a full hour. Butter a pan, and bake it an hour in a quick

oven.

The above proportions, leaving out four ounces of the butter, and the same of sngar, make a less luscious cake, and to most tastes a more pleasant one.

A RICH CHRISTMAS PUDDING.-One pound of raisins, stoned, one pound of currants, half a pound of beef-suet, quarter of a pound of sugar, two spoonfuls of flour, three eggs, a cup of sweetmeats, and a wineglass of brandy. Mix well, and boil in a mould eight hours.

A GOOD CHRISTMAS PUDDING.-One pound of flour, two pounds of suet, one pound of currants, one pound of plums, eight eggs, two ounces of candied peel, almonds and mixed spice according to taste. Boil gently for seven hours.

COMMON CRULLERS OR TWIST CAKES.-Mix well together half a pint of sour milk, or buttermilk, two teacupfuls of sugar, one teacupful of butter, and three eggs, wellbeaten; add to this a teaspoonful of saleratus dissolved in hot water, a teaspoonful of salt, half a nutmeg grated, and a teaspoonful of powdered cinnamon; sift in flour enough to make a smooth dough: roll it out not quite a quarter of an inch thick; cut in small oblong pieces; divide one end in three or four parts like fingers, and twist or plait them over each other. Fry them in boiling lard. These cakes may be cut in strips, and the ends joined, to make a ring, or in any other shape.

Soft Crullers.-Sift three-quarters of a pound of flour, and powder half a pound of loaf-sugar; heat a pint of water in a round-bottomed saucepan, and when quite warm, mix the flour with it gradually; set half a pound of fresh butter over the fire in a small vessel; and when it begins to melt, stir it gradually into the flour and water; then add by degrees the powdered sugar and half a grated nutmeg. Take the saucepan off the fire, and beat the contents with a wooden spaddle or spatula till they are thoroughly mixed; then beat six eggs very light, and stir them gradually into the mixture. Beat the whole very hard till it becomes a thick batter. Flour a pasteboard very well, and lay out the batter upon it in rings (the best way is to pass it through a screw funnel). Have ready, on the fire, a pot of boiling lard of the very best quality; put in the crullers, removing them from the board by carefully taking them up, one at a time, on a broad-bladed knife. Boil but few at a time. They must be of a fine brown. Lift them out on a perforated skimmer, draining the lard from them back into the pot; lay them on a large dish, and sift powdered white sugar over them.

CHRISTMAS CAKE.

To two pounds of flour well sifted unite

Of loaf-sugar ounces sixteen;

Two pounds of fresh butter, with eighteen fine eggs,
And four pounds of currants washed clean;
Eight ounces of almonds well blanched and cut small,
The same weight of citron sliced;

Of orange and lemon-peel candied one pound,
And a gill of pale brandy uniced;

A large nutmeg grated: exact half an ounce
Of allspice, but only a quarter

Of mace, coriander, and ginger well ground,
Or pounded to dust in a mortar.
An important addition is cinnamon, which
Is better increased than diminished ;
The fourth of an ounce is sufficient.
May be baked four good hours till finished.
DOUGH-NUTS.—Take three pounds of flour, one pound of

Now this

butter, one and a half pound of sugar; cut the butter fine into the flour; beat six eggs light, and put them in ; add two wine-glasses of yeast, one pint of milk, some cinnamon, mace and nutmeg; make it up into a light dough, and put it to rise. When it is light enough, roll out the paste, cut it in small pieces, and boil them in lard.

FRUIT CAKE.—Take one pound of butter and one pound of sugar, and beat them together with the yolks of eight eggs; beat the whites separately; mix with these one and a half pound of flour, one teacupful of cream, one wineglassful of brandy and one of wine, one nutmeg, one teaspoonful of mace, one teaspoonful of cloves, two teaspoonfuls of cinnamon, one salt-spoonful of salt, three-quarters of a pound of raisins, stoned, three-quarters of a pound of currants, half a pound of citron; mix with the flour two teaspoonfuls of yeast powder.

WASHINGTON CAKE.-Beat together one and a half pound of sugar, and three-quarters of a pound of butter; add four eggs well beaten, half a pint of sour milk, and one teaspoonful of saleratus, dissolved in a little hot water. Stir in gradually one and three-quarter pound of flour, one wineglassful of wine or brandy, and one nutmeg, grated. Beat all well together.

This will make two round cakes. It should be baked in a quick oven, and will take from fifteen to thirty minutes, according to the thickness of the cakes.

QUEEN CAKE.-Mix one pound of dried flour, the same of sifted sugar and of washed currants; wash one pound of butter in rose-water, beat it well, then mix with it eight eggs, yolks and whites beaten separately, and put in the dry ingredients by degrees; beat the whole an hour; butter little tins, teacups, or saucers, filling them only half full; sift a little fine sugar over just as you put them into the oven.

Lemon GingERBREAD.—Grate the rinds of two or three lemons, and add the juice to a glass of brandy; then mix the grated lemon in one pound of flour, make a hole in the flour, pour in half a pound of treacle, half a pound of butter melted, the lemon-juice, and brandy, and mix all up together with half an ounce of ground ginger and quarter of an ounce of Cayenne pepper.

Seed Cake.—Beat one pound of butter to a cream, adding gradually a quarter of a pound of sifted sugar, beating both together; have ready the yolks of eighteen eggs, and the whites of ten, beaten separately; mix in the whites first, and then the yolks, and beat the whole for ten minutes; add two grated nutmegs, one pound and a half of flour, and mix them very gradually with the other ingredients; when the oven is ready, beat in three ounces of picked caraway-seeds.

PUMPKIN PUDDING.-Take one pint of pumpkin that has been stewed soft and pressed through a colander; melt in half a pint of warm milk a quarter of a pound of butter and the same quantity of sugar, stirring them well together; one pint of rich cream will be better than milk and butter; beat eight eggs very light, and add them gradually to the other ingredients alternately with the pumpkin; then stir in a wineglass of rose-water and two glasses of wine mixed together, a large teaspoonful of powdered mace and cinnamon mixed, and a grated nutmeg. Having stirred the whole very hard, put it into a buttered dish, and bake it three-quarters of an hour.

Lemon Cake.—Beat six eggs, the yolks and whites separately, till in a solid froth; add to the yolks the grated rind of a fine lemon and six ounces of sugar dried and

sifted ; beat this a quarter of an hour; shake in with the left hand six ounces of dried flour; then add the whites of the eggs and the juice of the lemon; when these are well beaten in, put it immediately into tins, and bake it about an hour in a moderately hot oven.

CLOVE CAKE.-One pound of sugar, one pound of flour, half pound of butter, four eggs, a teaspoonful of saleratus, a cup of milk, a teaspoonful of powdered mace, same of cinnamon, same of cloves; fruit, if you choose.

MINCEMEAT.-Six pounds of currants, three pounds of raisins stoned, three pounds of apples chopped fine, four pounds of suet, two pounds of sugar, two pounds of beef, the peel and juice of two lemons, a pint of sweet wine, a quarter of a pint of brandy, half an ounce of mixed spice. Press the whole into a deep pan when well mixed.

Another way. -Two pounds of raisins, three pounds of currants, three pounds of beef-suet, two pounds of moist sugar, two ounces of citron, one ounce of orange-peel, one small nutmeg, one pottle of apples chopped fine, the rind of two lemons and juice of one, half a pint of brandy; mix well together. This should be made a little time before wanted for use.

MINCE PIES.-Take a pound of beef, free from skin and strings, and chop it very fine; then two pounds of suet, which likewise pick and chop; then add three pounds of currants nicely cleaned and perfectly dry, one pound and a half of apples, the peel and juice of a lemon, half a pint of sweet wine, half a nutmeg, and a few cloves and mace, with pimento in fine powder; have citron, orange, and lemon-peel ready, and put some in each of the pies when made.

MOLASSES PIE.-Four eggs-beat the whites separate— one teacupful of brown sugar, half a nutmeg, two tablespoonfuls of butter, beat them well together; stir in one teacupful and a half of molasses, and then add the white of eggs. Bake on pastry.

CREAM PIE (fine).-Half pound of butter, four eggs, sugar, salt, and nutmeg to your taste, and two tablespoonfuls of arrowroot wet; pour on it a quart of boiling milk, and stir the whole together. To be baked in deep dishes.

GINGER SPONGE-CAKE.—One cup of molasses, one cup of butter, two cups of sugar, four eggs, three cups of flour, one cup of milk, soda, and ginger.

FRENCH JUMBLES.-One pound and a half of flour, one pound of sugar, three quarters of a pound of butter, three eggs; dissolve one teaspoonful of soda in one-half cup of milk; add this, also one nutmeg, and roll out the dough, and cut into small cakes of any shape, and bake them in a quick oven.

HOW TO COOK POULTRY.

TO BOIL A TURKEY.-Make a stuffing as for veal; or if you wish a plain stuffing, pound a cracker or some breadcrumb very fine, chop raw salt pork very fine, sift some sage and any other sweet herbs that are liked, season with pepper, and mould them together with the yolk of an egg; put this under the breast, and tie it closely. Set on the turkey in boiling water enough to cover it; boil very slowly, and take off the scum as it rises. A large turkey will require more than two hours' boiling; & small one an hour and a half. Garnish with fried forcemeat, and serve with oyster or celery sauce.

Or: Fill the body with oysters, and let it boil by steam without any water. When sufficiently done, take it up, strain the gravy that will be found in the pan, and

which, when cold, will be a fine jelly; thicken it with a little flour and butter, add the liquor of the oysters intended for sauce, also stewed, and warm the oysters up in it; whiten it with a little boiled cream, and pour it over the turkey.

TO ROAST A TURKEY.-Prepare a stuffing of pork sausage-meat, one beaten egg, and a few crumbs of bread: or, if sausages are to be served with the turkey, stuffing as for fillet of veal; in either, a little shred shallot is an improvement. Stuff the bird under the breast; dredge it with flour, and put it down to a clear, brisk fire; at a moderate distance the first half hour, but afterwards nearer. Baste with butter; and when the turkey is plumped up, and the steam draws towards the fire, it will be nearly done; then dredge it lightly with flour, and baste it with a little more butter, first melted in the basting ladle. Serve with gravy in the dish and bread sauce in a tureen. It may be garnished with sausages, or with fried forcemeat, if veal stuffing be used. Sometimes the gizzard and liver are dipped into the yolk of an egg, sprinkled with salt and Cayenne, and then put under the pinions before the bird is put to the fire. A very large turkey will require three hours' roasting; one of eight or ten pounds, two hours; and a small one, an hour and a half.

To Roast a Goose.—Geese seem to bear the same rel tion to poultry that pork does to the flesh of other domestic quadrupeds; that is, the flesh of goose is not suitable for, or agreeable to, the very delicate in constitution. One reason, doubtless, is that it is the fashion to bring it to table very rare done; a detestable mode!

Take a young goose, pick, singe and clean well. Make the stuffing with two ounces of onions (about four common sized), and one ounce of green sage chopped very fine; then add a large coffee cup of stale breadcrumbs and the same of mashed potatoes; a little pepper and salt, a bit of butter as big as a walnut, the yolk of an egg or two; mix these well together, and stuff the goose. Do not fill it entirely; the stuffing requires room to swell. Spit it, tie the spit at both ends to prevent its swinging round, and to keep the stuffing from coming out. The fire must be brisk. Baste it with salt and water at first, then with its own dripping. It will take two hours or more to roast it thoroughly.

A green goose, that is, one under four months old, is seasoned with pepper and salt instead of sage and onions. It will roast in an hour.

SAUCE FOR A ROASTED GOOSE.-Put into a saucepan a tablespoonful of made mustard, half a teaspoonful of Cayenne pepper, a glass of port wine, and a gill of gravy; mix, and warm, and pour it through a slit in the apron into the body of the goose, just before serving.

CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR'S DINNERS. BOILED turkey with oyster sauce, roast goose with apple sauce, roasted ham, chicken pie, stewed beets, cole-slaw, turnips, salsify, winter squash; mince pie, plum pudding, lemon custard, cranberry pie.

Roast turkey with cranberry sauce, boiled fowls with celery sauce, boiled ham, goose pie, turnips, salsify, coleslaw, winter squash, beets; mince pudding boiled, lemon pudding baked, pumpkin pudding.

Mock turtle soup, roast turkey with cranberry sauce, boiled turkey with celery sauce, roasted ham, smoketongue, chicken curry, oyster pie, beets, cole-slaw, winter squash, salsify, fried celery; plum pudding, mince pie, calf's-foot jelly, blanc-mange.

FOR many, many years, we have greeted our friends from this our place in the Lady's Book with our warmest Christmas wishes for their happiness, and offered our sincere thanks for their many and long-continued favors.

In the midst of the cheering influences of this blessed season, sad thoughts must press on bereaved hearts and households, and over the bright hopes which have been, in our circle of friends, dimmed during the year! How many mourners have wept since we last offered our merry Christmas greeting! But God is good; for every grief he has given a balm; for every trouble a hope; and the benevolent order of His laws casts a softening veil over sorrow; while new delights and new enjoyments are ever offered to the bright young hearts that are coming out to gaze at the new Christmas sun, and wonder that there can be care or sorrow in such a beautiful world.

To all these happy hearts we commend our ornamented FRONTISPIECE, which portrays very truthfully the different pleasures of the Christmas anniversary. In the country we see the gathering of pine branches by a joyful company of merry lads, and the sledging through the brisk, snowy atmosphere. In the next compartment we see the happy, loving family gathered to hear the Christmas story of the wondrous Babe of Bethlehem, and of the bright angels that came down from heaven with the news of "good-will to men." Then the little pet of the family, dressed in holiday finery, with arms full of the treasures brought by Kristkinkel, has her place. Opposite her see grandmamma, about to put on her glasses for the enjoyment of a Photograph Album adorned with the faces of her dear ones.

All these are pictures of Christmas enjoyments realized, not in one place, but in thousands; ay, millions of households will this month taste the bounty of our Heavenly Father, who has provided these various pleasures for us, and has fitted our dispositions and minds to draw happiness from the gifts of His goodness.

Is it not a cheering thought that the anniversary of the message of "good-will to men" is near, that Christmas will reannounce the glorious promise of salvation and eternal blessedness to all who Tove the Lord Jesus Christ and do His will? The love is treasured in our hearts, and known, in its truth and purity, to God only; but it is seen in the world and known as it goes out in good works.

The great question for each to answer is, "What good work have I done since last Christmas?"

When our duties are useful and are defined, if we have faithfully performed them, have we not done good? The Editors of the Lady's Book have faithfully endeavored to benefit those for whom their work is prepared, and now, as the year is closing, we offer our cordial congratulations to our happy friends, and our sincere sympathies to those who are sorrowing, hoping to meet them all and welcome in the important year of 1864.

582

LITERARY WOMEN DURING THE YEAR 1863.

In this brief notice we can mention only one race, the Anglo-Saxon. The American branch has done very little. Who plants flowers or gathers fruits while the earthquake or the whirlwind is upon them? War is a terrible evil to women. Even their works of love and mercy seem done under a pall, and are sad, because the need of these services for the victims of battle is woful, and has been caused by wrong-doing.

"The poor ye shall always have with you," said the Divine Saviour. Poverty is the appointment of Providence; but wars are to cease when righteousness reigus. Let us pray that the blessed time may soon come. Not till then will the genius of woman have its proper cultivation, its perfect development, and its purifying influence on humanity.

In the old country of Anglo-Saxondom British women have, during the past year, been greatly distinguished by their literary productions, chiefly biographies and works of fiction. We are sorry to add that a great portion are what is termed "sensation novels. Among these, three hold pre-eminence in their distinctive class; as the passionate in "LOST AND SAVED," by the Honorable Mrs. Norton; the intellectual in "ROMOLA," by Miss Evans; and the domestic in "SQUIRE TREVLYN'S HEIR," by Mrs. Wood.

Next to newspapers, novels are now probably more read than any other kind of literature. Demanding no stress of thought, no weary wear of brain, they afford amusement in one's chair, without the trouble of going abroad to seek it. With book in hand, we feel as if we had some semblance of intelligent employment; and thus the months go by, and novel reading has become the fashion, and new novels the want of every-day life. Whether the habit will be baneful or beneficial depends much on the character of the books that become popular.

"LOST AND SAVED” is, we are sorry to say, unworthy of the genius and fame of its authoress. Mrs. Norton, as a poetess, is now in the first rank of living writers of her sex. It is a great pity she should have stooped to imitate the sensation school of French writers, who seem to say, "Evil, be thou my good." If the British aristocracy be faithfully pictured in these volumes, the nobles of that proud land must have stepped into the bogs of corruption beyond the French of the old régime.

MISS EVANS is a very different writer; she has genius of a loftier kind, but not the elegance nor the polish of Mrs. Norton. Belonging to a different order of English society, Miss Evans very properly and sensibly describes what she knows, and with a masterly skill paints the manners and character of the middle classes. In analyzing the emotions of the human heart, which throbs with the same impulses in the laborer and in the lord, she is unrivalled as a writer of fiction, and thus in the delineation of character she excels all her sister novelists. In this last work, "Romola," she takes a high place in the historical romance, showing great knowledge of Italy in her antiquities and medieval celebrities. We prefer her striking pictures of English life. Still, this last work possesses much merit, and its moral tendency is right and elevating, as is seen in the contrast between Romola and the selfish Tito.

But the great heart of the people is more moved by the homlier pictures of MRS. HENRY WOOD, who has shown herself mistress of the art of story-telling. She might be a rival of Scheherazade herself in the rapidity of her compositions. Her language is often incorrect, and her style far from elegant; yet the first is significant, and

the last clear; and she has the art of wonderfully sustaining the attention; even fastidious people find themselves compelled to read her volumes to the end and to acknowledge their interest. Therefore, that she is always on the side of right and duty we consider a great good to her readers and a great honor to her. She never throws fanciful interest around vice; her heroes are not manufactured out of “miserables ;” nor does she interest our feelings on the side of sentimental woes while the real but humble sufferer is forgotten. She has, we must own, an ardent leaning to the supernatural, and sometimes manages her machinery very cleverly. On the whole, we think her novels of this year are worthy of much praise, and that "Squire Trevlyn's Heir" and "Mrs. Halliburton's Troubles" are works that will live till another Christmas.

DEACONESS' INSTITUTIONS AND PROTESTANT

SISTERHOODS.

INFORMATION concerning these modes of doing good has been much needed in our land; we rejoice that it is now furnished.

In a pamphlet* remarkable for its close research and clear reasoning, and also for the integrity with which it sets forth the Bible way of woman's work as a helper in the Christian Church, the idea is advanced and sustained that "a parochial order of deaconesses is what is wanted for our age and country." By this is meant By this is meant "a womanly ministration, responsible to the clergy, stimulating and gathering together the working elements of the Church, looking after the poor, sick, and fallen, supervising the Mothers' Meeting, visiting at the Widow's Home and the Orphanage, suggesting (where these are needed) the erection of such asylums, by the very provision of an agency to care for them, and by dwelling, if possible, in a house of its own, into which the destitute may be received for nursing, care, and medicine, and from which there can be sent out proper comforts for their need."-See Report, page 23.

Thus, clearly and consistently with God's Word, are shown the duties of the Deaconess. The Committee are also careful to point out the natural endowments of woman for her office.

"There can be no doubt among believers in the Bible that woman was created to be the 'helpmeet for man,' to be his companiou and comforter, to supplement his state, to make that complete which was most imperfect without her. By the peculiarities of her nature in delicacy, tenderness, intuitive perception, and tact; by her patience, fidelity, and devotion, by her power of sufferance and her elasticity of temperament, and by her deep and all-absorbing love, she lends that to society in which man, as such, is deficient. In whatever contributes to the happiness of life, she bears the foremost part, and especially in hours when sickness and exhaustion overtake the body, or the daily needs of the creature call for help. We cannot but think there was something significant and suggestive in the accompaniment by holy women of our Incarnate Lord, and in His receipt from them of substantial benefit. It was meant to teach His Church their relation as helpers.

By

"In the Providence of God, women have generally been first to respond to the word of the Gospel. Their hearts have been soonest opened to attend unto the things which have been spoken by the preacher, aud they have earliest offered themselves to the Master's service. their excess in point of numbers (in the churches). by their comparative freedom from engaging ties, by their frequent orphanage and more frequent widowhood, and above all by the readiness of their consecration of self to the cause of grace and mercy, there has always been provided, as there always will be fouud, a band of ministering angels' on the side of the Church, from which she can draw, as she has done already, servitors to her aid." Pages 7 and 8.

The order of Deaconesses has already been partially

* Report made to the Convention of the Diocese of Pennsylvania on Organizing the Services of Christian Women. May, 1863.

restored in Germany. That this order was instituted by the Apostles is clear, from the Bible and ecclesiastical history; therefore it is no newly devised plan, but woman's rightful place in the Church. Its revival seems to be blessed in a remarkable manner in the churches in Germany, Switzerland, and France, where the greater number of this noble order of ladies are working. In England the communities of Protestant Christian Women are doing so much good that "the most marvellous change in the mind of the Anglican Church has taken place in their favor in the course of the last five years." We should like to give many extracts from this admirable pamphlet, but have not room. If any lady desires more information, we refer her to the Committee who prepared the Report, as their names* alone will be a guarantee of the importance of the efforts now being made to restore to the true Church its primitive order of faithful women as Deaconesses.

MEMORY'S SONG.

FULL Well do I remember, love,
Those golden autumu eves,

When, full of new-born hopes, we watched
The falling maple-leaves;

When, clinging to the withered grass,
The dewdrops sparkled bright,

And stars, like eyes from heaven came out
Amid the fading light.

It seemed as if the skies leaned down
With a softer, deeper blue,

And oh to our young, trusting hearts
Did not the world seem true?
What thoughts of coming days we kept
Within our throbbing hearts!
Little we knew and little cared
About these worldly arts.

MISTAKES IN LANGUAGE.

ONE of the most common vulgarities in our literature is the use of the adjective FEMALE for the noun woman. In the Bible this phraseology is never used; female designates sex, but not personality. In a notice of Mr. Rhind's work on the recent excavations in Pompeii, the following sentence occurs, which will illustrate the mistakes we mean. The writer had been telling of the manner of taking busts from the dead figures, and says: "Afterwards the remains of two finales, a woman and young girl, were, preserved in the same manner; in the elder female the left hand is shut," etc.

Here three superfluous words are used (two females and elder). It should have been written "the remains of a woman and a young girl; in the woman the left hand is shut." The writer felt that females would not

* Rev. George Leeds, Rev. M. A. De Wolfe Howe, D.D., Rev. Leighton Coleman, Rev. Felix R. Brunot, Prof. Henry Coppee.

accurately express bis meaning, yet he has left these words in his article, and thus vulgarized the style.

Female means the sex that produces young, and can, as a noun or name, only apply to animals. WOMAN was the Eden name given to the feminine of humanity; that name and its equivalents, girl, maiden, lady, etc., words never used for animals, are the only proper terms of language to designate in the human species the feminine characteristics.

MRS. MASON, AND WOMAN'S MISSION TO WOMAN.-We are happy to say to those who took an earuest interest in Mrs. Mason's plan of missions that her course is sustained by the highest courts of British Burmah. The Chief Commissioner* has not only cleared her of all blame in the charges made against Dr. and Mrs. Masou, but has triumphantly placed these devoted missionaries before the world as exemplars of remarkable success in doing good to the poor heathen. He says:

"I have had ample opportunity personally of observing and of learning from former cases, as well as the present, what the Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Mason have done for the Karen mountaineers in the Toungoo district. They found them in a state of savage barbarism. There are now twenty-five thousand of them, either Christians or under Christian teaching and influence. They found them split up into tribes and clans, warring against each other, and taking captives to sell as slaves.

"Wherever the Gospel has been spread, such acts no longer prevail. They have ceased not only amongst the Christian tribes, but also among the heathen tribes, except those on the extreme border. Now, I confidently assert that this great and beneficial change has been accomplished mainly, indeed almost entirely, by the labors of Dr. and Mrs. Mason and of the Karen Minister Sau Quala. I assert, from long experience among similar tribes, that such results could not be obtained by the Civil Administration unaided by Missionary teaching.

"The Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Mason have my entire confidence, and I trust they will continue the noble work among the Karen tribes, in which they have been so eminently successful."

TO OUR FRIENDS and CorreSPONDENTS.—Another year is gone, and Christmas, the season of thanks and good wishes, as it draws near, reminds us of the many favors and warm-hearted compliments we have received from our Editorial friends. Allow us to express our sincere thanks for your constant and willing support. We trust that the New Year will find you all in the circle of those who are pledged to the "Lady's Book." It shall be our endeavor to make the volumes for 1864 worthy of your approval.

These articles are necessarily declined: "November""Bereavement"-"The Harvest Moon" (the writer can do better)-"Thy will be done"-" Amazons"-" Canzonet"-"Oh! where is my boy to-night?"-"An appeal to Time"-"Give me a Rose"-" Broken-hearted""Song"-"A long Road"-"My first Love and my last"— "The worth of a Bollar"-"The Art of talking nonsense" and "My Watch."

We have other articles on hand; next month these will be noticed.

Will Mrs. C. C. H. of Panama, Chautauque County, New York, send us the title of her last story?

Henry Drummond's Choice" has been received, but no letter. What is to be done with the MS. ?

* Lieut. Colonel Phayre.

Health Department.

In this season of physical health, we will, omitting the usual detail of diseases and remedies for bodily complaints, give a few suggestions for the better conservation of family life and domestic happiness. It is in unison with the season to be careful of our home resources; if the chief means of enjoyment and improvement are not found in the places where we dwell, our hopes of real comfort may be at once relinquished; life will be only a "winter of discontent." We are not intending to read a homily on the subject of domestic miseries. The season of Christmas should be cheerful with hope; so we take our suggestions from a cheerful writer and good adviser.*

"Every farmer and every husband owes it to himself, in a pecuniary point of view, and to his wife and children, as a matter of policy and affection, to provide the means early for clothing his household according to the seasons, so as to enable them to prepare against winter especially. Every winter garment should be completed by the first of November, ready to be put on when the first winter day comes. In multitudes of cases valuable lives have been lost to farmers' families by improvidence as to this point. Most special attention should be given to the under-clothing; that should be prepared first, and enough of it to have a change in case of an emergency or accident. Many farmers are even niggardly in furuishing their wives the means for such things; it is far wiser and safer to stint the members of his family in their food than in the timely and abundant supply of substantial under-clothing for winter wear. No money is better spent on a farm or anywhere else, than that which enables the wife to make herself, her children, her husband, and her house appear fully up to their circumstances. The consciousness of a torn or buttonless jacket or soiled dress degrades a boy or girl in their own estimation, and who that is a man does not feel himself degraded under the consciousness that he is wearing a dirty shirt? The wife who is worthy of the name will never allow these things if she is provided with means for their prevention, and it is in the noble endeavor to maintain for herself and family a respectability of appearance which their station demand, with means and help far too limited, which so irritates, and chafes, and annoys her proper pride, that many a time the wife's heart, and constitution, and health are all broken together. This is the history of multitudes of farmers' wives (and other mens' wives also), and the niggardly natures which allow it, after taking an intelligent view of the subject, are simply beneath contempt. What adds to the better appearance of the person, elevates; what adds to the better appearance of a farm, increases its value and the respectability of the occupant; so that it is always a good investment, morally and pecuniarily, for a farmer to supply his wife generously and cheerfully, according to his ability, with the means of making her family and home neat, tasteful, and tidy. A dollar's worth of lime, a shilling ribbon, or a few pennies' worth of paint may be so used as to give an impression of life, of cheerfulness, and of thrift about a home altogether beyond the value of the means employed for the purpose.

"Finally, let the farmer always remember that his wife's cheerful and bearty co-operation is essential to his success, and is really of as much value in attaining it, all things considered, as anything that he can do; and as she is very certainly his superior in her moral nature, it legitimately follows that he should not only regard her as his equal in material matters, but should habitually accord to her that deference, that consideration, and that high respect which is of right her due, and which can never fail to impress on the children and servants, who daily witness it, a dignity and an elevation of manner, and thought, and feeling, and deportment which will prove to all who see them that the wife is a lady and the husband a man, a gentleman; and a large pecuniary success, with a high moral position and wide social influence, will be the almost certain results."

* Dr. W. W. Hall, Editor of Hall's Journal of Health. See February number, page 35, “Farmers' Wives.'