Willamette farmer., March 05, 1875, Page 2, Image 2

Q
WILLAMETTE FARMER.
1e l-opE Circle.
Kipe Wheat.
Some few years since a lady friend of Eliza
O. Crosby, in speaking of the death of amulnal
acquaintance, somewhat advanced in yearn,
whose funeral she had rocently attended, said;
"Among the white flowers in her coffin was a
bunch of ripe wheat, and I tbonght it most
beautiful and appropriate." The next day
Miss Crosby penned the following lints and
sent them to Shore's Rural New-Yorker, where
they were originally published:
We bent to-day o'er a coffined form,
And our tears fell softly down;
We looked our last on the aged face.
With Its look of peace, tts patient grace,
And hair like a silver crown.
We touched our wn to the claj-cold hands,
From life's long labor at rtst;
And among the blossoms white and sweet.
we noteei a uuncn or golden wneat.
Clasped close to the silent breast.
The blossoms whispered of fadeless bloom,
Of a land where fall no tears;
The ripe wheat told of toil and care,
The patient waiting, the trusting prayer,
The garnered good of the ears.
We knew not what work her hands had found,
What nigged places her feet;
What cross was hers, what blackness of night;
We saw but the peace, the blossoms white,
And the bunch of ripened wheat.
etch goes up from the field of earth,
Bearing the treasures of life,
Ood looks for somo gathered grain of good,
From the ripe harvest that shining stood,
Sat waiting the reaper's knife.
Then labor well, that In death you go
Not only with blossoms sweet
Not bent with doubt, and burdened with fears,
And dead, dry husks of the wasted years.
But laden with golden wheat.
Rural
Winter Evenings Past -and
Present.
Musing to-night on the many inroads made
by the march of time, on the way the- winter
evenings are- disposed of, I found memory
bridging n chasm of fifty years; and onco more
was a silont witness to tho buzz of the spinning
wheel and oranky jerking) of tho fabled reel.
How the fingers move with lightning speed as
thoy run up and down the thread as it is fash
ioned from the head of 'tow;' and then sent
to tho reel, to bo again utilized by hnppy,
patient fingers, in tho warm stockings for
family use. Tho spinning wheel was n nucleus
around which the old and young maids and
matrons congregated, and if nothing was being
spoken worthy of note, it was a something to
look at, tho operator, being the observed of all
observers. Many a long winter's night the
spinning wheel was the only munio heard in
thousands of hnppy homes of tho long ngo.
Many a love match has lighted under the in
spiring influences of (he reel, and also lessons
of thrift learned by its domestic use. I lovo to
gaze through the haze of years, and weavo the
old web anew. Iu the miud's eye the long lost
loved ones aro marshalled in gray colots, and
living to perform cenio scones iu life, as if the
curtain had only been newly dropped, nnd
raised again for tho second act, in the great
drama of lifo illusions, ouo would say. Can
it be possible for tho ghost of long ago to
appear phantom like, and porforui anuw scenos
long ago buried in the tomb of tho pust. Ah,
but it is real to the iuuer man 1 1 soothe eye
sparkle, fingers move the wheel, as a thing of
Iif; iiml linur nmiln thn fnnra nf elm Inuml
ones, in friendly repartee, and minglingVices
in tuo melody 01 good " Ulel Hundred." The
memory of the past is ono of Clod's grandest
gilts to man. By this power ho is enabled to
woavu tho web of life, never loosing tho thread.
We couio nway down tho ages, spinning a life's
rocord to record a diffortut mode of spomling
tho long winter's openings socially, intellect
ually and industrially. The spiuuiug wheel
and reel has given pluco to tho sowing maohiue
and piauo. It is really a marvel still, to those
used to llio slow coaches of tho past. To wit
ness thu fineness of touch and rabidity which
seam after Beam is united, the young lady, too,
with her modern mode of dress and cultivated,
airy appoarauoo, soems at homo with hor silver
mounted inaohiuo, as we take iu tho all ensemble.
We thank God for tho improvements, ami im
proved condition of rural lite. Compared with
tho long ngo, it is only a slight effort to leave
tho setting machine aud appear bofore tho
piauo. Perfect with the first perfection is
nearly reached with the latter. Few well tried
rural homos but what have their musical in
struments, Musio is a civilizer, aud few homes
should bo without it. Tho sewing niachiuo
und piano, or parlor organ, is just as necessary
to a well regulated household as n bible and
choir iu a church, Perhaps iu the great future
when tho now young, will bo old aud gr.y, in
novations iu social and industrial life will be
as distinct as tho present from tho past. From
past experience wo may unticipato groat im
provements iu various outward aud elouiestio
arrangements. Young ladies will then propel
thtir Bewiiig machines by steam from invisible
sources. Musio will steal upon the senses
sweet as .Eolian whisperings, without knowing
from whence or where. Aud tho sleep called
death will be u translation. Tho music of the
spheres commencing as the music of earth dies
away, Aud tho fuoes which haunt the memory
from tho long ago will bo it pleasant reality.
We would not wish to prolong his or hor life,
to enjoy tho Bceues of the peaceful, progressite
luiure, n nuure wuicn win take us beyond our
present in proportion as the present takes us
beyond the spinning wheel und reel of the
past.
Tim Erra-oT oi Imaoination. The Hamp
shire UiUtUt tells a good story of a good deacon
of Northampton, well illustrating the power of
the imagination over the miud. S.ild deacon
boards at a hotel, aud being near-sighted,
wears spectacles, Ouo morning he got up ai
usual, put ou his speotaoles, but to bis surprise
could not see through them. Thinking .that
the dimness of vision was temporary, he went
to his basluoaa, but his powers of seeing did
not increase, and iu alarm he consulted the
family physician, who assured him he wai
perfectly well. Hut the deacou kuew he was
sick, went home, aud, with the aid of his wife,
made elaborate preparations to take a sweat.
At this juncture a lady who occupied an ad
joining room camo iu to look tor her spectacles
which she had left there the night before, and
claimed the pair the deacon had been wearing
all the morning. As these spectacles wire in
tended for a long-sighted person, whereas the
deacon was short-sighted, the difficulty was
eiplalued at once, aud the deacon did not take
bU sweat,
Yodku Ana-aid, A lady and her 8-year old
daughter were amoug the paeugr on a car
yesterday, and presently the little miss ob
served a tnau lake out bi haudkerchitf,
flourish it around, and then wipe his nose. The
child leaned over to her mother and whispered:
"Mamma, thai gentleman it trying to flirt with
me, but I shall give him the handkerchief,
aiful thai I distrust his motive."
Youth's Pleasures.
(From Pacific Rural Press.
A love of the beautifnl, of flowers, musio, the
songs. of birds, and all the enchantments of
nature is a pleasure that peculiarly belongs to
the years of youth, though many preserve it
even as they journey down the sunset slope of
life. With the true heart I think it never dies
though the rapturous thrill at the sound of
sweet musio or the sight of a fine sunset may
be suppressed, toned down bv the cares ana
sorrows of accumulating years, just as the dust
of earth dims the luster of fine cold. Fame
is a dream that lingers around the footsteps of
youtn ana oiten leads mm into loroiddenway.
Wealth too is the goal of many a youthful
heart's ambition, fame and wealth are supposed
to bring happiness, which latter after all is the
grand end for which we all strive. With the
advance of years the intensity of these dreams
and passions and tbe anticipated pleasures of
their attainment slowly fade out by repeated
disappointments and are often replaced by
nonier thoughts and better ambitions.
But is there not something of regret mingled
with the thought of growing old?
To sometimes list to the muffled sound
Of the waves that die on the banner coast,
And see the spot where our hopes went down
With the beautiful things we loved and lostl
We look on the backward track nnd see it
strewn with our idols, our idols that we have
cast away, one by one, or that fate has
wrenched from us. Here a splendid .dreum,
never realized, there the memory of a lost hope;
again a fortune that vanished in our very
grasp, broken friendships, lost love and all the
sorrowful train that make up life's miseries.
We uro going down to old age, shorn of most
of tbe beautiful endowments that once crowned
existence with roses. But happy are those
who possess a hope that grows greenerwith age.
If the light of faith burns in our hearts we will
seo by its radiance the "gates ajar" of the
Royal City, whoso maker and builder is God,
within whose walls there is no disappointment
and no blighted dreams.
After all else has perished and we are
crowned with gray hairs and we wander slowly
toward the narrow sea that separates time
from eternity, with the phantoms of past
pleasures sinking back in the shadows of long
forgotten years, the words of "Him who spoke
as never man spoke" brings a light and a com
fort to the world-worn and weary heart. So
brines a consolation rend n flwpAt nnnpn that
all the rest'ois dreams of earlier years could
not givo. At last we have found the true am
bition. To live so that we shall bo worthy of
an ontrance into that higher and better exist
ence, eternal life. Pomona,
Oon Tell-Talk Lips. I have observed that
lips become more or less contracted in the
course of years, in propotion as thoy aro ac
customed to express gooel-humor anil' generos
ity, for peevishness and a contracted mind.
Hemurk the effect which a moment of ill-temner
or gruelgingness has upon the lips, and judge
what may be expected for an habitual series of
such movements. Remark the reverse nnd
make a similar judgment. The mouth is the
frankest part ot tho face; it can't in the least
conceal its sensations. We can neither hide
ill-tomper with it, or good; we may affect what
we please, but affectation will not holp us. In
a wrong cause it will only make our observers
rosont the endeavor to impose, upon them. The
mouth is the seat of one class of emotions, as
the eyes are of another; or, rather, it expresses
tho same emotions, but iu greater detail, and
with a more irrepressible) tendency to be in
motion. , It is the regionof smiles at.d dimples,
and of n trombling tenderness; of a sharp sor
row, or a full-breatbing joy, of candor, of re
servo, of anxious care, or liberal svmnatbv.
Tho mouth, out of its many sensibilities, may
be fancied throwing up ono great expression
into the eye as many lights in a city reflect a
broad lustor in tho hoavous, Fhrenoloyical
Journal.
Skcobity for Intkomty. Several yoars ogo
a company was iu operation in New York, hav
ing for its object the giving of bonds to seeure
employers againBt neglect or fraud on the part of
their employes. We have lost sight of the or
ganization, aud doubt whether it is still in ex.
istence. But the field is one that might be
filled with advautage. The system pursueel in
England is to admit employes to membership
upuu lurmiuiug propor testimonials and pay
iug a' certain hum at stated periods into the
company. This company then gives a bond to
the railway, bank, or other corporation which
onguges its member. Tho insurance company
uiakes a profit by tho receipt of its annual pre
miums, tho clerk or other emplojei is spared
the mce-.sity of soliciting favors from bh per
sonal friends, aud the corporation whioh re
ceives the bond kuows that tho surety is good.
There is no reason why a mutual company con
sisting entirely of eniplojes should not be
blurted ou this basis.
A Sad Stout ok Nkglkot. The question is
often asked, "In what manner do boys become
hoodlums ?" und it is as ofteu answored, "By
neglect of proper parental care and control'
Yesterdiy afternoon a little boy, eleven years
of age, and poorly clad, acoosted a policeman
ou the street aud begged of him to profile him
with a shelter for the night, ns his mother was
drunk and had turuod him out of doors. The
ofilcer took the little fellow to the city prison,
where he revealed ft sad state of afiairs. He
had been at work for sevoral weeks in a type
foundry, aud every cent of his scanty earnings
was speut by his mother for whiskey. His
father died several years ago, and the little
fellow feels alone iu the world. The ofilcer
was dispatched to tho home, which had ceased
to bo a homo for the waif, and he fouud the
boy's mother iu a beastly state of iutoxicatiou,
lyiug ou the floor of a miserable hovel.
Two Kinds of Glim.-There are two kinds
of girls. Ouo is the kiud that appears best
abroad the girls that are good for parties,
rides, visits, balls, etc., whose chief delight is
in all such thing. The other is the kind that
appears best at home the girls that are useful
and cheerful in thediuing-room, tbe sick-room,
and all tho pieoioota of home. They differ
widely iu character. One is frequently a tor
ineut at home; the other is a blessing. One is
a moth, consuming everything about ber; the
other ia a suubeain, inspiring life and gladness
all along the pathway. Now it does not neces
sarily follow that them shall be two classes of
girl. Tbe right modification would modify
them both a little, and unite their characters
in one.
Rsv, Cuaium Bsoox wa asked, '
the shortest sketoh of huniau life ?"
wertd thus:
What U
He an-
"At ten, a child; at twenty, wild;
At thirty, strom It tiers
At forty, rich; at fifty, wIm;
At ality, good, or never."
Sickly, A correspondent of an Ameriotn
paper describes the Ohio aa a "sickly stream,"
the editor appended the remark, "That' to it
ia confined to its bed."
Didn't AmacuTi. Maoanlay once observed
that Mia ikten war onl flt for miwMa n,l
priM essays to light them.
Keeping Up Appearances.
The Interior, in an orticle on the "Art of Liv
ing," has some earnest words on a topic which
it is to be feared, is not altogether inappropri
ate to California. It says: Extravagance is
the rock ou which society is going to pieces.
Let us face the danger before it is too late to
avert it. Single people shrink from marriage
because they see married people living in a per
petual whirl of bills and competition and social
hypocrisy. An air of common deception hangs
around all of our houses. We are afraid to be
poor. On one thousand a year how shall we
Keep up tne appearance oi tnree tnousana.
That is the standing social problem. In Buch
a case luxury in the parlor necessitates mean
ness somewhere else. Our lace curtains tell
fearful lies. Let us have a reform and come
down to a specie basis. The well-to-do people
ornament their houses with mortgages; the
poor run bills; high pressure marks all life from
the cottage to the mansion, and in three direc
tions is ruinous.
First It is financial ruin. Any man who
puts a dollar into appearance is on the way to
sink a fortune. Living costs about twice what
it ought fully twice in California what it does
in Europe. There is no reason for it. This is a
land of grain and fruits and abundant work.
The man who spends two thousand a year could
live on one and be happier. Perhaps not, in
deed, by himself. The social level needs to
sink from extravagance to thrifty eeonomy. If
this is the way out of national trouble it is
doubly the way out of family worries. Be brave,
honest, straight through your domostic arrange
ments, though the two-story must yield to the
cottage, and the pudding to corn meal.
Second It is mental ruin. The money that
is spent on horses and dress, and table un
necessaries, would fill all our homes with books.
The expensive furniture would be well replaced
by pictures to be a constant refining and en
lightening influence. The money it costs many
a family of moderate means to keep up four
week's appearance at the sea shore would fill
their home with treasures of knowledge and art.
Instead of that, the glorious month at Long
Branch is followed by eleven months of scrimp
ing in the kitchen und general meanness all
around.
Third It is moral ruin. People cannot sys
tematically deceive without the lines are velvet
and silky. The penalty comes iu the loss of
self respect. The man who mortgages his
property to keep up the family style thereby
mortgages his name to the devil. Instead of
studying moral philosophy to find the cause of
general social disorder, loosening of home
bonds and losing of purity, let it come down to
an honest way of living. Let it make our car
pets and our table and our cloths tell the truth,
and then, perhaps, our children will. A blight
will surely fall on all our social life unless we
recover ourselves from that great American vice,
truckling, and live honestly before men. The
seeds of hypocrisy are in the heart of every
child that goes out from a household whose
whole life is a sham. In vaia we preach honesty
and sincerity from the nulnit so Ions as the
life from the pulpit to the home management is
all a pretense. Society must come down, and
date to appear what it is.
Wanted by the Nation A Book on
Trees of America.
the
We would have Congress appropriate a sum
of money say from three to five hundred
thousand dollars to be expended under the
direction of trustworthy commissioners, for the
preluction of a great national work, embracing
a carefully prepared description, with illustra
tions, of all the varieties of trees iu the United
States and Territories. Tho very best tideut,
literary and artistic, should be employed to
produce the work. It should be properly di
vided and the trees classified into hard woods,
soft woods, evergreens, trees of commerce, etc
Thus the pines, cedars, hemlocks, firs, spruces,
oaks, walnuts, hickories, maples, beeches,
ashes, elms, and the many other trees of use
auel ornament, would be set forth in detail;
and also, the fruit-trees, etc, with their habits,
localities, values, and particular instructions
be given with reference to their cultivation.
Audubon, almost single.handed or without
government aid produced his great and beauti
ful work, "The Birds of America" copits of
which now sell for a thousand dollars. Are
not the trees of America as beautiful and as
useful us tho birds? .
A full-page illustration, drawn from life,
should be appropriated to each of the principal
varieties. Theso pictures should be drawn, or
photographed, then painted, and then chromoed
in the highest style of tbe art. Facing the tree,
ou the opposite page, should be engraved
views of tho leaf, flower, nut, or fruit of the
tree, with a section showing tbe cr.iu and color
of the wood, bark, etc Then full descriptive
letter-press Bhould follow, bo that the reader
could learn all that is known of practical uso
of each variety of tree; Such ehromo-litho-graphs
as wo propose would sell readily, if
gotten up by private effort, at five dollars or
more, and woulet fiud favor with all lovers of
art.
The book should be issued in numbers, at ten
dollars or more each number, and could be
completed in ten or fifteen numbers, making
the book cost the purchaser from $100 to $150.
It is beleived every gentleman of means who is
a patron ot art and ot literature would subscribe
for tho work.
Merchants would placa the beautiful book
on their drawing-room tables, and its perusal
would beget a love for trees iu the miuds of all
beholders, Iu this way persons of taste and of
means would acquire ft knowledge of trees,
thoir habits and their value, not otherwise at
tainable; aud, as a result, suburban residences
would soon be stocked with tbe choicest varie
ties, and highly beautified by magnificent
trees. Phrenological Journal.
1U vi a Powose. Seven years at Sunday
school without missing a single Sunday 1 That
is the record of a boy in Itochester. N. Y. It
shows promptntsa, 'punctuality, and last and
best of all purpose. Indeed, it was the pur
pose that made him prompt and punctual. It
is only a purpose which will and can master
circumstances and make them all bear on the
successful pursuit of one great object. A
boy with a purpose has made, a noble begin
ning in life, for think how much else it tells
about him.
To Be Mabmkd. It ia rumored that the ob
lect of James Gordon Bennett in going abroad
is to marry a young lady in Paris to whom he
has been some time engaged. She is a Roman
Catholic of Irish parentage, having been but
two years oat of a French convent where she
waa sent to be educated. Bennett ia expected
to bring his bride home early next spring.
Othib besides newly married people might
well practice on the advice which President Not t,
in hu wife old age, gave to a young couple:
" Don't try to be happy. Happiness is a shy
nymph, and if yon chase her you will never
catch her. But iut go on quietly and do your
dnty and aha will oome to yon.
Man, being essentially active, must And in
activity, joy, aa well as hi beauty and glory;
and labor, tike everything else that ia good, is
it own reward.
Don't Kiss the Baby.
The promiscuous kissing of children is a
pestilent practice. We use the word advisedly,
and it is mild for the occasion. Murderous
would be the proper word, did the kiesersknow
the mischief they do. Yes, madam, murderous;
and we are speaking to you. Do you remem
ber calling on your dear friend Mrs. Brpwn
the other day, with a strip of flannel around
your neck ? And when little Flora came danc
ing into the room, didn't you pounce upon her
demonstratively, call her a precious little pet,
and kiss her ? Then you serenely proceeded to
describe the dreadful sore throat that kept' you
from prayer meeting the night before. You
had no designs on the dear child's life, we
know; nevertheless you killed her 1 Killed
her as surely as if you had fed her with strych
nine or arsenic. Your carasses were fatal.
Two or three days after, the little pet began
to complain of a sore throat too. The symp
toms grew rapidly alarming; and when the doc
tor came, the single word diptheria sufficed to
explain them all. To-day a little mound in
Greenwood is the sole memento of your visit.
Of course the mother does not suspect, and
would not dare to suspect, you of any instru
mentality in her bereavement. She charges it
to a mysterious Providence. The doctor sajs
nothing to disturb the delusion; that would
be impolitic, if not cruel; but to an outsider he
is free to say that the child's death was due
directly to your infernal stupidity. Those are
firecisely his words; more forcible than elegant,
t is true; but who shall say, under the circum
stances, that they are not justifiable ? Remem
ber "Evil Is wrought by want of thought
Ab well as by want of heart."
It would be hard to tell how much of the
prevalent sickness and mortality from dipthe
ria is due to such want of thought. As a rule,
adults have the disease in so mild a form that
they mistake it for a simple cold; and as a cold
is not contagious, they think nothing of expos
ing others to their breath or to the greater dan
ger of labial contact. Taking into considera
tion the well established fact that diptheria is
usually if not always communicated by the di
rect transplanting of the malignant vegetation
which causes the disease, the fact that there can
be no more certain means of bringing the conta
gion to its favorite soil than the act of kissing,
und the further fact that tbe custom of kissing
children on all occasions is all but universal, it
is not surprising that, when the disease is once
imported into a community, it is very likely to
become epidemic.
It would be hard to charge the Bpread of
diptheria entirely to the practice of child-kissing.
There are other modes of propogation,
though it is hard to conceive of any more di
rectly suited to the spread of the infection or
more general in its operation. It stands to dip
theria about the same relation that promiscuous
hand-shaking formerly did to the itch.
It were better to avoid the practice. The
children will not suffer if they go uukissed ; and
their friends ought for their sake to forgo the
luxury for a season. A single kiss has been
known to infect a family; and the most careful
may be in oondition to communioate the disease
without knowing it. Beware, then, of plavine
Judas, and let tbe babies alone. Scientific
American.
Mind and Body.
Whatever mind may be, an outgrowth of the
body or a thought of God, still its health, and
iu a certain sense its very existence, depends
upon laws similar and every way analogous to
thoso that determine bodily health nnd exist
ence. Tho mind or spirit of man, derived at
first from the breath of Ood, Js no doubt "part
and pircel" of the Divine Being. The mind
molds the body after its likeness; a slow, moder
ate intellect has a slow, heavy casing; a quick,
bright intellect is connected with a lithe, elastic
tissue; a joyous spirit gleams from every line
of its accompanying countenance, while the
peevish, fretful one frowns out in every wrinkle.
and the calm, trusting one sits serene upon' a
piaciu orow.
Hence, it seems certain in the cloy image,
man could not have been formed in the "like
ness of God" unless the informing spirit that
gave u vuuiuy was parr, or, tne uivme essence.
But is every new human beinc an entirely
distinct.separate creation, or can bodies propa
gate nuirii miuuf vny are inero corporal,
family resemblances, and do these bodily like
nesses always or generally indicate spiritual
resemblances? If the mind is something that
uweiis wnony in tne Dram, tnere seems no
possible solution to these questions. But if the
mind be a subtle element pervading the physical
organization more or less completely, while
having its seat or focus in the brain, then
there seems a path out of the tangle. One
person, by practice and determination, forces
a considerable portion of his brain into his less
and feet, becoming thereby n fine dancer;
anotner directs tne brain-power to the arms
and hands with a view to becoming n practical
musician, aud no one has watched the hands
of an expert pianist without being convinced
that brain really flashed in every finger-tip.
The mind, thus pervading every tissue and
particle of the living organism, is communicable
irom parent to cmiil, and tbe mixed mental
traits of the parents form the new individual.
JVireitoloaical Journal.
Lovk fob toe Old Homestead. A friend
who was with Mr. Sumner at his house iu Bos
ton when he sold it says that after sinning the
eleed hethonchtfully remarked: " In this housu
I spent my boyhood and I part with it with a
heart full of sorrow, and with eyes full of tears.
There are none who can ever love us with a
mother s love. Mo, not one,"
Eveby process in nature is the going forth of
iue everlasting on uis messages oi love, and
any event in our experience is a message of
love fullnlled.
We have but one moment at once, let ns im
prove it. Our moment will soon come when
this life will cease may we so live as to meet
it without regret.
Artificial Fubs. M. Tnssaud, of London,
suggests an ingenious way of preparing the
hsir or fur of animals for use without employ
ingthe skin. The process consists in first
soaking the fur in lime water to loosen tbe ad
hesion of the hairs. After washing and drying,
the piece is stretched upon a board, fur side
up, and a solution of glue laid over it, rare be
iug taken not to disturb the natural position of
the hairs. After the glue has hardened, the
skin may be pulled off, leaving the ends of the
hair exposed. The latter are then washed with
proper substances to remove fat, bulbs, etc.
An artificial skin of gutta percha, or other wa
terproof substance, is next laid on top of the
glue and allowed to dry, so aa to form' a con
tinuous membrane, when the glue is washed
out with warm water. These artificial skins
are entirely free from any animal odor, and are
more durable, lighter, and more pliable than
the natural ones.
To PaxsiavsCoLoa im Dwid Flowcbs. To
preserve the natural color in dried flowers, lay
them when fresh into alcohol for a few min
ute they will fade at fin i but recover their
color.
Yodiq Folks' CoLiJpfl.
"From My Mother, Sir."
Not long since a small lad was called up to
testify in the United States District Court ia
Philadelphia. The counsel, from the extreme
youth of the lad doubted whether he understood
tbe obligation of the oath he was about to take,
and, with a view to test his knowledge, asked
leave to interrogate him. This was granted, and
the following colloquy took place:
Counsel "My lad, do you understand J the
obligation of an oath ?"
Boy "Yes, sir, I do."
Counsel "What is the obligation ?"
Boy "To Bpeak the truth and keep nothing
hid." Counsel "Where did you learn this my
lad?"
Boy "From my mother, sir," replied tho
lad, with a look of pride that showed how
much he estemed the early principles implanted
in bis breast by her to whom was committed
his physical and moral existence.
For a moment there was a deep silence iu tho
court room; and then, as eye met eye, and face
gleamed to face with the recognition of a moth
er's love and moral principle, which had made
their fixed impression upon this boy, it seemed
as if the spectators would forget the decorum,
due to the place, and give audible expression
to their emotions. The lad was instantly ad
mitted to testify.
Behold the mother's power ! Often had evil
influence and corrupt example assailed this
boy. Time and care and exposure to the bat
tling elements had worn away the lineaments
of the infant face, and bronzed his once fair
exterior, but deeply nestled in his bosom tho
lessons of a mother's love, which had given
him strength in many a temptation and kept
fresh in his mind reverence for truth that
strongest bulwark against all influences.
The Richest Boy.
The richest boy is not the one who has the
largest amount of money in prospect. To our
mind the richest boy is one who is good
hearted, honest, intelligent, ambitious, willing
to do right. He is the one who loves his
mother, and always has a kind word for her;
who loves his sister or sisters, and tries to help
them with true affection. He is the boy who
does not call his father the "old man," but
who loves him, speaks kindly to and of him,
and tries to help him us the signs of old age
gather fast upon his brow.
The richest boy is the one who has pluck to
fight his destiny and future. He is the one who
has the manhood to do right and be honest,
and if striving to bo somebody; who is above
doing a mean action who would not tell a lie
to screen himself, or betray a friend. He
whose young mind is full of noble thoughts for
tbe future, who is determined to win a name
by good deeds. This is the richest boy in
America. Which one of our readers is it?
This boy we would be glad to see, wouldjike
to take'him by the hand and tell him to gcrrm
earnestly, that success might crown his efforts.
And if he is a poor boy, we should meet him
at the threshold, bid him enter, and give him
good advice, well and kindly meant. That
other rich boy, we don't care anything about,
for there are tools and snobs enough to wor
ship, flatter, and spoil him. Ex.
Fob Boys Who oo Gunning. almost every
boy who goes gunning, if he can find nothing
that he wants to bang away at, considers it the
next best thing to kill a few woodpeckers.
They look so funny wrong end up on the Bide
of a tree, bobbing and whacking around the
loose bark, that the temptation is strong and
the poor jolly hammerer has no friends so,
bang ! and down he comes; and he is given
to the dogs to play with aud tear to pieces.
That poor little bird, if over a year old, has
killed and eaten many hundred thousands of
bugs' larva;, in the form of grubs and worms,
and almost every one of a kind which is inju
rious to vegetation. The catbird, one of our
finest singers, and a bird that is always sociable,
if ever permiited to be so, eats a cherry occa
sionally, and of course must be banished or
suffer death. He pays a better price for every
cherry he eats than any fruiterer would dare
demand in the market, in the worms he destroys,
and throws in a complete bird-opera several
times a day into tbe bargain.
A Hist to Boys. The following significant
advertisement lately appeared in a country
paper:
An At-pbentice Wanted. A boy that neither
drinks, uses tobacco or profane language, can
find an excellent opportunity to learn the print
ing business at this office.
Whereupon a contemporary takes the oppor
tunity to give tbe following bit of good advice
to boys generally: No employer will accept
tbe services of a chewing, smoking, drinking
or swearing boy, when a clean one can be found.
Bojs who have these bad habits, inevitably be
come dull, Uzy and shiftless. They do not
rise in lifo to respectable positions, but in a
slipshod manner, sluff, sluff, sluff along, living
from hand to mouth, and fetch np in the poor
house, the prison, commit suicide, or die mis
erable vagabonds.
Why not Eat Oystebs in Scmmeb? Ac
cording to the popular notion; whioh, in the
main, is correct, the spawning season of tho
oyster embraces those months which have no r
iu their spelling, namely: May, June, July and
August, the four warm months in tho year.
The fact is, that oysters generally, do their
spawning during these four months; but a few
are liable to spawn whenever the water is warm
enough, and large numbers pass through the
year without spawning; and these, were it not
for the difficulty of assorting them, would be
available for food at any time. But the preju
dice is universal against their use daring the
r-less months. That they are not in as good
condition then aa during the cooler months, ia
reasonable to suppose; bat that they are all'
tecessarily unwholesome in the warm month?,
is far from being proved. In business phrase,
oysters in spawning time are said lobe 'milky.'
This means the presence of an opaline fluid in
considerable abnudance, and which hag to do
with the wants of its young perhaps, remote
ly, a sort of fluid of amnion. Popufar Science
Monthly.
Astbokojocal. The astronomical discov
eries of 1871. aDart from thou whi!. n..i,...
been made by observers of the transit of Venus,
were few and comparatively unimportant. Six
asteroids were discovered, two by American as-
iruueMaers, ana inree oy rails, at Fola, near
Berlin. Of the four cometariiivtT.i n iB7i
that of Coggta only, was especially interesting.
The meteorio shower of November 14th en
tirely failed for 187. According to the calcn
lationa of some astronomers, no further returns
of this meteorio disDlar in anv rnn.i.l.m.
numbers can be expected till near the close of
me century.
Tat Pomular Science Vnnlhl.i MM.. tk
idea that oysters shouldn't be eaten in the
months that haven't an r in them as well as is
other months.
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