CHRISTMAS, 1878. FESTIVE, merry Christmas Day, Crowned with wreath and holly spray, Now is here! And its presence well may fill Every heart with joyous thrill, Once a year. Hailed in sunshine or in storm, In the cottage, in the hall, 'Tis the time when passions cease, "T is the reign on earth of peace And good-will; And the angelic voice of old, 'Tis no time for gloomy thought; Selfish care should be forgot For a while. Every heart should now be light, Every countenance be bright With a smile. Raise aloft the Christmas-tree, Sacred to the family; For 't will bear Fruits of happiness and joy For each little girl and boy, Many a year. Let its branches, spreading wide, Many a precious present hide. Do not spare! For such fruit will ne'er decay, But, when gathered, will repay All your care. Let the stockings still be hung Santa Claus, whose generous hand Certain, sure. Amply fill the festive board! Christmas Day may well afford Goodly cheer. But remember well the poor; In your basket and your store Let them share. Thus may merry Christmas bring And each memory be bright AN ANECDOTE OF SIR ISAAC NEWTON. -The house which Newton occupied, on the south side of Leicester Square, in London, is still standing, and his observatory is still shown to visitors. When he took up his residence there, his next-door neighbor was a widow lady who was much puzzled by the little she had observed of the philosopher. One of the Fellows of the Royal Society of London called upon her one day, when, among other domestic news, she mentioned that some one had come to reside in the adjoining house, who, she felt certain, was a poor crazy gentleman, "because," she continued, "he diverts himself in the oddest ways imaginable. Every morning, when the sun shines so brightly that we are obliged to draw the window-blinds, he takes his seat in front of a tub of soap-suds and occupies himself for hours in blowing soap-bubbles through a common clay pipe, and intently watches them till they burst. He is doubtless now at his favorite amusement," she added; "do come and look at him." The gentleman smiled, and then went up stairs, when, after looking through the window into the adjoining yard, he turned round and said, "My dear madam, the person whom you suppose to be a lunatic is no other than the great Sir Isaac Newton, studying the refraction of light upon thin plates, - a phenomenon which is beautifully exhibited upon the surface of the common soap-bubble." MRS. STONE'S MUNIFICENCE. MENTION has been made at various times during the past two years of the generous public gifts of Mrs. Valeria G. Stone, of Malden. These have reached their limit, and present a total of nearly $1,800,000. This limit is defined by the fact that the estate of the donor's late husband, Daniel P. Stone, which amounted to upwards of $2,000,000, has now been fully distributed, excepting such comparatively small reservation as Mrs. Stone has made for her own support. Mr. Stone was a retired Boston merchant, who died at the age of eighty years, at Malden, Aug. 14, 1878. He was born in Topsham, Me., and in early life was engaged in the retail dry-goods business in Brunswick in the same State. About the year 1825 he removed to Boston and established a drygoods jobbing trade, his store being on Kilby Street. The firm at first was Bartlett and Stone, and later D. P. Stone and Co. and Stone and Page. Mr. Stone retired from business about the year 1850 with a handsome property, which by shrewd and cautious investment gradually swelled to the sum already indicated, $2,000,000 and upward. The maiden name of Mrs. Stone was Goodenow, and she is a sister of the late Judge Goodenow of Alfred, Me. Some time prior to his decease the matter of the distribution of this large estate was agreed upon by the two in this way, that it should be distributed "to educational, charitable, or benevolent institutions, causes, or objects." In case he should survive he would so dispose of it, and in case he should not it would, by the terms of his will, come into her full possession, and she in like manner was to see to its distribution. They had no children. The will provided for some bequests to relatives, but so far as the residue and great bulk of the property is concerned, did not impose any restrictions upon her, so that the gifts are practically hers, she having legally the full disposition of this residue. To this end, the minor bequests having been met, the property was placed in the hands of three trustees, Rev. W. H. Willcox, D.D., Philip S. Page, and Isaac M. Cutler. The following is a statement of the several donations made: To Andover Seminary, Professorship of the relations of Christianity to the Secular Sciences. . Amherst College, Stone Professorship of Biology. American Missionary Association, for Institutions at Nashville, Atlanta, Talladega, Tougaloo, and New Orleans. Bowdoin College, Professorship of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, and to finish Memorial Hall.. Carleton College, Northfield, Minn. Andover Theological Seminary (additional). Woman's Board for Armenia College, Turkey Young Men's Christian Association, Boston, toward a new Building. $53,000 50,000 150,000 75,000 10,000 53,000 35,000 55,750 10,000 10,000 Professor 30,000 22,500 50,000 100,000 110,000 25,000 25,000 600,000 150,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 10,000 20,000 20,000 25,000 10,000 12,500 15,000 20,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 2,500 2,500 1,000 1,000 To Relations and Friends, about. Doane College, Crete, Neb. Boston City Missionary Society. Boston North End Mission. 1 292 THE ROSE AND THE RING. BY FREDERICK LOCKER. A very pretty specimen of Mr. Locker's poems is the one on Mr. Thackeray's story of "The Rose and the Ring." It seems that in the winter of 1854 Mr. Thackeray wrote this story in Rome, and brought it chapter by chapter to read to the daughter of Mr. William W. Story (the sculptor), who was then recovering from a severe illness. When it was published, Mr. Thackeray sent the child a copy of the book, with one of his own caricatures of himself in the act of presenting her with the work. On this Mr. Locker has written as follows: SHE smiles, but her heart is sable, He penned for her while she was ill. And when it was printed, and gaining She will study the Rose and the Ring. It pleased the kind Wizard to send her For innocent women and boys. She reads, I may vainly endeavor. Her mirth-checkered grief to pursue ; For she hears she has lost and forever A heart that was known by so few. But I wish on the shrine of his glory One fair little blossom to fling; And you see there's a nice little story Attached to the Rose and the Ring! JOHN MACKAY'S GRASSHOPPER BET. [From the Carson (Neavda) Appeal.] SOME weeks ago John Mackay was sitting in the Gould and Currie office, reading about the "Jumping Frog of Calaveras," when an idea struck him that some sort of trick like that would be a splendid thing to ring in on Maurice Hoeflich, the mining expert. Hoeflich is around the office a good deal, and whenever he takes a lunch with Mackay he is sure to get in some sort of dispute and offer a bet. Mackay does n't like betting, and frowns it down, unless he thinks people are trying to bluff him. At last he determined to cure Hoeflich of his habit, and find where the weak spot in his armor lay. One day he saw Hoeflich on the stoop playing with an enormous grasshopper, which he was teaching to jump. Hoeflich's grasshopper could jump twenty-three feet, and it was not long before he remarked to Mackay: "I'll bet you two dollars dot you can't find a hinsect to peet him!" Mackay bet ten dollars that he could beat it, and Hoeflich raised it to twenty at once. The bet was closed at these figures, and Mackay said he would have the hopper there in a day or so. He then sent a trusted emissary down to Carson Valley to secure a contestant for the winged steed of Hoeflich. The man spent nearly a week roaming in Carson Valley catching hoppers. He finally sent an official report to Mackay, stating that he had caught over three thousand grasshoppers and put them through their paces. The best gait any of them had was seventeen and three-quarters feet. He doubted if a bigger jumper could be secured. On receipt of the letter the bonanza prince telegraphed to the man to bring him up anyway. The next day he arrived with about a dozen hoppers from Farmer Treadway's, and Mr. Mackay gave them quarters in his room as Vanderbilt would stable his stud. Each hopper had a cigar-box to himself, and every morning they were taken out and put through their paces. It was impossible, however, to get one to jump over eighteen feet, although all sorts of invigorating food was given them. Mr. Mackay was in despair; but one morning a hopper sniffed at a bottle of ammonia on the table, and immediately jumped thirty feet. After making a few experiments, it was found that one whiff of ammonia so enlivened the hoppers that they could make jumps that were almost incredible. Next day Mackay announced to Hoeflich that he was ready for the match. The expert was ready at nine o'clock, an hour before the time, with his pet hopper. Not finding Mr. Mackay in, he sat down in his study, and there noticed the bottle of ammonia. While he was examining it, Bridget, the old and faithful domestic of the Gould and Currie firm, came in with, "Don't be techin' that numonia, Mr. Hoeflich. It's to make Mr. Mackay's hoppers sprightly. Bedad, I belave, by the robes of St. Patrick, he's out of his senses since the pump broke at the north ind." Hoeflich pumped the domestic, and soon knew all about Mackay's game. A light broke upon Hoeflich; grabbing the bottle, he rushed up the street to Perkin's drug-store, threw away the ammonia, and ordered it to be filled with chloroform. In ten minutes he was back, and leaving the bottle where he found it, got out of the place as fast as he could. Mackay soon arrived with half-a-dozen mining superintendents whom he had invited. up to see him have some fun with Hoeflich. They were hardly seated, when Hoeflich came in with the hopper in a cigar-box under his arm. "I vas a leetle late, Mr. Mackay, but I'm here mid der hopper and der coin." He laid down the money, which was covered promptly. "Any one else to ped?" John Stewart laid down a hundred dollars. John Kelly put up fifty dollars. Warren Sheridan stepped in for two hundred dollars. Hank Smith wanted a like amount. "Dar's no limits to de bets, gentlemen, de coin spheaks." Nearly every man doubled his bet, and then Mackay got behind Sam Jones and let his hopper sniff of the ammonia bottle which held Hoeflich's chloroform. Time being called, the hoppers were placed side by side on the piazza, and at the word "go" each insect was touched on the back with a straw. Hoeflich's grasshopper described a semicircle in the air, and scored twenty-four feet. Mackay's gave a lazy lurch of some four inches, and, folding its legs across its stomach, fell fast asleep. Jones swore that he could hear it snore. Hoeflich walked back into the room, swept the coin into a canvas sack, and Mackay wrote out an order for stock; and Hoeflich went up the street with his hopper under his arm, leaving the others too astonished to speak. Presently Sheridan put the ammonia bottle to his nose, and called Mackay's attention to the smell. "Chloroform, by gracious!" Then the Milesian woman who was the cause of all the mischief appearing with a broom, announced that it was "swapin' time," and the crowd dispersed, each going in different directions. A WONDERFUL CLOCK. A GERMAN of Cincinnati has made a clock which, though much smaller than the celebrated one of Strasburg, is, from its description, much more complicated. It is now on exhibition in one of the windows of a jewelry store, and attracts much attention. The inventor calls it "Die Lebensuhr," clock of life. The elaborateness of its mechanism may be imagined from the following description of the wonder : We see in a glass case a three-storied, steeple-shaped clock, four feet wide at the first story, and nine feet high. The movements are placed on four delicate columns in the first story, which is in the significant form of a beehive. Behind the pendulum there is a picture representing mature Manhood, -a countryman behind his plough. The four corners are carved, and represent the four periods of life, Infancy, Youth, Manhood, and Old Age. The space to the right and left of the clock is ornamented with two oil-paintings representing the Springtime of life (children playing in the garden), and the Autumn or the end of life (grave-diggers in a cemetery). The second story consists of two towerlike pieces, on the doors of which there are two pictures that represent Booyhood and early Manhood. In the one, a boy is just pushing his little bark away from the shore. He stands upright in the boat, and points to the distance; he is about to begin life, "to paddle his own canoe." In the other, a young man who has already made some progress in the journey of life enters a room in which there is an hour-glass that reminds him of the fleetness of time. On this story there are three guardian angels. A majestic tower crowns, as third story, the ingenious structure. A cock, as a symbol of watchfulness, stands on the top, directly over the portal which opens the tower in front. On this portal there is a painting which represents the perishableness of earthly things. The entire structure is in appearance very like an old Gothic castle. Now let us see if we can describe the mechanical action of the clock. When it marks the first quarter, the door of the left piece of the second story opens, and we see a child issue from the background, come forward to a little bell, give it one blow, and then disappear. At the second quarter a youth appears, strikes the bell twice, and then disappears; at the third, there comes a man in his prime; and at the fourth we have a tottering old man, leaning on a staff, who strikes the bell four times. Each time the door closes itself. When the hours are full, the door of the right piece of the second story opens, and Death, as a skeleton, scythe in hand, appears and marks the hour by striking a bell. But it is at the twelfth hour that we have the grand spectacle in the representation of the Day of Judgment. Then, when Death has struck three blows on the little bell, the cock on top of the tower suddenly flaps his wings, and crows in a shrill tone; and, after Death has marked the twelfth hour with his hammer, he crows again twice. Immediately three angels, who stand as guardians in a central position, raise their trumpets with their right hands (in the left they hold swords), and blow a blast toward each of the four quarters of the earth. At the last blast the door of the tower opens, and the resurrected children of Earth appear, while the destroying angel sinks out of sight. The multitude stand for a moment full of awe and wonder, when suddenly Christ in all his majesty descends, surrounded by angels. On his left there is an angel who holds the scales of Justice; on his right another carries the Book of Life, which opens to show the Alpha and Omega, — the beginning and the end. Christ waves his hand, and instantly the good among the resurrected are separated from the wicked, the former going to the right, the latter to the left. The Archangel Michael salutes the good, while on the other side stands the Devil, radiant with fiendish delight; he can hardly wait for the final sentence of those who fall to him, but, in obedience to the command of the central figure, he withdraws. The figure of |