ing of the parson is, alas, too often the signal for letting down the pegs of the instrument that before had discoursed the pleasantest sounds in the world; and if its strings are afterward touched, they are sure to jangle inharmoniously.

This broad rule is not without its exceptions. The picture has its bright sides, and the desert its sunny spots. There are thousands of instances, we dare engage, wherein wives forget not the arts or accomplishments that won their husbands; and who, to the latest days of their lives, practise those kindly little attentions, that lose not their charm by repetition. They are jewels of wives, and crowns to their husbands, who, having won, continue the ways of winning, in order to keep the pure flame of early affection constantly burning in the bosoms of their helpmates. Verily they are not without their reward. We never knew continued and undeviating kindness in the wife to go unrecompensed. A peaceful household betokens holiness in the intercourse of its members; and be assured that happiness is there, in as great a degree as humanity can lay claim to, amid the unavoidable vexations which, like the scum of the caldron, boil up full plentifully whenever we have to do with the world. Let there be peace at home," saith the child's book; and that there may be peace around our own fireside,-where, of all places in the world, we should strive most for its maintenance,

-we have only to will it, and it is ours. And most of all doth it rest within the power of the wife to keep her household in good humour, and to make the stream of life run smoothly, by pouring oil upon its troubled

waters.

Among the arts least resorted to by married women to please their husbands, is that of personal attention to dress before appearing at the breakfast-table. The morning meal, of all others, is the dullest; and it is made so by circumstances completely within the control of the one who presides at the table. The men of

America are devoted to business; and unceasing toil and activity in their vocation are characteristics of the people. We will not stop to discuss the question whether, in comparison with other nations, they are deficient in many of the observances which appertain to the enjoyment of the elegances of life, and which, in the present age of refinement, are supposed to contribute to the happiness of mankind. But we were not surely created for business alone,-nor predestined to delve, grubworm-like, at the unvarying labour of hoarding up money;-unless, perchance, the curse attending the invasion of Eden by the wily serpent, and the punishment of the original sin of transgression committed by Adam, be visited upon his American posterity in particular, and they alone should, by any exception, be doomed to earn a hard subsistence by the "sweat of the brow."

There must be hours for relaxation and enjoyment, or we shall become sordid and sinister. The time before the morning meal, and at the breakfast-table, may be converted, with the greatest ease, to the especial purpose of our highest enjoyment, instead of being aimlessly spent in stupidity; or, what is equally bad, in bustling anxiety to be off and about our business, or in a hurry to be mingling with the jostling crowd. Why not begin the day with cheerfulness and equanimity of temper in the midst of our families, instead of postponing our pleasures until the day and its cares are over? Little do some women dream that they are the principal cause of the quick despatch of the morning meal, and the unsatisfactory and often mortifying hurry of their husbands to escape from the duresse of the family circle, before their toast and coffee are well bolted!

It is nothing more nor less than neglect of those little duties about the house-that legitimate empire of woman, and about her person; both of which are

put in the best possible array for the reception of strangers-but, good Lord! what woman cares a pin for her husband in these respects? A littered room-disordered furniture-negligent arrangement of the table-a slouched morning-dress-hair unbraided and uncurledslippers down at heel-a melancholy countenance—uncombed and unwashed children-all these are good enough for him to look at in the morning, and no wonder he is off like a rocket! The wonder is, that he does not go before breakfast, and be somewhat tardy in returning.

The sun never had the They were stirring with out of the way, and all

Now Miriam Coffin and her daughter Ruth were very pinks and patterns of women. start of them in the morning. the lark, and their work was their thrifty dispositions made about the house, before our moderns think of beginning the daily crusade of the broom and the scrubbing-brush. The toilet was made too before breakfast; and when Jethro sat down to partake of his early meal, he found his wife and daughter in all their fresh and blooming looks, and in their clean and becoming attire, ready to sit down with him. The very appearance of his household begat an appetite within him, and gave a zest to the enjoyment of the good things of life. He lingered about his home for the very love of it; and he loved Miriam the more, because she studied to make his home pleasant to him.

Isaac, from the excitement and exhaustion of the previous day, did not appear at table, but confined himself to his room. He had, however, already recovered from his partial mental aberration, and the complete restoration of his bodily health was shortly anticipated. The worst that came of the rencounter with the Indian was a slight illness to himself, and great fright and solicitude on the part of his relatives. As for the Indian, he fared full as well as he deserved; and he was brought to life again by the severe but old-fashioned ceremony of rolling his body upon a barrel, until all the salt water was

ejected from the stomach, and respiration was restored to his lungs. Humane societies, with their well-adapted apparatus, lodged at the corners of streets, near the wharves of maritime towns and cities, for revivifying drowned people, were not as yet constituted. So the Indian underwent a sort of purgatory of existence; and, with a shadowy perspective of an hereafter, he opened his eyes to greet the sun once more, and was thus preserved for a time to fulfil his destiny. Jethro had already made his arrangements with the Selectmen, and Quibby was declared a fit subject for the discipline of the next whale-ship which should depart from the island.

If they dine at meridian at Nantucket, so do they breakfast at a corresponding hour of earliness. Six o'clock, antemeridian, found Jethro and his family surrounding the low, old-fashioned, crooked-legged table; and they were on the point of depositing their bodies in their high-backed settles to attack the provision of the morning, when a knock upon the outer door arrested their further proceedings. Miriam answered the summons, and ushered in "Solomon Lob and his portmantle" in the person of Timothy Grimshaw, esquire, with a small bundle of duds beneath his dexter-arm. Jethro was discomposed at the sight of the lawyer; and Ruth impatiently curled her lip, and bridled up, and scarcely deigned to notice the intruder. Grimshaw could not fail to observe the coolness of his reception; but, feeling confidence in the protection of Miriam, he deposited his bundle in the corner of the room, and made an awkward obeisance to his unwilling host. Miriam hastened to his relief, and bade him welcome. Turning to her hus

band, she said,

"I have invited friend Grimshaw to take up his abode with us for a season, not doubting that thou wouldst be pleased to extend the same civility, seeing that he is a stranger among us." Without waiting for the answer of Jethro, she placed a chair for the new-comer at the table, and requested him to be seated. The breakfast

proceeded in silence, relieved only by the occasional attempts of Miriam to put her visiter at ease. But not a solitary compliment did Jethro bestow; and Ruth was resolutely and deeply engaged in every thing else but ministering to the comforts of the man whom she cordially disliked.

"Ruth," said Miriam, "help thy friend to the buttered cakes; Jethro, the cold mutton is before thee; why dost thou not put a slice upon thy neighbour's plate ?"

"The custom of my house, thou knowest full well, Miriam, is for everybody to help himself. I am not given to urge visiters to eat; but our provision is spread out, and he is welcome to help himself."

Jethro, like the Southern Nullifier, threw himself upon his "reserved rights," and would not lift a finger at the hint or bidding of Miriam. Had it been anybody but the lawyer, his plate would have been piled up before he could have well seated himself at the table. Miriam, however, did her best to dispense the hospitalities in a creditable manner; while Ruth, with mischievous intent, became all at once exceedingly "helpful," and contrived to draw a circumvallation of edibles around the plate of Grimshaw, until he was fairly flanked by breastworks of toast, and rolls, and meats, and sweetcake. He looked up in doubt and wonder, as dish after dish came to his aid; but Miriam regarded her daughter with an eye of reproof.

"Let those laugh who win," said Grimshaw to himself; "there are some folks who will tire of officious insincerity before I, Timothy Grimshaw, shall get weary of good provender. I am too well backed here by the woman, to fear a continuance of the hostility of the other members of the family."

The breakfast over, Jethro hurried from his home without the ceremony of leave-taking. He was thenceforth vexed, he scarcely knew why, at the presence of his visiter, whom his wife had evidently taken under her patronage. Jethro was unaccountably harassed in his