I occasionally meet people who say to me, “I had many a pleasant hour, in my childhood, reading your Juvenile Miscellany; and now I am enjoying it over again, with my own little folks.”

Such remarks remind me that I have been a long time in the world; but if a few acknowledge me as the household friend of two generations, it is a pleasant assurance that I have not lived altogether in vain.

When I was myself near the fairy-land of childhood, I used my pen for the pleasure of children; and now that I am travelling down the hill I was then ascending, I would fain give some words of consolation and cheer to my companions on the way. If the rays of my morning have helped to germinate seeds that ripened into flowers and fruit, I am grateful to Him, from whom all light and warmth proceeds. And now I reverently ask His blessing on this attempt to imitate, in my humble way, the setting rays of that great luminary, which throws cheerful gleams into so many lonely old homes, which kindles golden fires on trees whose foliage is falling, and lights up the silvered heads on which it rests with a glory that reminds one of immortal crowns.

L. MARIA CHILD.

CONTENTS.

Page
The FriendsL. M. Child[1]
The Good Old GrandmotherAnonymous[37]
The Consolations of AgeZschokke[39]
The Old Man DreamsO. W. Holmes[44]
A Russian Lady [46]
The Old Man’s SongAnonymous[51]
The Twenty-seventh of MarchW. C. Bryant[52]
A Christmas Story for GrandfatherCharles Dickens[53]
John Anderson, my JoRobert Burns[60]
Old Folks at HomeL. M. Child[61]
Everlasting YouthEdmund H. Sears[62]
LifeMrs. Barbauld[68]
The Mysterious PilgrimageL. M. Child[69]
The Happiest TimeEliza Cook[81]
Ode of Anacreon [84]
Cicero’s Essay on Old Age [85]
The FountainW. Wordsworth[98]
A Poet’s BlessingUhland[101]
Bernard Palissy [102]
Old Age ComingElizabeth Hamilton[123]
Unmarried WomenL. M. Child[127]
The Old Maid’s PrayerMrs. Tighe[144]
Grandfather’s ReverieTheodore Parker[146]
The House in the MeadowLouise C. Moulton[149]
A Story of St. Mark’s EveThomas Hood[152]
What the Old Woman SaidAnonymous[161]
The Spring JourneyHeber[163]
Moral HintsL. M. Child[164]
The BoysO. W. Holmes[184]
Ode of Anacreon [185]
Mysteriousness of LifeMountford[186]
The Grandmother’s ApologyAlfred Tennyson[189]
The Ancient ManJ. P. Richter[193]
Milton’s Hymn of PatienceElizabeth L. Howell[210]
Letter from an Old WomanL. M. Child[212]
Bright Days in WinterJohn G. Whittier[223]
The Canary BirdJohn Sterling[224]
Old BachelorsL. M. Child[225]
Taking it EasyG. H. Clark[238]
Old AuntyAnonymous[241]
Richard and KateRobert Bloomfield[250]
Ludovico Cornaro [256]
Robin and JeannieDora Greenwell[271]
A Good Old AgeMountford[273]
My PsalmJohn G. Whittier[276]
John Henry von Dannecker [279]
The Kitten and Falling LeavesW. Wordsworth[290]
Dr. Doddridge’s Dream [292]
The Old Psalm-TuneHarriet B. Stowe[297]
The Lost Books of Livy [300]
To One who wished me Sixteen Years OldAlice Cary[322]
Growing OldDinah Muloch[324]
EquinoctialMrs. A.D.T. Whitney[334]
Epitaph on the UnmatedE. S.[335]
A Beautiful ThoughtConvers Francis[336]
At AnchorAnonymous[339]
NovemberH. W. Beecher[341]
Meditations on a Birthday EveJohn Pierpont[343]
The Grandmother of SlavesH. J.[346]
Auld Lang SyneRobert Burns[362]
Old Folks at HomeL. M. Child[363]
Old Uncle TommyM. S.[364]
Sitting in the SunAnonymous[377]
Aunt KindlyTheodore Parker[379]
Crossing OverUhland[383]
A Love Affair at CranfordMrs. Gaskell[385]
To My WifeAnonymous[408]
The Evergreen of our FeelingsJ. P. Richter[410]
Our Secret DrawerAnonymous[414]
The Golden WeddingF. A. Bremer[416]
The Worn Wedding RingW. C. Bennett[424]
Hints about HealthL. M. Child[427]
The Invalid’s PrayerWesley[440]
The Old Pastor and his SonJ. P. Richter[441]
Rest at EveningAdelaide A. Procter[454]