EVERY DAY RELIGION. We must come back to our point, which is, not to urge all of you to give yourselves up to mission work, but to serve God more and more in connection with your daily calling. I have heard that a woman who has a mission makes a poor wife and a bad mother; this is very possible, and at the same time very lamentable; but the mission I would urge is not of this sort. Dirty. rooms, slatternly gowns, and children with unwashed faces are swift witnesses against the sincerity of those who keep others' vineyards and neglect their own. I have no faith in that woman who talks of grace and glory abroad, and uses no soap and water at home. Let the buttons be on the shirts, let the children's socks be mended, let the roast mutton be done to a turn, let the house be as neat as a new pin, and the home be happy as home can be. Serve God by doing common actions in a heavenly spirit, and then, if your daily calling only leaves you cracks and crevices of time, fill these up with holy service. Spurgeon. PLAGUE AND PANIC. One day a traveller met the plague going into Cairo, and accosted it thus: "For what purpose are you entering Cairo?" To kill 3000 people." Some time after the same traveller met the plague again, and said, "But you killed 30,000!" "Nay," replied the plague, "I killed but 3000, PROVERBS. All truths must not be told at all times. A handsaw is a good thing, but not to shave with. A stumble may prevent a fall. Be patient and you shall have patient children. Fair and softly goes far in he who loses a friend loses more; but he a day. He who loses money loses much; who loses his spirits loses all. At a good bargain pause a while. Good words cost nothing, but are worth much. He who says what he likes, hears what he does not like. swung, Nor dim light falling through the pictured pane. There, syllabled by silence, let me hear The still small voice which reached the prophet's ear; Read in my heart a still diviner law Than Israel's leader on his tables saw! There let me strive with each besetting sin, Recall my wandering fancies, and restrain The sore disquiet of a restless brain : And as the path of duty is made plain, May grace be given that I may walk therein; Not like the hireling, for his selfish gain, With backward glances and reluctant tread, Making a merit of his coward dread, But cheerful in the light around me thrown, Walking as one to pleasant service led; Doing God's will as if it were my own, Yet trusting not in mine, but in his FROM THE GREEK OF PYTHAGORAS. Let no soft slumber close mine eyes, Ere I have recollected thrice The train of actions through the day. Where have my feet marked out their way? What have I learnt where'er I've been, What have I done that's worth the doing? Do not be discouraged at your faults; bear with yourself in correcting them, as you would with your neighbor.-Fenelon. BERRYING. On a sunny summer morning, And it happened that I knew, ANSWER TO PUZZLE NO. 2. ANSWER TO RIDDLE. Sledge. CHARADE. Eliza is looking untidy to-day, As she may very often be seen; For my whole on her head though useful may be, Are not ornamental, I ween. Let her twist up my first in my second at night; She should take them all out in the morn; For my whole, though they be pretty well in their way, Ought never at noon to be worn. RIDDLE. My first is a prop, my second is a prop, and my whole is a prop. PUZZLE. Add five strokes to the above and make nine. CONUNDRUMS. What is the difference between a spendthrift and a feather bed? What is that word of five letters from which if you take away two only one remains? What word may be pronounced quicker by adding a syllable to it? What is that which is lengthened by being cut at both ends? ARITHMETICAL QUESTION. (From Farrar's Arithmetical Problems.) The population of London in 1861 was 2,803,034. Suppose the whole population to march out of the city in single file, that each person occupies a space of 21⁄2 feet in the procession, and that the procession moves with a speed of 3 miles an hour, how long a time will be required for the whole population to pass out? GEOMETRICAL PROBLEM. (From Hill's Geometry.) At the foot of a hill which rises at an angle of 179, the top of a tree on the hillside has an angle of elevation equal to 37°. The distance to the foot of the tree is 417 feet. What is the height of the tree? UNITED STATES STAMP DUTIES. AFFIDAVITS, exempt. (Corrected August 1870.) AGREEMENT OR APPRAISEMENT. -Agreement or contract other than those mentioned in this schedule (or any appraisement), for every sheet or piece of paper on which it is written..... .05 If more than one agreement or appruisement is written on one sheet of paper, où each..... .05 Renewal of agreement, same stamp as original instrument. ASSIGNMENT of lease. (See LEASE.) ASSIGNMENT or transfer of mortgage, exempt. .02 ASSIGNMENT or transfer of insurance policy, same stamp as original instrument. BANK CHECKS, DRAFTS, OR ORDERS, for any amount, on any bank, banker, or trust company, at sight or on demand. .02 For amount exceeding $10, on any person other than a bank, banker, or trust company, at sight or on demand... BILL OF EXCHANGE (foreign), or letter of credit, drawn in but payable out of the United States, if drawn singly or otherwise than in a set of three or more same as inland bills of exchange or promissory notes; drawn in sets of three or more, for every bill of each set, where the sum made payable shall not exceed $100, or the equivalent thereof, in any foreign currency. For every additional $100, or fractional part thereof in excess of $100... .02 .02 BILL OF EXCHANGE (inland), draft, BILL OF SALE. - Bills of sale of any ship BONDS, of indemnity, for every $1000, or For the due execution of the duties of any office, Of any description other than such as may be required in legal proceedings, or used in connection with mortgage deeds, and not otherwise charged in this schedule.. Bond of administrator or guardian, where value Personal, for security for payment of money. From $50 to $1000.. Exceeding $1000, for every additional $1000, or fraction... .10 1.00 Certificate of record of a deed, or other instrument in writing, or of the acknowledgment or proof thereof by attesting witnesses, exempt; certificates other than these mentioned. .05 CHARTER PARTY, or any letter or memorandum relating to the charter of any vessel: if the registered tonnage does not exceed one hundred and fifty tons.... From one hundred and fifty to three hundred tous.... 1.00 3.00 From three hundred to six hundred tons....... 5 00 ...10.00 Over six hundred tons... Renewal or transfer of charter, same stamp as original instrument. CIGAR LIGHTS, made in part of wood, wax, glass, paper, or other materials, in parcels or packages containing twenty-five lights or less....... In packages of more than twenty-five and not more than fifty... For every additional twenty-five lights, or fraction......... CONTRACTS. - Broker's note or memorandum of sale of any goods or merchandise, exchange, real estate, or property of any kind or description issued by brokers, or persons acting as such, for each note or memorandum of sale.. (See AGREEMENT.) .01 .02 .01 ...... .10 Bill or memorandum of sale, or contract for sale of stocks, bonds, gold or silver bullion, coin, promissory notes or other securities, when made by brokers, banks, or bankers, requires stamps equal to one cent on every $100, or fraction of $100, of the amount of such sale or contract; when made by a person, firm, or corporation not paying special tax as broker, bank, or banker, and when property is not his or their own, for every $100 of value..... .05 A memorandum of sale or contract must be made by the seller to the buyer, and the stamps affixed thereto. CONVEYANCE OR DEED OF GRANT. 50 05 ENTRY OF GOODS, at Custom House, not exceeding in value $100..... Not exceeding $500... .50 .50 Exceeding $500.. 1.00 For the withdrawal of goods from bonded warehouse.... .50 For wax tapers, double the rates herein imposed upon friction matches. SAUCES, JELLIES, &c. -For and upon every can, bottle, or other single package, containing sauces, sirups, prepared mustard, jams or jellies, contained therein, and packed or sealed, made, prepared, and sold, or offered for sale, or removed for consumption in the United States, on or after the first day of October, 1866, when such can, bot.10 tle, or other single package with its contents, shall not exceed two pounds in weight... .01 .25 For every additional pound or fractional part.. .01 INSURANCE POLICY, on any life or lives, when the amount insured does not exceed $1000... rine surveyor, or person acting as such...... .25 Not exceeding $5000............. Exceeding $5000... 1.00 EXEMPTIONS. No stamp duty shall be required on powers of 10 attorney or any other paper relating to application Premium not exceeding $50............... 25 for bounties, arrearages of pay, or pensions, or to Exceeding $50..... Accident insurance policies are exempt. LEASE, where annual rent is $300 or less.... LETTERS TESTAMENTARY, if value .50 the receipt thereof from time to time; nor on deposit notes to mutual insurance companies, for the insurance upon which policies subject to stamp 50 duties have been or are to be issued: nor on any warrant of attorney accompanying a bond or note, when such bond or note shall have been duly stamped: and whenever any bond or note shall be secured by a mortgage, but one stamp duty shall be required to be placed on such papers, provided that the stamp duty placed thereon shall be the highest rate required for said instruments, or either of them: nor to any endorsement of a negotiable instrument. All official instruments, documents, and papers issued by officers of the United States government, 05 or by the officers of any State, county, town, or other municipal corporation, in the exercise of their ordinary governmental and municipal functions, are exempt. MANIFEST FOR ENTRY, or clearance ..... 5.00 MORTGAGE OF ANY PROPERTY, Assignment or transfer of mortgage, exempt. PENALTIES. Penalty for making, signing, or issuing any instrument, or paper of any kind whatsoever, or for accepting, negotiating, or paying, or causing to be accepted, negotiated, or paid, any bill of exchange, draft or order, or promissory note, for the payment of money, without the same being duly 50 stamped, and the stump duly cancelled, with intent to evade the law, $50. For fraudulently using a stamp without cancelling, $50. For paying, negotiating, or offering in payment, or for receiving or taking in payment any bill of exchange or order for the payinent of any sum of money, drawn or purporting to be drawn in a foreign country, but payable in the United States, without proper stamp, $200. For selling proprietary medicines, cosmetics, &c., matches, &c., sauces, jellies, &c., .50 ... 1.00 And for every additional $50, or fraction...... 1.00 (To Brit. No. Am., exempt.) PAWNBROKER'S CERTIFICATE.... .05 without proper stamps, $50 for each offence. GENERAL REMARKS. Instruments are not to be recorded unless properly stamped and cancelled. Postage stamps cannot be used as revenue stamps. In cases where an adhesive stamp shall be used for denoting any duty imposed by this act, the person using or affixing the same shall write or imprint thereon the initials of his name, and date (year, month, and day), upon which the same shall be attached or used, so that the same may not again 50 be used. 1.00 For any other purpose...... ....... PROTEST OF NOTE, DRAFT, &c., or PROPRIETARY MEDICINES, &c., Per- Not over 50 cents.. Not over 75 cents..... Not over one dollar... For every additional 50 cents, or fraction...... QUIT-CLAIM DEED, to be stamped as a conveyance, except when given as a release of a mortgage by the mortgagee to the mortgagor, in which case it is exempt; but if it contains covenants, it may be subject as an agreement or contract. RECEIPT.- Receipts for the payment of any sum of money, or for the payment of any debt, or for the delivery of property, exempt. SALES. (See CONTRACTS.) TRUST DEED, made to secure a debt, to be stamped as a mortgage. No deed, instrument, document, writing, or paper, required by law to be stamped, which has been signed or issued without being duly stamped, or with a deficient stamp, nor any copy thereof, shall be recorded or admitted, or used as evidence in any court, until the proper stamp or stamps shall have been affixed thereto and cancelled. The party to whom a document is issued from a foreign country, or by whom it is to be used, shall, before using the same, affix thereon the stamp or .25 stamps indicating the duty required. .01 A waiver of protest or of demand and notice written upon negotiable paper, and signed by the endorser, is an agreement, and requires a five-cent stamp. A mere copy of an instrument is not subject to .02 stamp duty unless it is a certified one-in which .03 case the certificate should have a five-cent stamp: .04 but when an instrument is executed and issued in .02 duplicate, triplicate, &c., as in the case of a lease of two or more parts, each part has the same legal effect as the other, and each should be stamped as an original. A marriage certificate issued by the officiating clergyman or magistrate to be returned to any officer of a state, county, city, town, or other municipal corporation, to constitute part of a public record, requires no stamp; but if it is to be retained by the parties, a five-cent stamp should be affixed. Written or printed assignments of agreements, bonds, notes not negotiable, and of all other instruments the assignments of which are not particularly specified in the foregoing table, should be stamped as agreements. OUR COMMON ROADS. THERE are few things that more clearly mark the degree of civilization and enterprise of a community than the condition of its roads; and yet it must be admitted that New England is lamentably behind most other civilized countries in this respect. We have been accustomed so long to endure and to travel over miserable roads, that the people appear to have settled down to the conviction that they are one of the necessities of existence. This is undoubtedly a mistake. I have travelled hundreds of miles over the common roads of Switzerland, - a country of far less material wealth than New England, a country where the people themselves govern, and I do not think it is too much to say that the poorest of the main travelled roads through the country districts is better than the best about our great centres of population, like Boston. The roads through the little canton of Uri, which has, probably, less than a quarter of the wealth of the County of Middlesex or Worcester, are a marvel of perfection in respect to solidity, drainage, freedom from mud and dust, and lightness of grade, considering the rough and mountainous character of the country. Why can we not have as good roads as those of Switzerland? It is not want of wealth, but because we do not realize their importance and their real economy. We do not know what a good road is, or how to make one. The old Romans not only understood how to make roads better, but actually made them, parts of which still remain in a condition better than most of the roads of New England at the present time, notwithstanding all the ages of travel over them, the neglect of men, and the ravages of time. And yet here we are, towards the close of the nineteenth century, driving and hauling loads through mud and ruts, through sloughs, and over rocky hills, and boasting at the same time of our progress in civilization and refinement! Look about you anywhere, upon the breaking up of winter, or in the midst of a long-continued drought, and study the condition of the public roads; not the little cross-roads and lanes merely, but the main travelled country roads, over which there is constant and important transportation. Are they not in a disgraceful state, not an inapt subject of presentment by the grand jury? It is of little avail to say that the trouble comes from the frost or the season; a good road is independent of frost and season. A road properly constructed will defy the elements. The difficulty is, that we neither make our roads properly in the first place, nor take proper care of them after they are made; and the consequence is, that we are paying a tax in the shape of the wear and tear of teams and vehicles, and loss of power, which, if assessed in the ordinary way, would lead to a political revolution. Now, there is no doubt that a good road costs more at the outset than an ordinary cart-path. But taking a term of years, and no man can deny that the good road, cost what it may, is the more economical. It is a positive and direct saving in money and cost of repairs; but it is a greater saving and economy in the wear and tear of vehicles, horse-flesh, and muscle. The heaviest part of our highway tax is levied upon us in this indirect way, vastly increasing the cost of transportation over bad roads. It is a tax, which, though it does not pass through the hands of the assessor and collector, is inexorably laid upon every barrel of flour, every box of goods, every bag of grain, and every person that passes over the road. Some of our towns spend money enough, no doubt; but in a majority of cases it is misapplied, and fails to accomplish the end from a want of knowledge in those intrusted with the expenditure of it. With the proper knowledge to direct, and the requisito attention to details, most of our roads could be made at a reasonable cost, so that a farmer could haul at least three times as much as he can now, and make the trip in a little more than half the time, with the same power that he now uses. The present system for the management of roads, as adopted and practised in most New England towns from time immemorial, is defective and bungling in the extreme, and is probably, in the long run, the most expensive and uneconomical that could be devised. In the multiplicity of highway surveyors there is no uniform and comprehensive plan of operations, and often no one among them who is competent to survey and lay out a road, or who understands the first principles of road making. In every town that is able, a competent engineer should be employed to superintend the outlays for roads and repairs. Such an engineer has the gathered and recorded experience of all the past, and of all civilized countries. He knows the relative qualities and adaptation of different kinds of rock for macadamiz. ing. He sees at a glance anything in the subsoil which may make it unfit for a road bed. He knows how to remedy any defects in the soil. He can lay out the drainage, and calculate the requisite size of culverts and bridges, grade drains, and meet a thousand of the practical problems which must be encountered in the construction and maintenance of a good road. The position of road master should be permanent; that is, when a competent and faithful person is obtained to superintend the roads, he ought not to be subject to the caprice or whim of an annual popular election. He may act under the Board of Selectmen, or under a Board of Supervisors, who, having the responsibility upon them, can judge more intelligently of his plans than the mass of the people. He should, if necessary, give his entire time to the repair and construction of the |