court.

THE TWO HEIRS.-"I remember," says a late postmaster general of the United States, "the first time I visited Burlington, Vt., as judge of the superior I had left it many years before, a poor boy. At the time I left, there were two families of special note for their standing and wealth. Ech of them had a son about my own age. I was very poor, and these two boys were very rich. During the long years of hard toil which passed before my return, I had almost forgotten them. They had long ago forgotten me. Approaching the court house, for the first time, in company with several gentlemen of the bench and bar, I noticed, in the court house yard, a large pile of old furniture about to be sold at auction. The scenes of early boyhood, with which I was surrounded, prompted me to ask whose it was. I was told, it belonged to Mr. J. 'Mr J.? I remember a family of that name, very wealthy; there was a son, too; can it be he?" I was told that It was even so. He was the son of one of the families already alluded to. He had inherited more than I had earned, and spent it all; and now his own family was reduced to real want, and his very furniture was that day to be sold for debt. I went into the court house suddenly, yet almost glad that I was born poor. I was soon absorbed in the business before me. One of the first cases called, originated in a low, drunken quarrel, between Mr. H. and Mr. A. Mr. H., thought I, that is a familiar name. Can it be? In short, I found that this was indeed the son of the other wealthy man referred to! I was overwhelmed alike with astonishment and thanksgiving-astonishment at the change in our relative standings, and thanksgiving that I was not born to inherit wealth without toil."

Those fathers provide best for their children who leave them with the highest educa ion, the purest morals, and—the least money.

A MELANCHOLY STORY.-Among the twelve who were punished for drunkenness was one-a female -whose history is truly melancholy, though by no means unusual. She is not yet old, and was pretty courted and admired by all.

once

She was born in the South, of wealthy parents, and her earlier years were blest with all the blessings of one of her station. Her education was thorough, and she early gained a good reputation as a writer. She soon evinced a passion for the stage,-a passion so uncontrollable that despite the entreaties of parents and friends, she became an actress. In this sphere she was very successful, and after a time made her appearance on the boards in this city, where she created no little furore. Her appearance was always hailed with enthusiasm, but after a time her fame and fortune began to wane. She fell, as many of her profession had done before, a victim to drink! Becoming daily worse, no manager would run the risk of engaging her. For a time she gave evidence of an intention to reform, but, the terrible passion predominated: she again fell. The formerly lovely woman, talented authoress and fhe actress, sleeps to-night, a vagabond in the tombs !-N. Y. Times.

A NEW HAMPSHIRE RECIPE.-A friend traveling in New Hampshire, was so pleased with some excellent corn cake, that he was eonstrained to ask the old lady who placed it on the table, the manner of its concoction. Her recipe is worthy of a trial by those good house wives who can follow accurately the directions. Here it is:

"I took, I don't know justly how much milkprehaps a pint or more-like as any it would have been better if I had taken more-then put in Indian meal enough to make it just right for thickness— don't want it too thick or too thin-but I hadn't quite meal enough, so I took the flour box and thought I'd shake in a little flour, but it didn't come out quite fast enough, so I took off the cover and poured it all right in-about half a box full-that made it just right for thickness. Then the Sal Eratus, I guess I don't know justly how much there was of that, for I took three times the end of a spoon, and When I put it into the milk it was all of a foam, and then I jerked it into the oven l'

An expeditious mode of getting up a row is to carry a long ladder on your shoulders in a crowded thoroughfare, and every few minutes turn round to see if any one is making faces at you.

"I see a shadow on one side and a reflection on the other."

Very true," answered the sword; "and their starting points touch, do they not?"

46

They touch," said the warrior.

"Now lift my point higher in the air."

He did so; and the higher the sword arose, the further the streak of light receded from the streak of darkness.

"Now lower me, point downwards," said the blade.

And, lo! the more rapid the descent, the more rapidly did the two contrasting columns approach each other.

"Thou hast taught me a good lesson," said the warrior, sheathing his weapon, and uttering a short prayer. "It is even so with the human soul in her downward flight from virtue; it is thus that, when in contact with the earth, she reflects a gleam of heaven on one side, and casts a shadow of sin on the other. These two touch each other when she touches the earth, and recede continually as she ascends nearer heaven."

A wild friend of ours (Selma Tom) told us the following story:-Tom says he got acquainted with a very companionable fellow from one of the mountain counties, who happened to be in Selma on business. This was in August last. Mountain Sprout was a member of the church, but being a long way from home, and having never experienced an 'iced' cocktail before, be took on as much as he could wag with-Tom aiding and abetting. In due time Sprout went home, but rumors of his potations followed him, and the church brought him up for drunkenness. Sprout, on trial, admitted that he had, while in Selma, got a little 'foxy,' but then he told his brethren, the 'big lumps of ice they had at the bar were so inviting, that he couldn't help drinking.' Thereupon an old brother got up and said, that for his part, if the young brother had only got drunk under the circumstances of being away from home, and falling into bad company, he should have been in favor of forgiving him, on his making proper acknowledgement. "But brethren," he wound up, "this matter is worse than drinking— it's downright lying. Did you hear what brother Sprout said about ice, and in August. I'm for jerkin him out for lying!" And out he went.Montgomery Mail.

MR. GOUGH AND THE INCOME TAX.-The following anecdote in relation to Mr. Gough is from the Berwick (England) Warder:

"While in Edinburgh Mr. Gough's equanimity at breakfast was much disturbed one morning by an income tax schedule being thrust into his hand.The commissioners had 'calculated' that Mr. Gough would carry off no inconsiderable number of Queen Victoria's sovereigns across the Atlantic, there to be added to his store of 'almighty dollars,' and they reckoned he was quite as liable to pay their lawful 16d in the pound as any of her Majesty's subjects. Mr. Gough was of course much 'riled' by this specimen of British tyranny and rapacity, and made many strenuous protests, both against their right to tax a citizen of the United States, and when that would no longer avail, against the amount at which he was assessed. Ultimately, he consented to be assessed on £1500, as the amount of his gains during his lecturing tour in Great Britain; and his contribution to the expenses of the war was the pretty little sum of £87 10s."

The following lines were taken from a hymn book which a young lady had incautiously left behind her in a chapel :

I look in vain, he does not come;
Dear, dear, what shall I do?

I cannot listen as I ought,
Unless he listens too!

He might have come as well as not,
What plague these fellows are !
I'll bet he's fast asleep at home,
Or smoking a cigar i

TAKING DOWN THE TURKS.-The Constantinople correspondent of the Boston Journal tells how the Moslem starch is gradually taken out of the sons of the prophet:

"It is true that daily collisions with nervous Frenchmen and unceremonious Englishmen have lowered the Turkish pride somewhat, and taught them the lesson that infidels have fists as well as true believers. Fancying the flowing uniform of the Zouaves was adopted in derision of the Oriental costume, these wiseacres attempted to mob them, but got the most unmitigated thrashing. The little Turkish boys who used to swear boldly by the beard of the prophet as they tore ladies' veils, and spat upon the giaours, have become remarkably discreet, only shying stones when distance or concealment protects them. A lady informed me that meeting with an insult from an adventurous urchin in a solitary quarter, she soundly cuffed his ears; at first he exclaimed, proudly drawing himself up, 'Will you strike a Mussleman?' but ultimately horrified at the great moral bearing this precedent would have, took to his heels, bawling like any other child."

An incident transpired in New York City, last week that has made some talk among the parties who have had knowledge of the matter. A lady from the State of Maine came to that city last week on her way to California. She had as arms two revolvers and a bowie knife. The conductor purchased her a ticket in the California steamer, and she left in the vessel at noon. Her story is this:

A short time since, her husband obtained possession of all her wealth, converted all he could turn into gold, and then deserted his family, took a ship and started for the land of gold, round Cape Horn. But this is not the worst: he took with him a female not his wife. Injured and maddened, the wife has started after her recreant lord; not from love, but from hate; not to recover possession of her absconding husband, but to administer to him a deserved chastisement; not to take him back, but to shoot him and his companion. Wind, weather and steam permitting, the lady will reach California some time in advance of her absconding mate.He will no doubt be rather surprised to meet her ladyship on the California landing; and unless seasickness shakes the wrath out of her, the meeting will not be one of the most conjugal that can be imagined. It is a hard time for runaway husbands and wives. If they trust in sails, steam outsails them. If they rely on steam, the lightning tells to all the world the story of their misdeeds, and reveals their hiding places before their trunks are fairly unpacked.

Whether a man leads a sober life or not depends altogether on the temper of his wife. No man will listen all night to a scold, who knows where "a good warm sling" can be bought for sixpence. At Cocktails, the other night, we found no less than thirteen married men, who spent six evenings a week squirting tobacco juice on a coal stove. We thought we could find out who they were. On enquiring, we learned that eleven of them were blessed with wives who "jaw" from Monday morning till Saturday night, while the other two wedded a couple of "she philanthropist" ladies, so constantly engaged in the "welfare of Central Africa" that they have no time to keep their husbands' shirts whole.

A young gentleman of Sacramento, Cal., some months ago, being much solicited by a young lady for a present, sent her a rare kind of Cactus in a flower pot. The lady tended it carefully, but found it did not grow larger, and, after a while, the perfume became rather unpleasant, when she resolved to throw out some of the earth in the pot and replenish it afresh. The earth was, accordingly, removed, when the rare Cactus was found to be the tail of a huge rat, with a coat of green paint and a wire run through it, while the state of the corpse fully accounted for the oppressive odor. It is needless to say, the gentleman got "the mitten."

A plain and unschooled man, who had received his education principally beneath the open sky, in the field and the forest, and who had wielded the axe more than the pen, while speaking of children, remarked with true and beautiful simplicity: "The little chips are nearest the heart,”

AMOS LAWRENCE.-The "Diary and Correspondence" of this distinguished deceased Bostonian meets with an extensive sale. The book abounds with sound sense and maxims of practical wisdom. Among its contents we find the following:

"Take this as your motto at the commencement of your journey, that the difference of doing just right or a little wrong will be the difference of finding yourself in good quarters, or in a miserable bog or slough at the end of it."

"It is of much importance, in forming your early character, to have correct habits, and a strict regard to truth in all you do. For this purpose, I advise you never to cheat yourself by making a false entry."

"Avoid rum and tobacco, in all forms, unless prescribed as a medicine, and I promise you better contracts, heavier purses, happier families, and a more vigorous and youthful old age, by thus avoiding the beginning of evil."

UNPAID FOR PLEASURES ARE THE BEST.-What should we think, if we were so utterly incapable of supplying ourselves with enjoyment from our own resources, as to be forever unhappy, unless at intervals, when we hired somebody to tickle us. And yet, is not this very much the condition of a considerable portion of the community? How many are there, who, having lost all power of selfamusement, are obliged to fly to theatres and publie exhibitions of some kind or other, and pay somebody for tickling them a few hours? People seem to have forgotten, or never known, the bliss of possessing a perpetual fountain of entertainment in their own bosoms, and the delightful and genuine communion of kindred spirits in sympathetic private or domestic intercourse and conversation.

REVOLUTIONARY ANECDOTE.-"It was once in my power to have shot General Washington!" said a British soldier to an American, as they were discussing the event of the great struggle at concluding of peace. "Why did you not shoot him then?" asked the American,-"you ought to have done so for the benefit of your countrymen." "The death of Washington would not have been for their benefit," replied the Englishman, "for we depended upon him to treat our prisoners kindly; and, by Heaven! we'd sooner have shot an officer of our own !"

"

HOME. The most friendless of human beings has a country which he admires and extols, and which he would, in the same circumstances, prefer to all others under heaven. Tempt him with the fairest face of nature, place him by living waters under shadowy trees of Lebanon, open to his view all the gorgeous allurements of the sunniest climates, he will love the rocks and deserts of his childhood better than all these, and thou canst not bribe his soul to forget the land of his nativity.-Sidney Smith.

ON THE RIGHT ROAD.-English Traveller-Hi say, sir, ham I on the right road to 'Artford? Jonathan-Well, you be.

Traveller-'Ow far shall I 'ave to go before I get

there?

Jonathan-Well, if yeou turn reound and go t'other way, may be yeou'll have to travel about ten mile. But if yeou keep on the way yeou are going, yeou'll have to go about twenty-four thousand, I reckon.

HIFALUTIN!-The New York Tribune of yesterday contained this sentence, descriptive of Thanksgiving in what is justly termed "the unrivalled kitchens of New England":"Buxom arms of down-east housekeepers have been bared to the elbows for the past fortnight in the furious manufacture of pies and cakes. Mountains of the golden fruit, not less beautiful if less classic than that of Hesperides-rivers of generous milk and cream-a Golgotha of eggs-have been consumed in the one sectional celebrity of pumpkin-pies."

We were all assembled to look at a turtle that had been sent to the house of a friend, when a child of the party stooped down and began stroking the shell of the turtle. "Why are you doing that, Mary," said her father. "Oh, to please the turtle." "Why, child, you might as well stroke the dome of St. Paul's Church to please the ministers."

Sydney Smith.

"Who is that?" said Mrs. Partington in a big whisper, at the Music Hall on Sunday night, during the performance of the Oratorio of Solomon."That's Solomon," said the one she addressed, tapping out the time on his thumb, with the libretto. "And these in front," said she, pointing to the ladies on the platform, "are some of his seven hundred wives, I s'pose, and the men up behind 'em must be the children of Israel. Well, Solomon must have been a wise man to know how to take care of so many wives, but he wasn't any better than he should be, if all stories are true. Ah, what blessed music that is to be sure! How much better than that which folks hears on week-a-days in the play houses, played on godless fiddles!" She seated herself in an attentive attitude listening to the music, while Ike sat counting the new gas lights round the hall and drumming "Jordan" on the arm of the settee.

The editor of the Burlington Recorder bears witness that he recently discovered, in a flourishing city on the line of the New Jersey Railroad, a grave-yard, in which stood a tombstone on which was inscribed by weeping friends the following touching and simple, yet exquisitely poetic epitaph:-"He was a good egg."

The Recorder at once proceeded to gild the gold by composing the following addition:

"Tread lightly o'er this nest, we beg, Or else, perhaps, you'll smash the egg." We have no doubt as to the "fax" of the tombstone case alluded to. Why should we, says the Philadelphia Bulletin, when in another part of New Jersey there are, in a row, five tombstones beating the following inscriptions:

He was a brick.

He was a perfect horse.
He was a whole team.
He was some pumpkins.
He was one of 'em.
Well, he was!

RESPECTABILITY.-"Cato, does you know dem Johnsings, up dar in Congo Place, am gwine to be bery 'spectable folks?"

"Well, Scipio, I t'ought dey war gettin 'long bery well, but I does n't know how 'spectable dey is."

"How 'spectable does you tink, Cato?"
"Well, guess, bout tree tousand dollars."
"More, 'spectable den dat."
"Well, how 'spectable is dey ?"

"Why, five tousand dollars, an, a house an' lot." "Whew! Good bye, Cato, I must give 'em a call." SCENE IN A N. Y. COURT.-Mr. Van Buren stated that his mouth felt at that time a very considerable affinity for tobacco.

Mr. Willard.-I submit that it is a contempt to chew in court.

Mr. Van Buren.-Not if the court choose.

Tribune.

BURYING US. BURNING.-The Editor of the Ozaukee Advertiser thus "defines his position" on this vexed question:

Greenwood Cemetery is a beautiful argument on the side of burying. We go decidedly for that mode of disposing of the dead. Give us six feet of mother earth, rather than sixteen cords of hickory. Save us from roasting, either here or-elsewhere!

A fickle fair one in Utica, N. Y., who was receiving the addresses of two lovers, lately married one and then run away with the other, who took his revenge for her inconstancy by abandoning her in turn as she had abandoned her lawful husband.

A worthless bank note is described as having for its vignette a "female sitting by a hay-stack, with a rake in her lap." We are glad to learn that the bill is a counterfeit.

Ellen Emery, who lives down South, cautions all girls against having anything to do with her runaway husband, David. She thinks that he will be easily known, "because," she says, "David has a scar on his nose, where I scratched him!" S-c-a-at!

That was a keen reply of the buxom lassie to a little pigmy of a man who solicited a matrimonial connection" O, no," said the fair lady, "I can't think of it for a moment. The fact is, John, you are a little too big to put into a cradle, and a little too small to put into a bed!

The Springfield Republican is responsible for the following story:

A NEW REMEDY FOR THE PILES. From motives of delicacy, we withhold the name of the estimable single lady who enquired at the apothecary shop for a derrick. The clerk was sadly puzzled, until she explained that she had read in the papers how a derrick had been successful in the removal of piles, and she thought she would like to try oneThe clerk was wicked enough to direct her to a railroad contractor for the article, and maintained his gravity till the door closed behind her retreating form. Whether the sufferer obtained relief is not known, but the clerk did incontinently.

Old Hicks was an awful snorer. He could be heard farther than a blacksmith's forge; but his wife became so accustomed to it, that it soothed her repose. They were a very domestic couple-never slept apart for many years. At length the old man was required to attend court some distance. The first night after his departure, his wife never slept a wink; she missed the suoring. The next night passed away in the same manner, without sleep. She was getting into a very bad way, and probably would have died, had it not been for the ingenuity of a servant girl. She took the coffee-mill into her mistress' chamber, and ground her to sleep at once!

Prince Napoleon and Queen Victoria are both descended from George II. Augusta, sister of George III, and daughter of Frederick, Prince of Wales, married William, Duke of Brunswick, who had issue the Princess of Brunswick, who married Frederick, King of Wurtemberg, whose daughter Frederica, married Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia, the father of Prince Napoleon. Victoria comes of the same stock, from Frederick, Prince of Wales, George III, Duke of Kent.

During the late agricultural fair at Haverhill, a place was wanted for the trial of horses, and a man named Lec offered the committee and spectators free admission to his grounds for the purpose. The crowd rushed in, but when the sport was over, it cost them "a quarter each," to get out! The shrewd Yankee made a good thing out of it.

A wag in Detroit has been taking liberties with the reputation of the Pontiac Railroad. He was asked whether he knew of an accident on that road, and replied: "Never-but once a middle aged gentleman left Pontiac for Detroit, and died of old age at Birmingham-half way!"

A discontented man was perpetually in the habit of reminding his second rib what an excellent manager his first wife was. Out of all patience, she one day comforted him with the remark that no one regretted her death more than she did.

"Sambo can you tell me what difference there is between a Northern and a Southern man ?" "No, Bones."

"Why the Northern man blacks his own boots, and a Southern man boots his own blacks."

A certain deacon in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, having lost a good cow by a stroke of lightning, resolved to and actually worked on Sundays until he had earned enough to cover his loss.

"Don't stand there loafing," said a professor at Union, to three students, standing where they shouldn't

"We're not loafing," said Nat, "there are only three of us, and it takes leaven to make a loaf."

Some wag sent an editor the first chapter of Matthew, as an original communication for his paper. The editor thought it was all right, and inserted it under the head of "communications."

There is this difference between happiness and wisdom; he that thinks himself the happiest man, really is so; but he that thinks himself the wisest, is generally the greatest fool..

A young gentleman was congratulating himself upon having recently taken a very pleasant trip.Upon inquiry, we found that he had tripped and fell into a young lady's lap.

"Ducky dear" has heretofore been considered light and merry expression, but with those interest ing fowls at $1,75 a pair, it has assumed a fearful and tremendous meaning.

Poetry.

Talk with the Departed.

[We find the following verses in the last number of The Crayon. They are from the well known and ever welcome pen of Mrs. L. H. SIGOURNEY.]

The vine tree o'er our trellis

Hath twined a graceful screen, And draped thy favorite casement In purple blent with green,But now autumnal saffron

Doth round each leaflet run, And we gather in the clusters,Dost thou know it, Oh, my son?

There is a bridal 'neath our roof-tree,
The deathless chain is wove,
And the benediction uttered
By one whom God doth love:
And a gentle creature bendeth

Like lily in its sphere,

As thronging friends surround her With smile and word of cheer.

Draw near the charmed circle,
Look in these eyes of blue,

Gazed they not into thine with love
When cloudless life was new?
And lighter than the young gazelle,
And playful as the fawn,

Roamed not those fairy feet with thine
Thy father's velvet lawn?

Press closer; see the beating

Of that bosom pure as snow, That stirs the orange blossoms, And the veil with silvery flow; Slept she not in thy cradle,

Your twin-souls linked in one? Is she thine only sister?

Dost know her, Oh, my son?

Unfold thy viewless pinion,

Clasp her in strong embrace, The darling of our household, The last of all my race; Give her a brother's greeting, A flower without a thorn, Thou wert the idol of her heart In life's delightful morn.

She, from a widowed hearth-stone Returnless flight doth take, And for her priestly husband A happy home will make: A happy home she'll make him Where'er may be their rest, For a holy, dove-like sweetness Is the temper of their breast.

There's one who museth lonely,
In the chamber where of old
She watched thy childhood sleeping
On the sunny pillow's fold,
She hath given the bride her blessing,
A blessing nobly won,-
None are left at home to love her,-
Dost know it, Oh, my son?

Why question thus the spirit?

Upon its unknown way,

That robed in mystery, holds no more Affinity with clay;

Affinity with sorrow,

With the bitter tear that flows,
With the falling of the streamlet,
Or the fading of the rose.

Why question thus the spirit?
From mortal ties set free,
It speaks no dialect of earth,
It may not answer thee;
Cling to the faith of Jesus,
Hold to the Glorious Head
That binds in one communion
The living and the dead.

A Literary Curiosity. The following specimen of ingenuity, (says a paper called the "Spirit of the Age,") combined with Good poetry, we commend to the curious, and should like to see the person who can produce another specimen equal to it. Beside an acrostic, a tetic, a name formed by the final letters of the es will be perceived by reading upwards. The e is also formed by taking in each line one leter after the dagger pointing downward, beginning

in the first line and proceeding downward. Begin also in the last line and follow in the same way the dagger pointing upward :

LINES WRITTEN IN AN ALBUM.
BY L. A. M.
+
↓

May we while o'er life's stormy billows borne,

Disasters Come not Singly.
Never stoops the soaring vulture
On his quarry in the desert,
On the sick and wounded bison,
But another vulture, watching
From his high aerial look-out,

Sees the downward plunge, and follows:
And a third pursues the second,
Coming from the invisible ether,
First a speck, and then a vulture,
Till the air is dark with pinions.
So disasters come not singly;
But as if they watched and waited,
Scanning one another's motions,
When the first descends, the others
Follow, follow, gathering flock-wise
Round the victim, sick and wounded,
First a shadow, then a sorrow,
Till the air is dark with anguish.

Original.

[Long fellow.

FRIEND DAY:-Here I am, sitting comfortably in my office, 2000 miles from old Hartford; and in making this exchange of places I have neither found the climate "as cold as Greenland" nor the people as "uncivilized as Esquimaux," as some professed to believe; on the contrary, I find the climate fifty per cent. more agreeable than that of Hartford, and the off-hand, whole-souled character of the people in admirable keeping with the bold mountain scenery of the rapidly running Mississippi.

St. Paul, the capital of the Territory and the future Chicago of the north-west, is finely located upon a bluff, 60 feet above the "Father of Waters." As the river here makes a curve, the city, being at the apex of the angle, commands a fine view both up and down the river. In the rear of the city is another bluff, rising high above the city and encircling it in its arms, furnishing beautiful locations for country residences. The city having been originally settled by the French Canadians, the streets are laid out in most admirable confusion, following no particular direction, "nor that long." St. Anthony is the principal street, and runs along the edge of the bluffs, forming one of the most beautiful promenades extant. The streets are paved with nature's own handiwork, the limestone rock; in

NO. 28.

deed, in building, sufficient material for the walls of houses are excavated from the cellars. Water is very abundant, so much so that the cellars are generally supplied equally with the wells.

The scenery of the Mississippi from Dunlieth to St. Paul resembles, though it far surpasses, that of the Highlands of the Hudson; indeed, an extensive traveler in the old world tells me it excels even the far-famed Rhine in its picturesqueness and grandeur, and is only equalled by the Danube.

The Falls of St. Anthony, 9 miles above St. Paul, are about 17 feet high, and nothing remarkable as a wonder of nature, though affording a water-power unequalled in the United States. Already several mills are in operation, and the river above is a perfect desert of logs, waiting to be devoured by the teeth of the numerous saws. Here is the suspension bridge, the first and only one that has ever spanned the Mississippi. St. Anthony city contains about 3500 inhabitants, half the number of St. Paul. Owing to the shallowness of the water and the quantities of boulders, the steamboats are unable, except under most favorable circumstances, to proceed above St. Paul, which is therefore at the head of navigation, and presents quite a commercial aspect with its fleet of steamers and boats.

We have two Presbyterian churches, and one of almost every other denomination known among men; four daily papers, all of which issue weeklies; and, what seems a little singular, every man takes all the papers and advertises in them all, without distinction of age or sect. There are sixty or seventy lawyers and speculators ad infinitum, and all do a thriving business. The people are enterprising, courteous and sharp, explained by the fact that a large proportion of them are from the eastern States; indeed, I presume, above St. Anthony, three fourths of the whole population are from Maine, finding congenial homes amid the vast pineries of Northern Minnesota. The climate is so salubrious that the people are generally afflicted with but one disease-old age (from which, however, they rarely recover); this is probably owing to the great altitude of the country, being some 2000 feet above the level of the Gulf of Mexico, and to its high northern latitude, causing great purity and dryness in the atmosphere and uniformity in the weather; also to this fact, there is no stagnation to the waters, which, like the people, keep constantly moving. The country generally is bountifully supplied with water-laughing brooks and smiling lakes, teeming with fish and wild fowl, while the timbered portions are filled with game of every description-meadows with grass which is really much taller than a man's head, and marshes with wild rice, which is one of the chief staples of subsistence among the Indians. The soil is rich and fertile in the extreme, yielding most of the productions of the more southern States, and in great profusion. Vegetables of all kinds here surpass in size, quality and quantity, anything I have ever I had the curiosity to measure a beet I saw growing; it was 43 inches round; a radish 6 inches through (the seed was from the seed garden of old Wethersfield); but when I came to look at the onions-shades of my fathers! wasn't I angry and proud at the same time? why, they beat the Weth

seen.

ersfield onions "all to pieces," in every "way, manner and shape," and were growing, rank and green, long after those of my native town were gathered to their bunches! I ate one in tears, not wholly unmingled with joy, while recollections of home came "thickly clustering o'er memory's waste." I will speak no more in detail of the vegetables, except that I am told it is a positive fact, and not uncommon, for cucumbers to grow nine feet long, and cabbages that decline going into a hogshead.

I think this is a very fine agricultural country, and it is being constantly and rapidly filled up with the rush of immigration. A short time since I went out about fifty miles iuto the wilderness and "made a claim," which means-you select a quarter section of wild Government land, throw a few logs together in the form of a house, and mark your name on the corner trees, saying that you "claim" this for your own private and particular benefit. I had a taste of pioneer life very pleasant in the retrospect, though I can't say that sleeping in an open wagon, by the music of wolves and coons, the rustling of leaves and the fitful glares of a camp fire, is a very "balmy" operation, while the poetry of the thing turns into sad prose after you have been lost in the woods and drenched in the rain two or three times; however, all the best land in the territory, within reasonable distance of anywhere, is taken up in this manner before it comes into market, and I understand that the famous "Hutchinson Family," who lately gave a concert here, are now gone up he river with a similar intent.

Speculation in land is most rampant, and owing to the unparalleled rise in the price of real estate, fortunes are made and speculators attracted.Money is loaned at enormous rates of interest, while the borrower makes more than the lender at that. In illustration: a gentleman, with whom I am well acquainted, last May entered 5000 acres of land at Government price, and this November sold it for $25,000, making $18,000 clear on his purchase.

The lumber business is also one of great profit; those engaged in it tenfold their money invested, though during the last summer no lumber could be had, as the logs could not be got down the river on account of the low state of the water; this has been a serious drawback to building in St. Paul; now, however, the saws are fully occupied, and houses have been going up in every direction. As the weather grows colder the boats are making their last trips; soon the river will be frozen, and we shall have a comparatively quiet timè, enlivened, however, by the merry sleigh bells and the no less merry belles in the sleighs.

We shall continue to receive a daily mail, which we trust will always be freighted with "good news" from our far off eastern friends, while, with warm hearts and warm clothes, we hope to battle successfully with the boreal winds and snows of our cold clime. R. WELLES, JR.

Yours as ever,

P. S. I should be happy to receive communications from my friends, business or otherwise, ahem! Land warrants located, money invested, &c., &c.

EPIGRAM.

As my wife and I, at the window one day,
Stood watching a man with a monkey,
A cart came by, with a "broth of a boy."

Who was driving a stout little donkey.

To my wife I then spoke, by way of a joke,
There's a relation of yours in that carriage."
To which she replied, as the donkey she spied,
"Ah, yes, a relation-by marriage !
N. Y. Evening Post.

The human lungs are said to contain seventeen hundred millions of cells. The chap who found out that secret must had a good time a counting.

Miscellaneous.

Young America on their Travels.

We take the following from the St. Louis Intelligencer of the 7th inst:

Day before yesterday evening three boys named Anson Doolittle, and Orrin and James Harkinson Stearns, were arrested on suspicion of being runaways. They arrived on a train from Chicago, and on being interrogated, said they were from Racine, Wisconsin. They had with them a couple of rifles and two carpet sacks, heavily laden, which on being examined were found to contain a large assortment of valuable articles, of which the following is a brief summary: two rifle pistols, a Colt's revolyer, two large bowie knives, several fine pocket knives, a lot of fine fur gloves, bars of lead, percussion caps, flasks of powder, table utensils, metal flasks full of brandy, a package of medicines, a physician's saddlebags, a U. S. army cartridge box, and a multitude of other articles. On one of them was a considerable sum of money. Telegraphic dispatches were immediately sent on to their parents, but as yet no answers have been received. This will be understood by a perusal of the following letters, which were found in one of the books contained in one of the carpet sacks. They have no dates, but bear internal evidence of having been written from Wednesday of last week, to Monday of the present. They explain themselves:

Thursday Evening.

O, dear! everything goes wrong, but I will have revenge. (Signed) ANSON. Father came home at thanksgiving just as I was starting, and that stopped my proceedings, but he is going back soon. I got my revolver last night, and now I feel as if a heavy load was removed from my shoulders. I have got my carpet-bag all safe in Cobb's room, and the key in my pocket. Hank's wife is all safe.-That's good. Father is going back to Janesville this week, and all our plans will be re-arranged, and we will start off in high glee and leave old daddy Stearnes to his reflection. Oh wont we fool them nice! I am going to cut the telegraph wires pretty soon,and hitch a string to each end, and tie it together, so they can't notice it, and then wont they telegraph after us! I saw Mary Scoffin last night, and I think she looks beautiful. The light glances off from her blushing cheeks. I never saw a girl I thought so much of as I do of Mary. Oh, I shall be loth to part with her, and often by the camp-fires of the west, shall I imagine that I see her sylph-like form gliding before me, and her black eyes glancing love towards me, which, rest assured, I shall return. She may forget me, as years roll on, but never shall I forget her, as time will show. Eliza is the best hearted girl I ever met with, except one. ANSON. Across this letter was written, "we am sum in a bar fite."

Friday Evening.

I must get me a rifle when I get to Chicago, if it costs me $30; I must get me a bowie-knife, too.

intend to be ready for "ingins" or any other colored niggers. If I write a check on the bank for $50, and have to give $25 for a rifle and $5 for a bowie-knife, I shall still have $20 to complete my journey, which I guess will take me as far as I want to go. I think we will first go to St. Louis, and then see what can be done for our country. am going to give this book to Eliza, for this reason. Often before we go, it may happen that when I come to your house you may be away; and then Eliza can hand me this book, and I can write down what I want to say to you, and you can write down what you want to say to me. When we go, your father will probably go to our house to see if you are there, and my folks will think that I am down to your house, and they will be perfectly puzzled, and then they will go to the telegraph to telegraph after us. Oh, wont that be a capital joke! But woe to him, whether constable or not, that follows

us.

A Colt's patent murderer and a couple of rifle pistols will attend to a few I reckon, and your old rifle will bark at a few more, and when our folks "hearn tell that somebody drapt" they mustn't lay the blame to us.

ANSON.

I shot my Colt's revolver this afternoon with a little powder and wad, and it went off first rate. I must get me a pair of moulds for it and then I guess I will get along. Father went to town this afternoon, for what purpose I can't tell. That carpetbag of yours and that one of mine, if father stays here, must be paid for, because I would not like to have him find out that I was charging things to him; and the flask of brandy I gave you must also be paid for, if he does not go back this week.

Father followed me up stairs, to-night, but I soon gave him to know that his room was better than his company, and he went down. Thursday afternoon, as we were talking of that dog aflair, he told me that my gunning was ended for this winter, and that I need not have a thought of running away either. I told him that my gunning was not ended for this fall, and that I intended to run away, and he couldn't hinder me. Oh, if I had only the chance to give it to your old daddy, wouldn't I make him - ?

That is right, Anson, you must either collect your check yourself or get Eliza to do it -Hank thinks that they will suspect something, if I go after it. They would not think to examine the check so closely, if a son of your father collected it, as if somebody else did. J. H. STEARNES,

You must come to school this afternoon, just after recess, and call for me. Have every thing ready and call at three o'clock. J. H. S. ANSON.

I drew the check.

These letters were all written in a little book which, it appears, was passed from one to the other. Considering that neither of the writers is over fourteen years of age, they are decidedly rich specimens. On a leaf some pages from the letters, were written the following words, in a very neat feminine hand:

Anson, remember your family, or I will never forgive you. ELIZA HICKOCK.

The St. Louis Democrat of Saturday says, that a telegraph dispatch from Racine states that a Messenger has been dispatched to bring back the tru

ants.

We saw them yesterday afternoon at the police, all in fine spirits, and not a bit surfeited with their prodigal adventures. They professed great regard at the publications made against them, but it could be seen that they enjoyed their newspaper notoriety with no little relish. Anson Doolittle, who is rather taciturn in his manner, is the leading spirit of the party. The Stearnes boys are talkative, and to their loquacity, no doubt, Anson refers all their difficulties and is indebted for all the fame as an author, which the publication of his confidential memorandum-book disclosures, has given.

The boys threaten the St. Louis newspapers with the direst vengeance if they ever come to Racine.

How to Preserve the Purity of Elections. The Knickerbocker for December, a capital number, by the way, has the following capital Election story:

PRESERVING THE PURITY OF ELECTIONS.-In the Northwest portion of the State of Ohio, in the county of Auglaize, there is a township the citizens of which are principally German, and notwithstanding their "sweet accent," they are all Democrats of the regular "unterrified" stripe. From the time of the erection of the county up to the year eighteen and fifty-two there had never been a Whig vote cast in the township spoken of, although there were over six hundred voters; but at the fall election of that year, upon counting the ballots, it appeared that there was one Whig amongst them. There was the proof, a regular straight-out Whig ticket, and they dare not pass it by. This caused great commotion; their escutcheon was dimmed; there was a Whig amongst them; that blot must be wiped out, and with their courage (Dutch of) course) up to fever heat in the shade, they went to

work slyly to find the man who dared to vote the "Vig Dicket;" but their labors were unsuccessful. In the meantime another year rolled round, and the good "beeples" were again assembled at the election precinct. It had not been forgotten, however, that at the last election some one had voted the "Vig Dicket;" and it was now the subject of open remark and wonder.

While they were having an out-door discussion on the subject, Sam Starrett, a late immigrant from the Eastern shore of Maryland, came along, and demanded the cause of the commotion.

"Vell, ve vas a vondering who it vas voted the Vig dicket at de last election," said an old Dutch

man.

"It was me," Sam said, "and it wa'nt nobody else!"

"I dinks not," said the old Dutchman, and the balance shook their heads incredulously.

"I tell you it was though," said Sam, pulling out a whig ticket," and may I be chawed up if I aint going to do it again. I am going to vote that (holding out the ticket,) and vote it open, too. I'll let you know that I'm an independent American Citi zen, and I'll vote just as 1 please, and you can't help it, by Jemima!"

So in he went to deposit his ballot. There sat the three old Dutch judges of election, 'calm as a summer morning;" and true to his word, Sam handed over his ticket, open. One of the old judges took it, and scanning it a few seconds, handed it back toward the independent voter, and said: "Yaw, dat ish a Vig dicket."

"Well, put it in the box," said Sam.

"Vat you say?" said the old Dutchman, his eyes big with surprise; "put him in de box ?"

"Yes-sir-ee, put it in the box! I am goin' to vote it!"

"Oh! no! nix goot, nix goot! dat is a Vig dicket," said the old Dutchman, shaking his head.

'Well, I reckon I know it's a whig ticket," said Sam, "and I want you to put it in the box, darnation quick, too."

"No, no! dat ish not goot; dat ish a Vig dicket; we not take 'em any more, said the old judge,' turning to receive "goot dickets" from some of his German friends.

Sam went out and cursed till all was blue-said he had come there to vote, and he'd be flambergasted if he wa'nt goin' to vote in spite of all the Dutch in the township. So, after cooling off a little, he again went in, and tendering his ticket, very neatly rolled up. The old judge took it again, and notwithstanding Sam's demurring, unrolled it and looked it over; then turning to Sam, in a manner and tone not to be misunderstood, said:

"I tell you dat ish a Vig ticket; dat it is nix goot; and dat we not take 'em any more!"

Sam again retired, cursing all Democrats generally, and the Dutch particularly, and assigning them the hottest corners of the brimstone region; and was going on to curse every body that didn't curse them, when he was interrupted by an old Dutchman in the crowd, with:

"Sam Starrett, I tells you vat it ish, if you will vote der Dimergrat dicket, and leef der gounty, we gifs you so much monish as dakes you vere you cum vrom."

Sam scratched his head, studied awhile, and then said that he had come thar to vote, and wa'nt goin' away without votin', he guessed he'd do it.

Again Sam made his appearance before the Judges, and tendered his vote. The same old judge took it, and looking it over quietly, turned to Sam and said:

"Yaw, dat ish goot; dat ish a Dimergratic dicket!" and dropped it into the box.

It is only further necessary to say that Sam went back to the eastern shore at the expense of the township; and that, at that election, and ever since, that German township has been O. K.

That is what I call "preserving the purity of elections."

"Bob, lower yourself into the well and holler for help."

"What for?"

To frighten daddy, and make some fun." Bob did as he was desired, but got more fun than he bargained for. It was administered with # hickory sapling. Distance five and a half feet.

What Appetite Means.

"Asking for," that is the meaning. Who asks? Nature; in other words, the law of our being, the instinct of self-preservation, wisely and benevolently implanted in every living thing, whether animal, worm or weed.

Yielding to this appetite is the preservation of all life and health, below man; he alone exceeds it, and, in consequence, sickens and dies thereby, long before his prime, in countless instances.

The fact is not recognized as generally as it ought to be, that a proper attention to the "askings" of nature not only maintains health, but is one of the safest, surest, and most permanent methods of curing disease.

It is cating without an appetite which, in many instances, is the last pound which breaks the camel's back; nature had taken away the appetite, had closed the house for necessary repairs, but, in spite of her, we "forced down some food," and days, and weeks, and months of illness followed, if not cholera, cramp, colic, or sudden death.

In disease, there are few who cannot recall instances where a person was supposed to be in a dying condition, and in the delirium of fever, or otherwise, had arisen and gone to the pail or pitcher and drank an enormous quantity of water, or have gone to the pantry and eaten largely of some unusual food, and forthwith began to recover. We frequently speak of persons getting well having the strangest kind of an appetite, the indulgence of which reason and science would say would be fatal.

We found out, many years ago, when engaged in the general practice of medicine, that when the patient was convalescing the best general rule was, eat not an atom you do not relish; eat anything in moderation which your appetite craves, from a pickle down to sole-leather.

Nature is like a perfect housekeeper; she knows better what is wanting in her house than anybody else can tell her. The body in disease craves that kind of food which contains the elements it needs. This is one of the most important facts in human hygiene; and yet we do not recollect to have ever seen it embodied in so many words. We have done so to make it practical; and to make it remembered we state a fact of recent occurrence:

Some three years ago, a daughter of Jas. Damon, of Chesterfield, fell down a flight of stairs, bringing on an illness from which it was feared she would not recover. She did, however, recover, except the loss of hearing and sight. Her appetite, for some weeks, called for nothing but raisins and candy, and since last fall, nothing but apples were eaten. A few weeks ago she commenced eating maple buds, since which time she has nearly regained her former health and activity, and her sight and hearing are now restored.

We all, perhaps, have observed that cats and other animals, when apparently ill, go out and crop a particular grass or weed. In applying these facts, let us remember to indulge this "asking for" of Nature, in sickness especially, in moderation, feeling our way along by gradually increasing amounts, thus keeping on the safe side. We made this one of our earliest and most inflexible rules of practice. Dr. Hall's Journal of Health.

Gough on Prohibition.

The necessity as well as justice of prohibition is seldom set forth with greater clearness or power than in the following narrative given by John B. Gough which we extract from the Christian Secretary. As the Hartford Times is a "true friend of temperance" will they publish the extract? It is no fanaticism but a simple statement of facts.

"He said he was riding in the cars, some few years since, from Portland to Boston, when a young man who sat near him inquired of him if he was in favor of a protective law-of a law that would shut up the liquor seller in jail? He replied that he was not prepared to go that length-that moral suasion worked very well, &c. The young man in reply said that he was in favor of a law that would place the liquor seller behind the grates, and gave the following reason for his belief in the necessity of such a law. My father, said he, resided some eight miles from Portland, where he owned a good farm, but he became a hopeless drunkard; my mother managed to keep the farm clear of mortgage by hiring men

to work it, and superintending its interests herself, until the boys got to be old enough to relieve her from her burdens. In the meantime my father eformed and became a teetotaller. One of the greatest sources of happiness to my mother was the fact that she had saved the farm. We were in the habit of taking loads to Portland. One day while we were in the city, I saw my father tie the horses to a post and enter a low grog shop which he had formerly been in the habit of frequenting. I followed him, and saw the rumseller in the very act of handing a glass of liquor to my father. Iran to him and said, don't, don t, sir, give that to my father. It will ruin him-don't give it to him. I should think boys were getting to be masters now-a-days, said the rumseller, and their parents the servants. Again I begged of him not to give my father the drink, but he ordered me to hold my tongue, and finally to leave the store. There was no relief for me; the man was licensed by the law to sell rum, and had I been strong enough to have stopped him by force from selling that rum, he could have taken me up for assault and battery, and the law would have sustained him in the complaint, and fined me for interfering in his lawful business. Finally, late in the evening, my father came out of that grog shop drunk! I got him into the wagon the best way I could, and started for home. When about halfway home, my father made an attempt to seize the reins, and in doing so fell from the wagon, and before I could check the horses, the wheel passed over his head, smashing it on the frozen ground. There, all alone, boy as I was. I labored to get the dead body of my father into the wagon. I finally succeeded, and at 1 o'clock at night I drove up to the door of our house, and presented the pallid corpse of her husband to my mother. She never smiled again; and in the short space of four months she died a heart-broken woman. Talk of moral suasion, said he, to such a man as that rumseller! what good would it do? You might as well reason with a brute. The law protected him in his traffic; protected him from the slightest insult or injury in the prosecution of it. But for me, after he had murdered my father and mother, there was no redress. He could go on, dealing out "liquid fire and distilled damnation" unmolested, no matter how many children are rendered orphans, or how many lives he destroyed. Does not the public need the protection of the law from the business of such a man?

Romance of the Post Office.

On the subject of unjust complaints against the carelessness or culpability of post office clerks, Mr. Holbrook relates the following:

THE BITER BIT.

A lady of very genteel and respectable appearance called one day on a prominent New England postmaster, with a letter in her hand, which she insisted had been broken open and re sealed. She handed the letter to the postmaster, who examined it, and appearances certainly seemed to justify her assertion. She further declared that she knew well which clerk in the office had broken it open, and that he had previously served several of her letters in the same way. Upon hearing this, the postmaster requested her to walk inside the office, and point out the person whom she suspected.

Such an unusual phenomenon as the appearance of a lady inside the office, produced, as may be sup posed, a decided sensation among the clerks there assembled. Nor was the sensation diminished in intensity when the postmaster informed them that the lady was there for the purpose of identifying the person who had been guilty of breaking open her letters!

This announcement at once excited the liveliest feelings of curiosity and solicitude in the mind of almost every one present, and each one, conscious of innocence, indulged in conjectures as to who that somebody else might be, whom the accusing angel (?) was to fix upon as the culprit.

All their conjectures fell wide of the mark. After looking about for a moment, the lady pointed out the last man whom any one in office would have suspected of such an offence-one of the oldest and most reliable of their number.

"That's the person," said she, indicating him by a slight nod of the head; "and if he persists in making so free with my letters, I will certainly have