“THERE come the children from school,” said Aunt Mary, looking from the window. “Just see that Clarence! he’ll have Henry in the gutter. I never saw just such another boy; why can’t he come quietly along like other children? There! now he must stop to throw stones at the pigs. That boy’ll give you the […]

“YOU look sober, Laura. What has thrown a veil over your happy face?” said Mrs. Cleaveland to her niece, one morning, on finding her alone and with a very thoughtful countenance. “Do I really look sober?” and Laura smiled as she spoke. “You did just now. But the sunshine has already dispelled the transient cloud. […]

“AH, good evening, Mr. Pelby! Good evening, Mr. Manly! I am glad to see you! Mrs. Little and I were just saying that we wished some friends would step in.” “Well, how do you do this evening, Mrs. Little?” said Mr. Pelby, after they were all seated. “You look remarkably well. And how is your […]

THE weeping mother bent over the beautiful form of innocent childhood–beautiful still, though its animating spirit had fled–and kissed the pale cheek of her dear departed one. When she lifted her head, a tear glistened on the cold brow of the babe. Then the father looked his last look, and, with an effort, controlled the […]

“MRS. TUDOR is a perfect lady,” said my wife, Mrs. Sunderland, to me one day, after having received a visit from the individual she named. “She may have the manners of a lady,” I replied, “when abroad; but whether she be a lady at home or not, is more than I can tell. It is […]

CHRISTMAS had come round again–merry old Christmas, with his smiling face and wealth of good cheer; and every preparation had been made by the Arlingtons for their annual Christmas party, which was always a gay time for the young friends of the family. Some hundreds of miles away, in a quiet New-England village, lived Mr. […]

“TOM, let that alone!” exclaimed a mother, petulantly, to a boy seven years old, who was playing with a tassel that hung from one of the window-blinds, to the imminent danger of its destruction. The boy did not seem to hear, but kept on fingering the tassel. “Let that be, I tell you! Must I […]

“IF that were my child, I’d soon break him of such airs and capers. Only manage him right, and he’ll be as good a boy as can be found anywhere.” “Very few people appear to have any right government over their children.” “Very few. Here is my sister; a sensible woman enough, and one would […]

IT was house-cleaning time, and I had an old coloured woman at work scrubbing and cleaning paint. “Polly is going, ma’am,” said one of my domestics, as the twilight began to fall. “Very well. Tell her that I shall want her tomorrow.” “I think she would like to have her money for to-day’s work,” said […]

“OH, dear Mrs. Graham!” said my neighbour Mrs. Jones to me one day, “what shall I do for good help? I am almost worried out of my senses. I wish somebody would invent a machine to cook, wash, scrub, and do housework in general. What a blessing it would be! As for the whole tribe […]

I WAS sitting in my room one morning, feeling all “out of sorts” about something or other, when an orphan child, whom I had taken to raise, came in with a broken tumbler in her hand, and said, while her young face was pale, and her little lip quivered,– “See, Mrs. Graham! I went to […]

“MOTHER!” “As I was saying”– “Mother!” “Miss Jones wore a white figured satin”– “Oh! mother!” “With short sleeves”– “Mother! mother!” “Looped up with a small rosebud”– “I say! mother! mother!” The child now caught hold of her mother’s arm, and shook it violently, in her effort to gain the attention she desired, while her voice, […]

THE story of Julia Forrester is but a revelation of what occurs every day. I draw aside the veil for a moment, would that some one might gaze with trembling on the picture, and be saved! The father of Julia had served an apprenticeship to the tanning and currying business. He had been taken when […]

“THE amount of that bill, if you please, sir.” The man thus unceremoniously addressed, lifted his eyes from the ledger, over which he had been bending for the last six hours, with scarcely the relaxation of a moment, and exhibited a pale, care-worn countenance–and, though still young, a head over which were thickly scattered the […]

MR. EASY sat alone in his counting room, one afternoon, in a most comfortable frame, both as regards mind and body. A profitable speculation in the morning had brought the former into a state of great complacency, and a good dinner had done all that was required for the repose of the latter. He was […]

THE CALL. “HOW much salary do they offer?” asked Mrs. Carroll of her husband, who was sitting near her with a letter in his hand. He had just communicated the fact that a Parish was tendered him in the Village of Y–, distant a little over a hundred and fifty miles. “The money is your […]

A HOUSEHOLD SKETCH. FROM some cause, real or imaginary, I felt low spirited. There was a cloud upon my feelings, and I could not smile as usual, nor speak in a tone of cheerfulness. As a natural result, the light of my countenance being gone, all things around me were in shadow. My husband was […]

“FANNY! I’ve but one word more to say on the subject. If you marry that fellow, I’ll have nothing to do with you. I’ve said it; and you may be assured that I’ll adhere to my determination.” Thus spoke, with a frowning brow and a stern voice, the father of Fanny Crawford, while the maiden […]

“Is there a good fire in the little spare room Jane?” said Mr. Wade, a plain country farmer, coming into the kitchen where his good wife was busy preparing for supper. “Oh, yes, I’ve made the room as comfortable as can be,” replied Mrs. Wade; “but I wish you would take up a good armful […]

“WHAT will you take, Haley?” “A glass of water.” “Nonsense! Say, what will you take?” “A glass of water. I don’t drink anything stronger.” “Not a teetotaller? Ha! ha! ha!” rejoined the young man’s companion, laughing in mingled mirth and ridicule. “Yes, a teetotaller, if you please,” replied the one called Haley.–“Or anything else you […]