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■'1 i' A Clerical Episode. “Ik’a a very disagreeable duty,” thought the Bef. Hr. Thornton, as he entered lbs. Mspon’s parlor, “ but as I’ve been thoughtless enough to make the promise, there's no way of avoiding it” Mr. Thomtoh was a young and rather handsome! gentleman, whose thorough earnestness and sincerity, joined to a fair share of mental ability and a very large amount of kind-heart- edners, bad made him extremely popu lar with the people of the country town in which ho wa3 located, and with no one more so than with the lady whoso house‘he had just entered, she con sidered him almost perfect, and would have been deeply insulted if the had heard anyone rashly calling in question the soundness of his judgment on any subject. On tho present occasion he had come to fulfill a promise to her that he would call and have an inter view with her nieoe, Hiss Hattie Hal lowed, who waa spending a few weeks at her house. Miss Hallowed was one of the reign ing belles of a neighboring oity, and her manner toward gentlemen, though not actually unlady-like, was far too free and unconstrained to suit her aunt’s old-fashioned and rather narrow minded ideas of propriety, and the lat ter had begged her minister to give the S mug lady some wholesome advice on te subject. After promising to com ply, Mr. Thornton had become more and more consoious that he had placed himself in a very awkward position, and that the only result likely to ensue from this undertaking to advise Miss Hadowell was a groat deal of displeas ure on her part. And though unwilling to give way to what he feared might be a mere want of moral courage, he was a good deal embarrassed when the time came for the duty to be performed. His embarrassment was by no means lessened when Miss Hadowell came into the room, looking really lovely in her handsome, dark-blue morning-dress, which enhanced, by contrast, the brightness of her blonde complexion and beautiful light hair. The truth was, sho had made up her mind some days before that the minister was “ the only civilized man in the whole stupid little town,” and had taken some pains that morning to appear at her best be fore him. She greeted him very cordially, and, as he notieed how frank and pleasant her manner really was, he was troubled by a stid greater uneasiness about lec turing her on that point. Bnt after some preliminary conversation—during which she noticed that he was very nervous and ill at ease—he made a de termined effort to get through with his disagreeable task. "Miss Hollowed," he said, "lam sure yon know what a high regard I feel for you, and how very muoh inter ested I have beoome in you since you have been here.” “ I’m very glad, indeed, that yon like me eo much, Mr. Thornton,” she an swered, with a charming smile. He fonnd it impossible to say any thing more at first, and there was an awkward pause. Then, under a sense that something most be said, and not knowing exaotly what it was to be, h$ went on in a strain that was rather stronger than tho faots of the ease warranted. "Ifeel as if I were more than a friend to you,” he said. “Indeed, I haven’t seen anybody for a long time who excited my interest as yon have done.” Here there was another pause, during which he became more embarrassed than ever, while his companion began to entertain a oertain idea about his meaning. "I want to ask you something,” he said finally, in a hesitating way, “ I’m afraid you’ll think it very strange in me to say such & thing to you when I've only known you a few weeks; but I think yon will—I moan, I hope ” Here he came to a dead stop and was entirely at a Iobb how to go on. Bat before he oould pat an end to his hesitation the lady herself suddenly brought matters to a climax in a way that put a very different aspect on the affair. “Mr. Thornton,” she said, with a manpat in which kind feeling was com bined with decisive firmness, “ I think * yon want to say to me, >will be better to stop u say it, I believe yon > ask me to many yon. I can always esteem and honor yon very much: but it would be impossible for me to be more, than your fnend, even if I wished to, for I’ll toll you frankly that I’m engaged to some one else.” If Miss Hauowell had suddenly spo ken to him in pure Sanecript or the choicest Iroquois, Mr. Thornton oould not have been more astounded. He sat for a few moments in silent amazement. But the utter ridiculousness of the thing’soon came to him in its foil force, and, without any premonitory symp toms, he fell into a violent paroxysm ol laughter. His efforts to control him self were quite useless, and one or two faint attempts which ho made to speak were instantly smothered in a fresh outburst. Miss Hallowell’s astonishment was, at first, as great as his had been. She, too, soon recovered from that feeling ; bnt, instead of being succeeded by mirtb, it was followed, in her case, by a passionate fit of anger. With a look of ineffable scorn sho got up, walked out of the parlor, and went straight to her own room, Mr. Thornton left the house feeling tumble to make any ex planation at that time. In the mean time Miss Hallowell indulged in numer ous rather wild plans for being revenged npon the man who, she thought, bad treated her so shamefully in return lor her consideration and kindness. Bnt at last she found relief in a flood of tears, and soon afterward was half-in clined to laugh at the whole affair her self. She returned to the oity a few days after this little episode; and one morn ing, when she had been at home nearly a week, she received the following note: Erculaneuu, Jan, 2, 1873. My Dear Miss Hallowell — I hardly know how to apologize for what nHist'have seemed to you the most outrageous rudeness. But as the exact truth of the matter is all that can afford any oxeuso for mo, I will give it at once. I called that morning at Mrs. Mason's request, having promised her to give you some advice about your manner to g lemon: and feeling, after the promise was made, that you could hardly fail to consider such action very offi cious and unwarrantable, I was awkward and embarrassed, and conducted myself in a way whioh led to 'he voty natural mistake you made. I bog you to believe that I am heartily sorry for having acted so foolishly throughout, and hope you will not refuse to number among your friends your sincere well-wisher. ■ Alan Thornton. Miss Hallowell’H reply was an invita tion to her wedding.— Hearth and Home. Natural Resources of Egypt. Egypt has but a single natnral re source—the Nile. There is no other river in the country; nor has this one a branoh or affluent between its mouth and the Nubian desert. Besides the almost shelterless date-palms, there are no palms, tho few wooded parks planted by order of MehemetAli, the ornamental trees of the cities, of whioh Cairo and its suburbs contain forty thousand, and tho mulberry trees raisedfor silk-worms, Bcoreely deserving to be mentioned in this connection. There is little or no rain, the agrionltnre j of the country depending almost entirely upon the ir rigating canals connected with the Nile. Egypt proper consists of Lower, Mid dle, and Upper Egypt. It contains 160,866,500 acres of area, and a popula tion, in 1871, of 5,203,405. The arable area of Egypt is confined substantially to the innncfable portion of the Valley of the Nile. As the river olosely hugs the hills and palisades on its right bulk, this area is nearly altogether on the left. In some places the arable lands are eleven miles wide; in others they dwindle to a mere strip of bank. For the most part, however, this area extends westward from the river abont five to eight miles, where it is termin ated by the Libyan hills and desert. Every year it is extended by the rise of the nver upon its own bed. This rise was found to be, at the close of the last ceuluiy, 4,960 inches per century. If the eelimaUft worked by the khedive and his relatives, or the nobies oi his court, be deduokd, there will not re main in Egypt over one-half an ocro of arable land to eaoh person; and even if the land cultivated at present were divided equally among all, there would still be not over nine-tenths of an acre G r capita. Imagine how small most the portion of an Egyptian laborer who, if all the food products of that land were kept at home instead of be ing shipped abroad, as a large portion of them are, would still possess but one-seventh the heritage of an American or Englishman, and bnt one-fourth that of a Frenchman I v 'Iff ' Carlyle’s Opinion; Carlyle’s papers on “ The Early Kings of Norway " came to an end in the March Fraser, and closed with the fol lowing arrow direct to the heart of his imaginary America; . j. “ The history of thdse Haarfagrs has awakened in me many thoughts of des potism and democracy, arbitrary gov ernment by one, and * self-government (which means no government, or anar chy) by all; of dictatorship with many faults, and universal suffrage vrith little possibility of any virtue. 'Fqjrthe con trast between Olaf Tryggvssen and a universal-suffrage parliament or an ‘im perial’ copper captain has, in these nine centuries, grown to be very great. And the eternal Providence that guides all this, and, produces alike these entities with their epochs, is not its coarse still through the great deep ? Poes not it still speak to as, if we have ears? Heie, clothed in stormy enough passions and instincts, unconscious of any aim but their own satisfaction, is the blessed beginning of hnman order, regulation, and real government; (here, clothed in a highly different but again suitable garniture of passions, instincts, and equally un conscious as to real aim, is the accursed- looking ending (temporary ending) of order, regulation, and government— very dismal to the sane onlooker for the time being; not dismal to him otherwise, hiB hope, too, being stead fast ! But here at any rate, in this poor Norse theater,-one looks with in terest on the first transformation, so mysterious and abstruse, of hnman chaos into something of artieulate cos mos ; witnesses the wild and otrauge birth-pangs of human society, and re flects that without something similar (litle as men except such now), no cos mos of human society ever was got into existence, nor enn ever again be. “The violences, fightings, crimes— ah, yes, these seldom fail, and they are very lamentable. But always, too, among those old populations, there was one saving element; the now want of which, especially the unlamented want, transcends all lamentation. Here is one of these strange, piercing, winged- words of Buskin, which has in it a ter rible truth for us in these epochs now oome: “ * My friends, the follies of modern liberalism, many great though they be, are practically summed iu this denial or neglect of the quality and intrinsic valne of thinge. Its rectangular be atitudes, and spherioal benevolences— theology of universal indulgence, and jurisprudence which will hang no rogues, mean one and all of them, in the root, incapacity, of discerning, or refusal to discern, worth and unworth m anything, and, least of all, in man ; whereas nature and heaven command yon, at yonr peril, to discern worth from nnworth In everything, and mest of all in man. Your main problem is that ancient and trite one, “Who is best man? ” and the fates forgive much —forgive the fiercest, wildest, oruelest experiments—if fairly made for the de termination of that. Theft and blood- guiltiness are not pleasing in their sight; yet, the favoring powers of the spiritual and material world will con firm to your stolen goods, and their noblest voioes applaud the lifting of your spear, and rehearse the sculpture of your shield, if only your robbing and slaying have been in fair arbitra ment of that question, “ Who is best man ? ” Bnt it you refuse inquiry, and maintain every man for his neighbor’s match—if yon give vote to the simple and liberty to the vile, the powers of those spiritual and material worlds in dne time present yon inevitably with the same problem, soluble now only wrong side upward ; aud your robbing and slaying mast be done then to find out “ Who is worst man? ” Whidh in so wide an order is merit, is, indeed, not easy; but u complete Tammany risg^snd lowest circle in the Inferno oi worst, you are sure to uuu, uuu to be governed by,’ ” A bed-hot meteor fell near West Liberty, in the eastern part of Iowa, on the 12 ult., sinking fifteen feet into the ground, and making a hole ten feet in diameter. For hours it continued to spit forth flames, crackle, spatter and smoke, and occasionally discharge can- non-like reports, to the infinite tenor of the people in the vicinity. None dared approach while the miniature volcano continued in action, but with the cessation of life hundreds gathered round to investigate the wonder. Pure Expression. Every word that falls from the lips of mothers and sisters especially should be pure aud eoneise and simple; not pearls suoh as fall from the lips of a S nnceEs, but sweet, good words, that ttle children can gather without fear of soil, or any regret to pain through all their life. Children should be tanght the frequent use of good, strong, expres sive words—words that mean exactly what they should express in their prmwr Places. If a child, or yattng person, has a loose flung-together way of strisgmg words when endeavoring to say something, he should be made to “ wy again” and see if he cannot do better. It is painful to hear many girls’ talk. They begin with “ My gracious!” and interlard it with “So sweet!” and “ So queenly 1” and so many phrases, that one is temp’ed to believe they have no training at all, or else their mothers are very, very foolish women. There is nothing more disgusting than the twoddle-of ill-bred girls; one is pro voked often into taking a paper and reading, and letting them ripple and gurgle on, like brooks that flow they know not whither. My heart warms with love for sensible girls and pure boys, and, after all, if our girls and boys ate not this, I fear it is not our own fault—for this great trust rests in the heart and hands of the wamen of our land. If we have a noble, useful purpose in life, we shall infuse the right spirit into those around us. Boston’s Latest Hobbob.—The re markable murder oase which is setting Boston an 1 vicinity in a ferment, scarce ly receives as much attention as it de serves. A beautiful and accomplished woman, Mrs. Margaret Bingham, was murdered at her own house in the day time, and when other persons were near at hand ; but the circumstances of the crime, and the chase and capture of the criminal are uot mat.ers of common notoriety. The murderer was a tramp or beggar; his motive was plunder. He wanted money to satisfy his appetite for drink; he obtained it by killing Mrs. Bingham in her own house and seizing the small articles of jewelry which sue had about her person. He made directly for a drinking-saloon and openly offered his booty for sale. The police were early on the track of the criminal, and he was arrested the third day after the murder. He was identified positively by the saloon-keeper to whom he had offered the jewelry for sale, and on his person was fonnd a penknife belonging to Mrs. Bingham. Modebn Medical Discoyeky.—It is claimed that disease, with a few ex ceptions, has been conquered by the research and intellect of enlightened men; and yet a noted professor of New York admits that “of all sciences, med icine is the most nnoertain,” and that “thousands are annually slaughtered in the sick room.” Certain “schools” of medicine are in existence, one of whioh “makes the patient .ill," in or der to claim a enre; and another ad ministers “sugar-coated bread pills,” relying upon nature to effect her own cores. Dr. J. Walker, of California, an old and respected pnysioian, tried both modes of treatment and both failed. He then appealed to nature’s curative—herbs; and now enjoys rug ged health. He has given the benefit of his discovery to the world, in the shape of Vinegar Bitters, and since its introduction has sold a quantity almost large enough to make a small harbor, or to float the “Great Eas tern.” Its curative properties are at tested by grateful thousands. The art of voicing reeds, the most difficult and important in the manu facture of Cabinet or parlor organs, was invented by Mr. Emmons Ham lin, of tie Mason & Hamlin Organ Co., in^49. It has been universally adopti/ by American acd largely by European makers, bnt none have at tained that high standard of excel lence in it which is reached in the Muson & Hamlin Cabinet Organs. This fact is universally recognized by musicians. ■ * Cheaplllomei in Texas. The Great Tea ,s Beal Estate aud Gold Dis tribution takes d tee 13th of May, when 64.- 000 acres of chol»land in the beet portions of Texas, near the; indple railroads; 15 houses In TTnnatnn Crvtrv alien OA AAA\ ..Ja iuu> . enterprise Houston. 8end rv V Wiuitu I l to J. E. Fosteb, the nuu ^ A vou,A* tUO mill age* at Houston Texas, for a ticket, circuit descriptive pamp eta and maps of Texas. I