Good Taste. Good taste is the "luminous shadow" of all Never too Old to Learn. Socrates, at an extreme age, learned to play on musical instruments, for the purpose of resisting the wear and tear of old age. the virtues. It is social discretion, it is intel- Cato, at eighty years of age, thought proper Plutarch, when between seventy and eighty, commenced the study of Latin. Boccaccio was thirty years of age when he commenced his studies in polite literature, yet he became one of the three great masters of the Tuscan dialect, Dante and Petrarch being the other two. Sir Henry Spelman neglected the sciences in his youth, but commenced the study of them when he was between fifty and sixty years of age. After this time, he became a most learned antiquarian and lawyer. Colbert, the famous French minister, at sixty years of age, retured to his Latin and law man can thaw, the fastidious can repose on him. No one is committed to more than he chooses; no ungenerous use is made of an unusual or transient impulse. Good taste is practical, though not deep knowledge of character; it is perception of the distinctive points of every occasion; and thus it reconciles and harmonizes, where bad taste perpetuates differences, and necessitates separations. And yet, we by no means wish to make good taste a synonym either for virtue or intellect-it is Ludovico, at the great age of one hundred rather that quatity which sets off both at their best. It is an affair, in some degree, of social and fifteen, wrote the memoirs of his own training—it is one aspect of knowledge of the times. A singular exertion, noticed by Volworld. Those who are little in general socie- taire, who was himself one of the most rety-who confine themselves to family inter-markable instances of the progress of age in course, or to that of a set or clique, whatever the position, whatever the intellectual or moral pretentions of that clique-are almost sure to fail in it in new scenes. All persons of a single idea, engrossed by one object, are perpetually infringing on the rules of good taste. If they are religious, they are pragmatical and intolerant, regardless of sensibilities. If they are useful, they do their work with unnecessary fuss. If they are learned, or deep, or clever, they make those good gifts unpopular. If they are grave, they are a check and restraint. They fail in every social crisis. In every difficulty they take the wrong way. They are forward when they ought to be retiring-their diffidence is constantly misplaced. There is no knowing where such people are-to what lengths an emergency or excited spirits will drive them. It is the cause of half the seeming injustice of society. studies. new studies. Ogilby, the translator of Homer and Virgil, was unacquainted with Latin and Greek till he was past fifty. Franklin, did not fully commence his philosophical pursuits till he had reached his fiftieth year. Accorso, a great lawyer, being asked why he began the study of law so late, answerdd, that indeed he had began it late, but he should therefore master it the sooner. Dryden, in his sixty-eighth year, commenced the translation of the Iliad; and his most pleasing productions were written in his old age. Sketch of ther by Carlyle. A coarse, rugged, plebian face it was, with great crags of cheek bones-a wild amount of passionate energy and appetite! But in his dark eyes were floods of sorrow and deepest melancholy; sweetness and mystery were all there. Often did they seem to meet in Luther the very same opposite poles in man's character. He for whom Ritchie had said that his words were half battles, he, when he first be The man of bad taste cannot comprehend why things are not tolerated in him which are allowed in others. He is the last to see that the presence or absence of a correct taste make the same practice or amusement agreea-gan to preach, suffered unheard agony. "Oh! ble or repugnant-that nothing can be judged fairly without taking the manner of doing it into consideration He is therefore, forever grumbling at the inconsistencies and partialities of mankind. The fact is, every hinge with some people, grates and creaks, at each turn jarring on sensitive nerves; while good taste is the oil which keeps the machinery of society, with the least wear and tear, noiselessly and profitably at work.-London Saturday Review. Dr. Stanpitz," said he to the vicar-general of wrote very many books-books in which the of them, that he would willingly have sacriin maidst they denounced and cursed, what touches of tender- his enjoyment. This great sensibility was obness lay. Look at the Table Talk, for example: We see in it a little bird, having alighted on the bough of a pear tree that grew in Luther's garden. Luther looked upon it and said: That little bird, how it covers its wings, and will sleep there so still and fearless, though over it are the infinite starry spaces and the great blue depths of immensity, yet it fears not-it is at home; the God that made it too is there." The same gentle spirit of lyrical admiration is in the other passages of his book. Coming home from Leipsic in the autumnal season, he breaks forth into living wonder at the fields of corn. "How it stands there," he says, "erect on the beautiful taper stem, and bending its beautiful golden head with bread in it-the bread of man sent to him another year." Such thoughts as these are as little windows, through which we gaze into the interior of the depths of Martin Luther's soul, and see visible across its tempests and clouds a whole heaven of light and love. He might have painted he might have sung-could have been beautiful like Raphael, and great like Michael Angelo. Mozart. servable as soon as he could make his feelings understood. Frequently he said to those about him, "Do you love me well?" and, when in sport he was answered in the negative, tears immediately began to flow. He upon whom nature bestowed so much vigor of imagination, so little physical strength, never seemed destined to attain longevity. Slightly constructed and feeble in constitution, he required more mental repose than his necessities would allow. His mind did not yield, but his body gave way. DOMESTIC ECONOMY. CRANBERRY ROLL.-Stew a quart of cranberries in just water to keep them from burning; make it very sweet, strain it through a cullander, and set it away to cool. When quite cool make a paste as for apple pudding, spread the cranberries about an inch thick, roll it up in a floured cloth and tie it close at the ends; boil it two hours, and serve it with sweet sauce. Stewed apples, or any other kind of fruit, may be served in the same way. A DRESSING FOR SANDWICHES.-Take half a pound of nice butter, 3 tablespoonsfull of mixed mustard, a little white or red pepper, a little salt, the yolk of one egg; braid this all together very smoothly, and set it on the ice to cool. Chop very fine some tongue and ham; a bread very thin, spread it with the dressing; little cold chicken is very nice added. Cut the then spread over the meat, then the bread, and press that the sandwiches may be all one size. HOW TO MAKE CIDER WINE.-J. H. Keck, of Macon Co., Ill., gives the following method in the Country Gentleman: Take pure cider, made from sound, ripe apples, as it runs from the press, put 60 pounds of common brown sugar into 15 gallons of the the cider and let it dissolve; then put the mixture into a clean barrel, fill it up within two gallons of being full, with clean cider; put the cask into a cool place, leaving the bung out for forty-eight hours; then put in the bung with a small vent, until fermentation wholly ceases, and bung up tight, and in one year it will be The compositions of Mozart are of every kind, and so numerous that even a bare list of them cannot be given. But from the Sonata to the Symphony, from the simplest romance to the most elaborate musical drama, he, whose career was stopped before he had completed his thirty-sixth year-composed in every imaginable style, and excelled in all. In each class he furnished models of the greatest attainable excellence; exquisite melodies, profound harmonies, the playful, the tender, the pathetic, and the sublime, are to be found amongst his works. Yet he to whom all the really civilized parts of the world are so deeply indebted for the increase, to an almost incalculable amount, of the stock of an innocent and intellectual pleasure, scarcely ever enjoyed a moment's respite from ill-requited labor and corroding anxieties; few, not in a state of actual want, ever suffered more from the evils of poverty, and he who left so valuable a treasure to mankind had not, in the hour of death, the consolation of feeling that he had been able to secure against the miseries of dependance an affectionate wife and her helpless children. His strong disposition for music developed itself when he had scarcely completed his third Rusty stains upon marble stairs or curbs of year. His delight was in seeking out thirds railings, into which iron railings are secured, on the harpsichord of his sister, and his joy may be easily removed with a solution of oxalwas unbounded when he succeeded in discov-ic acid. About one ounce of this acid, dissovering one of these harmonious concords. Be-ed in a quart of hot water, will be of sufficient fore he began to manifest a predilection for strength. It may be applied with a clean cotmusic, hfs amusements were like those of other ton rag or sponge. All traces of the acid must children; and so ardent was he in the pursuit | be removed afterwards with clean water. A fit for use. This wine requires no racking; the longer it stands upon the lees the better. This wine is almost equal to grape wine when rightly managed. REMOVING RUSTY STAINS FROM MARBLE. thin coat of varnish (by dissolving some white wax in refined turpentine.) applied warm to marble in which fron railings are fastened, prevents the rust from entering its pores. Cooking Beef Steak. "Mrs. Hutton! Mrs. Hutton! what on earth are you pounding to make such a deafning noise? I want you a minute." HEALTH AND DISEASE. Breathing Poison. "Who's breathing poison?" Every one who confines himself in a close apartment, without some adequate opening in wall, or window, or door, for the admission of pure air. A pure atmosphere contains about one twothousandth part of a gas which is identical "Well I am here," (her face all in a rosy with the damps in wells, and which, if increasglow, peeps above the fence,) not pounding on earth at all, but on my meat board, not to make ed in amount, at last becomes fatal in its effects. a noise, but to mangle my beef steak." Being heavier than common air, it sometimes "Umph! you are facetious this dull morn-settles down and accumulates in deep pits and ing; but apropos of beef steaks, how do you generally cook them ?" "Oh! the old fashioned way, either frying or broiling. The latter I prefer, as the steak preparod in that way retains more of its natural flavor; yet it is a rosting process to the cook's face and fingers, and when the coals are dull, a wearysome one also." "Aye! now I can lay you under an idebtedness to me which the presence of a whole roasted ox couldn't cancel. It is how to broil beef steak in a frying pan, and have it done in three minutes. My frying pan being wiped very dry, I place it upon the stove and let it become hot, very hot. In the meantime I mangle the steak; (if it chance to be a piece of sirloin so much the better,) pepper and salt it then lay it in the dry, hot pan, which I instantly cover as tight as possible. When the flesh first touches the heated pan, of course it seethes and adheres to it, but in a few seconds it becomes loosened and juicy; every half minute or so I turn the steak, but am careful to keep it as much under cover as possible; when nearly done, I lay a small piece of butter on it, and if I want much gravy I add a tablespoonfull of cold, strong coffee; in three minutes from the time the steak first goes into the pan, it is ready for the table." "Why, you astonish me! What does it taste like ?" "The most delicious, delicately broiled steak, full of juce, yet retaining the healthiest beefy flavor that any John Ball could require." "Now, what is the philosophy of it, I wonder." "Pshaw! why need you care to know? Its practical utility satisfies me, in the saving of time, labor, and my complexion." "I will try the experiment this very noon; do you think the same method would suit mutton chops ?" Admirably-only they require a longer time, to prevent them from being rare. I have sometimes made an excellent gravy for them by adding a little diluted cream, thickened with a pinch of flour, into which, when off the fire and partly cool, I stir in the yolk of one egg, well beaten.-Ohio Farmer. wells in such quantities as to be fatal to human life. Agitation of the atmosphere has a tendency, by mixing the poisonous with the healthful gases, to prevent their accumulation upon and near the surface of the earth, and this is one of the great offices of the winds, which, though they sometimes strand a ship or sink a fleet, a thousand times compensate the world for such losses, by purifying the air for mill ions to breathe. But it is this same carbonic acid which is exhaled from the lungs of man and all animals; so that wherever there is much breathing, there there must be an accumulation of much poison. In every public hall, in every church or school room, therefore, when crowded, and not thoroughly ventilated, the air must inevitably become foul, producing the legitimate effects of the narcotic poison referred to-dullness, sleep iness, stupor. If school directors, church trustees and church-goers only knew how much of what they attribute of dullness and stupidity on the part of teachers and children, pastor and congregation, should be charged to their own stupidity in not acquainting themselves with the laws of life, and so constructing their public buildings and private dwellings as to insure a circulation of pure air, they would first hang their heads in shame, and then earnestly set set about the work of providing for the future. The bed-rooms of most dwellings are contrived without the least regard to the laws of health. Narrow, pinched up, low and tight, they are no more fit for a human being to sleep in than the hold of a slave ship. For ourself, we would vastly prefer a wigwam to such cham-waters of about the same depth on different bers as we have been crammed into hundreds coasts and in the different latitudes. The door of times in this and other conntries. 'must be closed and bolted for protection against burglars, and there we were, shut into a 'miserable, sour, musty little corner, without the possibility of getting a mouthful of fresh air until morning, unless by knocking out a pane of glass or removing the entire window-a thing by no means easy to do, in most cases, without a set of carpenter's tools. After a torturous night of groaning and horrible dreams, morning came with nervousness, headache, and inward cursings at the diabolical recklessness or execrable stupidity of the architect or proprietor of that particular Calcuttian hole. Farmers, and every body else, open your windows, if you cant do any better, and so let in the pure air of heaven. It will not hurt you unless you allow a draft to sweep directly over you, and after sleeping a few nights in a pure, health-giving air, yon will never again be content to sleep in the atmosphere of your own exhalations. YOUTH'S CORNER. More Things About the Sea. In the November number we told you some things about the vastness of the Ocean, its depth, the quantity of water it contains, and the immense amount of salt. THE COLOR OF THE SEA Varies in different localities, and for reasons not yet fully explained. In some places, as in the inlets on the coast of Norway, it is so clear that, when at rest, the bottom can be plainly seen at a depth of one hundred to two hundred feet. Upon some coasts it has a reddish or purplish hue, upon others white, and again is almost black. In the tropics, it is at one time an indigo bluc, then a deep green, and again a slate grey. On our way across the Atlantic, it varied at different points from a light sky blue, through all the shades of green to a blue black. Depth undoubtedly has something to do with the different shades, but does not account for the strange and beautiful hues which characterize CURRENTS OF THE SEA All our little readers know that rivers have currents, but some of them, probably, do not know that there are also currents in the seacurrents which always flow in the same direction, just as surely as the Mississippi flows southward to the Gulf. "Yes," says one, "I was on the sea-shore once, and saw one of these currents dash its waters upon the shore, oh, so furiously !'' No, that was not a current, such as we mean. That is, it did not flow steadily, and always in the same direction. It was only a dashing of the waves, which to-morrow the winds may turn the other way, just as the waters on the little lake near you sometimes wash upon one shore and then upon the other. One of these great currents in the sea is that which flows from the east westward in all the equatorial regions of the earth. They are compelled to flow in that direction because the earth revolves on its axis in the opposite direction. To prove that this must be so, take an apple, put a stick or knitting needle right through the center, from the stem to the blossom, dip it in water, and then standing with your face to the east, hold the two ends of the needle in your fingers and make the apple go round and round from you towards the east. What water adheres to the apple will flow towards you from the east. Or, look at the grindstone, and see how the water flows in just the opposite direction to that of the hand and crank used in turning. But we did not intend to give all the reasons. If there should be anything you don't understand, ask your parents or school teacher, or us by letter. This mighty current we were talking about, is also influenced, on the surface, by what are known as the Trade Winds, which blow in the same direction, and for the same reason. If that part of the equatorial current which flows westward on the north side of the equator, could flow without hindrance, it would wash directly through the Continent of North America; but as it can't do that, it makes a turn northward and eastward through the Gulf of Mexico, sweeps through the Atlantic Ocean and washes the western coast of Europe-the warm winds of the equatorial regions taking the same direction. And that's one reason why the western coast of Europe is warmer in the same latitude, and why ships sailing from America to Europe in the course of the current, get along easier and faster. It's like sailing down stream instead of up. Accordingly, ships starting for England from New York go quite out of a due course in order to get into the Gulf Stream as soon as possible; while, in coming from England, they steer out of course northwest so as to avoid this same current. And then there is another great current, flowing southwestward from the region of Spitzbergen in the Arctic Ocean, and washing the eastern coast of North America. This current is often freighted with immense icebergs, of which we shall tell you by-and-by, and, of course, is very cold, and must cool the eastern part of this continent. This is an another reason why our American climate is not so warm as Western Europe in the same latitude. There are also believed to be currents under these surface currents, which flow in the opposite direction. But of these we have not space to speak at length. It is a knowledge of ocean currents which, more than anything else, has advanced the science of navigation and shortened the long voyages of a hundred years ago, when sailors were entirely ignorant of them and often sailed against them at a loss of three or four miles an hour in their speed, when by turning aside but a very few miles, they might have avoided them altogether. At the risk of disgusting aunt Prim and mother Prudence, we answer, Yes. Possibly other out-door exercise and sports might be devised which would meet with the approval of the most ultra-fastidious, but until they shall have been introduced, we say to the girls, after you have done your whole duty at home and in the school, and there is yet need of some healthful exercise in the open air-exercise that shall quicken the circulation, invigorate the whole body and make the checks redolent of health and beauty-then get you a good pair of skates, and to the ice. At first, it will seem difficult to learn, and you may need the arm of father, brother, or friend; but persevere, trust to your own gumption as much as will answer the demands of prudent courage, and it will be but a short time ere you will equal the bonnie girls of Holland, gliding over the glassy surface of river, lake, or pond like an arctic fairy. PEREQUISITES TO EASY SUCCESS. 1 A dress that shall not trail two fect behind you, and other appropriate apparel, not omitting the heaviest pair of boots that can be worn without discomfort. 2 A good pair of skates, quite straight on the bottom, a little grooved and with wide straps that shall not hurt the feet. 3 A light, strong stick, about six or eight feet long, with a small spike in each end, to aid you in keeping right side up with care.' The stick should be carried in both hands, being grasped with both palms downwards and the thumbs pointing towards each other. It will not at all impede the effort at skating, and in case of danger of falling, either end may in Dr. Franklin was among the first to investi- an instant be put down upon the ice and save gate this important subject; and of late years, you. That is, we think so; the invention is Prof. Bache, Superintendent of the Coast Sur-original with us, and has never, to our knowlvey, and Lieut. Maury, the traitor, have done more to enlighten the world in relation to it than any other men who have ever lived. In the next number we shall tell you all about icebergs, including some that we saw last summer in the Atlantic Ocean. edge, been tried. 4 Good and gallant company. If, with all these aids, you don't succeed, send for the Editor of the Farmer and let him teach you the coveted art, after the good old style of the time long ago. |