DOMESTIC RECEIPTS. White Coffee Cream.-This is made by putting a quart of milk on the fire, with about six ounces of white sugar. In another vessel beat up the yolks of ten eggs, and pour the milk gradually upon them. Roast your coffee (three or four ounces) till it is of a very light brown colour, and gives out all its flavour; break it in a mortar, slightly, and add it, while hot, to your hot custard. Strain through a jelly-bag, pour the cream into cups, and put them to cool. Everything depends on the coffee being used whilst hot, so as to catch the aroma which goes off as it cools. -T. H. M. A German Custard-sauce for Plum, or other Sweet Boiled Puddings.-Boil very gently together half a pint of new milk, or of milk and cream mixed, a very thin strip or two of fresh lemonrind, a bit of cinnamon, and an ounce and a half or two ounces of sugar, until the milk is strongly flavoured ; then strain, and pour it, by slow degrees, to the well-beaten yolks of three eggs, smoothly mixed with a knife end-full (about half a teaspoonful) of flour, a grain or two of salt, and a tablespoonful of cold milk; and stir these very quickly round as the milk is added. Put the sauce again into the stew-pan, and whisk or stir it rapidly until it thickens and looks creamy. It must not be placed upon the fire, but should be held over it, when this is done. Recommended by J. WILSON, Edinburgh. German Sugar Cakes.- Blend well with the fingers six ounces of good butter, with a pound of fine flour, working it quite into crumbs; add a few grains of salt, one pound of dry sifted sugar, a tablespoonful of the best cinnamon in very fine powder, and a large teaspoonful of spices: to these the grated rinds of three sound fresh lemons can be added, or not, at pleasure. Make these ingredients into a paste, with the yolks of five eggs, and about four tablespoonfuls of white wine, or with one or two more in addition, if required, as this must be regulated by the size of the eggs: half of very thick cream and half wine, are sometimes used for them. Roll the mixture into balls, flatten them to something less than three-quarters of an inch thick, and bake them in a moderate oven from fifteen to twenty minutes. Loosen them from the bakingsheets-which should be lightly floured before they are laid on-by passing a knife under them, turn them over, and, when they are quite cold, stow them in a dry, close-shutting canister. The Germans make three incisions in the top of each cake with the point of a knife, and lay spikes of split almonds in them. Recommended by J.WILSON, Edinburgh. To dress Vegetables. - Vegetables should be fresh gathered, and washed quite clean; when not recently gathered, they should be put into cold spring-water some time before they are dressed. When fresh gathered, they will not require so much boiling, by a third of the time, as when they have been gathered the usual time those in our markets have. Shake the vegetables carefully to get out the insects; and take off the outside leaves. To restore frost-bitten vegetables, lay them in cold water an hour before boiling, and put a piece of saltpetre in the saucepan when set on fire. Soft water is best for boiling vegetables; but if only hard water can be obtained, a will soften it, and improve the appearance of the very small bit of soda, or carbonate of ammonia, vegetables. Pearlash should never be used, as it if not cautiously used. All vegetables (except imparts an unpleasant flavour, as will also soda, carrots) should be boiled by themselves, and in plenty of water. Salt should be used with green vegetables; and the water should be skimmed before they are put in. Fast boiling, in an uncovered saucepan, will preserve their colour. When they sink they are done, and should be taken out and drained, else they will lose their colour, crispness, and flavour. Green vegetables, generally, will require from twenty minutes to half an hour, fast boiling; but their age, freshness, and the season in which they are grown, require some variation of time. They should, almost invariably, be put on in boiling water. Vegetables are very nutritious and wholesome, when thoroughly boiled; but are very indigestible when not sufficiently dressed. The principal points in cooking them are, to boil them so soft as to be easy of digestion, and sufficiently to get rid of any rankness, without losing their grateful flavour. Seasonings for Soups.-Spices should be put whole into soups; allspice is one of the best, though it is not so highly esteemed as it deserves. Seville orange-juice has a finer and milder acid. than lemon-juice; but both should be used, with caution. Sweet herbs, for soups or broths, consist of knotted marjoram, thyme, and parsley,-a sprig of each tied together. The older and drier onions are, the stronger their flavour; in dry seasons, also, they are very strong the quantity should be proportioned accordingly. Although celery may generally be obtained for soup throughout the year, it may be useful to know, that dried celery-seed is an excellent substitute. It is so strongly flavoured, that a drachm of whole seed will enrich half a gallon of soup as much as will two heads of celery. Mushrooms are much used, and when they cannot be obtained fresh, mushroom catsup will answer the purpose, but it should be used very sparingly, as nothing is more difficult to remove than the over-flavouring of catsup. A piece of butter, in proportion to the liquid, mixed with flour, and added to the soup, when boiling, will enrich and thicken it. Arrow-root, or the farina or flour of potato, is far better for the thickening of soups than wheaten flour. The finer flavouring articles, as catsup, spices, wines, juice, &c., should not be added till the soup is nearly done. A good proportion of wine is a gill to three pints of soup; this is as much as can be used without the vinous flavour predominating, which is never the case in well-made soups. Wine should be added late in the making, as it evaporates very quickly in boiling. Be cautious of over-seasoning soups with pepper, sait, spices, or herbs; for it is a fault that can seldom be remedied any provision over-salted is spoiled. A teaspoonful of sugar is a good addition in flavouring scups. Vermicelli is added to soups in the proportion of a quarter of a pound for a tureen of soup for eight persons: it should be broken, then blanched in cold water, and is better if stewed in broth before it is put into the soup. Have six pieces of wood, bone, or metal, made of the same length as No. 6, in the above figures, and each piece of the same size as No. 7. It is required to construct a cross, with six arms, from these pieces, and in such a manner that it shall not be displaced when thrown upon the floor. The shaded parts of each figure represent the parts that are cut out of the wood, and each piece marked a is supposed to be facing the reader, while the pieces marked b are the right side of each piece turned over towards the left, so as to face the reader. No. 7. represents the end of each piece of wood, &c., and is given to show the dimension. K. ENIGMAS. 1. 1. Daughter divine, for thee I lift my pen, To frame enigma for the use of men; 2. Of feeling heart, thou didst, in early year, From sacred haunts, through sorrow, disappear, 3. Alas! for love refined, thy lovely frame Sustain'd a change, though changeless is thy name! 4. Francesca, by the side of fair Lochgoil, To sketch the scenery doth gladly toil: 5. She traces thee, where hazels fringe a crag, Sustaining rowans, guardians from the hag; 6. She finds thee settled in the fairy dell, Where tiny cliff o'erhangs a native well; 7. Gentle was once thy voice, 'tis gentle yet, When 't is by gentleness of accent met. 8. When sings Francesca in the rock-girt wood, Thy silver sounds spread through the solitude; 9. "T would seem in such a scene in certain hours, That sylphs were charm'd within their rosy bowers 10. But when Orlando, lunatic from love, Raved loudly, thou didst sympathise in grove. 11. Like his, thine accents grew like thunderpeals, Wherethro', 't would seem, the turret often reels; 12. So meek or mighty are thy veering tones, Mild 'mid the bland, but dismal amid moans ! CAPTAIN JAMES RITCHIE, Edinburgh. 2. Form'd long ago, yet made to-day, Employ'd while others sleep, What few would ever give away, Or any wish to keep. CHARADE. My first is valued more than gold, It oft has witness'd sights of blood, My whole, 'mid life's distressing cares, Happy who call the blessing theirs But few that solace find. REBUS. Sagacious fair! you'll first discover A bird of prey you next must find, TRANSPOSITION. In my first you do behold An animal that's sometimes bold; ANSWERS TO FAMILY PASTIME. PUZZLE-The five-gallon barrel was filled first, and from that the three-gallon barrel, thus leaving two gallons in the five-gallon barrel; the three gallon barrel was then emptied into the eight-gallon barrel, and the two gallons poured from the five-gallon barrel into the empty threegallon barrel; the five-gallon barrel was then filled, and one gallon poured into the three-gallon barrel, therefore leaving four gallons in the fivegallon-barrel, one gallon in the eight-gallon barrel, and three gallons in the three-gallon barrel, which was then emptied into the eight-gallon barrel. Thus each person had four gallons of brandy in the eight and five-gallon barrels respectively. CONUNDRUMS-1. He has a title. 2. To-day. 3. His head turns round. 4. A planter. 5. She brings repentance. 6. Plague-ague. 7. Because it is re-corded. 8. It makes all men into T-all men. 9. In-an-i-mate. 10. The hatch-way. 11. A difference, between Salop and slop. 12. Spin, snip, nips, pins. CHARADES-1. But-ton. 2. Vest i-bule (blue transposed.) RIDDLES 1. A fork. 2. Time. but the most determined measures would be prudent to adopt in so critical a case. It was well for Robert Clifton, and well indeed for his family, that, under these circumstances, he was able to call into exercise all that manly resolution and that high sense of duty, which formed the distinguishing features of his character. Robert was not so sublime in either of these characteristics, but that he could, and did, remember himself amongst other members of his family. Often and often, did the old feeling come over him-"Oh, that I was away from these black walls! away, and at liberty to follow out the original tendency of my mind and chaAnd often, it must be confessed, did the illness and incapability of his father, fall upon his heart with double weight, because it bound him down with greater necessity to the mental slavery which he was daily and hourly enduring. racter." Nor should we think the worse of Robert for this. As that boldness is not real courage which has no consciousness of danger; so that performance of duty is far from being magnanimous which includes no self-denial, no pining of the heart after what it would prefer to obtain possession of, at any cost, except the loss of honour, or the sense of right. It is those who feel strongly, to whom selfsacrifice is indeed a trial; for wherever there exists strong feeling, it will be found in a strong character, and to such self and self-love are words of no light significance. We cannot help fancying, sometimes, that a little too much merit is assigned to the virtue of silent suffering. Unquestionably there are cases in which to break this silence would be as mean-spirited in the sufferer, as it would evince a culpable neglect of the feelings of others. But if all suffering was silent, the selfish, the cruel, and the mean, would then be even worse than they are, revelling without restraint in their ill-gotten and unfair enjoyments. There is a delicate line for the strong and the nobleminded to observe between the two extremes of excessive murmuring, on the one hand, and a paltry and abject endurance on the other. Passion, in the strong, is perpetually overleaping this line, and thus it is passion, far more frequently than want of principle, which robs them of their merit with the world. Robert Clifton, happily for him, was So constituted and so self-disciplined, that passion had seldom exercised this dominion over his better feelings. His was one of those beautifully, but rarely proportioned characters, in which strong feeling exists under the power of selfcommand. 'It would be depriving him of half his merit, did we say that he never once thought of himself amongst all the noble efforts which he was called upon to make for others; for Robert did think very often and very painfully about himself. There can be no doubt, but, at times, he considered himself very ill-used by Fortune-he might even, in the depths of his soul, ssay Providence, instead or Fortune, sometimes; for there was stout rebellion there, and many battles had to be fought and fought again, as his position in life became in no respect more agreeable to him. Indeed the separation from his family, added to other circumstances, rendered it much more difficult than at first to endure with equanimity of mind. Amongst other things which Robert, with his manly spirit felt severely, was this, he was but a junior in his father's office; and with all the weight of responsibility weighing on his mind, his youth and inexperience still bound him down to an inferior and subordinate position. Beyond this, the business, altogether, was less prosperous than formerly. His father had known this, and in order to meet the changing tide, had ventured on some rather desperate speculations, the uncertainty of which had secretly preyed upon his mind, and no doubt greatly increased the malady under which he was suffering. These speculations had not been successful; but still they were not ruinous; and, failing in his object, Mr. Clifton still thought himself fortunate to escape the opposite extreme of absolute failure. Thus it was in all respects rather a heavy yoke to which the young man of business succeeded; and he felt it the more because he had now no pleasant picturesque home to return to; no lovely garden for his Sundays in summer; no library window opening out amongst the flowering shrubs; no sweet sisters to welcome his return, and beguile him of his heavy thoughts. His domestic life was now confined to dark dingy lodgings near the city. Robert cared not much where they were, if only cleanliness and quiet could be ensured; and these two requisites were difficult to find. He wanted no style or show, for who had he to share, or to enjoy, either with him? and alone there were few of the embellishments of life which he valued at their cost. Neither had he learned so far to relish the society of other young men, as to put himself to much expense or trouble on that account. All his leisure moments were devoted to his favourite studies. His sitting-room looked often like a workshop; and since he had no one to be domestic with, he appeared as if he cared not for being personally comfortable. After making trial of many lodgings, and failing in the two requisites already mentioned, Robert was about to give the matter up in despair; for to him unsettlement was almost as great an evil as uncleanliness; when he happened, as it seemed to him by a most lucky chance, to look into the apartments of a widow lady, whose general appearance was that of the highest respectability, and even nicety in dress and manner; whose house, too, on the very first entrance, looked inviting and homeish, as if an agreeable family, as well as a genteel one, might long have lived there. On looking at these apartments, and enquiring about the terms, and other business matters, Robert thought he observed in the lady a trembling kind of vaccillation between a somewhat unnecessary assumption of personal dignity, and an anxious fear lest the accommodation offered should not prove satisfactory. But while he and the lady went through these negotiations, not, it must be confessed, in the most business-like manner, a servant entered the room, and, walking directly up to the lady, placed a slip of paper in her hand, and retired without speaking. "Oh!" said the lady, looking at the paper, and as if suddenly reminded again of an important part of her business; "I was to ask-or rather I do ask-if you have any particular objection to music?" "Music! Oh dear no," said Robert; "if only it is good." The lady drew herself up. "My "1 daughter she began, but suddenly stopped. "The piano," she went on to say, "is not very near; but you might hear it sometimes, and some gentlemen have a great objection to a piano." "Close at one's ear, and continually strummed without tune or time," said Robert, "I do confess――" But the lady had drawn herself up much higher than before, and a second time forgot herself so far as to commence with66 My daughter." A second time, however, she stopped and changed the subject by saying, "I was also to ask-or rather it important to me as a lady to knowwhether my household would be likely to be disturbed by late hours, much of the company of other young gentlemen, or anything of that kind?" "A very proper question," said Robert, and very wisely suggested. I think I can answer it, however, as satisfactorily as most young men of my time of life. Indeed, though young in years, I am rather old and grave in my habits, and shall much more frequently be found engaged with workmen's tools, than giving wine parties." "I beg your pardon," said the lady; "but if that be the case, I should scarcely think these are the apartments for you." "You mean," said Robert, laughing good-naturedly, "that I am scarcely an occupant suited to your apartments. Don't put yourself in any fright about that, however. I am not an artizan by trade, only I like to do a little work with my hands now and then; but I have a profound respect for all the decencies of life; so pray don't reject my application on that account." There was something so strange and unusual in this style of address from a young gentleman inspecting apartments with a view to making them his home, that the lady looked completely puzzled. and begged to withdraw for a moment "to consult "-she had begun to say, but corrected herself and said-"to consider the subject in connection with a friend who resided with her." Robert willingly granted this permission, and the lady retired for a longer time than he had anticipated. Not being in the habit of spending much thought upon such matters as his lodgings, wherever they might be, he grew rather impatient |