WHAT NOW? One-third of the fiscal year passed on Feb. 1st without any special campaign of appeals in behalf of the debt and the suffering work of the American Missionary Association. We have constantly reported to its supporting churches and friends the exact financial condition of the Association. We have reiterated the call voted at our Annual Meeting for such enlargement of support as will bring the... more...

The Night Before Christmas. 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In the hope that St. Nicholas soon would be there. The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads. And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap, Had just settled... more...

A TRUE STORY. HEN I was in Boston about a year ago, I stopped one day at the corner of Washington Street and Franklin Street to witness a pretty sight.Here, just as you turn into Franklin Street, on the right, a poor peddler used to stand with a few baskets of oranges or apples or peanuts, which he offered for sale to the passers-by. The street-pigeons had found in him a good friend; for he used to... more...

YORK TERRACE, REGENT'S PARK. If the reader is anxious to illustrate any political position with the "signs of the times," he has only to start from Waterloo-place, (thus commencing with a glorious reminiscence,) through Regent-street and Portland-place, and make the architectural tour of the Regent's Park. Entering the park from the New Road by York Gate, one of the first objects for... more...

AN ESCAPE FROM SIBERIA.RUFIN PIOTROWSKI.All the languages of continental Europe have some phrase by which a parting people express the hope of meeting again. The French au revoir, the Italian Гѓ  rivederla, the Spanish hasta mañana, the German Auf Wiedersehen,—these and similar forms, varied with the occasion, have grown from the need of the heart to cheat separation of its pain. The Poles... more...

CAMORRA, a secret society of Naples associated with robbery, blackmail and murder. The origin of the name is doubtful. Probably both the word and the association were introduced into Naples by Spaniards. There is a Spanish word camorra (a quarrel), and similar societies seem to have existed in Spain long before the appearance of the Camorra in Naples. It was in 1820 that the society first became... more...

Booth's Theatre has become famous as the place where Mr. MOLLENHAUER nightly leads his admirable orchestra, and plays with exquisite skill and infinite tenderness his unrivalled violin solos. Since this theatre opened, there have been several attempts to add dramatic entertainments to the attractive concerts given by Mr. MOLLENHAUER. Two great actors, Mr. JEFFERSON and Mr. BOOTH, have at different... more...

THE NATURALIST.See the Engravings.A delightful volume, of title almost synonymous with this division of the MIRROR, has just been published. It is entitled The Journal of a Naturalist, with the very appropriate motto of ——Plants, trees, and stones, we note, Birds, insects, beasts, and many rural things. The author in his preface, says, "Many years have now passed away since we were presented... more...

THE HARMONISTS. My brother Josiah I call a successful man,—very successful, though only an attorney in a manufacturing town. But he fixed his goal, and reached it. He belongs to the ruling class,—men with slow, measuring eyes and bull-dog jaws,—men who know their own capacity to an atom's weight, and who go through life with moderate, inflexible, unrepenting steps. He looks askance at me... more...

There does not seem to be any prospect of a settlement of the Turkish troubles. The various European powers have called the Sultan to account for the massacres in Armenia, and laid out a system of reforms, which they think should be made. But this is as far as they have got. "You may lead a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink." The various powers of Europe are learning that this... more...