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m On the Threshold* ? While I was singing yesterday, a Beneath tho lilacs, dear, A little bird perched overhead As if it longed to hoar. loried, "Oh, bird, sing?sing to mo! No song of mine can ever bo So sweet us your wild uiiustrelsy." iv : The littlo bird bogan to sing : At every note and sound It seemed as if strange listeners came, And softly gathered round. And still the bird sang loud and clear? X shut my eyes that I might hear IThe voices in tho strungo world near. And when at last the bird was still I opened wido my eyes, 35ut all around were but tho treea Uplifting to the akies? Tho little bird is far away, But 1 beneath tho lilao* stray To that sweet world of yesterday. ?Rea, in Casselt's Family Magazine. : "THE DEACON'S DINNER. The good housewives of the neighborhood often said that Mrs. Smart ought to be the happiest woman in the world. "Such a nice house as she lives in I" yj -said Miss Bryce, who, poor soul, taught the district school, and "boardtivi M 1 llr/\ 4-U.ty. ????? ?' Al"% ? uuuu, 11LVO VIIO OLUpC-gUUli 111 LUC ?>. > Scripture wildernesses. ""Such a pious raaa as the dear deacon is!" added Mrs. Hopkins, whose better-half had once been a sea-captain, and was still apt to be profane by fits and starts, when the cattle got into the clover-field, and the midnight -weasel marauded on his hen-coops and turkey-roosts. "With a store-carpet on the bestroom floor," put in Mrs. Jones, "and a weekly newspaper, and white sugar in her tea every day of her life, and a horse and wagon to take her to meet In* Sundays!" Such was the opinion of society as represented in Glen Hollow. Perhaps Mrs. Deacon Smart was a happy 'woman. But we are told, on the very best authority, that "the heart know8th its own bitterness." Mrs. Smatt was washing up her best china, one morning, preparatory to giving a grand tea-party, and her , cousin, Ella Dale, was helping her, -when the deacon put his shining bald >head in at the door. "My dear," said he, "here is a paper ^>f pins for you." Mrs. Smart nearly dropped a gilt?dged saucer, in her consternation. "More piiis!" said she. "Yes, my dear," said the deacon. unctuously. "Pins are always useful." "Oh, yes, pins!" said Mrs. Smart, giving her glass-towel a toss as she wiped the last globule of moisture from a goblet. "But not rows of rusty wire I I do say for it, Ebenezer?" "I'm going to Glen Depot, my dear," the deacon somewhat hurriedly interrupted, at this juncture; "and perhaps I shan't be home until tne o'clock." He withdrew, and Mrs. Smart turnf ed to Ella Dale with a half laugh. "There, my dear," said she, throwing down the faded green roll of pinpaper on the dresser, "there you behold the secret of my domestic unhap. piness, the skeleton in my closet!" Ella opened her round hazel eyes very wide. "I can't think what you mean, Juliana," said she. "You unhappy!? and the dear deacon such a truly good iff UlttU 1 "That's the trouble," said Mrs. Smart; "he's too good." "I don't see how that can be possible," protested Ella, more perplexed than ever. "And it's all at my expense," said Mrs. Smart, dolefully. "Do you see that paper of pins?" "Why, of course I see it,** said Ella. "Well, Mr. Smart has bought that paper of pins of a peddler at the door," aaid Mrs. Smart. "Peddlers always come here. This house is a Mecca to the race of peddlers. They know that Mr. Smart always buys of them?he's too good-hearted to say do; or rather? let us speak the truth and shame him who shall be nameless between us?he is too Indolent to resist their importunities." Ella burst out laughing. "But what a very insignificant little trial I" said she. "Oh, yes, I dare sayl" said Mrs. Smart "The sting of a hornet isn't *o very terrible in itself, but when a whole swarm is let loose upon you, What then?" "A swarm?" repeated innocent Ella. "My dear," said Mrs. Smart, lowering her voice to a confidential whisper, "'up stairs in my bed-room closet I have eighteen papers of just such cheap pins?utterly useless for anything but to bend themselves up double when you try to put them through a single thickness of calico, and to deprive you of your temper just when 'you need it most; six cards of porce^ lain buttons?an article which 1 nevei use; nine packages of stove-blacking thirteen bottles of sewing-machine oil 'five papers of rusty needles; a dozer " v, ? pairs of shoe-strings; and eight rolls of tape, which is an insult to one's common sensel If I could reconcile it to my conscience, I'd fling the whole collection into the fire; but I was brought up to economize. What do you think, Ella? Would it be a sin to annihilate all these pitfalls to my equanimity?" "It is rather a problem," said Ella Dale, soberly. "And with all this," said Mrs. Smart, waxing vehement as she went on, "Ebenezer is unwilling to give me money to buy decent darning-needles and respectable tape. He wonders why 1 can't make my dresses last a little longer, and thinks I am extravagant in wanting a new feather for my old velvet hat. He announces that I use too many raisins and spices, and asks me why I can't raise eggs and poultry to exchange for groceries at the village store. And yet?oh, the inconsistency of men I?he expects me to give a bowl of colfee and a sand wiuii, tu aay uowimg 01 weages 01 apple-pie and three-cornered bits of cake, to every able-bodied tramp and stout peddler-woman who comes along." "Doesn't he make any allowance for it in the housekeeping money.?" said Ella. "Not he! Just look heref Mrs. Smart opened the drawer of the kitch en-table. "This is where I keep the house-money, which he gives me every week?and he came here twice this morning to get a quarter for a lame beggar, and to hunt up ten pennies for that same outrageous paper of pins!" And she cast a baleful glance at the article, which still lay on the dresser. "This is piracy," said Ella, judicially. "It's highway robbery!" declared Mrs. Smart. "And there comes the butcher's-cart, and I haven't money enough left from my week's allowance to buy a single steak, and here it is only "Wednesday." "Can't you buy on credit?" "Never!" said Mrs. Smart, with spirit "It's a thing that I never have done, and that I never will do!" Ella's brown eyes sparkled, as she shook her head vehemently at the butcher, who was just checking his old horses at the door. "Nothing to-day," said she. "Go onP' Mrs. Smart dashed away a tear. "Give me some of that shelled corn, I Ella," said she. "I suppose I can catch a chicken for dinner." "Do nothing of the sort, my dear," said Ella Dale. "But what are we to do?" "Why, have a picked-up dinner, tobe-suret" answered Ella. "Just leave me to manage it" "But I'm afraid the deacon won't like it." "Well, and if he doesn't? You don't like the peddler business, do you ?" retorted Ella Dale. At one o'clock the table was all spread, with three huge central platters carefully shielded with the covers which were ordinarily brought out only on state occasions, and Mrs. Smart and Ella were peeping out of the window, and wondering what kept the deacon so late. "There he comes now!" said Mrs. Smart. "Good gracious me! and there is Willis Mildmay with him! We never counted on him bringing company to dinner, Ella." "What signifies company?" said afAllfltr luuiuiaium^ llOl i;UiUpU*J" ure, although her pretty face had turned pink all over, like a June rose. "Willis Mildmay won't care when he comprehends it all. Willis is a sensible man." % "Come in, Mr. Smart?come in, Mr. Mildmay," said Mrs. Smart. "You're | half an hour late, Ebenezer. Ella and I could not imagine what had become i of you." . "I hope I am not intruding!" said Mr. Mildmay, looking at Ella Dale as if a glance at her rosy face was all the dinner that he wanted. "Ob, not in the least!" said Mrs. Smart "Pray sit down. We have but a plain dinner to-day; but it is all. that my housekeeping allowance would admit." "No apologies, my dear," said Dea j con Smart?"no apologies. Hunger is I the best sauce, as we well know." j And thereupon they all seated themselves, and the deacon whisked off the I big platter-covers, with a countenance of expectation. "Hello 1" said the deacon. There, upon the centre plate, lay the eighteen pale-green papers of pins. l i At the right and left, on smaller plat| ters, were arranged the cards of porce lain buttons and the rolls of tape, t while the bottles of machine-oil and packages of stove-blacking were ari ranged like a child's block-house on a side-table, beneath a white napkin, by * way of dessert. ; J Ella Dale burst out laughing. Mrs. ; Smart joined in. Willis Milcknay, t spurred on by this infectious sound, ' /'iiV-Jvi S&v'siVirt K'* * \ j j?.iOT".! iC ^ v.-irff . - laughed too, although he had not thtj least Idea what he was laughing at. The deacon stared as if he had suddenly become all eyes. "Juliana," said he, "what Is the meaning of this?" "It means, Ebenezer," his wife responded, "that you have spent my housekeeping money for cheap peddler's wares, and that Ella and I determined to serve them up to you for dinnerl And what you don't eat, we are going to burn; and henceforward, whatever is bought has got to be of a good quality, or I won't have it in the house! Because I have come to the conclusion that charity is one thing and justice is another. And if you give me money for housekeeping, it isn't fair for you to spend it in buying articles which no one can use I" "Certainly it isn't!" said Ella Dale, coming valiantly to the rescue. The deacon's under jaw dropped; he had half a mind to be angry, but he thought better of it, and broke into a slow chuckle. "Mildmay," he said, turning to the young man, "be warned in time! You see what tricks these women folks will be ud to !" But Mr. Mildmay, who had somehow got hold of Ella's hand under the folds of the tablecloth, did not seem to heed these words of wisdom as deeply as he should have done. "Ladies," said he, "there's a bushel of oysters out In the wagon, that I was taking home. If you will build up a good fire, we'll have a roast, and I'll be head cook. I suppose you've got plenty of bread and butter?" "Yes; and good, hot coffee," said Mrs. Smart. "Make haste, Ella, and start the fire to a blaze. And we'll stimulate it with machine-oil and cheap pins." The deacon sat by and made no demur. He only laughed in a sheepish, silent sort of way. And the family dined off hot roast oysters, bread and butter and coffee. Towards the close of the repast, a stout, itinerant vender, with a basket on his arm, tapped at the door. "I hope I see your honor well?" said he, with the regular professional whine. "Will'ee buy something today? Pins, needles, shoe-laces, hairpins or a little?" But Deacon Smart shut the door in the very midst of his oily orations. "No!" said he. And the monosyllable sealed Mrs. Smart's triumph for good and alL? Helen Forrest Graves. The Origin or "Mr." and "Mrs." The history of those everyday titles of Mr. and Mrs., which are now the common property of every one, is not without interest, though in some of its steps it is a little obscure. In the earlier times of our history the ordinary man was simply William or John; that is to say, he had merely a Christain name, without any kind of "handle" before it, or surname after it. Some means of distinguishing one John or one William from another John or another William became necessary. Nicknames, derived from a man's trade, or from his dwellingplace, or from some personal peculiari ty, were tack 011 to their Christain names, and plain John became plain John Smith. As yet there were no "Misters" in the land. Some John Smith accumulated more wealth than the bulk of his fellows?became perhaps a landed proprietor, or an employer of hired labor. Then he began to be called in the Norman-French of the day, the "Maistre," of this place, or of that, of these workmen or of those. In time the "Maistre," or "Maister," as it soon became, got tacked on before his name, and he be-, came Maister Smith and his wife was i Maistress Smith. But crraduallv the sense of possession was lost sight of, and the title was conferred upon any man who had attained social distinction of any kind, whether, by mere possession of wealth, or by holding some position of more or less consideration and importance. It is only within comparatively modern times that the term came to be considered an almost indispensable adjunct to ever; one's name when mentioned in ordinary conversation or writing. Maistress Smith soon became Mistress Smith. Exactly how and when the term got corrupted eannot be said. Mastei Smith, however, remained Mastei Smith long after his wife became Misi tress Smith.?Times-DamrKrrnt It Wonldu't Take So long. Colonel Lubbock and Jones wen walking home from the office* "Wait awhile," said Colonel Lub bock, halting in front of a grocery "I want to step in here and get sorrn tea." "I don't believe I'll have time,'* saic Jones. "I'm in something of hurry.' "You won't have to wait long, l'n only going to get a quarter of : pound."?Travelet't Magazine. . XV*/V,'- ' : I . > : > . \ BEECHER ON BUSINESS. _____ An Interesting Discourse on Practical Affairs. 1 The Poundations that are Necessary to 1 Every Man's Success. In the course of a recent sermon Rev. Henry Ward Beecher said: ; "Men who live righteously have all the secular things necessary to happiness. Obedience to divine law and secular prosperity go hand in hand. There is no directory in the world like Solomon's proverb. One would think Solomon had lived in New York, for you will find there all you know and a good deal more. Every man to be successful must have a foundation. He must have health, strength and common sense, which is the most un common of all. He must have industry and good management. lie must* confine his work to his capabilities, A man six feet tall can reach higher than a man only five feet in height *no matter how hard the other may try. An unthinking brain cannot be a philosopher and a man without urenius norinnf aP *..k! vy??uuuv |UiAAUl>D UUCli J' f UL W II IUII Wi have ten thousand instances. "A man's first aim in fife is to build himself up. And the building of one's Belf is the result of proper industry, frugality and economy. We are not here merely to enjoy ourselves. A right Christain life limits men's desires for pleasure, wealth and preferment. Half of the failures in commercial life are the result of greediness. Men are not content with moderation?with what belongs to their abilities. Seeking to do more than in them lies, they fall to the ground. There are many men whose energy and ambition drive them over all ob stacles. They don't stop to consider the rights of others, but rush through the crowd knocking one man down and treading on another's feet. Thousands have no sense of equity between man and man, but by and by they are destroyed by the very impulse that urged them on their haughty, lordly career. "Moderation prevents over-action and hence prevents reaction. Men eat and are stupid. They drink and are excited. Their retieclions are like the reflection of the sun upon the waves. The moral constitution of the world is in agreement with right living, and whatever one seeks he can seek better by conforming to the moral laws of God's kingdom. Moreover the laws which apply to individual life apply to society. If a community Calls to heed them the same punishment follows. It makes all the difference in the world what sort of a communitv a man lives in. If von ?rn j j down into a community of individuals where fights and quarrels prevail you i cannot expect to find peace and happiness. What kind of a place is that for yourself or your children? But if you go into a community of tastefulness, sobriety and godliness you are lifted up. Hence it is that no man or class of men has a right to maintain a nuisance of any kind. When we go forth to drive out the nuisance we are not meddling in what is not our business. It does concern us, and it is our right to interfere. We cannot always accomplish all that we would like to accomplish, it is true. We cannot com pei a man to go to church, but we can make him send his children to school We can come so near to it at any rate. Moral and virtuous men pay the bills of criminals. "Men who pander to animals instincts are dangerous to humanity. They are dangerous to your children and mine. You remember the old fable about a man selling his soul to the devil?the poorest bargin the devil could make by the way. But while no man probably ever sold himself to the devil at wholesale, many are selling themselves to him at retail. Whenever you violate the great fundamental canons of morality you are selling yourself. There are men in Brooklyn who are seeking prosperity by sacrificing purity and morality, thinking that they will succeed by disregarding divine law. Many believe in the Bible, uui not in its contents. The Uible says rectitude is prosperity, but they don't believe it. Do you believe speaking the truth at all times is essential to your prosperity, young man? No, a little evasion now and then is considered smart. You ridicule the blunt I country youth, who blurts out the truth at all times. *He is green.' I "Men say they will iirst amass for tunes by evasions and deception, and ' then they will join the church. They can't do it while building up their properties. Oh, no 1 Why, a business man in New 5Tork persuing such a course would bankrupt himself in a week. No mistake should be made in the cases of mep who are successful in their wickedness. When such do prosper it is because of some qualities in their aaturen which are really good. . *.V, ' , * ' if In what is called prosperity there is often not a particle of true enjoyment* There are thousands of men in dingy shops who are happier than others in palaces. I don't believe bloodsuckers of gold are happy. I would rather be a healthy, respected poor man than the richest in the world, whose name is only another for gold, so far as happiness is concerned." Remarkable Memories. There was a Corsican boy who could rehearse 40,000 words, whether sense or nonsense, as they were dictated, and then repeat them in the reverse order without making a single mistake. A physician, about sixty years ago, could repeat the whole of "Paradise Lost" without a mistake, although he had not read it for twenty years. Euler, the great mathematician, when he became blind, could repeat the whole of Virgil's "iEneid," and could remember the first line, and the last line in every page of the particular edition which he had been accustomed to read before he became blind. One kind of retentive memory may be considered as the result of sheer work, a determination toward one particular achievernanf nrlfV* f ~ ?ui uvuv xibiiwui ICI^IOUUU tJI L11CL IU UUltlvation, or to memory on other subjects. This is frequently shown by persons in humble life in regard to the Bible. An old beggarman; at Sterling, known about fifty years ago as "Blind Alick," afforded an instance of this. He knew the whole of the Bible by heart, insomuch that, if a sentence was read to him, he could name the book, chapter, and verse; or, if the book, chapter, and verse were ramed, he could give the exact words. A gentleman, to test him, repeated a verse, purposely mak ing one verbal inaccuracy. Alick hesitated, named the place where the passage was to be found, but at the same time pointed out the verbal error. The same gentleman asked him to repeat the ninetieth verse'of the seventh chapter of the Book of numbers. Alick almost instantly replied: "There is no such verse.. That chapter has only eighty-nine verses." Gassendi had acquired by heart 6,000 Latin verses; and, in order to give his memory exercise, be was in the habit of daily reciting 600 verses from different languages. The World's Telegraphs Last year there were strung about this mundane sphere 600,000 miles of Mjiegrapa line, rne united scutes outranks the world as far as the telegraph Is concerned, both as to extent of wire and number of messages sent. Last' year there were 65,000,000 messages sent in this country to 32,000,000 in Great Britain, 18,000,000 in Germany, and 19,000,000 in France. Russia sends about 10,000,000 of telegrams a year, Switzerland 2,000,000, Spain 3,000,000, Turkey a little over 1,000,000, Belgium 6,000,000 and Austria 9,000,000. Mexico has 460 telegraph offices,' and it sends about 750,000 telegrams a year. Japan has 125 offices and sends nearly 3,000,000 telegrams a year. It ia a f*V?nranfnriatin oKAtnm? w m w?*m? muvwa wav XUVU| OIlVITIU^ bUO progress of the two nations, that the Japanese, with smaller territory and a much less population, send three times as many messages as China. With the 65,000,000 telegrams sent last year, the United States had 15,000 telegraph offices and 154,650 miles of lines. The mileage is larger to-day than then, and the wires are more generally used. Of these messages the average cost per message of those sent by the Western Union was thirty and nine-tenth ccnts, and the average profit per message was fifteen and sixtenth cents. In 1868 the Western Union had about one-fifth of its present mileage, and its charge per message was on the average over twice as great. At that time it made a profit of forty-one cents per message. In 1884 the Western Union had 145,000 miles of wire. It sent more than 42,000,000 messages and took in nearly $20,000,000 in receipts.?Cleveland Leader. The Lahgnages of the World. It is said that the nations of the earth speak about ninety different dialects. But these dialecis can be traced to a much smaller number of laniruaores. All theao lnncriinorM #r? divided into three classes?namely, the ihdo-Germanic, which embraces the ancient classical languages aud those of modern Europe; the Sanscrit, which embraces all the various languages of India, and the Semitic, which embraces the Hebrew, Chald$ic, Syriac, Arabic, etc. Satisfied, Nervous old lady boards a train; when about to seat herself, discovers a horrid man with a gun in the car. "I hope that thing is not loaded." frolicsome Sportsman: "Y es, Ma'am; it is. However, 1 will insert this cork in the muzzle. There! Quite safe now." The timid one is satisfied.?Life. ? ,v , . . < V'jTV Vv r.vk'v. " /, ,? * vl .r <; V r . * In the Firelight- 4 The fire upon the hearth is low? And there is stillness every wh? Liko troubled spirits, here and thero The firelight shadows fluttering go. And as the shadows round mo creep, A childish treble broaks the gloom And softly from a further room Comes: "Now I luy mo down to sleep." And, somohow, with that littlo pray'r And that sweot treble in my ears, My thought goos back to distant years And lingers with a dear ono there; And as I hear my child's amen, My mother's lace comes back to moCrouched at her sido I soom to bo, And mother holds my hands again. Oh, for an hour in that dear place; Oh, for the peace of that dear timo; Oh, for that childish truat sublime; Oh, for a glimpse of mothor's face ! Yet, as the shadows round mo oreop, I do not seem to bo alone? Sweet magio of that treble tono And "^ow I lay mo down to sloen !" ' ?Eugene Field. HUMOROUS. Society gossip is only chin-deep. A coat of paint bas no buttons on it. The character of the Chinaman is apt to be wish-he-washy. No one can surpass a deaf mute in expressing silent contempt. I An onion is very aromatic, but yoa ! wouldn't carry it in your pocket for a j cent. "Love i3 blind," but it gets along remarkably well without the aid of a guide. Little Jack: "My mamma's new fan is hand-painted." Little Dick: "Poohl who cares? Our whole fence is." The reason a miser can find no in* terest in poor people is because they | have no principal. I -nit ' 4 ? ' Xiiiza matnnaa?nave you ever read any of Holmes' works ? Charles Augustus?Oh, yes, I have read Holmes* Sweet Home. Seven hundred and fifty-dollar fans are very common in New York, but sensible girls don't look for such presents. They take a fifty-cent fan and $749.50 in oysters and and theatre tickets. "Smith, did you see ray wife go down this street ? " "Yes, she passed about an hour ago." Wonder what my chances are for overtaking her ?" "Good. The sidewalk is just lined with show-windows." One hundred and fifty inventions relating to roller skates have been patented since January 1, and yet it is safe to predict that when a skater unexpectedly sits down with a dull, sickening thud, the language used on the occasion will be the same as that employed last year. The First Umbrella in London. In Red Lyon square lived, in former days, many notable persons. Among these was Jonas Hanway, well known as the benevolent traveler, the founder of Magdalene hospital, and last, but not least, as the introducer of umbrellas into London. Hanway, who died at his house in the square in 1876, I was the first man who ventured, after bis return from Persia in delicate health, to walk about the streets of the metropolis with an umbrella over his head. It was a bold proceeding; for, although others ultimately followed his example, some time elapsed before the fashion became general, and it was so regarded as a sign of infirmity to use umbrellas that those who carried them were exposed to much "chaff" and unpleasant jeering from the London gamins of the day. Strangely enough, the high position the umbrella has attained in political circles of late is foreshadowed in one of Beaumont and Fletcher's plays,' Rule a Wife and Have a Wife." where Altea says, as though she were addressing a liberal candidate for parliamentary honors of the present time: Are you at ease? Now 1b your hoart at rest? Now you have got a shadow, an umbrella To keep the scorching world's opinion From yoar fair credit. The umbrella may be glorified by Mr. Gladstone; but it would be unjust to ignored the fact that it is really indebted for its greatness to the grandi old man of Red Lyon square.?St. James's Gazette. Mexican Lore for Children. One trait of the Mexican character * deserving of all prase is the national love for children. Mexico is the children's paradise. Children are loved and petted in public to an extent that makes an American, used to the stolid wotro nf Vi I o mirn - ?f (?JO v*. M40 V IT U WU11H JT pcupio , open his eyes in astonishment and pleasure. There is no affectation in the matter. A baby is every one's anmi ration, and here you may see fathers out walking with their children for the pleasure of the children's company. In shops and all|>laces where people meet children are petted, and a baby in a shop is seized and carressed v an army of male admirers.?Borton, Ceroid* '$$