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lads and maiders assemble nightly at some neighbouring friend's to hear the goblin story, and join in "fortune-telling," or some game. There is a part of an old song which runs thus:

"Now all our neighbours' chimneys smoke,
And Christmas logs are burning,
Their ovens they with baked meate choke,
And all their spits are turning."

Among the plants usual to Christmas, are the rosemary, the holly, and the mistletoe. Gay says:

"When rosemary and bays, the poet's crown, Are bawl'd in frequent cries through all the .town,

Then judge the festival of Christmas near-, Christmas, the joyous period of the year. Now with bright holly all your temples strow, With laurel green and sacred mistletoe." Rosemary is a small but a very odoriferous shrub; the principal use of it is to perfume chambers, and in decoctions for washing. Its botanical name is rosmarinus, so called from ros, dew, and marinus, alluding to its situation on the sea-shore. It is seen mantling the rocks of the Mediterranean in winter, with its gray flowers glittering with dew. The ancient Latin name of the bay-tree is laurus, for which it is retained by modern botanists, and along with which it now comprehends a great number of species, which are well-known to most persons, and constitute one of the noblest genera in the whole vegetable kingdom. The origin of the word is lost in the obscurity of antiquity; and whether etymologists derive it from lavo, to wash, or from laus, praise or honour, they give us little more satisfaction in one case than the other.

The Holly, or Ilex. The leaves are set about the edges with long, sharp, stiff prickles; the berries are small, round, and generally of a red colour, containing four triangular striated seeds in each. Of this tree there are several species, some variegated in the leaves, some with yellow berries, and some with white. It is found very useful as a hedge-plant. Its scarlet berries are asserted never to suffer from the severest of our winters: "Fairest blossoms drop with every blast, But the brown beauty will like hollies last." GAY.

trees, apple-trees, sometimes upon hazel, and rarely upon oaks, the mistletoe whereof is counted very medicinal; it is ever green winter and summer, and beareth a white glittering berry; and it is a plant utterly differing from the plant upon which it groweth." The ancients accounted it a super-plant, and thought it to be an excrescence on the tree without seed. It was named by Pliny viscum. The manner of its propagation (according to Miller) is as follows; :- "The mistletoe - thrush, which feeds upon the berries of this plant in winter, when it is ripe, doth open the seed from tree to tree; for the viscous part of the berry, which immediately surrounds the seed, doth sometimes fasten it to the outward part of the bird's beak, which, to get disengaged of, he strikes his beak at the branches of a neighbouring tree, and so leaves the seed sticking by this viscous matter to the bark, which, if it lights upon a smooth part of the tree, will fasten itself, and the following winter put out and grow." The above are the principal plants or shrubs used at the festival of Christmas, which occurs very opportunely to enliven this period of the year.

Of the rosemary, it may be expedient to add, that this shrub has ever been treated with great respect for its efficacy in comforting the brain and strengthening the memory, which has made rosemary an emblem of fidelity in lovers. It was, therefore, worn at weddings and funerals; on which latter occasion it is still, in some parts of England, distributed among the company, who frequently throw the sprigs into the grave along with the corpse.

KINDNESS ITS OWN REWARD.-Good and friendly conduct may meet with an unworthy, with an ungrateful return; but the absence of gratitude on the part of the receiver cannot destroy the self-approbation which recompenses the giver. We may scatter the seeds of courtesy and kindness around us at little expense. Some of them will inevitably fall on good ground, and grow up into benevolence in the minds of others, and all of them will bear the fruit of happiness in the bosom whence they spring. A kindly action always fixes itself on the heart of the truly thoughtful

The mistletoe, so famous in the history of the superstitious rites of our ancestors, groweth (says Bacon) chiefly upon crab-man.

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fli THE WORK-TABLE FRIEND.bd the same shape, but very much smaller. wolt is me mot doidw eissdw All the parts that are perfectly white are to be worked in buttonhole-stitch, gra

STRIMMING IN BRODERIE ANGLAISE.

1

B Materials. French muslin; W. Evans & Co.'sduated according to the depth tenge

vian embroidery cotton, No. 70.

The eyelet holes are sewed round, with
Boar's head sewing - cotton; but every

Have the embroidery nicely washed, after working, before cutting out the edges.

BRUSSELS POINT-LACE Materials. The Point-lace cottons of Messrs. Walter Evans & Co., of Derby.

THIS scallop trimming is given in the full dimensions, and the pattern may there-part should be traced with embroideryfore be traced from it, and drawn on the cotton, before it is cut out at all. The Moravian embroidery-cotton is proper for muslin. When this is done, tack the end the edge and all the buttonhole work. of the strip on a piece of toile ciré, and work it; then remove the toile to the next piece. In tacking it on, it is not sufficient to fasten the edges only together; the needle should be taken between the flowers, and in every part of the pattern, so as to completely fasten the muslin to the foundation; without, however, carrying the thread across any part which would have to be cut out in the working. The parts where the muslin is to be entirely removed when the pattern is worked, are distinguished in the engraving by being quite black. In the round holes, a morsel is cut out of the centre, with the scissors, and the space enlarged with a stiletto. Where the holes are of other shapes, the piece to be cut out must

THIS lace, the design for which may be traced from the pattern, is in the simplest style, though not, on that account, less beautiful. Each scallop contains one sprig in rich heavy stitches, on a fine and closely guipured ground. The Raleigh bars which form that ground, are done in No. 160 Mecklenburgh thread; the edge, in close buttonhole stitch, with Raleigh dots on each small scallop, in No. 100 of the same. The foundation-stitch, in which

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fdorite-LETTERS IN SQUARE CROCHET, BY MRS. PULLAN.

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For Instructions in Crochet see p. 197, Vol. 6, Old Series, and No. 6, New Series of the "Family Friend.'

ARITHMETICAL QUESTIONS.

1.

If a ball of 18 lbs. be shot from a cannon with such force as to impel it 100 feet in a second, with what velocity would a ball of 24 lbs. move, were it impelled by the same force?

2.

A regiment of soldiers, consisting of 1,000 men, are to be new clothed; each coat to contain 23 yards of cloth, 1 yard wide, and to be lined with shalloon of wide. How many yards of shalloon will line them?

ENIGMAS. 1.

A terror to such as reckless live,
Of the soul s immortality;
Who spend their lives in revelling,
Or in wanton rascality:
Gregarious insects, of stature small,

That o'er little hillocks trample;
Which are to sluggards, in holy writ,
Pronounced a good example;
Then mention an ornament of state,

Which is by monarchs greatly prized; Which in the poor man's pocket too,

Is found; for 'tis by none despised:
Now suppose a thing tho' made to-day,
That's without beginning or end;
Yea, jarring parents do mourn the day,
It did its kind assistance lend:
Then last a point, of what I say not,
I leave you to unfold my name:
Yet a point I am, as 'tis known to all
Bearing great oriental fame :
These initials if you will detach,
And then properly combine,

An ancient cambrian village will,
Quite accurately define.

2.

In the cathedral's lofty nave My habitation I can have;

L. J. G. D.

And many homes for me combine;

I dive into the gloomy mine;

And Oberon saw me go in quest
Of a fair vestal in the West.

If stilou are in doubt about me,
There's not a cart that goes without me.

3.

I'm a nuisance complete, and beheaded still more, Whole, I've two legs and feet, but beheaded have four.

4.

How can the letter A make a constellation scold? 5.

Both Cæsar and Pompey my first wished to be,
Nor only in this did these warriors agree-
For each of my second had ten;
My whole is my second you'll certainly see;
But one has the Marquis of Anglesey,
And two had William Penn.

6.

Complete, I'm a verb which all ladies should do;
Beheaded a noun, which some tenants like new;
Beheaded again, I'm a state which to many
Does my first, and I am not avoided by any.

TRANSPOSITION.

1, 2. The name of two rivers in England transpose,

3, 4. "T will the name of two Scripture-famed persons disclose;

Transpose it again, 'twill suggest to the mind

5, 6. The state of the world, and the plague of mankind;

Transpose it again, and then you will see

7. What a bright, blazing mineral's oft said to be;

By transposition next you'll find

8. What for concealment is design'd;

When this you've done, transpose again,

9. The character of Nero then

You'll find described in just one word, From which his baseness is inferr'd; Transpose once more, and then you'll view 10. What all with life or breath must do; Until, like Shakspere, Pope, or Guy, Or any noted man, they die!

The number of letters thus transposed, no doubt, For the name of the rivers, you'd like to find out, To guess what's the number I'll give you a chance; There's an article used by musicians of France, Remove it from one of our words, and you'll find That just half a dozen is still left behind.

E. N. M.

ANSWERS TO FAMILY PASTIME.
PAGE 359.
ENIGMAS-1. Walking-stick. 2. Letter O.
REBUS-

Parasite is flatterer, weak do love.
River yields angling, as it on doth rove.
E mulation oft to eminence allures.
Pyramid of the desert praise secures.
A ristides' probity enshrined e'er.

Regulus above life-loved honour fair.
Enigma is a puzzle "FRIEND" oft makes.

Treasure is gift that pleasure oft awakes.

Ottoman is an easy resting-spot.

Marriage is envied by many, I wot.
Emperor is title awe-acquiring.
Envy is passion hatred-inspiring.
Temple is edifice oft rear'd for prayer.

Telltale is idler with a sou unfair.
Hymen, unites us in love o'er and o'er.
Yew's shades last long where Death reveals a
store.

Goodness is quality of heart right rare.
O penness is gift of mind, like truth, fair.
Dog is a creature signs declare oft true.
Thus nineteen words here greet the gazer's
view.

These rhymes through primal letters of words those,

This precious admonition soon disclose"Prepare to meet thy God!" my rebus done, My muse more notice doth at present shun; She, shrinking maid, retires unto her cell, Where watchful science soberly doth dwell. CHARADES-1. Night-mare. 2. Balm-oral A peerless pattern here my muse displays. TRANSPOSITION

Start, star, tar, tart, art, rat.

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Editor's Address:-London, 69, Fleet-street. The Editor of "The Family Friend."

IN commencing the Second Volume of our NEW SERIES, let us impress upon our Correspondents that our Appendix is devoted not merely to Editorial answers to Questions put by Correspondents, but to useful Facts, Hints, and Suggestions, supplied by Correspondents themselves, -as Friends of our great Family. We cannot too highly prize the many useful treasures communicated to our first series by numerous co-operators, and we earnestly invite not only a continuance but an increase of this friendly feeling, which prompts the possessor of any useful and practical information to publish it through our pages for the benefit of others.

All letters of inquiry should be written as briefly and legibly as possible; and but one Query should be submitted by one Correspondent at a time.

Correspondents should avoid troubling the Editor for information which may be easily obtained by reference to works usually accessible. Thus, the meaning and pronunciation of English words; the dates of well-known events, &c., &c., &c., are not fair matters for Editorial interrogation, since all parties, with less delay and trouble than would be occasioned by addressing the Editor, may obtain the required information for themselves.

Inquiries which are merely of individual interest will seldom be replied to; and queries of a trifling character, unless they are of a nature to afford amusement, and thus relieve the more solid matter of the Appendix from the disadvantages of dulness and monotony, will seldom be regarded. Legal and medical questions, except such as relate to established general principles of jurisprudence and medical science, must necessarily be set aside. We assume that every paragraph inserted in the Appendix should be useful to many persons, which would not be the case if matters of a merely local or private nature were introduced.

1 Health and Money. T. C.There is this difference between those two temporal blessings: money is the most envied, but the least enjoyed; health is the most enjoyed. but the least envied; and this superiority of the latter is still more obvious, when we reflect that the poorest man would not part with health for money, but the richest would gladly part with all their money for health.

2-1'he Yard, the Inch, and the Penny. H. E.The yard is derived from the Saxon word gyrd, or girth, being originally the circumference of the body, until Henry I. decreed that it should be the length of his arm. Inch, from uncia, or twelfth. In 1066, when William the Conqueror began to reign, the penny, or sterling, was cast with a deep cross, so that it might be broken in half as a half-penny, or in quarters for fourthings, or farthings.

3-Advice to the Poor. M. A. Never make a "poor mouth;" but if you are wise, you will always affect independence, though you may be as poor as Job's turkey. If you are poor, don't let folks know it, as they will discover in you a thousand blemishes-a host of defects which would never be discovered-or, at least, never talked about-if you kept a stiff upper lip, and

carried yourself as if you had ten thousand pounds, instead of but ten pence, at your command. It is as natural for the world to hold poor folks in contempt as it is for cats to steal cheese.

4 Anger. M. S.-If you do not control your passions, rely upon it they will one day control you. The intoxication of anger, like that of the grape, shows us to others, but hides us from ourselves; and we injure our own cause in the opinion of the world when we too passionately and eagerly defend it; like the father of Virginia, who murdered his daughter to prevent her violation. Neither will all men be disposed to view our quarrels precisely in the same light that we do; and a man's blindness to his own defects will ever increase in proportion as he is angry with others, or pleased with himself.

5-Jealousy. P. C.-No; we think there is more jealousy between rival wits than rival beauties, for vanity has no sex. But, in both cases, there must be pretensions, or there will be no jealousy. Elizabeth might have been merciful, had Mary, Queen of Scots, neither been beautiful, nora queen, and it is only when we ourselves have been admired by some, that we begin thoroughly to envy those who are admired by all. But the basis of this passion must be the possibility of competition;

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