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About The new Northwest. (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1876)
i)z Hot thxtfymBt. Mils. i. J. DUXIffAY. tdltor and Proprietor. OFFICE Cor. Front & Washinotqx Streets A Journal for the People. Devoted to the Interests of Humanity. Independent In Politics and Religion. Alive to all 'Live Issnes, and Thoroughly Radical In Opposing and Exposing the 'Wrongs of the Masses. TERMS, IN ADVANCE: One year.. i3 00 1 TS .. 1 00 nix monies. Three months.. Correspondents writing overassumed signa tures must make known their names to tho Editor, or no attention will be given to tbeK communications. ADVERTISEMENTS Inserted on Reasonable PORTLAND, OREGON, FRIDAY, JANUARY S8, 1870. leraii. Fees Speech, Free Press, Free People. MADGE MORRISON, . The Holalla Mall and Matron. Br Mrs. A. J. DUNIWAY, ADTHOR OP "JUDITH REID," "EM.EX DOWD,' "A1IIE HENRY 1.EE," "THE HAPPY HOME," "ONE WOMAN'S SPHERE," ETC, ETC, ETC Entered, according to Act of Congress, In the sear 1875; by Mrs. A. J. Dunl way, In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington City. CHAPTER VIL A journey of fifty miles with a team of oxen over a country without roads in a wagon loaded with butter, eggs, and wheat was a matter of no little import ance to the widow, whose residence in her lonely retreat hard by her husband's grave had been so long unbroken. "Never you mind about the work at home," said Madge. "Take one of the boys for company, and I'll take care of the rest. You'll need food enough, ready cooked, to last four days; aud you can sleep in the wagon. Mr. Andrews can lodge on the soft side of a rock, un der the tent, or the shelter of a tree. Now chirk up aud get light-hearted and young again. I don't want any body moping around here." Thus urged, Mrs. Morrison carefully rejuvenated her scant wardrobe, and made necessary culinary preparations for the journey. Jason Andrews had been uncommonly tidy in bis habits of late. His personal appearance, never the best, had badly deteriorated from the day of his mar riage to the day of the death of his wife; and the same slovenly deportment that had characterized him during his mar ried years had followed him, in spite of Mrs. Morrison's protests, for a year or two after he became a widower. Lately, however, there had been a marked change for the better. Upon his last visit to The Falls he had indulged in the expensive luxury of a suit of gray tweed and a single while shirt, the first of the kind the Morrisons had ever known him to possess. And now, as his stal wart form was fully bedecked in his new apparel, and his brown, curling locks were neatly combed away from bis forehead, and he stood with his hat In his hand, deferentially waiting for Mrs. Morrison to give the last direc tions to Madge for the ordering of the household in her absence, Madge sud denly encountered a gleam of intelli gence between the pair, aud fully un derstood it, although her mother, evi dently, did not. "Take care that you don't act the fool, old lady," she said, while a far-away look in her eyes betokened a mysterious meaning, wholly unintelligible to the other numerous members of the house hold. "Will you never outgrow your im pertinence, Madge?" asked her mother, while an involuntary shiver passed through her slight frame, and she trem bled, not knowing why. "I'm not saucy, mother. Pray for give me. I only saw a dark cloud, without any golden lining, and it cov ered you like a pall, and you seemed to have no will to emerge from it, though It made you miserable. Be careful about trying any new experiment. You'll rue It if you do." "Pity Alice ain't here to take the conceit out o ye," said Jason Andrews, dryly. Now, Madge's "conceit" was of that very capricious kind that always shrank away into impenetrable obscurity when ridiculed, and its effervescence was, in consequence, of that unstable order that often failed when its fullest action might have accomplished good. She watched her mother, as she climbed into the covered wagon, and took her seat beside her twin boy Harry, and again that far-away, dreamy look camejnlo her wierd, black eyes. "Madge, what is it?" asked her mother, anxiously. "Nothing! Don't ask me." "I believe you're the Witch of Endor." "Guess I am." "That's one time you've hit it 1" ex claimed Jason, taking the long ox-whip from its resting-place on tho wagon cover, and nourishing it, with an om inous crack, over the heads of the de voted cattle. For a number of miles Jason plodded along in a silence that was only broken at lotig intervals by the cracking whip and an occasional "Whoa, haw, Buck! Gee, Berry ! Get along, Bright !" At length the party emerged from a billy forest and reached an open plain, eight or ten miles acros3, where, as there would be no need of skillful driving, Harry was commanded to take the whip, and allow Andrews to ride In lis place. "Why can't I ride on the wagon tongue and drive, too?" asked Harry, -with a growing boy's usual dislike for extra exertion. "Because it's a lazy way," answered his mother. "Your father never would allow anybody around him to ride and -drive oxen." "Then he was nicer than wise," grumbled the boy, as he clambered to the ground and petulantly cracked the heavy whip. For a half-hour Jason Andrews and the widow Morrison sat side by side in silence. Jason was the first to break. tu&spell. "Ton my word, you are growing .young," he said, tenderly, as he leaned toward her, and looked into her worn face with a kindly smile. Now, it is well known by the sons of women that the daughters of men never grow too old to appreciate a compli ment. Looking up into the well-shaven face of Jason Andrews, and for the first time in her life imagining that there was something rather attractive about him, she blushed and said : "You think so ? "Yes," hitching a little closer, and allowing his elbow to attempt a forward motion, as though the whole arm were trembling with a desire to clasp and shield her. Mrs. Morrison's heart beat a trifle quicker. She had no intention of being caught, but it was a little enjoyable to play thus with edged tools. So she did not resent the proffered advances, though she closed her lips tightly, and gazed straight ahead at the plodding oxen. "I'm iurrible lonesome o' late years," said Jason. "Are you ?" asked the widow, still gazing at the cattle. "It was never ordained of heaven that two, like you an' me, should live alone." "You think bo?" "I know It." "Then why didn't Mark and Mary live to keep us company ?" "I'm no scholard, an' I don't purtend to understand that, but I know I'd be a heap happier if you could see your way clear to become my wife. I want some body to love me." Jason's voice was low and full and tender now. Pity the widow did not remember how grating and cracked it used to be when Mary Andrews was dy ing for the tones to which she was now listening as in adream. As she did not repulse him, Jason leaned heavily against her for an instant and whis pered the old, old story, which ever is aud ever will be sweet to woman a story to which she so often will listen, and try her best to believe it true, because it is so sweet, and so much a part of the needs of her nature, even if her better judgment tells her that its fruit will be Sodom apples in her hands, its taste, at last, the taste of ashes to her soul. "1 love you. I can't live without you. Won't you try to love me, dear ?" The widow gazed at tbaoxen, but an swered never a word. Emboldened by her silence, Jason Andrews, with a sudden, passionate im pulse that was perhaps excusable under the circumstances, unbent his elbow and threw his arm around her. "I'm so happy !" he whispered. "I was dreaming!" the widow ex claimed, abruptly, as she half-rose to her feet, to be suddenly remanded to a sitting posture by the low wagon bows. "Mr. Andrews, don't speak to me of marriage. We're better off as we are. Keep your arm to yourself, sir. I was both weak and wicked to forget." "I don't ask you to get married, all at once, darliu'. It's loo sudden for ye, of course. But I want ye to let me talk it over with ye now an1 then, till ye git used to it, like. Our parduers is both dead; Alice is married an' gone; it'll be Madge's turn next; the neighborhood's a-settlin' up pretty thick lately, an' it ain't the prudentest thing in the world for a man an woman like you an' me to be li vin' just as we are." T wonder if that isn't the black cloud Madge saw this morning?" said the widow, musingly. "Of course that's it!" exclaimed Ja son, eagerly. "Scandal's always black, ye know. She said, too, that ye seemed to have no will to avert It. Ye recol lect?" To tell the truth, Mrs. Morrison was in no condition just then to comprehen sively recollect anything. . If she had remembered Madge's timely warning, just as it was given, she would have been a little more likely to heed it. It came to her, however, not long after, but when too late to be of service, and then it rang in her ears like the echo of a prophecy that had changed into a malediction, "Be careful about trying any new experiment. You'll me It if you do." "I thiuk it's my turn to ride awhile, now," exclaimed Harry, as he brought the oxen to a halt. "I've walked six miles, if an inch." "Is it possible?" asked his mother. "Possible and true!" growled the boy. "I'll give ye a quarter for drivin' an other mile," said Jason. The boy had never earned, or at least had never been allowed to possess a "quarter" in bis life, and as Jason held up a rusty coin to view, his eyes kin dled with delight, aud be forgot that his legs were aching with fatigue, as be cheerfully plodded on. Deep silence reigned in the wagon for a minute, and was only broken then by the heavy breathing of the wife-hunter. Again bis arm was seized with a parox ysm, and before Mrs. Morrison could have spoken it was "out of place." "We might be happy together, mightn't we, darlin' ?" he murmured, with a gentle tightening of bis grasp around her waist, that seemed to arouse her from a dream of abstraction, while it sent a delicious little thrill through her lonely spirit. "The neighbors are- meddlin' a good deal of late," be continued, "an if ye was my wife, dear," with a sliding em phasis upon the whispered epithet of endearment, that was heightened by an additional squeeze, "I would always shelter an' protect ye; an' then it wouldn't be anybody's business if we did live under the same roof." Mrs. Morrison, poor woman, was not in the least "strong-minded," or she might have freed herself from his en circling arm anil stoutly answered that t wasn't any of the neighbors' business about her personal affairs, and she couldn't see as she was under any obli gation to commit matrimony and en dure the consequences to please them, unless she felt like it. As it was, the terror of being "talked about" overcame every rational scruple. "People never have talked, Mr. An drews. I don't see why they should be gin now," and the widow made a weak endeavor to remove the stroug arm from its resting-place, and shake oil the spell that was rapidly gaining complete mastery over her senses. "But they've been talkin' already," was the comforting assurance. "I was over to Pete Anderson's the day afore yesterday, au' Pete says to me, 'Jason,' says he, 'don't ye think it's yer duty to marry that widow an' purtect her from scandal ?' 'What widow ?' says I, pur- tendin' I didn't understand. Pete laughed hearty like, an' says, says he, 'Jason, by George, that's a joke! Just as if my folks an 'Squire Tooley's an' all the rest of 'em haven't been sayin' that you an' the widow Morrison ort to marry.' I confess I felt puzzled. We want our children to grow up respecta ble, an' be somebody. This country's goiu' to be rich au' pop'Ious some day, an' they ort to be leaders in it. If your good name should be lost, though, the jig would be up; for it ain't just tiie ticket for two to live and travel to gether as we do unless they're husband an' wife, ye know." Mrs. Morrison clasped both hands tightly over her eyes and pondered. Again that strong arm clasped her waist, and again sweet words of endear ment to which she had not listened for oil! so many years, rang in her ears and echoed down in her heart. "Be my own precious wife, an' I'll love ye as man never loved a woman afore. I'll see that ye waut for nothln', an' I'll shield ye from every dauger. Say 'Yes,' darliu', do.'" Afterward Mrs. Morrison fancied that she must have been, fur the time beiug, insane. With her sad eyes, through which a strange light gleamed, intensely riveted upon the plodding cattle, she timidly returned the pressure of his ardent hand-clasping, aud hesitatingly whis pered : Yea.'" Is my mile up?" queried Harry, again bringing the oxen to a hall. Suddenly surprised in their love-mak ing, the self-condemned couple grew apparently indifferent to each other. And Harry, being young aud Inexperi enced, was naturally obtuse, so he no ticed nothing new or strange in the deportment of his mother or her com panion. The day wore on until the evening, and the travelers then encamped for the night beside a pebbly brooklet, and pitched their tent upon a rising lawn, overlooking a lovely vale, wltu moun tains, snow-crowned and majestic, in the shimmering distance; dark belts of evergreen forest intersecting the prairies; and the river, gleaming like a silver thread, threw back the limpid rays of the full harvest moon, making a picture that might well inspire a poet or a painter with its beauty aud its magnitude. The supper was over, and arrange ments made for lodging for the night, and yet it was too early for Mrs. Morri son to retire to the shades of her wagon for solitary rest. Wandering away from the camp, she sat upon the roots of a great tree, and resting her chin upon her band, gazed abroad over the earth, with her miud in a bewilderment of doubt, hope, anxiety, and fear. Her past life, and the strange vicissitudes that had thrown her, in her maturer years, adrift upon the bosom of her Oc cidental home; the lonely years of her widowhood; the faces and voices of her children; her ceaseless efforts to make the best of untoward circumstances; all these facts and many fancies miugled themselves in strange confusion in her busy brain. She did not notice the ap proach of Jason Andrews until he stood before her. Rising suddenly to her feet, with a reproof upon her tongue, which she bit her lip to withhold, the widow said, dreamily: "What a beautiful evening! And what a lovely country !" "A very nice country to look at, but it wouldn't sprout beans," said the practical suitor. Mrs. Morrison curled her lip and turned away in disgust. "I think the whole country Is fertile," she said, looking away toward the mountains. "The wild grass is like a meadow, and the soil is black and loamy." Jason did not argue the point. In deed, he was thinking of other matters thau beautiful scenery or fertile lands just then. When a wholly practical man, with no more conception of ideal ity than an ox, gets his mind on matri mony, there isn't much poetry about it Mrs. Morrison weut back to her camp and sat down upon the wagon-tongue. Jason followed her, and when Harry hod retired to the tent where he and the widower were to lodge, took a seat be side her, and again attempted love- making. "Don't talk about it, Mr. Andrews," she said, wearily. "It would never do for you and me to marry each other, for our tastes are so dissimilar that we could have no lasting happiness." "I don't see as that need be any ob jection," urged the imperturbable suitor. "If you like sweet victuals, an' I like vegetables, ye can cook to suit both of us, just as ye do now. I wouldn't uever interfere with yer tastes." Mrs. Morrison with difficulty re pressed a derisive laugh. Again whis pered words of endearment rang in her ears, and they were like manna to her thirsting soul. The reader will remember that suit ors were scarce at that period iu the his tory of Molaila Moorland, else Mrs; Morrison might have chosen more dis creetly. Yet, when we remember and around us are continual reminders that women often .make such matri monial bargaius when there is no lack of better material that might be had for the asking, let us not blaino ber over much. Iu half an hour the widow re tired to her couch with a kiss of be trothal upon her lips, and Jason An drews repaired to the mutual couch of himself and Harry, to dream over what was to be. To be continued. The Common People. Whenever wo hear the old, familiar phrase, the "common people," we feel that the English language affords none expressive or more charming. We thiuk, while the sound lingers, that King James' version did no service so valuable as that or embalming that phrase. Before we analyze it, it touches the finest chords of sentiment, quickens tlie fount of the best moral purpose, and concentrates the whole force of human sympathy. No phrase will better bear analysis. The term "common" signifies the universal; it does not, therefore, sig nify anything low, vulgar, or mean. we catcli its meaning wiieu we say that "The sun is the common light of the world," or "The earth is the common mother of us all." It embraces everv aim, hope, affection or aspiration which human beings share with each other. It indicates the widest human fellow ship. It is the best expression of that democratic sentiment which throne aud aristocracy have conspired for centuries to stllle, but which, surviving every at tempt of power to crush it, shows the indestructible vitality it bears. This sentiment was never so vigorous as it is to-day. There was a time when people did not hesitate to apply the phrase, "common people," to others; but few wuuld care to do so now. Who could do it without the cousclousness of at least an incipient blush at the im plied assumption that he is himself an uncommou person, made ot something better than common clay ? He must be a brave man who can speak of the "common people" as a class or human beings to which be does not belong. Happy is he who does not voluntarily exclude himself from this great fellow ship! Yet the pains and penalties of such exclusion will men still incur in blind or thoughtless disregard of the conspquences. All stingy men do it, by that excessive seltishnecs which appro priates and hoards what does not justly iieioug to tneui. ah proua men do it, by that immense conceit which impels them to snatch uncommon privileges, position, or distinction. Men, in both the "higher classes" and the "lower classes," as they are called, inflict on themselves the dreary isolation of cut ting off the sources of human sympathy, and sundering the ties of human kin ship. We can bear any amnuut of per sonal dislike on account of the unpopu larity ot our opinions; we can endure with moderate equanimity the haughty arrogance of assumed social superiority; but when we discover that our human brothers withhold their sympathy and good-will because of our sordid mean ness or exclusive prfde, we shall wish no longer to live. We have faith in the common people. We know that their judgments are of ten distorted by prejudice, and their minds fettered by tradition; aud that, while they wait for higher intelligence and a broader view, they haltand waver ou the path of human progress; but we know, too, that we are one ot them, linked to their destiny by Indissoluble ties, and that it is impossible to escape a share alike in their shame or in their glory. And our hope of human ad vancement is based on the conviction that beneath all the incrustations of prejudice anil tradition, the undying flame of aspiration aud progress still burns, fed by the instincts that always kindle Into life at the touch of whatever is common, and human, aud divine. New Age. Annual Meeting. The annual meeting of the Santa Clara Valley Ag ricultural Society was held Thursday af ternoon, with a large attendance of members and spectators. The election of officers for the ensuing term was the first business on the programme, and the coutest was quite spirited between the several candidates. Following is the result: President, James P. Sargent, of Gilroy; Vice Presidents, L. J. Hancliett and Moses Schellenberger, of Ban Jose; Treasurer, John Jtl. Moore; Secretary, D. J. Porter; Directors, Mrs. L. J. Watkins, of Santa Clara, aud Tru man Andrews, of San Jose. Mrs. Wat kins is the first lady who has ever been elected to office since the organization of the society, and by takiug this new departure the society has performed a meritorious act, aud also placed itself on the progressive record of the nine teenth century. The new director is amply qualified to nil the position, be ing a lady of education and refinement, and thoroughly alive to the agricultu ral, horticultural, aud industrial inter ests of this valley. It was resolved to hold the next county fair during the week commencing October 2d. San Jose Mercury. Only twice Iu forty years has the Con nectlcut River been frozen over above the bridge in Hartford on the 1st of De cern oer. NEEDLE AND THBEAD. For some time past the writer has been uuable to wield the implement of thought because she hns been Bteadily plying the needle. The family ex chequer was getting low, aud Tom con sidered it "too enormous to pay fifteen dollars for nothing but getting two dresses made." I bad never learned the dress-making trade, and many a time I exclaimed with the wise man, "AH is vanity and vexation of spirit," but al ways added, "especially vexation of spirit," for J counted the vanity as noth ing. Two whole days were spent in looking over bazars, delineators, and fashion-plates. Then came, the cutting and fitting, the basting, binding, press ing, plaiting, hemming, and shirring, till my "fiugers were weary and worn, and eyelids heavy and red," and I be gan to wonder why,-if it were such an Important matter that I should make my clothes, that Tom didn't economize by making his; and why I, being al ready baker, laundress, and a half-dozen other things, must add dress-making to ray numerous occupations, while Tom is a carpenter, and only a carpenter, and doesn't know enough about tailoring to sew on a button. Tom says, and be be ing a man knows whereof he speaks, and Tom says, with a good machine he could do the sewing for a large family and never miss the time. "What is a machine for, he'd like to know? I tell him that running the machine Is notall of the work, and ask him if he could build a house by- running a saw-mill, and also inquire why, if he can do the sewing without missing the time, he doesn't convert himself into a house hold angel by doing it? To be expert with the needle, I con sider essential to comfort and tidiness, and it puzzles me to understand why it is beneath masculine dignity to know how to sew on buttous and mend small rents, without always having to tres pass upon some woman's time, as though a woman didn't have enough of such things to do for herself. Why shouldn't Tom spend part of his even ings darning socks and let me read the papers a part of the time ? Some such suggestions and inquiries as these I made to Tom himself, but he stared at me in such amazement, and thundered out in such awful tones, " What are you fort It seems to me that woman's rights has got a mighty good grip on you.'" that I immediately relapsed into silence, though I continued for some time in rather a perturbed stateof mind. Finally, however, I began to think of all that had been done by needles since needles were first invented. I thought of how much modern civilization is due to theiruse, and woudered if we wouldn't relapse into barbarism if they should cease to be plied. I thought of all the useful as well as. useless things made with the needle, and remembered how old women, with wonderful patience and skill, registered events and wrought pictures and patterns of marvelous beauty, not with pencil and brush, but with nothing but needle aud thread. Then I began to think that dress-mak ing is an art akin to making pictures. An ill-fitting aud unbecoming dress renders a worthy person unsightly and offends the eye and shocks the taste of every beholder, while a becoming dress renders an attractive person still more irresistible. The desire to dress the fig ure well is often termed vanity; but when tliis desire docs uot lead to ex travagance, it is far more commendable than sinful. It is laudable to ornament our homes with beautiful pictures, car pets, frescoes and flowers; but as the in mates are of more importance than the dwelling, it cannot be amiss to devote just enough attention to their personal appearance to make the dress au added charm. The follies of fashion are to be condemned; but that spirit that leads many to array themselves with a stud ied neglect of all that makes dress a pleasing feature of the person, should bo as harshly reprehended. More than one religiou is founded upon the mere mat ter of dress alone, and there is a sort of superstition that everybody clings to, that very plain, seedy garments are In dicative of great piety, as though He who created a world of beauty would consider the one more pure of heart who studies to be unsightly than the one who studies to be attractive. Long si nee the conclusion was reached that a great deal of this cant about van ity is the direct result of a certain in herent principle of stinginess in man's nature, for there is au unaccountable si lence on the vanity of men, and the whole burden of the woful sin is heaped upon the shoulders of the "weaker ves sel." As for example, when a minis ter's wife dresses in good taste, no mat ter how Inexpensively, all his congrega tion are ready to cry out, "What a dreadful example for the minister's wife to set !" when the dear souls can't help seeing that the minister himself is far better dressed than the majority of his charge, and that the clergy all over the land dress like princes, and the pinch ing and saving is doue by their econom ically dressed wives. "Before all things, justice." Some weeks ago I went into the coun try to visit an old friend, and found her busy with a patch-work quilt. She challenged my admiration, and I felt called upon to tell a polite fib; for no patch-work quilt, no matter how iutrl- I cate the pattern, ever was anything but ugly in my eyesj and when I heard her soon after rematk that she never found time to put much work on ber dresses, I noticed that her garments were "skimpt," and did not look trim and tasteful, and wondered why women with average brains would persist in wasting so many hours over things that are utterly useless. Spreads are prettier and cheaper than quilts; yet bow many women think it is impossible to keep house without spending a great part of their time tearing up calico into little bits and sewing them together again. The time spent in this way would bring a ripb harvest if spent with books aud papers. Not only in making patch work quilts is time wasted with the nee dle and thread, but in making many other things that can be put to no prac tical use. It Is the better part of art to make useful articles ornamental; but it is worse than folly to spend valuable time in making dainty nothings. Woman has so long been a slave to the needle, that it requires time to emanci pate her entirely from its thraildora; but the day is dawning when, iustead of its being looked upon as idleness for her to rest without a needle In her fingers, It will be counted as worse than idleness for her to have it always in hand. Madge Bright. Tiie regular annual allowance of Queen Victoria is $1,925,000, designed "ior tnesupportot .tier Majesty's house hold, and of the honor and dignity of the crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland." She also receives the revenue of the Duchy of Lancaster, araountiug to $210,000. The Prince of Wales receives an annuity of 3200,000 in his own right, the revenue of the Duchy of Cornwall, exceeding $300,000, and $50,000 in the name of the Priucess, his wife. The annuities awarded the other members of the royal laniiiy are as follows: Prince Alfred (Duke of Edinburgh, second son. 25.- 000; Prince Arthur (Duke of Connaught, third son), io,uou; frince .Leopold, fourth son, 15,000; Princess Royal, 8.- 000; Princess Alice of Hesse, 6,000; rrincess ueiena, jto.uuo; irmcess Louise, 6,000; Princess Mary fTeckl, 5,000; Princess Augusta (Queen's cousin), 3,000; Duchess of Cambridge (auut of Her Majesty), 6,000; Duke George of Cambridge cousin of the Queen), 12,000 forming an aggregate of over half a million dollars. Finally, the salaries or a long list or royal ap pendages amount to about $200,000. A Great Mother to a Great Son. The mother of John Quincy Adams said, in a letter to him, when lie was only twelve: "I would rather see you in your grave than grow up a profane and graceless boy." JNot long before his death a gentleman said to him: "I have found out who made you." "What do you mean?" asked Mr. Adams. The gentleman replied : "I have been reading the published letters of your motner." "If," this gentleman relates, "I had spoken that dear name to some little boy who had been lor weeks away from his mother, his eyes could not have flushed more brightly, nor bis face glowed more quickly, than did the eyes of that venerable old man when I pro nounced tue name ot nis mother, tie stood up iu his peculiar maimer and said : 'Yes, sir; all that is good iu me 1 owe to my mother.' " Four women were re-elected members of tho Boston School Committee re cently: Abby W. May for three years, Lucia M. Peabody for two years, Lucre tia P. Hale aud Lucretia Crocker each for one year. Miss May received 24,614 votes; Miss Peabody, 1O.033 votes; Miss Hale, 14,564 votes; Miss Crocker, 14,028 votes. These votes do not, however, in dicate the relative popularity of these ladies, but only the number or tickets upon which their names appeared. Mrs. Mary J. Safford-Blake, beiug only upon the Democratic and Boardman Republican tickets, was not elected, but received a much larger vote than the average given for the candidates whose names appeared only on tnese tickets. In her own ward, 24, her vote was nearly seven hundred, at least four hun dred votes j n advance of the rest of the ticket. Mrs. nate uannett Wells was not a candidate. "Catholicism." The corner-stone of a Catholic church was recently laid at Lexington, (Muss.,) the birth-place of Theodore Parker, and among the arti cles which were to be deposited therein, according to the Catholic Review, were the following : "Some fragments of the walls of the Holy House of Nazareth, wherein our Lord dwelt with His Blessed Virgin Mother and the Patron of the Universal Church during His life, previous to the three years of Apostolic life. There will also be particles of the Holy Sepulchre, and of the Sacred Cra dle at Bethlehem!" Surely the priests who paraded these relics must imagine that they are liv ing in mediaeval times, and that Massa chusetts is a part of the Austrian do minions. No wonder that Catholicism of this sort has a horror of free schools and an unfettered press ! Christian Un ion. Among the many noble traits of Henry Wilson's character, we are pleased to note this one : While proud of the fact that his own exertions had lifted him from the cobbler's bench to the Vice Presidency of a great nation, he was not forever boasting of his early disadvantages, and did not affect to con ceal his regret that he should have bad so poor a start. It is time that we got over the fancy that a man must trace his origin back to the gutter in order to command the respect of his fellow-citizens. To rise out of the gutter by one's own strength is greatly to be praised; but it is better not to have been there at all. Two American women, residents of Rio de Janeiio, a short time ago suc ceeded in the perilous task of scaling the Sugar-loaf Mountain, near that city. At one point they had to be lifted by ropes over au abyss 600 feet deep, with the ocean at the bottom. But they found some very rare varieties of ferns on the summit. For the New Northwest. SELFISHNESS. Blow, blow, winter winds ; come down, winter rain; Your wlerd wall to me is a soothing refrain, As you shriek and rattle over my head While snugly I lie in my sumptuous bed. I've abundance for self while your carnival lasts: So for me lies no terror e'en In your wild blasts. My life Is encompassed by pleasure and ease; So howl, winds, and rage, storms, as much as you please. True, the widow will sigh, as she lists to your wall, As you without mercy her cottage assail ; And she thinks of her children and limited store, And prays that your reign may quickly be o'er. . But what are the troubles of others to me T What I have Is my own; and I can not see Why I should grow sad o'er the Buffering poor, And thus banish mirth from my own cottage door. Had all been as lucky or prudent as I, Then all could the long, cheerless winter dery. Formy own I've provided by laylngup wealth, And let every one else take care of himself, Wailec, Portland, December 27, 1875. Mrs. Joblink's Experience. "When I first jiued the church," said a matron, as she leaned out of the win dow, speaking to a younger and a se verer-looking female, "I had just them kiud of notions myself. ButI got more light as I growed older." "But, Mrs. Joblink," said the other, "duty is duty, and each must act out his mission !" "Yes," rejoined Mrs. Joblink, patron izingly; "that's jest the way I used to feel till I got married. When yon have a husband cumin' home o' nights and fulliu' up stairs, you won't think the Lord requires so much of you. I used to pray for Joblink till he started to make a stump speech to the hat-rack till three o'clock iu the raoruin', au' then I got more light. The Lord helps them as helps themselves; an' I find now that a metal-backed hair-brush does better with Joblink than all the prayers you can shake a stick at ! You'll see .when you get married." The young lady sighed, and inquired if there were any poor people in the neighborhood who would be benefited by a tract on "The Sin of Dancing." The trouble in Princeton College in regard to secret societies has been ami cably settled. The dismissed students having expressed their regret for their course in conuecting themselves with prohibited societies, aud given their pledge to have nothing to do with them hereafter, are permitted, on application, to return to the college. In connection with this act of the Faculty, President M'Cosh emphatically expressed his opinion that secret societies were injuri ous. He had no objection to ail proper societies; but a skulking society that goes away in the dead of night to some secret corner should have uo place among houest, open-hearted men. AH who have seen Senator Logan's photograph will appreciate the story told by the Boston Post, that once in a game of poker Logan held three iacks jack of hearts, jack of diamonds aud jack of clubs. After running the bets up to the limit and calling down the hands, Logan found that his opponent had fourteus, when, with true military fertility of resources, Logan furtively took out ot his pocket one of hlsown photographs and played it upon his un suspecting opponent for the jack of spades, thereby holding four jacks and sweeping the board. A curious fact about Tennessee is that it contains more dogs than men. Re turns from the dog-tax assessment in about one-third of the State show 47,574 men and 70,780 dogs. This being taken as a basis, it is estimated that there Is not less than 225,000 dogs iu the State listed for taxation, uot to mention the thousands that escape taxation. Some one reckons that these dogs cost for their keeping over four millions of dol lars annually, to say nothing of some 45,000 sheep which they kill every year. "Pour In knowledge gently." Plato, one of the wisest men of ancient Greece, observed that the minds of children are like bottles with very narrow mouths. If you attempt to fill them too rapidly, much knowledge is wasted and little re ceived, whereas, with a small stream they are easily filled. Those who would make prodigies of young children act as wisely as if they would pour a pail of water into a pint measure. Quite recently a Bbort-sighted hus baud saw a large bouquet of flowers on a stand, and, wishing to preserve them from fading, placed them in a basin of water. When his wife saw the "bou quet" half an hour afterwards, she gave one piercing scream aud fainted on the spot. Her defeclive-visioned husband had mistaken her new bnunet, with its abundance of flowers, for a freshly culled bouquet. Some of the Cincinnati ladies propose to take a whole room in the new Cen tennial building; and to iulay the floor with tiles of their own painting, and to fresco the walls themselves. The Hart ford ladies propose that some of their number shall take lessons in painting and frescoing iu order to follow their ex ample. Brigham Young declares he will marry a thousand women, if he wauts to, and the country cheers the senti ment in the hope that among that thousand there will be one woman who can use a rolling-pin with a sudden and sustained ferocity. "Away down in Maiue" cursing on Sunday is taxed two dollars per oath; on week days the luxury can be in dulged in at half-price. The law is rigid, and the proceeds, when collected, are to go toward fouuding a lunatio asylum. Take life easy, and don't always be trying to beat the sun up. You may do it for a while, but iu the long run you are sure to be beaten, and some morning it will rise when you don't. John G. Whittier has a statuette of Hercules leaning on his club, which was formerly iu Charles Sumner's library. It was presented to the poet by the sis ter of Mr. Sumner.