WHAT LETTERS SHOULD BE.—Many people, and well-informed people too, sit down to write a letter as if they were about to construct a legal document or government dispatch. Precision, formality, and carefully worded and rounded periods are considered all-essential, even though the epistle be intended for a familiar friend. Others appear to be writing for publication, or for posterity instead of making epistolary communication a simple converse between friends. Away with such labored productions! A letter on business should be brief; to a friend, familiar and easy. We like Hannah More's ideas upon the subject. She used to say: "If I want wisdom, sentiment, or information, I can find them better in books. What I want in a letter is the picture of my friend's mind, and the common sense of his life. I want to know what he is saying and doing; I want him to turn out the inside of his heart to me, without disguise, without appearing better than he is, without writing for a character. I have the same feeling in writing to him. My letter is therefore worth nothing to an indifferent person, but it is of value to the friend who cares for me."
RURAL FELICITY.
When at eve thou sitt'st reclining
By thy quiet cottage door,
And the sun's last rays are shining
On the smooth and polished floor,
Then thy thoughts are blissward tending,
And warm emotions like a flood,
When an urchin softly whispers,