Harper's Young People, October 12, 1880: An Illustrated Weekly

In Short

This book is a compilation issue of an illustrated weekly periodical published in October 1880, containing serialized fiction, instructive essays, historical anecdotes, and a bustling correspondence section written by young readers across America. It features tales of devoted pets, mischievous boys, and global explorations, capturing the earnest curiosity, everyday domestic scrapes, and moral instruction that defined children's literature of the era. It has lasted as a remarkably preserved artifact of Victorian childhood, offering a direct window into the language, pastimes, and imagination of nineteenth-century youth.

The Story

The volume opens in Featherdale with a tender domestic sketch involving a little girl named Bessie Rathbun and her beloved, talkative pet hen, Coachy. After an idyllic morning, Bessie decides to send Coachy to live on a farm to join a larger flock. Her uncle accompanies her on the carriage ride, and despite a parting hug that leaves the bird gasping, Coachy is safely deposited among the other fowls. The next day, the uncle returns to check on the pet, only to discover from a frail farmer named Mr. Beck that Coachy is missing. Upon returning with Bessie to retrieve her, they discover the horrifying truth: Mrs. Beck has boiled the pet for dinner. A heartbroken Bessie returns home in tears.

From these domestic shores, the periodical shifts its gaze outward to ancient lands and local reform. A travel sketch transports readers to the Nile Valley, describing a sunset visit to an old Coptic convent and the noisy, colorful baptism of children. Back in America, a quiet moral drama unfolds in a small town where a visitor named Mr. Morton attempts to visit and reform the inmates of the local jail. While skeptical townsmen like Mr. Wardwell and Sheriff Towler look on, young boys like Paul Grayson and Benny play ball nearby, their minds drifting between playground games and romantic notions of royal homes, eventually leading Paul to satisfy his own curiosity about the prison.

The narrative current then flows into historical reflection, detailing Henry Hudson's 1609 voyage aboard the Half-Moon, the early days of New Amsterdam under Governor Stuyvesant, and the eventual arrival of the English fleet in 1664. A classroom lecture by Master Noble introduces a whimsical allegorical fable about a magical transformation of birds—from a timid sparrow to a hawk, an owl, and an eagle—illustrating the consequences of personal will and study. This is followed by another domestic disaster involving Jimmy Brown, a notorious young prankster whose pet bulldog, Sitting Bull, mistakes Mr. Martin's leg for a cat, landing Jimmy under his father's rattan cane.

The volume journeys once more to the coast of Maine, where young Bessie Maynard writes to her doll Clytie about impending travels to Europe. She recounts an eventful day at Bar Harbor when a toy ship launch nearly ends in tragedy, and her companion Randolph saves her from the surf, only for her to nearly drown him in return out of misguided rescue. Interspersed throughout are letters from children in Minnesota, North Carolina, and beyond, sharing tales of pets, stamp collections, and mountain trips. The collection closes with editorial answers about the ecological usefulness of mosquitoes, various word puzzles, advertisements for bicycles and books, and a final comedic mishap where Jimmy Brown plays a practical trick on his aunt's cherished mahogany bureau with big screws.

How It Unfolds

• A pet's departure — Bessie and her uncle drive to a nearby farm to settle her cherished yellowish-brown hen, Coachy, among a new flock of poultry.
• A grim discovery — Returning to the farm the following day, the uncle learns from Mrs. Beck that the beloved hen has unfortunately been boiled for dinner.
• An Egyptian twilight — Travelers moor their boat near a Coptic village at sunset, entering an ancient convent to witness local church services and infant baptisms.
• Prison visits and ballgames — Mr. Morton engages with the local sheriff and prisoners, while schoolboys play ball outside and ponder the lives of the incarcerated.
• The bird metamorphosis — Master Noble delivers a moral lecture comparing human effort and scholarship to a magician turning a sparrow into an eagle.
• The mahogany prank — Jimmy Brown wrecks his aunt's bureau with screws, only to wipe away the evidence with a wet towel and trigger a humorous family debate.

The People

• Bessie Rathbun is a dainty, golden-haired little girl who loves her old brown hen deeply. She wants only to ensure her pet's happiness, but stands facing the harsh realities of farm life and ultimate loss, emerging from her grief with a sorrowful yet resilient heart.
• Uncle John is a kind, somewhat reckless narrator who tries to manage Bessie's household and protect her feelings. He wants to keep his niece happy, but his casual assurances lead them straight into the tragic fate of Coachy.
• Jimmy Brown is an irrepressible, accident-prone boy whose actions constantly provoke his father's rattan cane. He wants to catch stray cats and perform pranks, but his chaotic experiments invariably damage furniture and infuriate his aunt, though he always manages to laugh off the consequences.
• Bessie Maynard is an imaginative young letter-writer preparing for a grand voyage to Europe. She wants to manage her collection of dolls fairly, but her impulsive desire to help her companion Randolph during a seaside launch lands them both in danger.
• Mr. Morton is an earnest visitor and teacher. He wants to bring intellectual and moral comfort to the hardened inmates of the local jail, standing firm against the skepticism of local townspeople like Mr. Wardwell.

In Its Own Voice

• Describing the comical demeanor of a beloved backyard bird, the narrator notes: > The first time I ever saw Coachy she was scratching about on the garden walk, kicking the dirt out in two ways behind her, and then nimbly hitching back a step or two and staring and pecking at the hole that she had made.
• Explaining the harsh reality of her pet's fate to a horrified reader, Mrs. Beck remarks: > "Well, we'll give her a live one to take home. I'm certain she can't take the dead one."
• Delivering a sharp moral lesson to his classroom, Master Noble declares: > "Study and will are the magicians that help them to maintain their promotion, and the public examination is the great magician that assigns them their advanced positions."

What It's Really About

The volume explores the tension between childish innocence and the abrupt, unyielding cruelty of the adult and natural worlds. It investigates how children process grief, whether through the tragic loss of a pet or the accidental destruction of household heirlooms. Beneath the surface of its lighthearted stories and travelogues lies an insistent moral argument about personal agency, industry, and self-improvement. Through allegories like the bird transformation and the reform work attempted in local jails, the text examines whether human nature can be deliberately elevated through education, will, and moral guidance. It ultimately questions how youth should be prepared to navigate a world that is simultaneously full of wondrous geographical discovery and mundane domestic discipline.

Why Read It Today

Readers who love historical ephemera, Victorian children's literature, and charmingly unvarnished domestic sketches will find a great deal to cherish here. Reading it feels like stepping into a nineteenth-century parlor, where the pages smell faintly of paper and ink, populated by earnest children writing letters about their pets and stamp collections. At the same time, modern readers must be honest about its difficulties: the period attitudes, occasional archaic dialects, and the stark, unapologetic harshness of nineteenth-century rural life—such as the abrupt fate of Coachy—can be jarring to contemporary sensibilities. Yet it is precisely this unshielded honesty, combined with the genuine warmth of its contributors, that makes the experience memorable. What stays with you long after closing the book is the distinct, authentic voice of an era where a child's grief over a hen was recorded with the same gravity as a voyage up the Hudson or a Nile river sunset.