But, indeed, there was no need, madam, to argue for the reduction of the salaries of clergymen. We hear in no direction of any tendency to excess; but we do hear everywhere of those abominations, "donation-parties!" Do we make donation-parties to other people whom we pay honestly for honest service? Are bakers and lawyers and tailors and doctors surprised by donation-parties? They are public confessions of our meanness. If we paid the minister adequately, why should we abuse the language by "donating" the necessaries of life to the parsonage? Some kind soul knows that we starve our shepherd, that he is pinched and cramped in his household, that his wife is thinly clad and his children shabby, and that the man of whom we demand that he should be a model of all the cardinal virtues is torn with anxious doubts for his family; and that generous soul proposes that we should club our sugar and butter and help him out. If we do not do it next year, what is to become of him? If we do, why not make it a certainty; why not, dear Mrs. Candour, raise his salary? And if you, madam, would only issue a tariff or sliding scale, so that we might know how much a religious teacher under different circumstances might properly receive--in fine, whether all boxes, or only the alabaster box, must be sold and given to the poor--it would be the most valuable service you are ever likely to perform to society. THE END BY GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS. * * * * * ORATIONS AND ADDRESSES. Three Volumes. 8vo, Cloth, Uncut Edges and Gilt Tops, $3 50 each. FROM THE EASY CHAIR. With Portrait. 16mo, Cloth, Ornamental $1 00. FROM THE EASY CHAIR. _Second Series._ With Portrait. 16mo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1 00. FROM THE EASY CHAIR. _Third Series._ With Portrait. 16mo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1 00. PRUE AND I. Illustrated Edition. 8vo, Illuminated Silk, $3 50. Also 12mo, Cloth, Gilt Top, $1 50. LOTUS-EATING. Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, Gilt Top, $1 50. NILE NOTES OF A HOWADJI. 12mo, Cloth, Gilt Top, $1 50. THE HOWADJI IN SYRIA. 12mo, Cloth, Gilt Top, $1 50. THE POTIPHAR PAPERS. Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, Gilt Top, $1 50. TRUMPS. A Novel. Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, Gilt Top, $1 50. JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. Illustrated. 32mo, Cloth, Ornamental, 50 cents. WENDELL PHILLIPS. A Eulogy. 8vo, Paper, 25 cents. * * * * * PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. ==>_For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent by the publishers, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, on receipt of the price._ HARPER'S AMERICAN ESSAYISTS. With Portraits. 16mo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1 00 each. * * * * * STUDIES OF THE STAGE. By BRANDER MATTHEWS. AMERICANISMS AND BRITICISMS, with Other Essays on Other Isms. By BRANDER MATTHEWS. AS WE GO. By CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER. With Illustrations. AS WE WERE SAYING. By CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER. With Illustrations.