“Do not go out to-night, Amanda. The pavements are damp, and the air is loaded with vapour.” “Indeed, ma, I must go.” “Amanda, there is no necessity for your attending this party; and very urgent reasons why you should stay at home. Your cough is still troublesome, and a little exposure might give it permanency. […]

EVERY man has some little defect of character, some easily-besetting sin that is always overtaking him, unless he be ever on the alert. My friend, Paul Burgess, was a man of considerable force of mind; whatever he undertook was carried through with much energy of purpose. But his leading defect was a tendency to inertia […]

“CENT to cent, shilling to shilling, and dollar to dollar, slowly and steadily, like the progress of a mole in the earth! That may suit some, but it will never do for Sidney Lawrence. There is a quicker road to fortune than that, and I am the man to walk in it. ‘Enterprise’ is the […]

“THERE is one honest man in the world, I am happy to say,” remarked a rich merchant, named Petron, to a friend who happened to call in upon him. “Is there, indeed! I am glad to find you have made a discovery of the fact. Who is the individual entitled to the honourable distinction?” “You […]

TWO things are required to make a Christian–piety and charity. The first has relation to worship, and in the last all social duties are involved. Of the great importance of charity in the Christian character, some idea may be gained by the pointed question asked by an apostle–“If you love not your brother whom you […]

WHEN Mr. William Bancroft, after much reflection, determined upon matrimony, he was receiving, as a clerk, the moderate salary of four hundred dollars, and there was no immediate prospect of any increase. He had already waited over three years, in the hope that one or two hundred dollars per annum would be added to his […]

“SAVING? Don’t talk to me about saving!” said one journeyman mechanic to another. “What can a man with a wife and three children save out of eight dollars a week?” “Not much, certainly,” was replied. “But still, if he is careful, he may save a little.” “Precious little!” briefly returned the other, with something like […]

“I’VE been thinking,” said I, speaking to my husband, who stood drawing on his gloves. “Have you?” he answered; “then give me the benefit of your thoughts.” “That we shall have to give a party. You know we’ve accepted a number of invitations this winter, and it’s but right that we should contribute our share […]

HOW much comprised in the simple word, kindness! One kind word, or even one mild look, will oftentimes dispel thick gathering gloom from the countenance of an affectionate husband, or wife. When the temper is tried by some inconvenience or trifling vexation, and marks of displeasure are depicted upon the countenances and perhaps, too, that […]

SPEAK kindly, speak kindly! ye know not the power Of a kind and gentle word, As its tones in a sad and weary hour By the trouble heart are heard. Ye know not how often it falls to bless The stranger in his weariness; How many a blessing is round thee thrown By the magic […]

IT was Saturday evening, about eight o clock. Mary Gray had finished mangling, and had sent home the last basket of clothes. She had swept up her little room, stirred the fire, and placed upon it a saucepan of water. She had brought out the bag of oatmeal, a basin, and a spoon, and laid […]

Do they miss me at home? Do they miss me? ‘Twould be an assurance most dear, To know at this moment some loved one Was saying, “I wish he was here!” To feel that the group at the fireside Were thinking of me as I roam! Oh, yes! ‘twould be joy beyond measure, To know […]

TWENTY years! Yes, twenty years had intervened since I left the pleasant village of Brookdale, and not once during all this period had I visited the dear old spot that was held more and more sacred by memory. hundred times had I purposed to do so, yet not until the lapse of twenty years was […]

DWELL’ST thou with thine own people? are the joys, The hopes, the blessings of “sweet home” thine own? “The Word is nigh thee;” hear the sacred voice! At morn, bow with thy loved ones round the throne; At noon-tide read and pray; and in the hour When evening’s shades close round thee, let the truth […]

WE remember as it were yesterday the first time we saw her, though it was a brief glance, and she was so quickly forgotten that most of us had passed into the supper-room and the rest had reached the door, heedless of the stranger, when one of our party, perhaps more thoughtful than the others, […]

NOT to the man of dollars, Not to the man of deeds, Not to the man of cunning, Not to the man of creeds, Not to the one whose passion Is for a world’s renown, Not in a form of fashion, Cometh a blessing down. Not unto land’s expansion, Not to the miser’s chest, Not […]

“TO some the sky is always bright, while to others it is never free from clouds. There is to me a mystery in this–something that looks like a partial Providence–for those who grope sadly through life in darkened paths are, so far as human judgment can determine, often purer and less selfish than those who […]

O, IT is life! departed days Fling back their brightness while I gaze– ‘Tis Emma’s self–this brow so fair, Half-curtained in this glossy hair, These eyes, the very home of love, The dark thin arches traced above, These red-ripe lips that almost speak, The fainter blush of this pure cheek, The rose and lily’s beauteous […]

I BLESS Thee for the sunshine on the hills, For Heaven’s own dewdrops in the vales below, For rain, the parent cloud alike distils, On the fond bridegroom’s joy–the mourner’s woe! And for the viewless wind, that gently blows Where’er it listeth, over field and flood, Whence coming, whither going, no man knows, Yet moved […]

IT is a trite saying, and an unique one, that there is “a skeleton in every house.” That every form however erect, that every face however smiling, covers some secret malady of mind that no physician can cure. This may be true, and undoubtedly is; but we contend that, as everything has its opposite, there […]