The Nursery. PREMIUM-LIST FOR 1876. For three new subscribers, at $1.60 each, we will give any one of the following articles: a heavily gold-plated pencil-case, a rubber pencil-case with gold tips, silver fruit-knife, a pen-knife, a beautiful wallet, any book worth $1.50. For five, at $1.60 each, any one of the following: globe microscope, silver fruit-knife, silver napkin-ring, book or books worth $2.50. For six, at $1.60 each, we will give... more...

FLORA'S LOOKING-GLASS.   N the edge of a thick wood dwelt a little girl whose name was Flora. She was an orphan, and lived with an old woman who got her living by gathering herbs. Every morning, Flora had to go almost a quarter of a mile to a clear spring in the wood, and fill the kettles with fresh water. She had a sort of yoke, on which the kettles were hung as she carried them. The pool formed by the spring was so smooth and clear,... more...

THE DELIGHTS OF THE SEASIDE.   H merry, merry sports had we, last summer on the beach,—  Lucy and Oliver and I, with Uncle Sam to teach!  At times, clad in our bathing-suits, we'd join our hands, all four,  And rush into the water, or run along the shore. The wet sand, how it glistened on the sunny summer day!And how the waves would chase us back, as if they were in play!And when, on the horizon blue,... more...

EDITOR'S PORTFOLIO. The present number begins the eighteenth half-yearly volume of "The Nursery;" and we are happy to inform our friends that the magazine was never so successful as it is to-day. Thus far, we have entered upon every new volume with an increased circulation. We look for a still larger increase in the future; for there are thousands and thousands of children not yet supplied with the work, for whom no other magazine can take its... more...

THE YOUNG LAMPLIGHTER.   ALLACE is a boy about ten years old, who lives in a town near Boston. He has a brother Charles, eighteen years of age. These two brothers are the town lamplighters. There are at least fifty lamps to be lighted every night; and some of them are a good deal farther apart than the street-lamps in large cities. Charles takes the more distant ones for his part of the work, and drives from post to post in a gig.... more...

MABEL'S COW.   HE cow nearest to you in the picture is Mabel's cow; and Mabel Brittan is the taller of the two girls on the bridge. I will tell you why the cow is called Mabel's cow. Her family live in a wild but beautiful part of New Hampshire, where it is very cold in winter, and pretty warm in summer. There are only two small houses within a mile of her father's. He keeps cows, and makes nice butter from the cream. Not long ago he... more...

NOBODY'S DOG.   NLY a dirty black-and-white dog!You can see him any day,Trotting meekly from street to street:He almost seems to say,As he looks in your face with wistful eyes,"I don't mean to be in your way."His tail hangs drooping between his legs;His body is thin and spare:How he envies the sleek and well-fed dogs,That thrive on their masters' care!And he wonders what they must think of him,And grieves at his own hard fare.Sometimes he... more...

AN OLD-TIME SCENE.   OOK at the picture, and see if you can tell what has roused all those children up so early in the morning. There is Mary in her stocking-feet. There is Ann in her night-dress. There is Tom, bare armed and bare legged. Why have they all left their beds, and run into the play-room in such haste? And why is little Ned, the baby, sitting up in the bed, as though he wanted to come too? It is plain enough that the children... 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 feed them with bits of peanuts,... more...

ARTHUR'S NEW SLOOP.   OW, boys," said Uncle Martin, "if you were at sea in a vessel like this, what should you do when you saw a squall coming up?" "I should take in all sail, and scud under bare poles," said Arthur. "But what if you did not want to be blown ashore?" "Then I should leave out the first reef, so as to catch as much wind as I could risk, and steer for the sea, the sea, the open sea." "Well, that's pretty well said, though... more...