The Nursery, July 1877, XXII. No. 1: A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers

In Short

This issue of a nineteenth-century children’s periodical gathers short prose tales, nature lessons, and simple verse designed to entertain and instruct young readers. Across its pages, farm children interact with draft animals and tame calves, sisters stage playful arrests in bed, a child writes home from a Pacific sailing voyage, and wild creatures find their voices in rhyming verse. Rich with period charm, it captures the curiosity, innocence, and domestic rhythms of late Victorian childhood, remaining a delightful slice of historic juvenile literature.

The Story

The volume opens in the quiet solitudes of the woods, where wild bees build their waxen cells over clear, flower-bordered streams and warn curious children not to disturb their honey hoard. Human life quickly breaks in with the arrival of summer, as little three-year-old Percy leaves the dry, dusty, and noisy city with his mother and baby sibling to stay in the cool country. During a family dinner, Percy wanders off unnoticed, prompting a anxious search through every room and shed. His mother finally discovers him standing in the barn before two massive, yoked oxen, fearlessly offering a single berry to their huge, lowered mouths.

Nature and animal life continue to take center stage. Two orphan wild rabbits, brought home in a gentleman's pocket, are fed milk from a bottle using a sponge nipple and given a cozy home in an unused fireplace lined with clover. After several weeks of domestic care and lawn exploration, they escape back into the fragrant woods. Out in the trees, busy chipping-birds dart past windows gathering yarn and straw for their nests, thanking helpful children along the way. Meanwhile, a pet canary named Birdie escapes to an apple tree; though his young owners coax him with promises of berries and warmth, their father reminds them that no bird who escapes to open sky and liberty can ever be called a traitor.

Independence and lively domestic mischief shape the middle of the collection. On the Fourth of July, three young sisters—Mat, Let, and Win—wake at four in the morning to the sound of guns and bells. When Let complains about the noise and declares she hates the holiday, her sisters play-arrest her as a rebel, causing a wild chase that brings their father to the stairs with affectionate, mock threats of a whip. Out on Chesapeake Bay, Cousin Willie watches a dramatic air battle as an eagle steals a fish from a hawk, only for Willie to fire a pistol and retrieve the meal himself—which ultimately gets stolen from the kitchen table by a sly cat and her kittens.

On farmsteads and distant seas, adventure takes many forms. Two young boys, Fred and Bertie, attempt to stage a "circus" by strapping an old saddle to their tame Alderney calf, Buttercup, only to be thrown immediately into a rain-water tub and a pan of meal. Far away on the Pacific Ocean, a young girl named Rose writes a detailed letter aboard the bark Murray, describing mid-sea navigational readings with a sextant, meals of dolphin chowder, a lamb named Thanksgiving born on the deck, and vegetable bouquets carved by the ship's steward.

The collection draws toward its close with moral tales and natural science. A farm boy named Solomon, who amuses himself by teasing a chained bear with prickly chestnut-burs, learns a frightening lesson when the bear breaks loose and chases him up ladders and over barn roofs. Basic astronomy lessons introduce children to the stars of the Great Bear constellation, while natural history sketches describe the steep, snowy haunts of the swift-footed European chamois. Finally, a mother cat praises her well-mannered kittens at dinner, a boy rouses his garden tools for spring planting, and a musical setting of Tennyson's poem lulls a baby to sleep.

How It Unfolds

Voices of the forest Wild bees invite readers into their undisturbed woodland home, setting a peaceful, natural tone before the human narratives begin. They warn travelers to appreciate the beauty of the stream without raiding their honey or fishing for the brook's inhabitants.

Summer in the country Percy and his family escape the hot city for a country farm, where the toddler wanders away from the dinner table to feed giant oxen. Nearby, two rescued wild rabbits live in a fireplace and roam the lawn before slipping away to the forest.

Chases and escapes Sisters create noisy morning chaos on the Fourth of July by staging a mock arrest of their sibling, while a caged bird escapes to the trees to choose freedom over luxury. On a coastal island, a fish passes from a hawk to an eagle, to a sailor, and finally to a clever house cat.

Farm pranks and sea voyages Two boys suffer a wet landing when their tame calf rebels against a makeshift circus ride, while young Rose logs her three-week voyage across the Pacific Ocean on a sailing vessel. Farther inland, Solomon Sturtevant gets chased over roofs when a bear rebels against being pelted with spiky burs.

Wonders of the night and sky An astronomy instructor guides children to find the Great Bear in the evening sky, while natural history lessons detail the agile chamois bounding down Alpine precipices. A song setting brings the issue to a gentle, quiet close.

The People

• Percy wants to explore the farm and share his food. Unafraid of large creatures, he wanders into the barn and feeds berries to giant oxen, showing the quiet trust of early childhood.
• Mat, Let, and Win want to enjoy the Fourth of July in their own ways. Mat and Win embrace national pride and noisy fun, while Let hates the early commotion; their playful conflict turns into a chaotic chase through the house.
• Birdie wants the freedom of the open sky. Despite his young owners' offerings of cherries, sugar, and safety, he rejects his clean cage to fly freely into the trees.
• Rose wants to observe every detail of her long sea voyage on the bark Murray. She delights in learning about ship operations, playing with board-born animals, and watching the captain calculate their position on the ocean.
• Solomon Sturtevant wants easy entertainment and likes to tease the farm's tame bear with sharp chestnut-burs. His cruelty backfires when the bear breaks its chain, forcing Solomon to run for his life over barn roofs.

In Its Own Voice

"In front of them was little chubby Percy, in his clean white frock, swinging a tiny pail, that would hold a teaspoonful of berries, in one hand, and with the other holding out a berry to the oxen, as they put their great mouths down to be fed."

This sweet scene captures the gentle innocence that runs through the magazine's stories of young children and animals.

"No deserter, child, is he, Who escapes to liberty."

Spoken by a father to his children after their caged bird flies away, this couplet reflects the book's quiet underlying respect for the natural freedom of living things.

"To-day he says we are three hundred miles from Honolulu."

Rose records this exact distance in her journal, anchoring her seafaring journey in the real-world geography of nineteenth-century ocean travel.

What It's Really About

At its heart, this collection explores the relationship between small children and the wider world. It continually contrasts domestic safety with natural freedom, gently teaching readers that animals belong in their wild habitats rather than in cages or forced into circus tricks. Through simple narratives, it encourages kindness toward animals, keen observation of nature, and joy in daily chores. It also highlights the freedom and imagination of Victorian childhood, where simple objects—a small pail, a fireplace bed, or garden tools—become sources of discovery. Beneath the charming stories lies an implicit argument that patience, curiosity, and respect for nature build good character.

Why Read It Today

This issue provides a charming window into nineteenth-century American childhood literature, appealing to readers who appreciate vintage children's stories, historic periodicals, and simple home life. It feels gentle, rhythmic, and reassuring to read, filled with short pieces that are easy to digest and full of cozy period details.

Modern readers should be prepared for its unabashedly moralizing tone and period setups, where every mischievous prank yields a quick lesson, and simple domestic values guide every resolution. The language is straightforward and accessible, though occasional older phrasings and formal sentence structures reflect the era of its publication. What stays with you is the unhurried warmth of the storytelling—a world where feeding a berry to an ox or watching a lamb on a ship deck is cause for real wonder.