Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1828-12-17

dren between the ages Of six or seven and fhir-
teen or fourteen wears. We will not pretend
to DO profoundly skilled in j~uenville literature,
and TO know all the excellent little books OF
this description, and cannot say how many
others there may DO as good as tho Mirrcr, or
better, but Of this w are certain that these
stories and dialogues, as far as we have read
thcm-and we have gone through about half
Of the volume : are most admirably written.
The style is sprighlly, easy, simple, and cor
rect, and worthy TO be initiated by many OF
our authors, who are a, great pains to write in
much worxc language for grown people. Tho
narration is fucnt. never hesitating for want
Of incident. The descriptions are graphical,
and place the actors and scenes distinctly be-
fore the reader. The characters and situa-
tions are well chosen; manners skilfully por-
Ltrayed, and The moral of each tale, at the same
time. without being t~cdiously inculcated, is
happily illustrated, and worth illustrating. We
will extract q part Of one Of the stories as the
best way Of giving tho character Of the book
THE SNOW STORM.
In a remote part Of the state of Mary
land lived Hannah Wilson, the widow
oc a poor labouring man. = Her habita-
ton Was a small log house, containing
only one room down stairs, and a loft
above, to which The only ascess was by
a ladder. Of this loft no use could be
made, as the roof was so much ~decayeG
and the shingles so broken, that in bad
we ather it was either deluged with rain
or hcapcd with snow. The house stood
entirely alone on a bleak common, near
Iy q mile from any other dwelling.
Hannah W,lsoa was what is called a
good-na,ured, good-hearted woman; but
she was too fond Of talking, and of pay
ing long visits, which arc great faults in
people who arc obliged to work hard
Tor their living. She supported herself
and her three children by taking in sew
ing, and was considered, a good tailor
ess, being very clever at making jackets
and trousers, and she occasionally at
tempted a homespun cloth cloat.
Still she fouad it very hard to live.
Her children we're all girls, and one of
them were old enough to assist her. II
is true that the owner Of her littlc hut al
lowed her to live in it rcnt-free, and she
had a small piece of ground for a gar
den; but not having much time to attend
10 it, it was always overgrown with weeds
and never produced enough Of potatoes
to last half through the winter. She
once had a COW, which she was obliged
to sell, to pay the expenses of her nus
bands, long illness and his burying, so
that she aud her children lived very poor
ly and miserably. They had but one
bed, in which the whole family slept,
except the youngest child, which lay in
an old broken cradle.
They had got nearly through a long,
cold winter, during which time they had
lived chiefly or Indian bread, and a very
little salt pork, and now and then a
coarse pie, made Of dried apples, with a
crust Of rye meal mixed with the skim
mings Of the pot. But now all their APP
pies were gone, and they had had no
pies for "a fortnight.
One afternoon, tho mother, having
Just finished a coat she had been making
for a farmer who lived about three miles
off: determined to carry it home, and to
take with her a bag which she knew she
should have no difficulty in getting filed
with dried apples. The day was cloudy
and severely cold. Tho ground was
frozen hard, and all the creeks and runs
were. covered with thick ice. Hannah
had a large drab-colourcd cloth cloack,
which was generally used as n covering
for tho cradle. This she put on, and
telling her children to sit close by the
fire aud try 10 keep themselves warm
till her return, she sat out with her work
aad her bag, promising to be back long
before night.
She walked on very fast, but the wea-
Their was so severe that she was almost
stiff with cold by the time she arrived at
David Martins. There she found a
comfortable, warm room, and an excel
lent fire Of blazing hickory logs. The
women Of the family, having finished
their winters spinning, were all enga-
ged in making patchwork. Margaret
Martin, the mistress of the house, insis-
ted on resigning to Hannah her own
chair in the corner, and told one Of the
girls to prepare a bowl Of mulled ci-
der.
After Hannah had thrown Other cloak
and thawed her almost frozen fingers,
she began to examine and admire the
patchwork, which Margaret and her
daughters we're making. She then COM
menced talking of all the various Ways
Of arranging patches in squares diamonds
waves and stars, and gave her opinion
OF cach.-She told several anecdotes Of
cuttings that she bad attended when a