely Mrs. 
Langtry at au afternoon exhibition; she wore 
a simple drab cloth gown, with a little turban 
of the same stuff, and her only adornment was 
a bunch of violets at her breast; she did not 
display a single trinket. 
Of course the elegant simplicity of a fash¬ 
ionable woman is more expensive than our 
most elaborate gowns, but there is no reason 
why we should not copy this to a certain ex¬ 
tent. 
It is a most harmless vanity to make the 
most of our good points, if we do not carry it 
to an inordinate extent. It is a mistake for 
the mother of pretty daughters to ignore the 
fact of their prettiness. Someone is bound to 
tell them of it, and it comes best from the 
mother, if she is wise enough to tell them that 
though beauty is a personal gift it is a mere 
accident of birth, to be regarded with the 
same feelings as mental superiority. But for 
the encouragement of homely girls it must be 
admitted that tact, mental superiority and 
good nature, with the addition of taste in dress, 
will in the long run take the precedence of 
mere personal prettiness. Madame de Stael, 
the most charming of women, was plain as 
she was witty, and Princess de Metternich, 
one of the most fascinating women in Europe, 
is almost positively ugty. So, to return to my 
beginning, since it is the positive duty of 
every girl to lie as attractive as she can, we 
may be very sure that, though sweetness of 
temper, activity of mind and tasteful dress 
will not make a homely girl a beauty, it will 
make her the next thing to one. The late 
Duchess of Devonshire was one of the hand¬ 
somest women in Englan 1, and retained her 
looks all her life. Asked how she kept her 
beauty, she said; “By dressing at ease, and 
keeping my temper.” And I commend her 
plan to every girl. patty garton. 
WHAT SHALL OUR CHILDREN READ? 
MRS. U. C. 
The thoughtlessness which some parents 
display as to what their children read, is not 
consistent with the amount of care which they 
think it necessary to bestow upon their bodies. 
Ever since the dime aud half dime novel liter¬ 
ature has flooded the country, boys of more or 
less tender years have from time to time been 
leaving their homes, armed with an old pocket 
knife or hatchet, to become Indian hunters, 
or wild men of the West, in imitation of their 
favorite heroes. If a boy has a fondness for 
tales of adventure, direct his reading so that" 
he may derive pleasure and at the same time 
profit. Put Oapt. Mayne Reid’s books into 
his hands, and in ibe glow of enthusiasm pro¬ 
duced by the adventures of the Giraffe Hunt¬ 
ers, the “Old Sleuth Library” will lose its 
charm. The “Heroes of History,” by G. M. 
Towle, are full of striking incidents and peril¬ 
ous situations, and as at the same time histori¬ 
cal accuracy is not sacrificed, a boy cannot 
fail to derive great advantage from them. 
They are comprised in a set of six volumes; 
“Vasco Da Gama,” “Pizarro” (and no hero of 
romance possesses greater power to charm the 
youthful imagination than this conqueror of 
Peru), “Magellan.” “Marco Polo,’’ “Raleigh” 
and “Drake.” A boy who has read and thor¬ 
oughly understands the historical part of these 
books, has acquired no mean education. Asa 
companion book to these, read the “Young 
Folks Book of American Explorers,” by 
Thomas Wentworth Higgiuson. 
History oau be learned a great deal better 
by judicious reading than from the text books 
of a public school. At least the former will 
greatly help out the latter. Higginson’s 
History of the Uuited States is written in a 
very clear and lucid style. Everything is ex¬ 
plained iu so easy and gentle a manner that 
even a scholar who is not ordinarily studious, 
cannot fail to be charmed by it. It has been 
translated into German, and was received 
with great favor by that country. 
Charlotte M. Youge's histories are very 
pleasant and instructive. They should be 
read as a series, aud comprise “ Germany. 
Greece. Rome, England, France” and the 
“ History (»f the Bible.” She has also written 
several other works than which there can be 
no better reading for vouug folks. Among 
these are “ Prince and Page.” a story of the 
last Crusade, “ Lances of Lynnwood,” a tale 
of chivalry iu Englaud aud “The little Duke.” 
or “Richard the Fearless.” “The Story of 
Liberty.” “Old Times in the Colonies,” and 
“The Boys of ’76,” by C. C. Coffin, are three 
books that no American boy can afford not to 
read. An excellent idea of the geography of 
the Old World can be had from the “Chil¬ 
dren’s Fairy Geography,” by Forbes E. Wins¬ 
low. 
For lighter literature, all of Frank Stock- 
ton’s books are to be recommended. The above 
author’s fairy talcs and other stories for young 
people are the most delightful reading possi¬ 
ble; indeed, there are very few- people of any 
ag* who can resist one of Frank Stockton’s in¬ 
imitably told fairy tales. Every child is bet¬ 
ter for being happy and no one can read them 
