Nothing is so much enjoyed, by some men, as a practical joke; and the greater the annoyance they can occasion, the greater their delight. Of this class was Mr. Thomas Bunting, who resided in a village a few miles out of New York. Bunting kept a store for the sale of almost every article known […]

Fort Motte, Fort Granby, Fort Watson, the fort at Orangeburg, and every other post in South Carolina, except Charleston and Ninety-Six, had yielded successively to the American arms, under the command of Greene, Sumter, Marion, and Lee; and now General Greene turned all his energies to the reduction of Ninety-Six, giving orders at the same […]

I have fire-proof perennial enjoyments, called employments. RICHTER. “Always busy and always singing at your work; you are the happiest man I know.” This was said by the customer of an industrious hatter named Parker, as he entered his shop. “I should not call the world a very happy one, were I the happiest man […]

THE tempest of grief which, for a time, had raged so wildly in the heart of Mrs. Freeland, exhausted by its own violence, sobbed itself away, and the stricken mother passed into the land of dreams. To the afflicted, sleep comes with a double blessing–rest is given to the wearied body and to the grieving […]

Thomas Claire, a son of St. Crispin, was a clever sort of a man; though not very well off in the world. He was industrious, but, as his abilities were small, his reward was proportioned thereto. His skill went but little beyond half-soles, heel-taps, and patches. Those who, willing to encourage Thomas, ventured to order […]

“My voice shall yet be heard in those halls!” said a young man, whom we will call James Abercrombie, to his friend Harvey Nelson, as the two walked slowly, arm in arm, through the beautiful grounds of the Capitol at Washington. “Your ambition rises,” Nelson replied, with a smile. “A seat in our State Legislature […]

WHO says that life is a treadmill? You, merchant, when, after a weary day of measuring cotton-cloth or numbering flower barrels, bowing to customers or taking account of stock, you stumble homeward, thinking to yourself that the moon is a tolerable substitute for gas light, to prevent people from running against the posts–and then, by […]

OLD Mr. Cleveland sat by his comfortable fireside one cold winter’s night. He was a widower, and lived alone on his plantation; that is to say, he was the only white person there; for of negroes, both field hands and house servants, he had enough and to spare. He was a queer old man, this […]

A LADY sat alone in her own apartment one clear evening, when the silver stars were out, and the moon shone pure as the spirit of peace upon the rebellious earth. How lovely was every outward thing! How beautiful is God’s creation! The window curtains were drawn close, and the only light in the cheerful […]

A FIRE in winter, a flower in summer! If you can have a fine print or picture all the year round, so much the better; you will thus always have a bit of sunshine in your room, whether the sky be clear or not. But, above all, a flower in summer! Most people have yet […]

WE are to consider the facts and circumstances which confirm the doctrine that the Lord’s providence is at once universal and particular; and indeed that he leads us by a way unknown to ourselves. And who that has reflected upon his own life, or upon the life of others, or upon the current events of […]

“WHOSE sorrow is like unto my sorrow?” Such is the language of the stricken soul, such the outbreak of feeling, when affliction darkens the horizon of man’s sunny hopes, and dashes the full cup of blessings suddenly from the expectant lips. “Console me not; you have not felt this pang,” cries the spirit in agony, […]

HER words were few, without pretenceTo tricks of courtly eloquence,But full of pure and simple thought,And with a guileless feeling fraught,And said in accents which conferredPoetic charm on household word. She needed not to speak, to beThe best loved of the company–She did her hands together pressWith such a child-like gracefulness;And such a sweet tranquillityUpon […]

THE ivy in a dungeon grew,Unfed by rain, uncheered by dew;Its pallid leaflets only drankCave-moistures foul, and odours dank. But through the dungeon-grating highThere fell a sunbeam from the sky;It slept upon the grateful floorIn silent gladness evermore. The ivy felt a tremor shootThrough all its fibres to the root;It felt the light, it saw […]

Just one moment longer, cousin Mary, I want to put this flower in your hair. Now doesn’t it look sweet, sister Aggy?” “Oh, yes! very sweet. And here is the dearest little bud I ever saw. I took it from the sweet-briar bush in the lane. Put that, too, in cousin Mary’s hair.” Little Florence, […]

“Father, I don’t like to go to school,” said Harry Williams, one morning. “I wish you would let me always stay at home. Charles Parker’s father don’t make him go to school.” Mr Williams took his little boy by the hand, and said kindly to him, “Come, my son, I want to show you something […]

Come, faint old man! and sit awhile Beside our cottage door; A cup of water from the spring, A loaf to bless the poor, We give with cheerful hearts, for God Hath given us of his store. Too feeble, thou, for daily toil, Too weak to earn thy bread– For th’ weight of many, many […]

Not many years ago, Farmer Jones had an old horse named “Ned,” who appeared to have almost as much sense as some people. Ned was a favorite with his master, who petted him as if he were a child instead of a dumb animal. The horse seemed to understand every word that the farmer said […]

Yes, go, little butterfly, Fan the warm air With your soft silken pinions, So brilliant and fair; A poor, fluttering prisoner No longer you’ll be; There! Out of the window! You are free–you are free! Go, rest on the bosom Of some favorite flower; Go, sport in the sunlight Your brief little hour; For your […]

I. The ground was all cover’d with snow one day, And two little sisters were busy at play, When a snow-bird was sitting close by on a tree, And merrily singing his chick-a-de-de, Chick-a-de-de, Chick-a-de-de, And merrily singing his chick-a-de-de. II. He had not been singing that tune very long, Ere Emily heard him, so […]