CHARLIE ROGERS' IDEAL. BY LYMAN. ESCRIBE this paragon, Charlie-your ideal." "Well, she must be about seventeen-the sweetest age to my mind-five feet in height, slender and graceful, dazzling fair complexion, golden hair, eyes of the deepest and clearest azure, pearlwhite teeth, and rose-red lips." "But her disposition, her mind, Charlie ?" "Oh, she must have an amiable disposition, of course, and be accomplished, that she may appear well in company. Then, if she be sufficiently beautiful, and loves me, it will be all I ask." "And you expect to find such a woman ?" 'I hope to; and be assured, I never shall marry one who is not all this, if I live a bachelor the rest of my life. I never could endure the thought of marrying a plain woman. I never see a man with a homely wife, or even a moderately good-looking one, but he appears to me to lack refinement." Mary smiled quietly, bending over her sewing, but made no reply. Though she understood perfectly her cousin's ideas, she did not ridicule them. His words did not seem to annoy her, as he halffeared they would or offend her, as he had uttered them. There was a look in her face that meant a great deal, he thought, as he lay indolently on the lounge and watched her. That quiet smile, how it changed the expression of her plain face, making It almost pleasing!. What a bright light it brought to her eyes!-such a cheery, pleasant, witching look, it almost made her pretty, almost, not quite! The most partial eyes in the world could never call Mary pretty, he thought, and was quite sure. Not even that cheerful smile could quite redeem the sallow, colorless complexion, irregular features, straight, light brown, hair, and gray eyes. Mary certainly was very plain, but what a good girl she was! How many long years she had been his dearest friend and confidant! She was so sensible and good-hearted, so self-reliant and clearheaded, so ready with her sympathy and comfort in time of trouble! Yes, Mary certainly was a dear girl; he loved her dearly, even with her plain face. And Mary-in the pleasant stillness of the room she was quite busy with her thoughts. She was thinking that at the age of twenty-two a man and woman are hardly equals in the matter of love; that while the man is at that age enjoying the excitement and novelty of his first dream, a woman equally old has had several more or less serious experiences. She thought, and perhaps there was a little sadness in the thought, that her cousin might possibly find his ideal personified at some future time; that he would some day bring to the old house a sweet little wife, with rare beauty and winning ways; that then he would learn to notice the difference between them, and speak of her with a thrill of pity in his voice. Was it for such a fate that she had striven so long to make herself worthy of the reverence which all men feel, be they ever so degraded, for a woman? Could it be that because part of the charms which God had given her sex were denied her that she must lose the whole? No, no; it could not be. She would wait patiently, as she had long learned to do, hoping, trustingly, that her lot might be like that of other women; that her many excellences would atone for her physical defects; that some time a pair of eyes might rest with keenest pleasure on her plain face. The little French clock on the mantel chimed out the hour of nine. Charlie sprang from the lounge and prepared for his trip down town. Casting a last glance at the glowing grate, with his cousin at work in her little sewing-chair beside it, he hurried out of the house and sprang into a CantonStreet coach just passing. Then how cold it was! In less than five minutes his breath had whitened his moustache with frost, and he leaned back in his seat and drew his fur collar about his ears with a convulsive shiver. Suddenly the coach stopped, Every face inside assumed its sourest expression. A moment passed away and no one appeared. The passengers grew more impatient; a fat man in the corner swore; a thin one in the opposite corner snarled; a lady with an exceedingly red nose wanted to know what in the world they were waiting for; an old gentleman shouted "drive on.' Annoyed as much as any, but a little more reasonable, Charlie threw open the door and sprang out. The cause of the delay was immediately explained. A lady was slowly making her way across the street to the couch, but with the violence of the wind, the icy paving stones, and a neat pair of new kid boots, she was making slow progress. Charlie never was slow to respond to a call upon his gallantry, and neither did he make this occasion an exception to the general rule. He assisted the lady into the coach, noticing meanwhile with what marvellous grace she wore her rich wrappings, and sprang to his seat opposite. Bang went the door with a violence that showed the driver sympathized with his discontented passengers, and away they went again. The first movement of the new passenger was to pull off a pair of white worsted mittens and disclose to view a pair of hands that immediately attracted Charlie's attention. Then the little cold fingers commenced tugging at the string to the thick green veil which covered her face. It came off with a jerk, disclosing a face like a wax doll's, with soft golden curls falling about it. One glance and Charlie's heart was palpitating at a wonderful rate. "Golden hair," he muttered. "Yes, and blue eyes, and such cheeks and lips and teeth! My ideal personified by all that's lovely! I wonder if she has noticed me yet. Wish my beard wasn't as white with frost as my grandfather's is with age, and my hair awry and out of curl." Suddenly the young lady turned her head and looked keenly at him. He stood the scrutiny well, being engaged in gazing admiringly at the little kid boot that peeped from beneath the ample folds of the crimson Thibet dress. He looked up suddenly, the lady blushed, and he was happy during the remainder of the ride. As the coach neared Dock Square, the passengers gradually got out, and when in the vicinity of the Old South, the pretty owner of the blue eyes which Charlie admired so much, arose and pulled the string. For an instant Charlie hesitated what course to pursue, and while he was wondering the young lady quickly descended and disappeared in the crowd. Then he grew angry with himself for not following her and endeavoring if possible to discover her residence, and finally calling himself a blockhead when he reflected how little chance there was of his ever meeting her again in the great city. Something gleaming in the straw at his feet roused him from his discomfiture. He bent forward and picked up a little portemonnaie of pearl and silver. With sudden pleasure he remembered to have seen it in the hand of the young lady who had just left the coach. After a moment's hesitation he opened it, and what a dainty collection met his eye! A silver dime, one little gold dollar, a broken finger-ring of marvellously small size, a sample of crimson worsted, and a little white card, bearing the name of "Grace Dunbar" on one side and "F. A. Grayson" on the other, both written in pencil. Charlie carried the pretty trifle suspiciously near his heart all day, and in the evening called at the "Herald" office and had it advertised. He enjoyed the adventure all over again relating it to his Cousin Mary, and dreamed that night that he was about to be married to Grace Dunbar, and that while they stood at the altar, F. A. Grayson suddenly stepped forward and forbade the bans. The next day he received a note through the post-office requesting him to call at No. 2, T— Street. He did call, and met the beautiful Miss Dunbar in the most charming of home dresses, and made having himself agreeable to the best of his ability concluded the lady to be about seventeen, -"the sweetest age to his mind"-and receiving an invitation to call again, returned home delighted. So commenced his acquaintance with Miss Grace Dunbar, the personification of his cherished ideal. "Just four months to-day, since I first met Grace-what a charming little witch she is! Only one thing annoys me in regard to her; she is so shy about our marriage. I can't help thinking it strange, yet I suppose I must be reconciled with the generally acknowledged fact-that there is no accounting for women's caprices. Heigho! I'm sure she loves me, that's one comfort." It was on the third day after the meeting with his friend, that he met upon one of the most crowded streets, Grace Dunbar, in company with a gentleman. If there had been the slightest doubt in his mind regarding the truth of the rumor he had heard, it would have been instantly dispelled by the cool way in which the young lady added insult to the injury already inflicted. In answer to his courteous bow-he had met her so suddenly as to be betrayed into the act involuntarily-she gave him a cool, prolonged stare, a haughty, slight movement of her head, and then turned to her companion. It was all that was needed to dispel the last lingering shadow of regret he felt for her, Hullo, Charlie! What are you in such a brown and the look of disdain that mantled his features study about?" was reflected from his heart. Charlie halted opposite the "Revere," and waited while his friend George Archer descended the steps that led to the entrance, and joined him in his walk. "How's Miss Dunbar ?-eh, Charlie ?" he said, laughing. "That's a pretty flirtation-but you'd better quit as soon as possible." "What do you mean?" asked Charlie, angrily. "Mean? what I say, boy. Of course you know that Grayson is coming home from Washington, and as he is rather a fiery chap, with a two-years' claim to Miss Grace, my advice to you is to quietly step aside, but of course you know your own business best. Come up to the hall with me and have a game of billiards." "I cannot; I am engaged," cried Charlie, wrenching himself away and hurrying onward. He turned homeward, and the rest of that day he was so much like his usual self that the whole household was surprised. When the family gathered round the fireside that evening, Charlie was the most talkative one in the group, and kept up such an unceasing flow of mingled sense and nonsense, that his aunt almost stopped knitting to stare at him, while his uncle leaned on the mantlepiece and smiled to see him in such buoyant spirits. No one suspected that all this lively gaiety was assumed except his fair cousin, who sat with her hands clasped in her lap, quietly listening to his animated conversation. SEE ENGRAVING. "Come, Charlie, put down your book and help me sort these roses for the vases. "Twill be almost an endless job if I undertake it alone." Charlie looked up at his cousin as she stood before him, her pretty white apron filled with dewy Jilted, by all that's false!" he muttered. The words seemed on every tongue, in every eye and face that passed him. It was in the glance of men, on the lips of women, in the merry laughter of lit-blossoms, and then sprang to obey her, seating himtle children. The newsboys and pedlars cried it, and the winds wailed it, until he thought they would all drive him mad. He hurried home, and all night his Cousin Mary, who occupied a chamber below his, heard the steady fall of feet as he paced the floor. self on an ottoman at her feet, and selecting the flowers from her lap. "What a beauty!" he cried, holding up an unusually fine cluster of buds and blossoms. "See, Mary-what is that?" His attention had been suddenly arrested by a Ah, Charlie, it was very hard, the awakening little white note which a careless movement of his from your first love-dream, but you learned after arm had dislodged from the portfolio on the table that yours was not a solitary experience; that oth-beside them, and brushed to the floor. He picked ers have pressed their lips as you did to keep back the anguish that struggled to escape in a sharp bitter cry; that others had, like you, believed for many hours that all the brightness and beauty had died out of their lives, and left behind only the cold, pale realities, as the living soul leaves the chill, ghostly body. Oh, you are blind, boy. The most priceless treasure that you could hold lies within the grasp of your hand. Within a few yards of you there is a heart keeping time to your footfalls; eyes that have kept watch with you all night; ears that have heard every sound in your chamber. You are like a child that weeps for the loss of a gay blossom, while the richest jewel in the land lies unheeded at its feet. It was the first secret he had ever kept from his cousin, yet he never mentioned or explained the affair to her. Perhaps she, with true woman's tact, divined the cause of the wakeful nights, the pale face and abstracted manner, which others failed to see, but she never approached the subject. it up and read the address: "Miss Mary Andrews." "You may read it if you wish," said his cousin, quietly. He glanced sharply at her. A deeper bloom than he ever remembered to have seen there before flitted across her face, and he noticed that her slender fingers were trembling among the roses. He read it through. It was a proposal of marriage from one of the wealthiest men in the city-a man of talents, education and position. For years he had been an occasional visitor at the house, but who would have thought of this? Colonel Leigh marry Mary! The idea bewildered him. He looked up at her. She had changed her position, and sat with her arm resting on the back of her chair, and her face turned partly away from him. He could make nothing of her face, it was so calm and composed, so he said abruptly,— "How are you going to answer this, Mary!" "I have not yet concluded." Her answer did not satisfy him. He wanted to ask more, but hardly knew how. His heart was throbbing rapidly, and the color surging to and from his face as he took her hands, and said,— "Mary, is there anything that I can say that will influence you in this matter?" "Yes, a great deal." She was still looking from the window, and he thought she answered as if she were thinking of something else. He did not notice how cold the little hands grew in his grasp. He was struggling to see clearly something that eluded the grasp of his mind by flitting among cloudy doubts. He looked back eagerly over the last six years, and with new eyes. A fitful light wavered over his face. "Mary, if I should tell you that it would break my heart to have you leave me, that the very thought makes me almost wild, now, what would you say? Would you listen to me while I tried to tell you how I loved you, reverenced, worshipped, idolized you? Mary, I cannot speak calmly. Does a man drowning plead for help in the same way in which he begs a rose of a lady? Dare I ask you to be my wife? Mary, answer me-answer me!" She did not answer him. The slender, trembling hands stole from his grasp around his neck; the tearful, agitated face hid itself upon his shoulder, while the quivering lips murmured an answer that impressed in its few words more than might have been told in volumes. And Charlie Rogers married his cousin Mary. On his wedding day he saw for an instant the fair, pretty face of Grace Dunbar, and turned from it loathingly, to gaze with passionate admiration on the plain one at his side. And so, though he did not marry his "ideal" he was happy. You are allied to a man of honor, of talents, and of an open, generous disposition. You have, therefore, in your power all the essential ingredients of domestic happiness: it cannot be marred, if you now reflect on that system of conduct which you ought invariably to pursue-if you now see clearly the path from which you will resolve never to deviate. Our conduct is often the resuit of whim or caprice, often such as will give us many a pang, unless we see beforehand what is always most praiseworthy, and the most essential to happiness. The first maxim you should follow is, never attempt to control your husband by opposition, by displeasure, or any other mark of anger. A man of sense, of prudence, of warm feelings, cannot, and will not, bear an opposition of any kind, which is attended with an angry look or expression. The current of his affection is suddenly stopped; his attachment is weakened; he begins to feel a mortification the most pungent; he is belittled even in his own eycs; and, be assured, the wife who once excites those sentiments in the breast of the husband, will never regain the high ground which she might and ought to have attained. When he marries her, if he is a good man, he expects to find in her one who is not to control him—not to take from him the freedom of acting as his own judgment shall direct, but one who will place such confidence in him as to believe that his prudence is the best guide. Little things, which are, in reality, merely trifles in themselves, often produce bickerings, and even quarrels. Never permit them to be a subject of dispute; yield them with pleasure, and with a smile of affection. Be assured that one difference outweighs them all a thousand or ten thousand times. A difference with your husband ought to be considered as the greatest calamity—as one that is to be studiously guarded against; it is a demon which must never be permitted to enter a habitation where all should be peace, unimpaired confidence, and heartfelt affection. Besides, what can a woman gain by opposition or indifference? Nothing. But she loses every. thing; she loses her husband's respect for her virtues; she loses his love-and with that, all prospects of future happiness. She creates her own misery, and then utters idle and silly complaintsbut utters them in vain. The love of a husband can be retained only by the high opinion which he entertains of his wife's goodness of heart, of her amiable disposition, of the sweetness of her temper, of her prudence, of her devotion to him. Let nothing, upon any occasion, ever lessen that opinion. On the contrary, it should augment every day; he should have much more reason to admire her for those excellent qualities which will cast a lustre over a virtuous woman when her personal attractions are no more. Has your husband staid out longer than you expected? When he returns, receive him as the partner of your heart. Has he disappointed you in something you expected, whether of ornament or of furniture, or of any convenience? Never evince discontent; receive his apology with cheerfulness. Does he, when you are a housekeeper, invite company without informing you of it, or bring home with him a friend? Whatever may be your repast, however scanty it may be, or how impracticable it may be to add to it, receive them with a pleasant countenance, adorn your table with cheerfulness, give to your company a hearty welcome; it will more than compensate for every other deficiency; it will evince love for your husband, good sense in yourself, and that politeness of manners which acts as the most powerful charm; it will give to the plainest fare a zest superior to all that luxury can boast. Never be discontented on any occasion of this nature. In the next place, as your husband's success in his profession will depend upon his popularity, and as the manners of a wife have no little influence in extending and blessing the respect and esteem of others for her husband, you should take care to be affable and polite to the poorest as well as to the richest. A reserved haughtiness is a sure indication of a weak mind and an unfeeling heart. With respect to your servants, teach them to respect and love you, while you expect from them a reasonable discharge of their respective duties. Never tease yourself, or them, by scolding; it has no other effect than to render them discontented and impertinent. Admonish them with a calm firmness. The King and the Maiden. The king was visiting the village school, and when the examination was over he spoke to a bright little girl named Christinchen: "Little maiden, you said your poem so well that 1 am sure you go to a very good school and have an excellent teacher; so I must examine you a little: "To which kingdom does this orange belong?" "To the vegetable kingdom," said the little maid, without a moment's delay, while Herr Schunke could scarcely keep on his feet from anxiety and excitement. And this?" taking a bright gold piece from his "To the mineral kingdom." "Right-right, my little maid. And now tell me this: To which kingdom do I belong?" Cultivate your mind by the perusal of those books which instruct while they amuse. History, geography, poetry, moral essays, biography, travels, sermons, and other well-written religious productions, will not fail to enlarge your understand-purse. ing, to render you a more agreeable companion, and to exalt your virtue. A woman devoid of rational ideas of religion has no security for her virtue; it is sacrificed to her passions, whose voice, not that of God, is her only governing principle. Besides, in those hours of calamity to which families must be exposed, where will she find support, if it be not in her just reflections upon that allruling Providence which governs the universe, whether inanimate or animate? Mutual politeness between the most intimate friends, is essential to that harmony which should never be broken or interrupted. How important, then, is it between man and wife! The more warm the attachment, the less will either party bear to be slighted, or treated with the smallest degree of rudeness or inattention. This politeness, then, is it be not in itself a virtue, is, at least the means of giving to real goodness a new lustre; it is the means of preventing discontent, and even quarrels; it is the oil of intercourse; it removes asperities, and gives to everything a smooth, an even, and a pleasing movement. I will only add, that matrimonial happiness does not depend upon wealth; no, it is not to be found in wealth, but in minds properly tempered, and united to our respective situations. Competency is necessary; all beyond that point is ideal. Do not suppose, however, that I would not advise your husband to augment his property by all honest and commendable means. I would wish to see him actively engaged in such a pursuit; because engagement, a sedulous employment in obtaining some laudable end, is essential to happiness. In the attainment of a fortune by honorable means, a man desires satisfaction in self-applause, as well as from the increasing estimation in which he is held by those around him. In the management of your domestic concerns, let prudence and wise economy prevail. Let neatness, order and judgment be seen in all your different departments. Unite liberality with a just frugality; always reserve something for the hand of charity; and never let your door be closed to the voice of suffering humanity. Your servants, in particular, will have the strongest claim upon your charity. Let them be well clothed, nursed in sickness, and never let them be unjustly treated. Obstacles in the path of a man of true courage are but incitements to enterprise, and the warrants of ultimate success. He? to what kingdom did he belong? Little Christinchen looked at him with wide-open solemn eyes, up and down. She had had object lessons on the camel and the elephant, the crow and the magpic: and had even been allowed to hold the stuffed forms of the last two for a moment in her little hands; but a king! She had never had such a subject for an object lesson; but she remembered that she had always said his name every day in her prayers. So she raised her blue eyes confidently to his, and said, modestly, but very clearly: "To the kingdom of heaven." And the king caught the little maiden up in his arms and kissed her, remembering who had said to what kingdom she and such as she belonged and wishing he might grow each day more like to them, and so have the promise right to belong there too. As he set her gently down, and dropped the gold piece and the orange in her apron, all the mothers that stood around with clasped hands, sobbed, under their breath, "God bless him!" Esquimaux Spectacles. These spectacles are curious and well contrived. They consist of a piece of wood scraped thin, like a bandage, and perforated with two narrow horizontal slits, something like pig's eyes, where we would have glasses; a rim about an inch broad projects in the same direction as that of a hat would; and this simple mechanical process, tied about the head, protects the eyes from the drifting snow, and improves the sharpness of the sight. SEEN THE BEST COAL PARLOR STOVE? RATHBONE,SARD&CO'S WESTMINSTER GUARANTEED UNEQUALED OPERATION, BEAUTY, ECONOMY,DURABILITY SOLD BY DEALERS EVERYWHERE HANFORD'S IS ABSOLUTELY PURE:-Grape Cream Tartar and Bicarb. Soda. NONE SUCH weight; forfeited if not as repre- 8-7 |