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196 BURKE’S WEEKLY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS. MACON, GA., DEC. 21, 1867. Contents of No. 25. The Christmas Carol —original—illustrated page 193 A Visit from St. Nicholas—poetry—illustrated 194 A Good Man, W 4 Marooner’s Island ; by the Rev. F. R. Goulding. Chapter XVll.—original 194—195 The Happy Finder 195 Editorial— A Merry Christmas; Remit Promptly; A New Book; A Christmas Story 196 Christmas in the Country—original—with an il lustration Forgiveness of Injuries 197 Nicholas with the Fur—original 197 Scatter your Crumbs —poetry 198 Wit and Humor 198 Jack Dobell; or. A Boy’s Adventures in Texas Chapter XVlll—original 198—199 The Christmas Stocking—poetry 199 A Ludicrous Error 199 Our Chimney Corner—illustrated... 200 1 8 6 8! THE SOUTHERN FAVORITE! Ill’S WEEKLY FOR BOYS iO SIS! Beautifully Illustrated and Elegantly Printed! Pronounced by the Southern press to be the most elegant and talented young people’s paper printed in this country! We are now publishing Marooner’s Island , a Sequel to the Young Marooners, and Jack Dobell, or a Boy’s Ad ventures in Texas, by one of Fannin’s men—pronounced “equal to the best of Mayne Reid’s stories.” We shall begin, in the first number of 1868, a thrilling story, by a lady of Virginia, entitled “ Ellen Hunter: A Tale of the War,” which will run for several months. Among the regular contributors to BURKE’S WEEKLY are Rev. F. R. Goulding, author of “The Young Ma rooner’s Mrs. Jane T. H. Cross ; Mrs. Ford, of Rome, Ga.; Miss Mary J. Upshur, of Norfolk, Va., and many others. Terms—s 2 a year in advance; Three copies for $5; Five copies for $8; Ten copies for sls, and Twenty-one copies for S3O. Clergymen and Teachers furnished at $1 50 per annum. The volume begins with the July number. Back numbers can be supplied from the first, and all yearly subscribers may receive the numbers for the first six months, stitched in an elegant illuminated cover. Address, J. W. BURKE & CO., Publishers, Macon, Ga. Postage on the “Weekly.” The postage on the Weekly, when paid quarterly or yearly, at the office of delivery, is five cents a quarter or twenty cents a year. Back Numbers. We can still supply back numbers from the be ginning of the volume. Yearly subscribers can bejsuppliedwith the first twenty-six numbers, stitch ed in an elegant illuminated cover. ts BURKE’S WEEKLY. A Merry Christmas. fN Germany the most joyous night of the year is Christmas eve, for the children then feast their eyes ou the magnificence of the Christmas-tree, with its wealth of presents suspended from every branch. “ The tree (s is arranged by the older members of the family in the principal room of the house, and with the arrival of evening the children are assem bled in an adjoining apartment. At a given sig nal, the door of the great room is thrown open, and in rush the little ones, eager and happy.— There, on a long table in the centre of the room, stands the Christmas-tree, every branch glittering with lighted tapers, while all sorts of gifts and or naments are suspended from the branches, and possibly also numerous other presents are depos ited separately on the table, all properly labeled with the names of the respective recipients.” Chambers tells us that the Christmas-tree is a very ancient custom in Germany, and dates back to the middle ages. It is of more modern origin in England and this country, having been intro duced within the last twenty years. It is a beau tiful custom, and we trust that many a happy group of our little readers will gather joyously, during the present Christmas season, around the Christ mas-tree, and that they will not, in the midst of their mirth and happiness, forget those who are less pleasantly situated. If you are pleasantly housed and comfortably clad; if kind friends sit with you round the Christmas hearth, and with you enjoy the good things of life, let your hearts go forth in kindly sympathy for those who are shivering around some cheerless fireside, or wan dering amid the cold winds of this wintry season, without home or friends. Os your abundance, dis tribute to the destitute —denying yourself some luxury that you may administer to those who are deprived of even the necessaries of life. Remem ber the beautiful words of the poem, printed else where : “ All have to spare, none are too poor, When want with winter comes — The loaf is never all your oivn.” And what you give, give cheerfully. “ The Lord loveth a cheerful giver.” “He that giveth to the poor, lendeth to the Lord.” Remember these things, little readers, as you gather around your firesides on Christmas-eve, and let the hearts of the poor and destitute be made glad around you. You will find that in proportion as you make others happy, you will be happy yourselves. “ Then, on this holy festival When Christ a child was born, Let kindly gifts, and deeds of love, This natal day adorn. “ And now, God’s blessing we invoke On all, both far and near ; A ‘ M>'rry Christmas’ still be yours, And many a ‘ happy year.’ ” Remit Promptly. tLL six months subscribers, who began with the first issue, are reminded that their subscriptions expire with the next number. Our rules require cash in ad- vance, and we shall be compelled to erase the names of all who do not remit the amount due by the close of the year. We trust that all of them will renew in good time, so as to obviate the necessity of erasing their names and entering them again. ames may be added to clubs at any time during the year, at the regular club rates. The Magic Square. LIT O'E have received quite a number of let, 1 ters explanatory of the manner of form ing T the Magic S< l uare > fir st published IpAA in No. 16 of the Weekly; but none of Wi them seem to have read carefully the ° remarks which accompanied the Square in that paper. The offer of Towne’s Mathemati cal Course was to any subscriber of Burke’s Weekly who would, within six months, send “an intelligible account of the manner of constructing the Square, as discovered by himself.” And it is specially required that the explanation shall “ be such as will enable the reader to construct the Square without referring to the one already made.' 1 ' 1 Now, not one of the explanations sent in to us comes up to this requirement. A mere descrip tion of how this particular Square is formed is not what is required, but the ride for forming it, by the use of which a person who never saw the Ma gic Square can form one. Before you send us the rule, give it to someone who never saw the Magic Square, and if, by its use, he or she is able to con struct a Square, you may then send it to us with the expectation of its being correct. But unless the rule will stand this test, it cannot entitle the sender to the books. We have five different processes for making Magic Squares, which have never been published. Unless all parties “give up,” we shall withhold their publication until the end of the six months; but will print them sooner if w r e feel convinced that no one is likely to send us a correct pro cess, or if any considerable number of persons re quest it. A New Book. j are indebted to the author for a copy T'l' : I'i of “ A Manual of Prose Composition: for the use of Colleges and Schools,” by Rev. John M. Bonnell, I). D., Pres ident of Wesleyan Female College, Ma con, Ga. J. P. Morton & Cos., Louis ville, Ivy., publishers. We doubt if a better man than Dr. Bonnell could have been selected for the preparation of such a book. A ripe scholar and a successful teacher, he knows just what is needed, and has done his work in a manner which will commend his hook to teachers and parents. He assumes that the art of composition is a proper study for the child trom the very beginning of its educational course, and should be regularly followed up to the day of graduation. We can most heartily com mend this book to such of our little readers as de sire to learn to write correctly, and who among them does not ? We will send it, postage prepaid) for $1 60. A Christmas Story. W r E have received, too late for this issue, a pretty little stoi*y, from Miss Clara LeClekc, which will appear next week. Quarterly Parts. There has been some delay recently in sending the back numbers to new subscribers, because we were out of Quarterly Parts and could get none put up. We shall send all forward now in a day or tw-o. Remember that clubs need not all go f° the same post office, or to the same State. Get them where you can.