sw I li- - .>.\ll!g BF-I J EVFR^SO HUMBLE ere"'is^no"place I LIKE HOME* / 4- ^ I^H i- 0^-v Di2 maMti •^' '^OT? N fm^^ t^-J WHAT GL»^RD^SO ME LOOKS OF HOUSEHOLD LOVE MEET JN THE jRUOOY ;L1«HT THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES GIFT of Prof. Elliot A. P. Evans .'■^ ^ H S 'z. I < ^ r- THE H EARTH STON E ; OR, Life at Home. CONTAINING hints and hklps for home making; home furnishing; decorations amusements; health directions; the sick-room; the nursery THE library; the LAUNDRY; ETC. TOGETHER WITH A COMPLETE COOKERY BOOK, BY LAURA C. HOLLOW AY, Author of "Ladiu 0/ Ifu WhiU House," tte. THE INTER-STATE PUBLISHING HOUSE, BELOIT, WIS. 1883. Copyrighi by Laura C. Holloway, 1883. t-IO ^^^^■] PREFACE. ERE I to dedicate this book, it would be to the Homesick : that class, which, above all others on earth, has suffered so hopelessly, been so little understood by those who have escaped this mind disease. How it eats out the hopes and aspirations and longings of its victims, and leaves them bound to the Promethean rock of loneli- ness, only those know who are its victims. Were I to dedicate my book to the homesick, it would be consecrated to thousands upon thousands of little children, who among- strangers pine to be at home, to whom the school is the prison-house, the distant home the heaven they long to reach; to the lonely orphans found in insti- tutions where the charity of strangers gives them food and raiment, but not a mother's love, a father's presence or a home's liberty ; to the over-worked men and women, wlio are exiles to home blessings through poverty ; to the aged ones who have outlived their kindred, and have no abiding place at any hearthstone ; to the greater j^art of all God's creatures, in fact, for few, indeed, are so happy as to have (iii) 91 IV PREFACE, lived, and not suffered from this cause. All its cruel phases and manifestations, its blighting power and tenacious grasp, were realized by Payne, who spoke for the homesick when he penned his "Home, Sweet Home." He touched the univer- sal heart with his poem made immortal in song, and it seems fitting that in a book on the subject, nothing could be more appropriate than a picture of the fireside where he lived as a little child. This the beautiful frontispiece gives, and in gazing upon it may be realized the charm that hallowed the name to him. In the words of the song that has made his name dear to his kind, he did not teach, he but voiced the univer- sal sentiment ; the love that comprehends that of mother, father, sister, brother, of prosperity and contentment. Surely a word so potent has a deeper significance than any other in our language. To have a home in the fullest sense is to be blessed ; to, be in heaven while yet on earth. From out of happy homes come all the true men and women the world possesses. The noblest and best of the race have been and can only be the products of happy homes. The fetters that bind us to home are the cords that connect us with all true progress and right development. The hap- piness of a well-organized home is reflected in the lives of all men and women who come in contact with its inmates. We cannot, do not live unto ourselves alone : the world is the better or otherwise for our being in it. Home is the cen- tral point of all happiness ; the pivot upon which depends the weal or the woe of families and communities. What then so important as the right building of our earthly homes in all spiritual and practical ways ? What subject so fraught with great consequences as the Hearthstone? Verily, if we have ideals, let them be in this direction; and PREFACE. let them be so developed that when we have passed from the earthly home, it may be to find the spiritual one a facsimile of that which we have wrought in fancy here, and loved and lonofed to attain ; a veritable Hearthstone, about which will be gathered the friends of old, the memories of the past, the essence of every aspiration and anticipation. ILLUSTRATIONS. hearthstone, baby's welcome, playing tennis, . ARCHERY, .... game of croquet, game of chess, floral window, . grandfather's home, mother's knee, . house design, no. I, house design, no. 2, house design, no. 3, house design, no. 4, house design, no. 5, church and parsonage, no. 6, plan of design, no. i, plan of design, no. 2, . Frontispiece. 58 . 90 91 . 94 116 . 264 326 . 350 J from 376 to 389 390 . 392 (vii) CONTENTS. HOMES, ANCIENT AND MODERN. PACE The idea of home and how associated — The original idea of the ancients — David and his palace — A habitation in Israel — Its minarets and towers homes for the birds — Row}and Taylor's remark — " Lead, kindly Light " — Loneliness of the homeless — " The night is dark, and I am far from home " — Howard Payne's world-famous song — The secret of its popularity — The melody of every human heart — The prodigal son — Like Joseph in his inquiries — The voice of the good angel — To the "diggings" in Australia — Charles Lamb's sonnet — Some old proverbs — The test of duty — The dying soldier — Humble earnings — " The old folks at home " A Pauline phrase — Cross-grained creatures — A touch of nature — Two kinds of sons — The brand of Cain — The effect of home-training — William Wilberforce's sons — A right ambition — Alien proprietorship — A condition of things not lasting — German and English peoples — Home and its central fires — Two kinds of citi- zenship — The sacred heritage of family life — An old English proverb — Man's and woman's part in home-building — The destruction of a perfect ideal — Oscar Wilde — The old log-fire — Musings of memory — The days of unleavened bread — Pictures in the fire — The lid of a tin kettle — James Watts' inspiration — " On the past they stream " — The altar-hearth of home 25 HOME-MAKING AND HOME-MANAGEMENT. " Those lights of home " — The Mecca of the heart — A German Legend — An inspiring task — The weal or woe of the house — The true basis of home-life — A one need- ful presence — For the children's sake — A humiliating admission — The pleasant- est place in the house — An eyesore anywhere — Dining-room walls — A bright background — What the best authorities favor — Dining-room furnishings — The place for a mirror — Small articles and pictures — Silver wire versus woollen cord — Desirable ornaments — BufTct and silver — A lack that is felt — Knick-knacks — Chairs — Why children are ill-mannered — The advantages of a sitting-room— (ix) X CONTENTS. One lady's habit — Drawing-rooms and parlors — How to furnish a sitting-room — The "little things" — Elevation of domestic service — Overtaxed women — A grave error — What parlor carpets do — Strong charges — " Too good to be used" — Master of the house — Shaker independence — Not slaves to inanimate things — At what they marvel — Their religious principle — The origin of carpets — For what first used — " If" — Woman should be consulted — Good floors — Old time flower- bed designs — Cheap carpets — How corners are kept clean — The enemy of weak lungs — How to sweep a carpet — A radical doctrine — The adornment of win- dows — Objections to certain kinds of draperies — The secret of success with cur- tains — Flowers in the window — An objection to window gardens — Ferneries — A window conservatory — How made — A necessity of all windows — A beautiful transparency — True method of cleaning windows — Wire-screens — The mistake of house furnishers — Costly things not always the most desirable — The error of choosing hastily — What to buy — Mantle decorations — The folly of overcrowd- ing — In regard to books — The borrowing visitor — A folding screen — Old furniture re-covered — Preferred materials — A mantle-piece border — Fire-place screen — Some uses of silesia — Time wasted — Work-basket curiosities — A dis- couraging sight — An evil genius in the home — Temperance in sewing — The pleasure of work — What is weaved into its warp and woof — The veneering style in sewing — A much abused trade — Art needle-work 36 THE BABY IN THE HOME. Reflections of the father — His misgivings — A familiar domestic scene — The mother's meditations — A miniature of all biography — Entertaining an angel unawares — "Why" — Precocious and gifted children — Where parents live again — A curious incident — Multitudinous reflections — Thomas Starr King's death-bed — A spirit- ualistic theory — " The patterns of things in heaven " — Parents who transmitted their life-work — Darwin and Herbert Spencer as intellectual heirs — Parental responsibility — "A mere child" — A study of a baby — Samuel Johnson's advice — The parents, hand — Hartley Coleridge's childhood — His brother's account of it — Henry Crabb Robinson's diary — Precocity of Coleridge — Odes to him by his father, and by Wordsworth — His character and fate — A strange combination of qualities — The slave of the opium habit — The inheritor of his father's sins — An opium-eating father — A dram-drinking son — The fatal transmission of appetites — A bright career blighted — Expelled from England's oldest university — A hopeless drunkard — A lesson to fathers — The unwritten page of a child's life — A mistaken idea — Pharaoh's daughter — The child not to vegetate, but to live — An old proveib should be verified — Home influences — The government of temper — The baby at the home-school — Itself a teacher — Its chief lessons — The fatber's second birth — The quickness of children's mental and moral perceptions CONTENTS. xi ^The language of heaven — What science teaches — The heart language of the baby in the home 57 " UP-STAIRS, DOWN-STAIRS, IN MY LADY'S CHAMBER." The servant question — A universal cry — Conversations heard in homes — Characters given to servants — " Goodness ! How dreadful ! " — The consternation of a house- maid — The fate of a blue velvet mantilla — Reminiscences of Matilda Pancake and Lucretia Muffins — The thieving cook — The other side — Servants' grievances — The proper example wanted — One's self-respect and that of others — Faithful servants the world's salvation — The doing of honest work — The ideas that for- eign domestics bring with them — The faithful old servant — Joseph a typical server — If " things are not what they seem " — The nervous effects of an untidy servant — Dethronement of reason — Peculiarities of servants — "Yes, m'm" — Left as well as right hands — Horrible moments — The habit of humming — What causes animosity — Times that try mistresses' souls — An old Scotch proverb — " Some servants " — The good servant a master-piece of Christian civilization — Her position next that of teacher — Biographies of old servants — Training-schools — "Butter-fingered girls" — A forgetful cook and how cured — The hand of the servant, and what it does with the machinery of home 73 SPORTS AND GAMES FOR LADIES. Sports and games in the ynited States — Out-door exercises for women — An increas- ing demand for them — The list of out-door sports — Descriptions of each. Lawn Tennis, and how played — Essentially a field-sport for ladies — The best for enjoyable out-door exercise — Playing tennis. Archery — Recreations of the archery field — How to learn it — Exercise that develops the chest muscles — Shooting at a target — The trials of a novice — How to take aim — Rules for holding the bow and arrow. Croquet — A tell-tale game — Test of fine manners — Croquet unlike other games — Not played according to set rules — Why the game lost popularity — The place where croquet is played best — Experts at play — A great courting and flirting game — The points of difference in the game — A pecu- liarity of croquet— Three ways of arranging croquet hoops — Diagrams — Dimen- sions of grounds — Terms used in croquet. Calisthenics — An exercise necessary for girls — The objection to the majority of games — A. special benefit derived from systematic exercise — Calisthenics not necessary for one class of girls — The costume for calisthenics. Skating — The most graceful of sports — The sociabil- ity of a popular skating lake — Advantages to health — Why girls should skate — The essentials for the full enjoyment of skating — Confidence essential in skating — The first lesson — The sensation of standing on an edge — To balance one's XU CONTENTS. self — The fundamental basis of all efforts on skates — The fear that causes a fall ' — Lean on the outer edge — Fancy skating — A pretty sight — Skating on rollers — The difference in the two methods — What can be done on roller skates. Walk- ing — A neglected exercise — How to become a good walker — The difference between city promenading and walking — The kind of shoes to wear — "A ten- mile morning constitutional " — Ladies' walking parties — What women are capa- ble of in the way of walking — English country ladies — Locomotion of the city belle — Something to be ashamed of — Certain sanitary rules about walking. Billiards — A game at first popular with the nobility — An attractive in-door game — To learn to play billiards — How to manipulate the balls with the cue — A natural aptitude not always possessed for the game — The mechanical movements to be learned — The quickest way to learn the game. Bathing and Swimming — The art of swimming a valuable essential to good health — Increasing popularity of swimming — Rules for healthy sea-bathing — When to bathe — When not to do so — When to leave the water — Cramps — How to swim — Presence of mind the chief requisite — How animals swim — The Indians natural swimmers — " Why " — When the art is an impossible one to attain — The motion of the limbs in swimming — How to act under a painful circumstance — The editor of London Truth — The philosophy of breathing the true secret of learning to swim. Row- ing — The chances of accidents — No girl should go out alone unless a swimmer — The action of dipping, pulling, lifting and pushing the oar — Make haste slowly — Feathering the oar — The muscles of the wrist. Chess — A scientific in-door recreation — An easy game to learn — A mental rest, not a mathematical study — Books of instructions — Tlaeir characteristics — Nerve and strategic skill required, not book knowledge — Chess analysis — Hints to beginiiers — ^^Directions 87" THE LIBRARY IN THE HOME. The completeness of home-life — The thing wanting in homes — St. Paul an intellectual architect — A heathen philosopher's amazement — Unfinished characters — A want in most homes — The effect of flowers — The color cure — In what life consists — Plato's teachings — Tastes in books — The Bishop of Winchester's opinions — Book -borrowers — A vulgar habit — Some annolators — An intellectual small pox — Scribblers and note-takers — A good plan — The lieginnings of a library — General culture versus special knowledge — Dickens and Thackeray — Some other authors" — Archbishop Trench's opinion — A guiding principle — Different mental foods — Poetry — Its rank and influence — Indiscriminate reading — Charles. Kingsley — Early scepticism — Destructive influences — Wordsworth's " excursion " — What poetry is — Two studies — Shakespeare's and Milton's lives — What is invaluable in a library — Some good essays — What boys like — Bulwer Lytton's CONTENTS. Xlll advice — Dickens' child-history — " If" — Mrs. Barbauld's poem — General Wolfe's declaration — Thomas Edward — The Scotch naturalist — The books one should read — A good motto Ii8 CHOICE OF OCCUPATION. Doing nothing — The effect of continued idleness — Overworked people — God's noble- man — An important act — Mistakes of fathers — The case of the minister — The unhappy man — A great minister — Michael Angelo and Leonardo da Vinci — "A rolling stone" — Pleasure in work — The efforts of children — The "well done" — Mistakes in choosing work — A typical picture — A stalwart cook — Girls without talent — A chance for genius — "What some men would make — " The father of the man" — Some great men — Franklin as a boy — Force of character — " Know thyself" — Why Solomon doubted — Co-operation — Sowing and reaping — Every man's duty — " The night cometh" — A noble ambition — Good old Bible words.. 137 IN THE SICK-ROOM. Were life-laws obeyed — Dr. Richardson's observations — Natural death — Every house an occasional hospital — A vital necessity — Women interested — Lectures on a baby — A good hand-book — Health essentials — Ventilation — Laws for the sick- room — Infectious diseases — Personal cleanliness — A slow poison — A great dan- ger — Sponging — Beds and bedding — Relief in time of weakness — Miss Nightin- gale's sayings — Blankets and comfortables — Dr. Burdette on cottage hospitals — The draw-sheet — Pure air and suitable food — Irritability of brain — Why sleep is important — The matter of noise — A calm manner — The faculty of observation — Objectionable habits in the sick-room — Horrible monotony — An olci -fashioned notion — A weight on any one — The baby in the sick-room — Some errors of the past — The food cure — Dr.* Edward Smith's book — An essential to health — • Starved in the midst of plenty — A great comfort — What beef-tea is — Some mis- takes about nourishment — Pavy's rules — The appearance of things — Duties to one's self — Powers called into play in sickness — " Having done all, to stand " — Tables of diet — Appetites of convalescents — Beef-essence and tea — Broths and gruels — Some dainty dishes for the sick 153 THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. Knowledge of medicine — Fits and starts in health-taking — Doctors and medicines are luxuries — Like unto the curfew bell — The village doctor — The ideal parish — " Cheer but not inebriate" — The cemetery of Healthytown — The good old parson — Farmer Freshtwig — The stories of the doctor and the undertaker — " Wash and be clean" — A result of unnatural training — "Too tired to be clean" — The XIV CONTENTS. greatest preservatives of health — A fact established — How to take a bath — Cold feet — Chewing and bolting food — A fruitful cause of dyspepsia — What to keep in the house — Exercise — A folly — Where stimulants are useful — Fresh air opponents — A deceitful prophet — A disagreeable mission — Ugly mouths — Teeth from the dentist — Pomatum and bear's grease — " Lastly, gentle reader " 177 MEDICINAL AND HYGIENIC RECIPES. Bruises — Cramps — Headaches — Lumbago — Measles^-Diarrhoea — Poison — Stings — Toothache — Whooping-cough — Bronchitis — Erysipelas — Jaundice — How to give chloroform — Evil effects of ice-water — Cold tea — To purify rooms after sickness — To make pepsin — A powerful antidote — How to treat a cold — Sick stomach — Soda for burns — Acid burns — Insects in the ear — The night air super- stition — Advice to dyspeptics — Alcohol and dyspepsia — Disinfectants — Mental headache — Sprained ankle — Inflamed eyes — Early rising — Preventive against sea-sickness — In drowning cases — The airing of beds — Advice with reason — Various remedies — Sleep — Perfect ventilation — Household diet — Ventilation of cellars — Cure for earache — The prevention of sunstroke — Worth knowing and remembering — Cure for a felon — Sticking-plaster — Diphtheria and sore throat — Stiffness and aching limbs — The lemon — Fasting — Neuralgia and sciatica — Catarrh — Coughing — Croup — Other remedies 184 ECONOMY IN THE HOME. The dollar saved — Mistaken ideas — The " penny wise and pound foolish " — Unwise acts — Not an easy habit to acquire — " The rainy day " — Pride which shrinks — Ten cents a day — The constant droppings— A suggestive table — Rothschild's income — The foundation principle in economy — One's health and generous living — Utilizing remainders— Clothing the body — Bargaining house-keepers — Poor Moses in the " Vicar of Wakefield " 216 LIFE AT HOME. The first sure symptom of a mind in health — The disturbing element — The undoing of peace and happiness — The deadly nightshade — The unsafe element — Abnor- mal tendencies — The secret of a happy home — The Jacobs and Esaus — The Cinderella in the home — The innate narrowness of parents — Unkindness to children — Petting and spoiling — Pigmy lords — A miniature republic — The sensi- tive spot — Diversities of gifts in children — Memories of birthdays — Rebekah a bad mother — The dead baby — A piteous spectacle — Love sweetens everything — The reformation within that makes the real home 222 CONTENTS. XV HOUSEHOLD ORNAMENTATION. Antimacassars — Work-baskets — Aprons — Wall-baskets — Silk curtain bands — Per- fume sachets — To crystallize grasses — To press flowers — Hanging-baskets — Design for screens — The hanging of pictures — The question of fireboards — The ubiquitous Japanese fan — Sachets — Economical mats — Velvet painting — Covers for tables and chairs — Pin-cushions and carriage rugs — Pretty tidies — To use ferns — The place for thermometers — Case for overshoes — Salad oil bottles for vases — Curtains — Waste-paper baskets — Easels — Watch and jewelry cases — Dados of colored matting — Zephyr balls — The Kensington work — A pretty mat — Skeleton leaves — Tapestry work — Basil leather work — Cabinets — Cheap mate- rials for portieres — Seaweed — Cut work — A coverlet wrought by Mary, Queen of Scots — The Kensington stitch — A clothes bag — Sewing buttons on — How to make netting — Fire-place curtains — Pen-wipers and scrap-bags — Ottoman and chair covers — Lace albums — Pretty contrivances for bed-rooms — Boxes and trunks 23a' FLORICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE. The taste for the beautiful — The influence of flowers — " The wilderness to blossom" — A beauty which Solomon saw — ^The love of flowers — Matthew Arnold's expres- sion — As aids to memory — Ophelia's emblems of the feelings of the heart — The "sweet gardening toil" — There there are no flowers — The garden of Eden — " Nothing but leaves " — General directions for flower growing — Roses — Their training and their enemies — A window plant — Watering window plants and win- dow gardening — Geraniums — Plow to preserve flowers in sand — Repotting plants — The Catalonian jessamine — A water bouquet — A flower-bed — Seasonable hints — Plants at rest — Flower raising — English ivy — To keep cut flowers fresh — Tuberoses — Fancy fern-pans — Fuchsias — How to set grafts — The cause of buds blasting — To grow hyacinths in water and in moss — Propagating plants — Begonias — Camellia japonica — Preserving autumn leaves — Rockeries and grot- tos — The preservation of bouquets — To transplant mignonette — Planting flower seeds — Training tomato plants — ^How the Japanese restore faded flowers — Hyacinths — Tulips, etc 263 THE LAUNDRY. A restful sight — To wash well — Some hints to housekeepers — Soaking clothes over night — Washing directions — Washing and bleaching flannels — Sprinkling clothes — Colored wool fabrics — To v/nsh black goods — Light-colored cashmeres — Re- moving spots — How to wnsh blankets, light-colored calicoes, delicate muslins, cambrics, silk handkerchiefs and stockings, white cashmeres, and lace curtains — Tlie virtues of borax — To remove mildew — To do up and renovate black silk — XVI CONTENTS. Putting away clothes — To remove stains from linen — Various recipes — Cleaning cloth garments — Removing fruit-stains — To bleach cotton — Some recipes for dyeing^To revive kid-gloves— Bleaching process — Starch — The care of towels- Stains, etc 290 THE TOILET. A trite old saying — The beauty worthy a name — A tell-tale feature — A good com- plexion — Madame Recamier — Her strongest point — A cosmetic for the face — To be handsome — To remove wrinkles — Directions for painting wrinkles out of the face — A nice preparation for chapped hands — A harmless cosmetic — To disperse freckles — A pleasant perfume — Buttermilk as a cosmetic — Toilet soap — A good method for removing superfluous hair — To remove flesh-worms — Crimping hair — A mouth wash — Preservation of the teeth — Some bad liabits — To remove j^imples — Care of the hands — To clear the complexion — To reduce the flesh — A harmless dye J04 COMPANY IN THE HOME. The choice of friends — What true friendship is — Two proverbs — Charles Kingsley's saying — Don Quixotte and Sancho Panza — Constant familiarity — Pope's lines — With whom not to be intimate — Dr. Johnson and his Boswell — The reminiscences of silent hours — Our neighbors — A French exile and Napoleon the Third — The household a sheepfold — Scabby and healthful sheep — "Avoid bad company" — Mischief-making persons — Home rulers — Tittle-tattle — Gossips — Hackneyed ex- pressions — The tragic and melodramatic incidents in the village circle — "I always said so" — The tell -tah — Victims and critics — The enemies of peaceful homes — Untimely and unprofitable visitors— The distinguishing trait of home- life — Altered manners of friends — Malevolent ]-.eo|jle — A rack of self-torture — Miss Tattle — Mr. Teller — Underground misunderstandings — Dr. Griswold and Thackeray — "Do I look like a snob?" — The natural curiosity of the idle — • Strong measures against gossips — Busy people — Mrs. Fuss and Miss Feathers — An untimely visit — Self-protection — A compliment worth having — To make friends is to be friendly — The voice a tremendous force — Casting pearls before swine — When company is oppressive — Home should not be a tavern or a club — The old proverb^A home where pleasant people gather 314 HOME MEMORIES. "I remember" — The earliest scenes — Covvper's description of his mother's picture — The Madonna — The dearest of all memories — " Dear kindly faces " — The nurse's arms — Her influence in the home — Familiar objects — The preserve- CONTENTS. XVn closet and the smacking of lips — The garden and garden-gate — Memories of sisters and brothers — Carlo's bark and Dobbins' trot — In the twilight hour — The mysteries of the fire — An element the Persians worsliipped — Wliat fire suggests — Fireside musings— The "Dies Irse" — The Yule log when the fire is out — The wanderer's return — Stories around the fireside^ — Grandma's reminiscences — " Burn brightly, winter fire " — " Home, Sweet Home," by John Howard Payne, a world-famous song — The poet's own fireside (see frontispiece) — Where he first heard the air — The song written for an opera — Where written — Facts about Payne's life — His return to New York — His words at a banquet — An orphan and exile — "A name to live " — A story in this connection — His song a magic " sesame " which opens all hearts 326 • PETS IN THE HOUSEHOLD. " Poor relations" — The dog and the horse familiar family friends — The reasoning powers of some dogs — De Long's mistake in killing the dogs with hi-, party — Power of dogs to find food through scent — Brute instinct like supernatural rev- elation — Seven little kittens — Family conference — Six cats to die — Remarkable instinct of the deserted animals — Ishmaels without Hagar — The miseries of the feline Arabs — A ghastly travelling party of three — Eight miles over a strange road — A dog's affection — No magnanimity in cats — The biography of dogs — The cat likened unto Jacob as a supplanter — Tray and Tahitha — Kittens and parrots — Canary birds — Rabbits — Guinea-pigs and ravens — The hand that feeds ' the animals — Two pets enough — The dog first in rank — Faithful and affectionate — The vacant kennel — The ancient Athenians and dogs — The grief of dogs — The dog " one of us" — The training and education of dogs — The first thing to be taught— The canine gourmand — Mercy and manners — Care of canaries, par- rots and mocking-birds — How to feed and care for them — Some diseases to which they succumb 3^7 THE MOTHER IN THE HOME. A typical mother — Test of character — Self-denial and tact — A pen-picture of an ideal woman — How she met poverty, change and rebellion — Occupation for her children — Friend and counsellor — Fortunate children — Hard work and happi- ness — Mending and painting a fence — Out-door improvements — Helping hands — The spirit of improvement — Plans and surprises — Making home beauti''ul — An eye-sore — Amateur workers — A rockery — Planting an arbor and hiding a poultry-yard — Pecuniary independence — A beautiful home — A mother's reward — Her life-work and influence-^A gracious boon — Such a mother the rarest possession J4y 2 XVI 11 CONTENTS. DUTY OF PARENTS TO CHILDREN. A codicil to the fifth commandment — Martyrs among children — The cruelty of injus- tice — The memory of a wrong— The child-life of the Saviour — What a theme — His commandment to children — Reaping what is sown — An obnoxious vice — The saddest of retrospects — Ignorance of the laws of life — Unfortunate heritages — The sins of the fathers — Rights of children — Early and heedless marriages — Young and over-burdened mothers — Commonplace people — What every child is entitled to — A celebrated divine's singular conclusion — Mother- hood unrespected — The inhumanity of man — An unhappy and discordant man — Why he was such — The crime of infanticide — The sins of ignorance — A proph- ecy regarding the nation 357 DEATH IN THE HOME. Jeremy Taylor's views of death — A tranquil sleep — The selfishness of the living — Old heathens an example to Christians — Death in the Home — Rigid English ceremonies — Gloomy views of death — Inconsistencies of Christians — Lord By ion's saying — The dead near us — A victory over human weakness — To meet again — Such a hope rational — Human affections more than animal weaknesses — Outward observances of death — Anniversaries of deaths — Pessimists and moral dyspeptics — " May-be's of the hereafter " — The home minaret touching the blue slcy — " Until * mamma ' comes home " 365 HOME ARCHITECTURE. A noble ambition — To own a home — The great question — A home in fact — Locality and drainage — Country and suburban homes — Sydney Smith on Salisbury Plain — " Four miles from a lemon " — Mistakes of builders — Inconvenient localities — Antagonistic possibilities — External and internal arrangements — Where " every prospect pleases" — Why St. Simon Stylites lived on a pillar — Errors in house-building — A vast deal of discomfort — Innumerable doors — A feeling they produce — Staircases and pantries — A question of knobs and hinges — A woman's knowledge of closets — Storage-room with pegs and shelves — Life-saving problems — Fire-proof houses — Heating facilities — Health before ornament — Designs for house architecture — Interior arrangements of homes 370 THE KITCHEN IN THE HOME. What it should be — Brillat-Savarin — The kitchen in old Roman houses — How some ■ housekeepers neglect kitchens — The centre warmth of home — American stom- achs — How business men eat — Druggists in demand — The diet of some men and woman — Ills the doctor cannot remedy — The art required to cook — Alfred the CONTENTS. Xlx Great and the cakes — Attention and consciousness of attention required to cook — Leaden bread — The Englishman in China — The disguising power of gravy and sauces — The rule of the Athenian philosopher — Socrates' preferences — King George the Third and apple dumplings — The beggar and George the Fourth — The wedding breakfast of Charles the Sixth — The diet of Friar Tuck and the " gen- tle hermit of the dale " — The foods of different countries — Sir John Franklin and the Esquimau lad — The simplest of all food — The frying pan and other cook- ing utensils — Talleyrand and the fat Bishop — The American kitchen — German and English cookery — The best teacher to have in the kitchen 395 COOKERY RECIPES. Soups — Fish — Oysters — Meats — Poultry and Game — Sauces and Gravies — Vegetables -—Eggs, Omelets, etc. — Salads — Pies — Puddings — Creams, Jellies, Custards, etc. — Preserves, Canned Fruits, etc. — Pickles and Catsups — Breads and Breakfast Cakes — Cakes and Icings — Coffees, Teas and Beverages — Butter, Milk, Cheese, etc .- 403 MISCELLANEOUS HOUSEHOLD RECIPES. Odds and ends for household use — Cements, Pastes, etc — Hints to housekeepers 550 SOCIAL FORMS. Cards of compliment — Invitation to a wedding — Invitation to a reception — Admis- sion card formula — Reception card — Announcement of marriage — Marriage anniversaiies 579 THE HEARTHSTONE: of., LIFE AT HOIE distillin is with HOMES, ANCIENT AND MODERN, " What's a house ? You may buy it, or build it, or rent, It may be a mansion, a cottage, a tent; Its furniture costly, or humble and mean; High walls may surround it, or meadows of green; Tall servants in livery stand in the hall. Or but one little maiden may wait on you all ; The table may qroan with rich viands and rare, Or potatoes and bread be its costliest fare. The inmates may glitter in purple and gold, Oi' iheir raiment be homely and tattered and old. 'Tis a house, and no more, which vile money may buy; It may ring with a laugh or but echo a sigh. " But a home must be warmed with the embers of love, Which none from its hearthstone may ever remove. And he lighted at eve with a heart-kindled smile, Whkrh a breast, though in sorrow, of woe may beguile. A home must be ' Home,' for no words can express it— Unless you have known it, you never can guess it; 'Tis in vain to descriiie what it means to a heart Which can live out its life on the bubbles of art. It may be a palace, it may be a cot, It matters not which and it matters not what; 'Tis a dwelling perfumed with the incense of love, A beautiful type of the home that's above." HERE arc some perfumes so aromatic that one need not uncork the bottle that contains them to have our clothes and rooms and furniture made fragrant by them. They find their way through thick glass and wood, and yet do not evaporate or decrease, but re- main the same in bulk, although fragrance is always g from them and sweetening everything around them. So it the word Home. There is no other word in any dictionar;- (25) 26 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. that IS so precious, so all-pervading and so full of tenderest memory and affection. If there be any nation that is without a word for home in its vocabulary, then we may be sure that it has no name for God, for heaven, and for those unselfish virtues and mutual influences which make the crown of our humanity. Indeed, so intimately is the idea of home associated with that of God, on the one hand, and of humanity on the other, that the ancient heathen had their gods in their homesteads, like family relics and heirlooms. At the siege of Troy, ^neas and his father, Anchises, are chiefly anxious to save and carry away with them, in their exile from the ruined home, their Penates, or household gods, as soon as they have seen to it that the little lad lulus is safe. All religions worthy of the name have had home as their subjective, and God as their objective, basis. So in- timately are these two ideas interwoven that it is quite as true to define man as a home-building and home-loving as a God-fearing or worshipping being. The original idea that the ancients had in building temples and churches was to make a home for God, or the gods among whom they divided the attributes of Creator and Pro- tector. David is no sooner called away from the sheepfolds than he is possessed with the grand enterprise of the temple on Mount Zion. The palace, the splendid home for himself, does not satisfy him, so long as the Deity to whom he owes his life and fortunes has no lAational sanctuary. He resolves to take no rest for his eyes nor slumber for his eyelids until he has found out a home for his Lord, a " habitation " for the God of Israel. And when his son Solomon completed the grand cathedral which his father had begun, his as- piration is that God will accept it as an earthly cottage not worthy, of course, of Him who dwelleth in the heavens, but still well furnished and complete, having in it the perpetual fires and incense of home and the voices of prayer and joy and sadness that sound so home- like. David even rejoiced at the thought that its very minarets and towers would be homes for the birds that were wanderers in the sky. Its altars were to afford the swallow a home and the sparrow a nest for her little ones. HOMES, ANCIENT AND MODERN, 27 Home is written on the heaven above us and the earth beneath. Said Rowland Taylor, as he walked from London to his dear parish of Hadley, within whose limits he was to be burned alive for his re- ligious opinions in the dark days of Mary and of Bonner, "There are but one or two stiles more for us to climb over and then I shall be home." It cheered the good man's heart that since he had to die he was to die near home. To be away from home, either when full of life or when expecting death, is to be lonely and to feel a void in one's heart. Hence, in one of the most beautiful of modern hymns or sacred poems, " Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom," John Henry Newman gives expression to this loneliness of feeling when he says, " The night is dark and I am far from home." Who of my readers has not felt the magic influence of John Howard Payne's world-famous song of " Home, sweet home " ? The secret of its popularity is not in any special excellence of meter, or even originality of thought. Rather it is the utter absence of origin- ality that makes it universal. It merely voices in simple strain the melody of every human heart since the first home was built on earth till now. It is a subject that never tires, but has eternal memory and hope in it. Home is a talisman, and we whisper the word in our own hearts and wear the thought of it about us like a charm or amulet. Like a spring gushing through hard rocks it sparkles with constantly renewed freshness, and our hearts yearn toward it, " As for some dear familiar strain Untired we ask and ask again. Ever, in its melodious store, Finding a spell unheard before." Whenever the time comes to a young man that he ceases to love the home of his parents and his childhood, he may be sure that there is something wrong with him, and that morally he is on a downward track. The first symptom of the loss of purity of heart in a youth is when he begins to speak disparagingly or unfilially of home. The greatest men in the history of this and every other 28 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. country have been and still are those who cling with the strongest affection to the scenes and memories of their childhood. The good old patriarchal or domestic sentiment can afford to be sneered at, for its power is confessed by all of us at last. The prodigal son may take his portion of the common stock and turn it into money, which he finds to be very hard cash indeed when he has squandered it in dissipation, but when he comes to himself, and his better nature and real manhood assert themselves, he feels that the best thing he can do is to go home. Too often, however, regret is felt too late, or it is too late to reinstate himself He enters the old village with sad mis- givings, and when he looks at the old home he finds it changed, and instinct tells him that other hearts than those he loved inhabit it, and that other hands than those that once caressed him have changed ivs style and aspect. He asks, like Joseph, if the old man is yet alive, and soon learns that all there is remaining of his home is beneath the mounds in the village churchyard. Fiction has never exceeded in description the real despair and solitude of the homeless man. We can remember such a case, which is but typical of many thousands of others. A young lad who had been gently born and nurtured contracted the youthful fever of love of adventure and dis- lil:e of regular living. Like ambition the adventurous spirit is not to be condemned, for without it where would have been the discoverers and heroes of the world? But with many lads it is a mere mock hf.Toism, and only shame prevents them from turning back, and con- fessing as much, before they have got fairly out of sight of the curl- ing smoke of the home chimney. For once that the voice of one's good angel whispers " Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London !" obedience to which leads on to fortune, there are a thousand cases where the voice says, " Turn again," in another sense, and bids us re- trace our footsteps and go home again. The wilful, generous-hearted lad we have in memory was touched with the contagion of adven- ture, and, in spite of all advice and kinden treaty, would go to sea. HOMES, ANCIENT AND MODERN. 2g But of the sea he tired after one outbound voyage, and then ran off " to the diggings " in Austraha. Next he was a sheep farmer, but he lost all that he made. Sadder and wiser he worked his way home again before the mast. But what did he find ? His father and mother both dead, murmuring the wanderer's name with their last breath, and the old homestead pulled down to make way for a rail- road. The bronzed and weather-beaten man, not yet much past thirty, visited his parents' graves, and no doubt shed tears as he re- called their looks and voices and all their goodness to him in his early years. From the churchyard he strolled a mile to the gram- mar school where he had learned his mother tongue on paper and the elements of Latin and mathematics. The old porch and the dor- mitories and the long school-room and the playground were all there ; but all the living associations were gone. The old Head Master was dead ; his assistant teachers were all gone and scattered none knew where. He might have sighed with gentle Charles Lamb : " I have had playmates, I have had companions, In my days of childhood, in my joyful school-days ; All, all are gone, the old familiar faces. " Ghost-like, I paced round the haunts of my childhood. Earth seemed a desert I w^as bound to traverse, Seeking to find the old familiar faces. " llow some they have died, and some they have left nie. And some are taken from me; all are departed; All, all are gone, the old familiar faces." Afterward, when his thoughts grew calmer and he was able from one source or another to glean some personal intelligence of his companions and schoolfellows, he found that one was a great Senator, another a bishop, and another a chief-justice, while he himself had but given another example to the proverb that " a rolling stone gathers no moss," and that " the lane called By-and-By leads to the house of Never." Sometimes, however, the spirit of adventure is not mere restlessness 30 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. and impatience, but is the true outcome of a brave heart and stead- fast will. But in such cases there is no eagerness to get away from home. That is a hard wrench, and is only undergone as a painful duty. Indeed, the test of its being one's duty to leave hom^e is often the pain it costs us to do so. If we wish to go away we ought to make quite sure that we are right in going ; but if it almost breaks our heart to part from all that has made our past life dear to us, we should listen attentively when duty bids, or seems to bid us go. In such cases even the wide ocean does not part us wholly from our home, either by night or day. The dying soldier on the distant battle-field, the shipwrecked sailor, the merchant in a foreign land, all think lovingly of the old home. There is nothing more worthy of admiration in the scantily educated domestic servants who come to this country from Germany or Ireland than the self-denying affec- tion with which they save their little earnings that they may send help to " the old folks at home." Statistics show that the money sent by hard-working servants through the post-office amounts to a very large sum every year. Surely these faithful hearts deserve and will one day possess a " home of their own." There is a class of persons, although not, it is to be hoped, a very large one, who are without natural affection, to use a Pauline phrase, and so are incapable of loving or caring for a home. As the Latin proverb describes the man who is " never less alone than when alone," so one may describe such misanthropic members of the human family as never less at home than when at home. And not only are such cross-grained creatures never at home themselves, but they prevent others from feeling at home in their presence. One ill- conditioned and sour-tempered inmate can blight the peace and happiness of a home. As " one touch of nature makes the whole world kin," so the touch of ill-nature can make everything unkind. Do we sufficiently instill into our children the love of home and all that home connotes and stands for ? The best way to make the young ones love it is to make it as cheery and pleasant for them as we can. It is a fact which the student of social life can scarcely HOMES, ANCIENT AND MODERN, 3 1 avoid noticing, that the sons of particularly pious and straight-laced parents are generally much worse behaved when they get their liberty than those who have been brought up in an atmosphere of rational liberty and candor. One may see many a gray head being bowed down in sorrow towards the grave on account of the disgrace and anxiety brought upon a family by a son's profligacy or dishonesty. Some of these unworthy sons of Christian parents have gone so far in criminality as to pull up suddenly inside of a prison ; but others who have been smart enough to avoid legal consequences have none the less branded themselves for life with a mark upon their foreheads as indelible as that of Cain. Surely there is some show of reason in the suspicion that the being compelled to be, or feign to be, " righteous overmuch " in their boyhood, has made them when they were able to throw off the mask of hypocrisy stand out the more conspicuously in their real character. Some social philosophers have argued from such cases that to instill the principles of religion into a child is to make him a hypo- crite in the nature of things, and hence they have condemned the habit of attendance at public worship, and still more that of domestic worship or " family prayer." This seems to us to carry the argument too far, for if there are dozens, or even hundreds, of cases where the apparent effect of early religious training upon the subsequent conduct has been bad, there are thousands where it has strengthened the will, kept guard over the passions, and preserved the body and mind in purity and integrity. Who can think that such home religion and daily prayers and study of Scripture as those in William Wilbcrforce's household had a pernicious effect upon his children ? In religious belief most of them ran to the opposite extreme from that of their father, but in conduct they never disgraced their early training. It should be the ambition of every youth to be a successful home builder, and to earn by early industry a home of his own. It is dreary work to spend all one's life in sowing that others may reap. It is quite true that 32 THE HEARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME. " He who by the plough would thrive, Himself must either hold or drive ; " but the converse is not less true that he who holds or drives the plough ought also himself to thrive by it. This is the great social difficulty and problem that is shaking society to its centre. Alien proprietorship and a tenantry of serfs have had their day, but that day is passing away we trust forever. Education is now within the reach of all, and it was only the want of education on the one side that made them the social bondmen and mere hirelings of the other. The troubles in Ireland are the result of centuries of this unfair and unnatural inequality. The distinctions of rich and poor must always exist, because riches and poverty are relative, not absolute, conditions ; but that the rich should be idle and have luxuries, while the poor work hard and want for bread, is an atrocious and rotten state of things, and one that cannot last in an age of such decisive progress and prompt action as our own. The day cannot be distant when every cultivator of the soil will have a home of his own ; but agrarian out- rages and murders, postpone rather than hasten that good time. The Germans and the English have been, of all nationalities, the most conspicuous for their love of home. In a newer country, whose extent is so much greater and where travel is so much longer and more frequent, the home and its central fires are not so easy to pre- serve. Americans have to make new homes far distant from each other. But perhaps this necessity of frequent migration makes them cherish the ideal of home the more. It is a restless, homeless, and unsatisfying way, that of living in hotels. Strange faces, however pleasant and kindly, do not fill the place of the old familiar faces, The banquet of a palace in which one is a guest by courtesy never tastes as sweet as the social meal in our own home does. We hear men boast of travel and having no continuing city, and flitting from place to place and seeing new sights and mixing with strange people; but to be a citizen of the world is not so good as the citizenship of the home circle and the home fireside. Those who get tired of housekeeping live with less trouble in a boarding-house. But what HOMES, ANCIENT AND MpDERN. 33 they save in trouble they lose in comfort. Chiefly, they miss that privacy which is the sacred heritage of family life. The old English proverb that "a man's house is his castle" expresses this. In his own home he is safe from intrusion, " monarch of all he surveys," master of his own times and ways. Republicanism is good in national government, but not at meal times, or when one is reading, writing, or resting, and needs quiet and security from intrusion. Hence, of the All-Father it is said that " He setteth the solitary in families," and " maketh Him households like a flock of sheep," and sheep love their own company and their own shepherd, and know not the voice of a stranger. There are social marks and ways by which one can soon distinguish the man, woman, or child who has a happy home, from those whose life is all spent in publicity, amid noise and glare, without a parenthesis of introspection, reflection, private study, and home surroundings. If the home-building and home-sustaining man develops nobler traits of character and is of kindlier mould than the human bird of passage, however rich his plumage, so the woman who finds a field for her affections and unselfishness in home is truly beneficent and beautiful. If it be the man's part to lay the foundations and erect the building, it is hers to beautify the walls and enshrine music and the kindly arts within them. It is his to build and hers to beautify. If there be some " lost arts " which adorned ancient homes, but in which modern homes are wanting, it is hers to restore and bring them back. It is woman who informs the home with light and life. Her hand it is that decorates and adorns, that culls and twines the flowers and leaves, and lets in "sweetness and light" into the rooms. Her hand it is that is cunning in the needlework and makes even the homeliest fare tempting in look and taste. Her touch is that of a purifying, transforming, and beautifying angel in the home, or like the magic wand of Cinderella's fairy godmother that transfigured the neglected and ill-clad child into a maiden " fair to see," decked with taste and loveliness, to grace a palace and to win a prince. Palace and prince, however, are both superfluous in the true fairy 3 34 THE HEARTt^TONE; OR, LIFE AT HOME. tale of home. Genuine aesthetics have their place in the simple cottage not less than in the mansion which oppresses one by its splendor. ' The touch of the Master of Life could raise the poor man's as well as the nobleman's child to renewed life and strength. There is often more true life as well as more true love in a cottage than in kings' houses, and the true aesthetic touch does not need the purple and fine linen for a fabric. Amid a great deal that is trite and threadbare in Mr. Oscar Wilde's lectures, there is one remark which, although it has been uttered and thought a thousand times, cannot be repeated too often. It is that our American stoves and furnaces are destructive of the perfect ideal of a home. One might fill a volume instead of a page with the reminiscences and associations that gather around the old grate fire, or the still, older log upon the hearth. But one cannot by any stretch of imagination conceive a happy thought or genuine inspiration to have been suggested by, or derived from, the modern stove or heater. It is " an abomination of desolation standing where it ought not." Who does not recall, with never fading pleasure, the dear old home-fires of the " auld lang" syne." We see ourself in memory's mirror as we write, a musing, solitary child, looking and never tired of looking, at the nursery fire. Those were the days of unleavened bread, when life had not fermented, and all the chambers of imagery were filled with visions bright and beautiful. In the twilight, seated on our hassock, and with folded hands, we saw the angels and the fairies, the " cloud-capp'd towers and gorgeous palaces " of a world all our own, in which sin and sorrow were not, nor evil persons nor evil thoughts. But there is no augury in a stove ; divination is in the fire, not in the heat. There were poems and romances, Jacob's ladders, and radiant mountains in the dear old fire ; but one might as well seek in.spiration in the lid of a tin kettle — we shall be told that James Watt found it there — as in the coldly-warm, inclemently- heating stove of the parlors and nurseries of to-day. Truly has the eccentric young Irish lecturer told us that there is nothing aesthetic in such severe domestic comforts as the stove. HOMES, ANCIENT AND MODERN. 35 But the old Fire was Home itself in essence and in miniature. We must not now dilate upon its cheerful glow, its kindly warmth, its visions of the ideal future that was not to be, lest our readers fall asleep, or into it. When we think of it we can understand how men of old " fought for their altars and their fires," especially the firesides of home. The picture of the circle round that fireside never grows dim or fades. " Dark shadows of approaching ill Fall thick upon life's forward track ; But on the past they stream not back, What once was bright remains so still.'" And the centre of all that once was bright was the home fireside. W^hat stories were told by its red glow and flickering flame ! What books and magazines were read aloud beside it ! How much sweet talk of absent ones ! The wind that shrieked amid the leafless trees, or round the corners of the street, made us draw closer to it. Then the heroic story, the pathetic poem, the narrative of hairbreadth 'scapes, the ghost story or tale of highway robbery, would hold us spellbound. But neither winds nor waves, nor ghosts nor robbers scared us till we went to bed, for we felt safe from physical and spiritual harm so long as we could see the live coals burning on the altar-hearth of Home. HOME-MAKING AND HOME-MANAGEMENT. " In many a village window burn The evening lamps ; They shine amid the dews and damps, Those lights of home ! " Afar the wanderer sees them glow. Now night is near; They gild his path with radiance clear. Sweet lights of home. " Ye lode-stars that forever draw The wear)' heart, In stranger lands or crowded mart; O ! lights of home. " When my brief day of life is o'er, Then may I see, Shine from the heavenly house for me Dear lights of home." |0ME writer has said that the best security for civiliza- tion is the home, and that upon its perpetuity rests the future of the world. Certain it is that without home- life humanity would be lost to all the nobler condi- tions of existence, and be incapacitated from elevating itself The foundation of existence is home, and about its walls are entwined all the sweet memories of earth. Its inner temple, real or ideal, is the shrine at which all enlightened man- kind worships, and its altar is the Mecca of the heart, the Abdul-el- Kader of the soul. Poets have written of it — minstrels have made it the subject of song, and to all the world it has been an inspiring theme and a bright anticipation. To the masses it exists as yet ideally only. The average man and woman know nothing of its beauty, its rest, or its blessings. It lives (36) HOME-MAKING AND HOME-MANAGEMENT. 37- in tradition, is known to their hearts in the form of aspiration and desire, but is a reality only to the few. " The place where angels dwell — that is home," reads the old German legend, and the real interpretation of the word is not far different. It takes but little to make a home. It requires little to beautify it, but that little lacking, home can exist only in aspiration and in imagination. Harmony among those composing the family-circle, and a degree of worldly comfort secured, home may indeed be a reality, and to assist those who are trying to rear one, and to aid the seekers after refinement, beauty and economy in it, these hints are offered ! To make home-life beautiful, to give to it a charm which it ought to possess, to turn the hearts of the young to it with renewed affec- tion — can any task be more inspiring or deserving of success? And as the most ideal thing on earth has as its foundation a most practicable fact, the real way to make a home is to build first in that portion upon which is to depend so much of the weal or woe of the house. Young beginners in home-making pay much attention to outward surroundings if their means will admit, and if they will not, their minds are more set upon the arrangement and finishing of the parlor than the other rooms of the home, and they arc more apt to indulge in extravagance there than elsewhere. The basis upon which all homes should be founded is good living, and no matter how strait- ened the circumstances, how little there is to be spent, this can always be secured if housekeepers will begin at the beginning — that is, in the kitchen. That they do not thus begin is the reason why there is so little real home-comfort in houses; so little restfulness and true pleasure found in what ought to be genuine homes. The getting of a house does not guarantee the possession of a home ; it may and it may not. But the presence in the house of a good housekeeper does, for where the physical welfare of a family is looked after, the mental and spiritual comfort is almost sure to follow. A cheerful kitchen, for tlie children's sake, in the first place — for they love the kitchen naturally — should be the earliest ■38 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. possession, and not many times can it be secured with the insufficient help American housewives have to depend upon generally. A way to have a good cook is to be one, and the way to make home happy is to have a well-supplied table. A humiliating admis- sion this to some, perhaps, but the truth is invincible, and sooner or later this one asserts itself. Three well-served meals each day will, under ordinary circum- stances, secure the home-happiness of almost any reasonable house- hold, and it certainly does establish the comfort of all. The dining-room is the tell-tale apartment of the house ; whatever it is, so is the parlor, the up-stairs rooms or the kitchen. Cracked dishes, soiled covers, dingy carpets — these bespeak one kind of housekeeper, as neat napkins, clean chairs, and tidy ornaments another. The dining-room ought to be the pleasantest place in the house ; it is the meeting-room where the family are expected to be always present at stated times, and where the events of the day are talked over while the pleasant business of eating is being discussed. Dingy walls ought not to be tolerated in a dining-room ; they are an eyesore anywhere, but in this place they are entirely out of place. Tinted walls are preferable to papered ones ; but they cost more, and are not always to be commanded. If paper is selected, let it be suited to the size and general appearance of the room. If the room is low and long, the walls should not be papered at all. Plain white ones increase the apparent size of the apartment, and lighten it, wjiile any colored or figured covering detracts from the desired effect. If the walls have been papered before, and must be covered in the same way again, choose a pale tint of some preferred color, and finish with a border of a brilliant and darker shade. Solid colors are the most suitable for a dining-room, for the reason that the eye does not weary of them as it does of figures, and because of the advantage in hanging pictures. With a bright background, pictures of almost any kind are improved in appearance, and the general effect, even with fine wall ornaments, is heightened. Figured designs are not adapted for the dining-room, and such HOME-MAKING AND HOME-MANAGEMENT. 39 paper always detracts from, rather than adds to, its appearance. Striped paper is preferable to figured, be the latter never so delicate, and panel paper is more suited to such rooms than either. For those who prefer the darker patterns in paper, and the Eastlake in style, there are numberless rich and beautiful patterns. But for dining- rooms, the best authorities favor the tinted walls. The furniture of a dining-room should be uniform. If of oak, then it should be more massive than walnut requires to be, and it should be more orna- mental. Walnut demands a better finish and more simplicity in design than oak, while the latter calls for more or less additional up- holstery. Chairs of oak are not really desirable unless the seats are cushioned, while walnut, with cane-seats, are pleasant enough for any demand. The buffet should be a match for the chairs and tables, and an extra table should always be provided to stand in a corner for the reception of newspapers ; otherwise the paper is put down beside the chair of the person reading, or it is laid upon another, and in either case is in the way. A bronze ornament for the mantel, and a couple, not necessarily a pair, of vases, will be sufficient in the way of small articles of a strictly ornamental kind. The mirror, if there is room for it, should be put in the dining-room. If not, then it should go to the sitting-room up-stairs, or the bedrooms. The parlor is not the place for mirrors, and the better taste of the American people will eventually banish them from its domain. Small articles are not suitable for the dining-room, where there is constant moving about and likelihood of their being broken by care- less servants. Pictures are acceptable, and the number should be according to the size of the apartment. Do not hang one above an- other in a dining-room; it is almost impossible to keep them dusted where there are many. Fasten them with the silver or gold wire now so generally in use ; there is no comparison between it and the old worsted colored cord of other days which was always in danger of being moth-eaten, and which frayed out so soon. If selecting pic- tures for the dinincc-room, fine engravincjs will b^ f\r more suitable than ordinary paintings, and a water-colored fruit i)iece will give sufficient variety if color is wanted. 40 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Let the frames be plain and the pictures fine. Then for the window ornamentation, let there be only plain white shades, and have the recess filled, if desired, with a wire stand for a vine or a plant. The room, however, should be large if this is added. A clock should not be in the room, for Americans do not require to be reminded of time at the table — they spend less at it than any other civilized people, and there should be present on the table or buffet the daily papers to glance over if the desire is felt. The room ought to be sacred to its special uses, and those uses ought to be eating and talking and reading. It depends upon the size of the family as to whether there will be the latter, for young people and little children put it quite out of the question. On the corner of the buffet should be the ice-cooler and glasses, if it be summer; or the china or glass pitcher if the weather be cold. A silver pitcher is too suggestive of cold drink to be as agreeable as a glass one in winter, and water is sufnciently cold in the latter, for the ice does not melt so speedily. A buffet is always a needed piece of furniture in a dining-room, and it should be suitably furnished. The glasses usually stand upon it, and also the tea-set of silv^er or china, as the case may be. Pretty articles of glass, such as the celery-stand, the fruit-dish and the cake- stand of silver (the latter term is applied for courtesy's sake, plated- ware being used as a rule) may be set upon it, and the pretty treasure of faience or majolica ware has its place in the collection. The plate upon the buffet should be well polished, for its condition is a certain indication of a well-managed or an ill-managed household. In regard to silver generally, it should be remembered that it is impossible to make greasy silver take a polish, and that, as spoons and forks in daily use are continually in contact with grease, they must require careful washing to remove it. The lack of a general reception-room in a home is always greatly felt by the growing members of the family as well as by their elders. Children like some place to have their friends, as well a retreat when the parlors are occupied, and the inclination for social compan- HOME-MAKING AND HOME-MANAGEMENT. 4I ionship is stronger than sleep or a walk, and they ought to have it. A sitting-room should have solid attractions in the form of easy-chairs, sofa-lounges and ornaments. All the knick-knacks ought to be gathered there, and the room made as pretty as variety and good taste can make it. The latest effort of the children's crayon-drawings should be at hand, and wax-flowers and dried leaves made by the young folk should be kept there. Books and pictures, work-basket and newspapers — all these, and more beside ; a stand for plants and a bird, or, better still, a music-box. If the house is not provided with a library, there should be a writing-desk or a table, with all the materials for writing, and any articles of statuary or vcrtu should find their way to this cosy nook. The clock should be here, and also the brackets and wall-pockets that look so out of taste in a parlor and are yet too pretty to consign to the up-stairs bed-rooms. A wicker rocking-chair, a Shaker sewing-chair and upholstered easy-chairs are delightful acquisitions to this gathering-place of the family ; and, if there is a spare mirror about the house, it will be in keeping with the variety of things in the sitting-room. The family Bible should be present, the photograph albums, and all the other albums that usually cumber the small tables in the parlor. A drop- light and stand, with shade, should be there, to dp duty in the even- ing, and whatever else that is desired can be put in this brightest and best of all the rooms of the house. Here should hang the children's photographs, the family pictures, unless the latter are costly por- traits, and somewhere in the room should be a calendar. As may be judged, the notion entertained of a general sitting-roorn is that the things which ought not to be in other rooms ought to be here, and the many family valuables in the shape of Bibles, portraits, albums and the like, which are usually to be seen in parlors, should be transferred to a room more especially devoted to home-use. If such a room was saved out of the house, it would repay the depri- vation suffered for it, and there would always be a parlor for the family. • 42 THE HEARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME. The reason so many children are ill-behaved in the presence of visitors is because they are unused to their own parlors, and they are naturally anxious to see and handle whatever is to be seen and handled when the opportunity offers. The advantage, too, of having a sitting-room is that, unless it is desired, formal guests need not have before their eyes so much that exhibits the inner side of the home life. Sometimes it is not pleasant they should. Not always, perhaps, do visitors suffer their curiosity to betray them into an examination of their hostess' belongings ; but one lady whose mistrust of her guests always led her to keep the servant .standing in the room while she was preparing to come down, might have been paralleled many times over. Drawing-rooms proper should be fine and severely plain, and handsome parlors are impaired rather than improved by the addition of useless ornaments. For sitting-rooms, there should be nothing too good for daily usage. The carpet should be of any quality deemed most suitable ; but the figures, whether it be of Brussels or three-ply, should be small and subdued in color. Look well to the selection of the carpet, for upon its beauty and worth depends much of the enjoyment of the room. Have no uniformity in the arrangement of furniture, and still less in ,its pattern. Choose useful things and pleas- ing ones, but sets of furniture should be avoided. It is almost tor- ture to see rows of chairs and sofas to match in the parlor ; in this room of utility and comfort let there be genuine variety — a variety born of the individuality of tastes in the house and not of a careful selection of oddities. A little cabinet of shells, or collections of any- thing that some member of the family may delight in arranging, is a pretty treasure in a home, and so also are small collections of books kept separate and apart, and representing the peculiar bent of mind of some home-member. Persons interested in having acquaintance with the many trivial things a knowledge of which will add to the beautifying of home will find the following directions of service. After all, it is the little things HOME-MAKING AND HOME-MANAGEMENT. 43 of home-life that are to be thoroughly well performed, if domestic duties are to be elevated or made pleasant, and the safest and best way to gather them is to take them in fragments, and thus little by little master the details of what separately are very simple fend easy to master. ' Home soon owns home-keepers, unless they are diligent in sim- plifying and mastering the detail duties required of them. Multi- tudinous cares sap the early bloom and health of women, and to none more than housekeeping is to be attributed the over-taxing of which they complain. They make many of their cares themselves, but, all the same, they are cares, and they deplete the strength of the body and the will-power, as much as though they were sent by heaven and designed for some good. In the matter of carpets, for instance, the home is often adorned at the expense of comfort, convenience, and health, and what ought to be a pleasure is, in fact, a tax and a continual source of anxiety. To parlor carpets are indirectly due much of the fretfulness, peevishness and discontent exhibited in the family. Strong charges these, but true and worthy of acceptance, when it is remembered how essential the parlor is to the enjoyment of the old and the young in the home. " Too good to be used " is usually the imaginary label affixed to the floor-covering in the best room, and only in the most careful way' it is used, and then it is most frequently for the benefit of strangers. The colors are too bright, the quality too good, the cost too much for ordinary use, and its preservation is made one of the first duties of all in the home. From the hour that it is bought, it becomes master of the home, and against its tyranny children not only rebel at the time, but carry in memory all through life, revengeful thoughts of " that parlor carpet." Some people cease to be free the moment they buy carpets or furniture. From that hour their independence is gone, and instead of their possessing them, they own their owners. The Shakers, wise people, refuse to be under the dominion of upholstery, and, on the ground of cleanliness, decline to tolerate carpets in the form 44 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. others use them. They will not be the slaves of the inanimate things in their houses, and they marvel at the abject servitude of the world's people in this regard. They marvel, too, at the untidiness common in homeS, and at the perfect acquiescence of the majority of women, in the semi-clean state in which their houses are kept. They go to an extreme, perhaps, but if they do, their reward is more physical comfort than even the wealthy can possess themselves of. They will not hang pictures on their walls because dust accumu- lates too readily, and the first principle of their religion is cleanliness. With them, this cardinal virtue is really next to godliness. Pictures put on the walls for the pleasure of beholders, ought to be kept scrupulously clean, and if they cannot be, the bare walls are preferable. As with pictures, so with carpets ; and since the latter are so hard to keep clean, the quality ought to be carefully con- sidered in buying them. Carpets were first used in little squares, and the people of the East, who had no chairs, invented them to sit upon. They were made of plaited rushes, and when used a certain length of time, were thrown aside. Hence it would seem that their inventors originally intended them only for temporary use, and that as they could not be kept clean, or washed when they were soiled, they were discarded; two simple rules which should remind moderns that, if they are more cunning in handicraft than were their ancestors, they are not more neat. If our floors were what they should be, we would not be confined to carpets so exclusively as we are. Women, who ought really to have the most to say about house-building, have the least, and floors and closets, the two most important features in houses, do not receive the consideration that is their due, for men do not realize the defects in these things always, and builders do not trouble to give better work than is required. The sight of a beautifully even and smooth floor, accurately laid and perfectly finished, is one worth seeing, but it is rare to eyes accustomed to even the finest of houses. We make much of our looms and our manufactures ; and show their produc- tions in all portions of the house, but the oak and the cedar, the HOME-MAKING AND HOME-MANAGEMENT. 45 hickory and the walnut woods that are to be had in such profusion in this country, are not generally utilized in our flooring, and not dreamed of as being more desirable than woollen carpets. If we cannot have Eastern floors of rare woods, we can have smooth ones, fit to put carpets over, and we ought to demand that they shall be a protection for them, rather than what they are — one of the most destructive elements against which they contend but a short time before they wear out. In buying carpets, choose for every room in the house, small pat- terns — Persian designs, or something as admirable in American styles. Get oak color, and with a blue border, for one room, and a serviceable shade of brown, with a crimson border about it, for another; or, buy a mixed pattern and the half-yard deep borders made specially for it. Velvet used to be preferred to all other kinds of carpets, but the popular voice is in favor of English body Brussels, or some of the other varieties of lighter carpets. Neutral tints last longest, and patterns should be small. The old-time flower-beds that were once laid out on carpets, and composed of blossoms of every kind, are relegated to the garret or the auction-room. The simpler st\dcs are growing in favor, and those who know of the beauty of quiet colors, and the restfulness that a tasty carpet can give, select such carpets for their homes. Cheap carpets are costly, since they have to be renewed so often, and are, when at their best, only dust catchers ! A good three-ply Kidderminster or an English Brussels will give most satisfaction for a dining-room, sleeping apartment or room. Carpet designs are handsomer now than ever before, and there is no need for a homely pattern to find its way into any home. Care in their preservation will guarantee a long service, and by care is meant intelligence in cleaning and dusting them, and in the manner in which they are laid. No carpet ought to cover the entire floor. An inch, if not more, of space should be left all round the room, so that the corners can be kept clean, and the carpet easily taken up. They should be carefully fastened down with tacks that have suffi- 46 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. c«ent body to hold and not tear the fabric, and the stretching process, save in a moderate degree, should not be indulged in because it ruins a carpet. Brown paper or newspapers are better protectors against the floor under carpets than the generality of paddings sold for that pur- pose ; and no carpet ought to remain on the floor long enough to wear these out. Dust in a carpet is likely to do more harm than to keep a duster in use; weak lungs have no greater enemies. To sweep a carpet properly requires judgment, and, if there is much dust to be taken out of it, tea-leaves or bran or salt should be slightly dampened and scattered over it. Afterward, the carpet should be wiped off with a clean silk or cotton dust-cloth. The sweeping should never be done against the grain — and the short, fierce strokes of an inexperienced sweeper only injure and do not clean a carpet. A long movement of the arm with the broom, holding the broom down to the floor, when the length is a long reach, will remove the dust and yet not throw it in the air, thus making double work. A broom used on a carpet should never be taken to sweep any other kind of floor. When not in use, they should be hung upon a nail by a string put through the handle for the purpose. Servants rarely take the interest in carpets that the mistress does ; and since it is poor economy to hire a servant to take the exercise which she requires, housekeepers, as far as possible, should do their own sweep- ing. This is a radical doctrine, but the exercise is excellent, and it is the kind that the majority of women sadly need. To so adorn a window that it shall be an improvement to a room, and a pleasing feature of the exterior view of the house, is an achievement all too rarely accomplished. In the majority of homes a white shade is considered sufficient finish for the up-stairs windows, and the surplus adornments are reserved for the parlor, and when this is accomplished the windows are said to be decorated. Lace curtains are the chosen drapery for windows, and these are now manufactured in such varied qualities that the cottage of the hum- blest mechanic can have its pretty muslin or Nottingham curtains, though the latter, unless fine, are not desirable, even in cottages. HOME-MAKING AND HOME-MANAGEMENT. 4/ Neither, again, are lambrequins, the homeliest of all window ornaments that have been devised. They do not serve the pur- poses of a curtain, nor add to the warmth or shading of the room, and they do not give the effect of drapery, since they are at the top of the window and look for all the world as though nec(?ssity had compelled the rejection of their nether extremities — short where they should be long, plain where they should be gathered in folds. Lambrequins are not decorative, and, save in bed-rooms, where they can be made of some light, bright-colored material, and be a match for other portions of the furniture, they arc not desirable. Farprettier than they are the unbleached muslin curtains, trimmed with bands of colored s^lesia, and hung on rods with pretty walnut or brass rings. For bed-rooms these latter curtains are admirable, serving the purpose for which a curtain is intended, and adding to the general attractions of an apartment. Where the rooms are all to be furnished differently, these curtains are extremely adaptable, the borderii\g not showing on the under side, and having from the street the same general appearance. This fact should be borne in mind in furnishing windows, for where curtains vary much the external effect is not pleasing. Few things set off a house more than careful attention to the cleanliness and decoration of its windows, and the true secret of success in both these desirable ends is found in simple furnishing. A window which is too heavily draped is not likely to be kept thoroughly neat, and a room darkened by a surplus of drapery is unhealthy. Windows should be made beautiful by carefully considering the uses which they are to serve, and this is the only way to make and keep them attractive. If they are merely to be used for the ordinary purposes of a reception-room or parlor, they may be more draped than when they are to serve as a place of entertainment and a place of observation for the occupant of a room. In order to make them as acceptable for the latter pur- pose, all hindrances in the way of curtains should be ignored, and a simple shade should be used, or curtains of a light kind, that can be easily removed. 48 TPiE hearthstone; or, life at home. As a rule, we do not err in over-decoration ; the fault is the other way ; and windows are the barest portions of the room many times where they ought to be the most adorned. Flowers, more than anything else, add to the beauty of windows, and nothing is easier of possession than a few vines or growing plants. Hanging-baskets decorate, but these are seen only from within,, and the heat from the gas soon destroys the beauty of flowers kept in the room. Window-gardens proper are far more preferable, and these can be made without half the cost of lace curtains, and will give double the amount of pleasure. The objection to them — that they require to be attended to — will not hold good when it is remembered how much time is spent in keeping draperies clean and free from dust. But the genuine love which so many persons feel for flowers will prevent them from looking upon their careful nurture as a trouble, and, for those who will tend them, their beauty is an ever-abundant recompense. Ferneries are often successfully planted in windows with a southern exposure, and, if there is a suitable window of the ordinary kind, this is easily accomplished. The one requisite for ferns is shade, and hence they are not really so handsome for bay-windows as are blossoming plants. They are better as square-window decorations, and when they are properly arranged the effect is charming. A pretty window conservatory can be made at a comparatively inexpensive cost by having a double sash united to the window casing with glass sides. This sash is best made in one piece, and the proper v^entilation can be secured through a movable pane. If the conservatoiy is to be put in a room where there are three windows, the centre one vv^ill generally serve the purpose. The frame can be either square or oval, and the glass should be of the clearest quality, and as thick as possible. The top may be of wood or glass, the eaves of the house pro- tecting it sufficiently in either case. If the space is narrow, only vines, such as the Madeira or cypress, should be planted in the enclosure, and these should be placed in a box made to fit perfectly. HOME-MAKING AND HOME-MANAGEMENT. 49 It is best to consult a florist in the arrangement and selection of plants for such conservatories, and only such flowers should be chosen as will be most handy. Sometimes the outside sash is made to serve the one purpose, and the inside one is removed. This is a prettier mode of arranging the window, and the effect within is far better. A competent carpenter can arrange these conservatories, and for winter gardening they are thoroughly satisfactory and practical. For summer, the outside shutters necessitate the removal of flowers from the window ; but where an awning is used in place of shutters, low stands can be arranged in the windows. The handsomest win- dows seen in the cities are those which have the awnings and the flowers, and one thus arranged cannot be improved upon. Brackets on the sides of windows, holding plants, add greatly to the beauty of a home. All windows should have an upper and lower pane of glass that can be turned on a pivot, in order to ventilate the room ; and those who have ever enjoyed the advantages of an arrangement of this kind would scarcely try to put up with the old and disagreeable mode of opening the entire window every time a supply of fresh air was desired. The glass is framed in half the woodwork of the ordinary frame, and it either turns on a pivot or is hung on hinges. Either way answers the purpose, which is to give ventilation in winter without opening the entire window, and exposing occupants to strong draughts of air. An exquisite transparency for windows may be made by arranging pressed ferns, grasses, and autumn leaves on a pane of window glass, laying another pane of the same size over it, and binding the edge with ribbon, leaving the group imprisoned between. Use gum tragacanth in putting on the binding. It is well to secure a narrow* strip of paper under the ribbon. The binding should be gummed all around the edge of the first pane, and dried before the leaves, ferns, etc., are arranged ; then it can be neatly folded over the second pane without difficulty. To form the loop for hanging the transparency, 4 50 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. paste a binding of galloon along the edges, leaving a two-inch loop free in the centre, afterwards to be pulled through a little slip in the final binding. These transparencies may be either hung before a window, or, if preferred, secured against a pane in the sash. Windows, to be well cleaned, should be washed with clear water and whiting, and the latter should be allowed to dry thoroughly before it is rubbed off A beautiful polish is thus secured for the glass, and windows so washed retain their lustre longer than do those cleaned with mops and soapsuds. Very little water is required to polish a window, if it is properly done, but care and time is required. Window-screens of wire, fastened in the lower sash or frames, is an excellent protection against flies and dust, and are only objection- able on the score of appearances in the opinion of some persons. Too many persons are apt to think, when a set of furniture and a new carpet are put into the best room, that they have a parlor. In one sense they have, in another they have not. Parlors, like all other rooms, to be really what they ought to be, should be individual, and the presence there of pretty articles indicative of the taste of the owner is absolutely essential to make them so. The true home-lover is one who very gradually and cautiously collects treasures for it. No greater error can be made than to hurry this pleasantest of all pastimes, and it should be the wisdom of all house-furnishers to go about it with the utmost care. Pictures and rare ornaments can only be added slowly, unless there is wealth, and the wealthy have none of the sweeter pleasures that come from the careful handling of small amounts which are required to do duty in such a variety of ways. Not the costly things are always the most desirable ; but the available and the useful ones are, for the most part, costly, and the treasure-seeker who knows how to combine all these requisites in her purchases is fortunate. But so many women err in choosing hastily, and being biased in their judgment by the suggestions of those with whom they are dealing, that hints as to what is advisable for the average purse may aid the new beginner in the perilous undertaking: of a first furnishi *fc> ng. HOME-MAKING AND HOME-MANAGEMENT. 5! In the matter of window drapery do not mistake in the selection cf cheap, showy lace. Buy muslin curtains rather than the large- patterned Nottingham and other poor material. And, if the best guipure or Flanders lace cannot be bought to trim them, leave them plain, or finish them with the prettily-fluted ruffles that give such a pretty effect. Sometimes a puffing is added in connection with the ruffle, and in this is not unfrequently run a pretty blue or pink cam- bric ribbon, cut the right width and carefully inserted. The curtains are looped back with ribbon to match the color used in the puffings, and then they give a refined as well as a bright and fresh effect to a parlor or sitting-room. Under these curtains should always be white or colored shades, and the former should be fastened on light wood, or gilt bars and rings, as will best suit the furniture of the room. If the mantel is covered, the table should be, particularly where the latter is of marble, for marble in parlor furniture is well nigh abandoned, and if uniformity is desirable, the covers in each instance should match the curtains or contrast well with them. In the matter of mantel ornaments the fault is usually found in overcrowding. There is too much on the mantel and above it to be tasteful, and the articles have the appearance of being on display themselves, rather than adding to the beauty of the room in which they are placed. The folly of overcrowding need not be enlarged upon ; it is the getting of harmonious articles that concerns us most now, and if the advice about buying leisurely is followed, this mis- take will not be made. In regard to having books in a parlor, even where there is but one company-room, much diversity of opinion Is expressed. The effort of every household ought to be to gather books enough for a book- case of some kind, even if it consists of only a few pine shelves, and these ought always to be in the family or sitting-room, where they can be in frequent use, and not be borrowed indiscriminately. Visit- ors not unfrequently borrow a book because they see it, and books should not fall into such hands. 52 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. As nearly every lady of the house desires to do as much in the way of furnishing herself as is possible, the following directions for making various articles are given, some of which are designed for parlor ornamentation, while others are of a more general character and suitable as hints to those desiring to improve articles already supplied. A pretty folding screen of home manufacture is made with a foundation of black glazed paper, and it must come up to the edge of the screen, so as to leave no place uncovered. The pictures should be carefully cut out and arranged upon the surface, only they should be pinned on before being fixed, that the effect may be seen. Some people arrange the pictures one over the other, so as almost to hide the foundation ; but pictures look far better placed sepa- rately, only they must be carefully selected. It is best to have a large one in the centre of the panel, and smaller ones arranged round it, and colored pictures should always be preferred to the prints. They should be fixed to the foundation with starch, and care must be taken in making it that no lumps are left in it, or they will get under the pictures and remain there. There is nothing so suitable for the bordering of a- screen as stamped leather. This should be about an inch and a half in width, and scalloped round the edge, with a brass headed nail placed in each scallop. Maroon or green leather are the colors that look best with the pictures, and, of course, this bordering must not be put on the screen until it has been varnished and has become quite dry. Old furniture re-covered in cretonne often makes the most com- fortable and desirable of articles. Some housekeepers can, with the aid of a good cutter, upholster their own furniture; but it is more economical to have the work done by an artist. The best twilled cretonne is the cheapest for sets of furniture, but where only one or two articles are to be covered, the smooth and less costly kind can be made to answer admirably. Irish tapestry is preferred by many to cretonne, and the difference in cost is so little that the choice can be left to one's taste. HOME-MAKING AND HOME-MANAGEMENT. 53 Exquisite colors are offered in cretonnes, and there are many pretty and dainty ways of using it to advantage, in re-covering sofa- pillows, trimming mantels and wall brackets, and in applique work for tidies. A border for a mantel-piece always repays one, and, when made of macreme lace, is very showy. It should be made up over either cloth or velvet, to suit the taste of the maker, and the Vandykes of the velvet should be about an inch, or a little deeper, beyond the lace. These pretty articles of adornment are made up of a variety of materials, most frequently in cloth, but for a parlor-mantel, are most elegant composed of macreme lace and velvet or plain plush. The drawing-room fire-place should always be concealed in sum- mer, for it is rarely handsome or pleasing to look at, and one of the most successful ways for doing this is to arrange silk curtains of a color to accord with the prevailing shade of the furniture of the room. These curtains should be edged on each side with fringe or lace, and then looped up with ribbon bows. This is a great improve- ment over the ordinary paper screen or iron front, and if the interior is neatly papered it will be a feature of the room. Unbleached cotton and bunting are both much used for curtains. They are bordered with one broad, or two or three narrow rows of pink, blue or crimson silesia. For bed-rooms the silesia is more suitable than lace, but unless care is used the colors will fade, partic- ularly if the sunlight is admitted, as it ought to be in all rooms. Turkey-red silesia wears the best, but those desiring the pale rose- color or blue, which is a far handsomer trimming for spring or sum- mer curtains, can renew it without much trouble if it does fade. Rings and rods for these curtains can be made by any carpenter, o{ stained pine or of walnut. The latter are the handsomest if not the most economical. The time spent in making trash in the way of so-called fancy articles is immense, and the homes made unattractive with the varieties of tidies, mats, foot-rests, rugs, and other fancy work, ate far too numerous. The money taken up in such purchases is 54 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. scarcely less in amount where the articles are purchased ready- made than where the materials are purchased and the work done at home. The work-basket is filled with crewels and sticks and crochet-pins, and .there is a continual reminder of valuable hours spent in worse than idleness in many homes where there are young or middle-aged people. Old people knit, and sensible articles of cloth- ing are the result of their handiwork. Young people make anatomi- cal curiosities in the shape of animals and insects, and create arabesque designs in the most unnatural way imaginable. Where the fancy for trifles is not indulged in because of the ab- sorption of time in some other direction, the sewing-basket too fre- quently gives evidence of the fact that one form of fancy-work has taken the place of the other, and that the substitute is of no more real necessity than the first article. The work-basket can be, and is oftentimes, one of the most dispirit- ing objects in life to a woman of mistaken views regarding dress. It can be so filled with ruffles and flounces, and frills and tucks, that existence seems a long season of hems and gathers and plaits, and by the time the garments are completed the spirits are depressed, and the necessity for greater effort discourages the tired devotee. The price paid for finery by too many of the sex is dyspepsia. They sacrifice animation and good nature for elaborately made cloth- ing, and, if they knew it, they pay a yet greater cost, for, besides the loss of good health, there is the disquiet of heart, the irritability of mind and the general peevishness that accompanies all exhaustion. It does seem a pity that the work-basket should be an evil genius in a home, when it ought to be woman's best friend, and the best solace of many an hour of life. Work is inspiring where there is not too much of it, and sewing is a restful occupation if taken up and put down when the inspiration is upon one. It becomes a cross when the tyranny of fashion demands too much of nervous fingers, and when the hours spent at it are taken from nobler pursuits. Temperance in sewing is as much demanded as temperance in eating or drinking, and only the temper- HOME-MAKING AND HOME-MANAGEMENT. 5: ate know how to enjoy the pleasant pastime. How many times sew- ing has rested and soothed the weary wife and mother as nothing else would, and what pleasure the fashioning of clothes has given when they were really useful and needful in the house! Sometimes the variation of work rests us, for nothing is more tedious than a great number of articles all to be worked upon till finished. Taking sewing leisurely, is the way to enjoy it, and there is really a world of satisfaction and rest to be found in the work-basket if it is called into requisition in the right spirit. It is a real comfort to a prudent-minded person to be able to fashion anything, and the pleasure of seeing an article grow into form and shape is certainly great, if necessity is not so stern as to demand toil of us. The satisfaction is not so much in making the thing to be made, as in getting pleasure out of the making. There is a keen en- joyment to be had out of sewing if it is not allowed to be too absorbing or engrossing, and if it does not become the master instead of the subject. To work to some purpose is to weave in with the warp and woof of each particle of surface gone over a pleasant memory, and thus associate surroundings and circumstances until for all time to come the heart shall remember just how the work was done, and where. How many such memories have we all ? How many associations dear as time, are awakened by the sight of a dress or a handkerchief, or a neatly-made garment — worn and worthless, perhaps, but kept because of the tender recollections. It is thus that sewing should be done ; it is in this way that the work-basket should be utilized, and a solace it is to those who thus use it. The familiar work-basket should be a loved article of household furniture, and mother or sister should be associated with it, not as hurrying, driven, tired and overstrained sewers, but as enthusiasts, finding it a relief to sew, simply because by sewing social chat can be indulged in, and a time to think would be secured, if talking is not agreeable. Too much attention is given to it, hence the complaints made by many women that they are never free from its monotony. Too little time is given to varying the work, and lightening each day the labor to 56 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. be performed. We should try harder not to have so much sewing to do ; and, laying aside the nonsensical demands of the work-basket, do only that which is called for absolutely. The time has come for women to be ransomed from the needle, and to be made acquainted with the pleasure that sewing — a proper amount and performed under right circumstances — will give to them. It is now that slavery in this direction should end, and a better standard of work and workers be secured thereby. We have had the veneering style long enough. We need some Eastlake in the sewing-basket as much as we do in the furniture in the parlors, or the upholstery in the bed-rooms. To sim- plify sewing, to do it well, and to make each article so durable that it will last well and serve a good purpose, this is the true end of sew- ing. It has been a much abused trade long enough ; let us raise it to the dignity of a fine art by refusing to utilize or countenance any but the best and plainest kinds of sewing. No more tawdry decoration of ill-shaped and poorly sewed garments. We want art needlework, and we propose to so dignify our beloved companion the sewing-basket, that none but artists will be able to compete for the best prizes in this calling. THE BABY IN THE HOME. •' Where did you come from, baby, dear ? Out of the everywhere into here. Where did you get the eyes so blue ? Out of the sky as I came through. Where did you get that little tear ? I found it waiting when I got here. What makes your forehead so smooth and high ? A soft hand stroked it as I went by. What makes your cheek like a warm, white rose? I saw something better than any one knows. Whence that three-cornered smile of bliss? Three angels gave me at once a kiss. Where did you get this pretty ear ? God spoke, and it came out to hear. Where did you get those arms and hands? Love made itself into hooks and bands. Feet, whence did you come, you darling things ? From the same box as the cherub's wings. How did they all come just to be you ? God thought of me and so I grew. But how did you come to us, my dear? God thought about you, and so I am here.' SHE advent so anxiously expected has taken place. The doctor says that all is well, as he puts on his gloves and bids us keep the patient quiet, and give her milk and beef-tea at stated intervals, and a sense of unutter- able thankfulness that his dear companion is safe fills a good husband's heart. For many months and weeks he has tried hard to banish the perils of child-birth from her mind and his own, but (57) 58 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. ever and anon an anxious cloud has darkened his vision, and he has perhaps brushed a tear from his dim eyes away as he has thought, " Poor wife ! if she were taken from me, what should I do ? " This is true marriage, in spite of little differences settled as soon as the\' begin, when the man or woman feels tl.at without the wife or the husband the burdens of life would be unbearable, and that to lose that kindly face and sympathizing heart would be to lose all that makes life worth living. O, how glad is the poor man when he learns that all danger is over, and that his wife will not be taken from him as so many are, leaving a motherless child, or taking it with her to another home. Now the sunshine of happiness and hope illumines the face that was lately downcast. Already he sees his boy cherishing his mother when she is old and he is dead. My boy, he thinks, will be a better man than his father. He will rise far higher ; he will have no such drawbacks and hindrances as I have had. I am not m.uch of a scholar, but he will be great in all that books can teach, for now-a-days they say that science and learning may be had by any lad for the asking. How proud his mother will be of him ! I hope he will be like her in quiet power, and have her forgiving temper, I am a little hasty sometimes myself, and want things my own way. But my wife is always right, and has the best of it when we differ. Poor, dear girl ! she has been a better wife to me than I deserve, and all her thoughts and feelings are way ahead of mine. How happy this little man will make her ! I guess I shall have to do my own mend- ing for the future. I wonder if I shall get any dinner now, that the youngster will need all her care. Well, I must shift for myself and take " pot-luck," as the saying is. And so the father rambles on, and -scratching his agricultural pate, for no doubt he is a farmer, or he would not be thus discussing the first-fruits, and the crops and the tender blossom that has appeared suddenly in the little garden of home. Let us leave the good man to sleep on the floor, or break his neck between two stools, or sit up smoking his pipe and gazing at the stars that have looked down on such domestic scenes since light first broke from heaven upon the earth. How calmly they Hie BABY'S WELCOME. THE BAUV IN THE HOME. ^g regard him, eveiy quivering orb seeming to wink at him that his case is not uncommon, and that his baby will not be the last man. " Nothing in nature's aspect indicated That a great man was dead," sang Tennyson upon the death of the Duke of Wellington. Noth- ing in nature's aspect indicates that a new man is born on such occasions as the one I am describing. All things, except in-doors, con- tinue as they were. The birds have not an extra note, nor the flowers an extra perfume. Yet there is melody and fragrance in one poor woman's heart as she " remembers no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world." The mother also has deep and silent thoughts, and the tear of thankfulness betokens that her meditation is sweet. " To-day the haliow'd air Is fragrant with a mother's fust and fondest prayer." " O, what a treasure of sweet thought Is here ! what hope and joy and love All in one lender hosom brought! " Siie is glad if it is a boy, for I suppose all mothers prefer boys. But if it prove a girl she is well content, and so is the father, for if a boy excites more worldly ambition a girl is most prophetic of domestic tranquillity. For both father and mother, as they watch the opening growth of the little man or woman who has come from God to bless tliem, day by day and week by week, there lies in helpless trust an incarnate soul and a miniature of all biography, a figure and an embryo of all the nn-steries of life. Through the mere accident of its parents meeting, loving and marrying in this jostling world, this angel of the liomc has come. Yet that accident, interpreted by such a blessing, was a special providence. Within that little casket is a priceless jewel. Those tiny hands may one day grasp the rod of empire. Those 6o THE hearthstone; or, life at home. tiny feet may traverse distant lands, and be shod with light and in- fluence. That little head may have potentially the awful power of reason, the reflected light of memory, the keen dividing force of judgment, the happy blending power of wit. Love, and faith, and hope are beating imperceptibly in that unconscious heart. That speechless tongue may bear a message to the world. Its pedigree dates back into the ages past, its destiny into ages yet to come. Eternal memories are written on its brow, for " Not in entire forgetfulness, Nor yet in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory do we come From God who is our Home." Beautifully as well as truly did the ancient seers and poets embody their previsions of ideal government and human regeneration in the person of some coming child. The names of Wonderful and Coun- sellor are his. " The government shall be u[)on his shoulders, and a little child shall lead them," is the strain alike of Virgil and Isaiah. The humble cottage has been the birthplace often of the world's heroes. The thatched roof has sheltered genius in its helpless infancy. Pai"ents, you should cherish this baby in your home with reverence as well as natural affection, for you may be entertaining an angel unawares. Certainly he is a king's son, or she a king's daughter, " all glorious within," or why does the baby at once assume command, and employ so many hands, and feet, and hearts to do it service ? In a few weeks' time you will see the light of intelligence and ob- servation begin to concentrate in the wondering and wistful eyes. The little face will turn toward you, and greet you with a smile. The hands, so small and soft, with tapering fingers, and pink, trans- parent nails, will be thrown out to bid you take it in your arms and play with it. Soon, and by steps }-ou cannot trace, the cry of need will become the speech of reason, and the longing mind, receiving impressions and comparing objects, will begin to question "why?" ** How" is born some time after " why" in the child's reason. THE BABV IN THE HOME. 6 1 But suppose your little one be not "a mute, inglorious Milton," " a Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood," a Mozart, a Shaks- peare, a Michael Angelo, or a Newton, but one of the many, one of the people, an ordinary citizen of the world in promise, it may be just as well for his happiness and yours. Precocious children are not always the most amiable, and genius oftentimes has to suffer and pay awful penalties. So that his brain works orderly, and his heart is " in the right place," you need have no regrets. Your baby will still be the dearest being in the world to you. You will learn from him more than you can teach him. He will be the angel of the covenant of home. He will draw out your noblest qualities, and engage your most unselfish devotion. He will be more to you than lands and houses, riches and fame, and make sunshine for you in life's wintry days. There is something very affecting and beautiful in the thought that parents live again in their offspring. So that man may be said never to die so long as his spirit is perpetuated in his children, who again transmit it onward in unbroken succession. As a physio- logical fact, the same distinctive qualities of mind and body, modified, of course, by time, climate, circumstances, and the like, are found in races, nationalities, and families. A curious instance of this occurred to a traveller, who was much struck by the resemblance of a young girl to a very dear friend of his, belonging to another place, and bear- ing another name. Even the voice and manner constantly recalled his absent friend. The young girl subsequently proved to be his friend's second cousin, though the gentleman had not the remotest idea previously of his friend's name or person being even known to the girl's family. "What is bred in the bone will come out in the flesh," is a very old saying, and it is constantly verified in the reap- pearance of race and family characteristics in different generations and individuals. What a multitude of reflections are suggested by this fact ! Some of them are full of sweetness, light and hope ; others, alas ! are full of awful warning and sadness. When Thomas Starr King, the political orator and eloquent preacher, of San l^ran- 62 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. CISCO, was on his death-bed, his last look was fixed upon the face of his little son, carried in his nurse's arms. " Beautiful boy ! beautiful boy ! " were the last words he spoke, and love for his dear child was the last throb of the dying father's heart. Some persons attach a significance akin to inspiration to a great spirit's parting sign on •earth. If the last thought of earth should be the first in heaven, and memory and affection only rise upward to a higher sphere, then heaven's first gladness to this departing parent was love for his boy, care for his welfare, hope for his future. And if, as some believe, science will yet find means of photographing from the retina of a dead person's eyes, the faces and objects that were last imaged upon it, then this father left the earth with the picture of his child im- pressed upon his physical, and with the spiritual picture upon his spiritual vision. There is no fraud or superstition in such a spirit- ualistic theory as this. The patterns of things in heaven may be woven from those of earth ; and if so, then it is indeed true that " the company in heaven and earth are one." Death no longer parts the souls that love each other or destroys the family circle. The little maiden's " We are seven," is true, although one enters at one door, while another passes out of sight through another. How cheering to the parent's heart is such a vision ! The thoughts, the affections, the aspirations, and enterprises of father or mother shall still live, and move, and have their being in the son or daughter, and so we do not die but live, since life is thus constantly renewed in those through whose veins our own life-blood courses. Charles R. Darwin and Herbert Spencer in their life-work did but carry out the work which their own fathers had begun, and left them as their intel- lectual heirs and representatives. But if there is a bright side to such a view, there is also a dark side. Human law teaches us the maxim that he who commits crime through another commits it himself, and the great Teacher of still higher law said to his disciples, " It has been said by them of old time, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth ; but I say unto you, forgive your enemies, and do good to them that hate you." If parents thus live on in their children and can impress their own TilE BABY IN THE HOME. 63 personal qualities upon them, how tremendous is the parental re- sponsibility for their future characters and lives! Some parents seem to think that it does not matter what their children see and hear, because they are only children. "A mere child," to use a common phrase, may see anger, quarrelling, and perhaps blows in the house- hold and not be affected by such sights or sounds. What monstrous folly ! As soon as a child sees he observes ; the gradually growing brain is conscious, and the power of thought begins when sight, hear- ing and observation begin. How soon a child learns to know its own name, and looks to see who speaks to it ! When you laugh, and smile at it and play with it, is it unconscious ? And it is just as con- scious when it sees your face assume an angry frown, and hears your voice raised in anger. I have seen a little child of three months old who would chirp and spread its tiny arms for joy at the voice of kindness, happiness and love, but whose little face would lengthen with a solemn wonder, and almost a sense of pain and wrong, if its parents only pretended to be angry with each other, or the nurse had slapped another in a feint of chastisement. Let us be sure that every act we do and every word we speak has a latent influence upon our children. When old Samuel Johnson was asked by the mother of a little girl three years of age how she should begin to educate her, the wise doctor of laws and of social philosophy answered, " Madam, you have consulted me two years too late." Education really begins as soon as the child is born into the world. When the eyes open, it is ours to take care that the first prospect they look upon is one of light and peace. When the ear first listens let heaven's best music — the true music of the home — fall upon it. We hear much talk about bright, and smart, and clever, and pre- cocious children. What is this precocity but receptivity to im- pressions, sensibility to influences? Would any child be " wiser than the ancients" without such contact? Do they come into the wt)rld revealing things to us or do we reveal things to them ? It is the parent's hand that draws aside the curtain and shov/s its child the play upon the mimic stage of life. It is the parent's voice that 64 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. teaches truth or error little by little, day by day, unconscious of the tremendous results of that teaching to the child. Some people think the infant baptism practised by the older Christian churches a sense- less form and great absurdity. But its real sense seems to me to be the witness it bears to this great truth, that as soon as life begins, influences and education begin also. Let us glance at the childhood of some typical precocious child. Hartley Coleridge is the first that occurs to my mind. ' This is what his brother Derwent tells us of him, and it illustrates the principles I have just stated. " By nature not less than by circumstances he was indeed the poet-child of a poet-father. ... I have heard my mother say that when he was first taken to London, being then a child in arms, and saw the lamps, he exclaimed, * O ! now I know what the stars are — they are lamps that have been good upon earth, and have gone up into heaven.' " And in the diary of Henry Crabb Robinson is the following entry under date of August the 8th, 181 1 : "After- wards stepped to Charles Lamb's. Coleridge there, who related some curious anecdotes of his son Hartley, whom he represented to be a most remarkable child — a deep thinker even in his infancy. He tormented himself in his attempts to solve the problems that would equally torment the full-grown man, if the world, and its cares and pleasures did not distract his attention. Hartley, when about five years old, was aske(4 a question about himself being called Hartley. ' Which Hartley ? ' asked the boy. ' Why ! is there more than one Hartley?' 'Yes,' he replied; * there's a deal of Hartleys.' 'How so ? ' ' There's Picture-Hartley (Hazlitt had painted a portrait of him), and Shadow-Hartley, and there's Echo-Hartley, and there's Catch-me-fast-Hartley ; ' at the same time seizing his own arm with the other hand very eagerly^ — an action which shows that his mind must have been drawn to reflect on what Kant calls the great and inexplicable mystery, viz. : that man should be both his own subject and object, and that these two should be one. At the same early age, continued Coleridge, Hartley used to be in an agony of thought, puzzling himself about the reality of existence. As when some one THE BABV IN THE HOME. 65 said to him, ' It is not now, but it is to be.' ' But,' said he, * if it is to be, it is.' Perhaps this confusion of thought lay not merely in the im- perfection of language. Hartley, when a child, had no pleasure in things ; they made no impression on him till they had undergone a process in his mind, and were become thoughts and feelings." Now this precocious child was exactly four years, four months and twenty days old when this incident occurred. Who can assign a period too early in that brief life for this wonderful power of reflection, comparison and introspection to have begun ? And there are plenty more of whom the world never hears, but of whom it is equally true that they are deep thinkers even in their infancy. Well might the parent of such a child address him as Samuel Taylor Coleridge did in those exquisite lines : " Dear Babe, that sleepest cradled by my side, Whose gentle breathings heard in this deep calm, Fill up the interspersed vacancies And momentary pauses of the thought: My Babe, so beautiful ! it thrills my heart With tender gladness, thus to look on thee. And think that thou shalt learn far other love, And in far other scenes ! For I was rear'd In the great city, pent 'mid cloisters dim, And saw naught lovely but the sky and stars. But t/iou, my Babe, shalt wander like a breeze By lakes and sandy shores, beneath the crags •. Of ancient mountains, and l)enealh the clouds, Which image in their bulk both lakes and shores And mountain crags ; so shalt thou see and hear The lovely shapes and sounds intelligible Of that eternal language which thy God Utters, who from eternity doth teach Himself in all, and all things in himself. Great universal Teacher ! He shall, mould Thy spirit, and by giving make it ask." In a similar strain, his father addresses him in the poem entitled "The Nightingale:" 5 66 THE HEARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME. " That strain again ! Full fain it would delay me ! My dear Babe, Who, capable of no articulate sound, * Mars all things with his imitative lisp. How he would place his hand beside his ear ; His little hand, the small forefinger up. And bid us listen ! And I deem it wise To make him Nature's Playmate. He knows well The evening star; and once when he awoke In most distressful mood (some inward pain Had made up that strange thing, an infant's dream), 1 hurried with him to our orchard plot. And he beheld the moon, and, hush'd at once. Suspends his sobs, and laughs most silently, While his fair eyes, that swam with undropt tears. Did glitter in the yellow moon-beam. Well, It is a Father's tale : but if that Heaven Should give me life, his childhood shall grow up Familiar with these songs, that with the night He may associate joy ! " A little later, when he was six years old, we find this wondrous boy appearing in one of Wordsworth's most exquisite poems. "TO H. C. "SIX YEARS OLD. " O Thou ! whose fancies from afar are brought ; Who of thy words dost make a mock apparel, And fittest to unutterable thought The breeze-like motion and the self-born carol ; Thou fairy voyager ! thou dost float In such clear water, that thy Boat May rather seem To brood on air than on an earthly stream ; Suspended in a stream as clear as sky, Where earth and heaven do make one imagery; blessed Vision ! happy Child ! Thou art so exquisitely wild, 1 think of thee with many fears For what may be thy lot in future years. THE BABY IN THE HOME. 67 I thought of times when Pain might be thy guest, Lord of tliy house and hospitality; And Grief, uneasy lover 1 never rest. But when she sal within the touch of thee. O too industrious folly, O vain and causeless melancholy, Nature will either end thee quite Or, lengthening out thy season of delight, Preserve for thee, by individual right, A young lamb's heart among the full-grown flocks. What hast thou to do with sorrow, Or the injuries of to-morrow ? Thou art a Dew-drop, which the morn brings forth.- Ill fitted to sustain unkindly shocks. Or to be trailed along the sailing earth; A gem that glitters while it lives, And' no forewarning gives ; But, at the touch of wrong, without a strife Slips in a moment out of life." The bright and beautiful Baby, whose deep thoughts and eager questionings evoked so much anxiety for the future and tender care for the present, fulfilled in after life the picture thus drawn of him by the kind poet's hand so nearly that the prophecy might almost seem inspired. But there are other fairy voyagers whose fragile boats seem rather to brood on air than on an earthly stream ; other Dew- drops as ill fitted as poor Hartley Coleridge proved to bear unkindly shocks. His character through a solitary life blighted by morbid sensitiveness and an irresolute will, was that of " multitudes, multi- tudes, in the Valley of Decision." Whence was this strange combi- nation of noble impulses, sublime aspirations, profoundly philo- sophic musings and metaphysical insight, combined with a pitiable weakness, a despondent temper, a wish without the power to be true to his better self, derived ? Surely, in some degree, from the father who idolized hirn, who had for seventeen years been the slave of the opium habit, which had enfeebled the will and the reason and clouded the memory and the imagination of one of the greatest minds the world has ever known. Had the laudanum-drinking of 68 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the father, nothing to do with the dram- drinking of Hartley Coleridge, the son ? No one can doubt that it had, who knows anything about the hereditary transmission of appe- tites as well as talents. There is not a selfish or luxurious habit, whether it be a deadly one like opium-eating or not, which a parent can indulge which is not liable to reappear in another form and taint the character, even if it does not poison the life and blight the career of his offspring. There is no sadder sight than this generous, tender- hearted and highly gifted youth presented when — within a year after gladdening his own, his father's and his brothers' hearts by winning a position in England's oldest university, which would have given him a distinction and a competence for life, by his own talents and learn- ing in fair competitive examination with others — he was expelled from it for drunkenness. The agonized father — consciousness of his own infirmity adding to his grief — went down and pleaded with an old man's tears for his poor son ; but the character of the college and that of the students was involved, and the authorities could not, if they wished, overlook a habit which was notorious and had stretched its victim helpless in the gutter. And this was the " fairy voyager " whose raft of life was to sail always in clear water, or seemed to do so in his infancy. Pain and grief were now and henceforth indeed his guests. The Dew-drop was indeed earth-soiled, and the gem was stript of its setting. From this and similar biographies, parents, and especially fathers, should learn the caution that they must take care of the example they set their children, and that a far truer saying than " Never too late to mend " is " Never too young to learn," Mental and moral no% less than physical disease may be cured if taken in time. But the time is not when the habits are formed and have become a second nature ; when the character is set and hardened, and cannot be bent and inclined at another angle. Reader, if you are a father or a mother, and are looking with love and joy upon the face of your infant who as yet can neither speak nor choose his future lot, remem- ber as you love your own solils that upon you, and not on circum- THE BABY IN THE HOME 69 Stances external to the Home, depends mainly the awful issue of what it shall be and what shall become of it. It is you, not what you call ■ a hard, unfeeling world, that will make or mar your child. It is for you to determine whether its tongue shall speak vanity, and its right hand be a right hand of falsehood. It depends upon you whether your sons shall be as " plants grown up in their youth," and your daughters become as " corner-stones, polished after the similitude of a palace." The white unwritten page of your child's life and charac- ter is open for you to write upon. The impressions made upon it by the parents are indelible. The first sights and sounds that are reflected upon a child's remembrance are ineffaceable. Nature will assist you in this work, but she will not do it for you. She gives the material for you to work upon. You might as well expect the grass and plants to grow without moisture as the soul to grow without culture. Nature provides the limbs, but exercise devel- ops them and gives them strength and symmetry. Yet many parents seem to think that their children will love the beautiful and do the good by mere instinct, and that the mere process of living will insure their living rightly and worthily. One might as well expect reading and writing to come by nature. But God says to the parent, as Pharaoh's daughter said to the nurse to whom she intrusted the infant who was to become the law-giver of a great race : " Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will pay thee thy wages," or I will reward thee. What reward can be greater than to see one's heaven- given babe awakening more and more to a perception of light and beauty, and loving " whatsoever things are lovely " and true and noble ? Do not be content with vegetation for your child ; teach it to live. How many parents, who neglect this duty through selfish indolence or ignorance, live to wish that their child had never been born ! — while those who " train up a child in the way that he should go " verify the proverb that " when he is old he will not depart from it." This is no miracle ; it is the course of nature and experience. Habits become laws ; good habits mean happiness and honor; evil habits mean misery and degradation. It depends upon home infiu- •JO THE hearthstone; OR, LIFE AT HOME. ences and parental training whether the helpless baby shall grow to be a king or a slave in mind and disposition. If your child inherits from you a hasty temper, you can cure that by exhibiting your own self-control and discipline of word and deed. If your child is selfish and greedy, it is in your power to make it thoughtful and considerate of others. The selfish child can be so infused with higher reason as not only to give but to give willingly and gladly to another in more need what it would gladly keep itself If its natural disposition be to recklessness and prodigality, it is the father who can infuse pru- dence, which is a Christian virtue, and instil habits of forethought, discernment, carefulness and moderation. But if Baby comes into the school of Home as a learner whom the parents must teach the alphabet of life, it is also a teacher sent from God. You may learn from your little one more than you can teach it, for it comes to you unspotted by the world, and the simplicity of childhood is often wiser than the shrewdness of old age. Well has the poet said : " O dearest, dearest child ! My heart For better love would seldom yearn Could I but teach the hundredth part Of what from thee I learn." The chief lessons that Baby teaches in the home are love, sym- pathy, patience, faith, trust, and self-denial. It draws you out of your- self and brings out tlie noblest part of you. How the first baby has humanized and softened many a harsh and selfish father ! The stern face relaxes into smiles at the sight of its little ■ image free from its v/rinkles and its blemishes. It is a great thing for the father when he has to make sacrifices and give up selfish indulgences for the sake of his child. He becomes as a little child, and is himself born again and renovated in this humanizing and refining process. His little son becomes his " alter-cgo^' his other and better self His little daughter is a delight to his eyes and a new warmth to his heart. Each week arid month he lives more in his child and less in himself The power of parental sympathy steals over his heart like gentle dew from THE BABY IN THE HOME. 7 1 heaven, freshening the ground it falls upon. It is sometimes trying to his nerves after a hard day's work to be kept awake by Baby's crying, but it will refresh him more than sleep if he bethinks him how soon pain and prayer begin in this life, and that all the members of the human family, however wise and strong they think themselves, are but as " Children crying in the night, And with no language but a cry." But it is with babies as with grown people. Life is not all tears and crying, all pain and discord. " Heaviness may endure for a night, but joy Cometh in the morning." And when, after the night of cry- ing, the morning of happiness and health breaks upon the infant's face and it chirrups with a sense of life and spreads its little arms out as though, like the Good Shepherd himself, it would enfold the uni- verse in its affection, oh, then, how pleasant is dear baby to look upon ! And speaking of that chirrup, that inarticulate but to the quick ear of parental affection always intelligible sign, how wonderful is the imperceptible progress by which the young child learns to talk ! What language it will speak will depend upon what it hears, for speaking is learned by hearing. It will catch in time not only the vernacular but even the dialect and accent of its parents. When little ones talk slang we can tell what the language of their home is. Let us be careful how we speak, as well as what we speak, in their pres- ence. But how passing strange it is to reflect that a little accident, like that of nationality or birthplace, will decide the vehicle in which they will think and utter their thoughts through life. U they hear French in the nursery, they will speak French some day, perhaps, on the platform and in the market-place. If their parents' language is the English, then we shall find them talking English from the nursery to the grave. One of the greatest of modern philologcrs, who knew all the languages spoken b}' civilized nations, muttered some strange words on his death-bed, and then whispered, " This is the language which they speak in heaven." It was not French, nor ICnglish, nor German, nor Italian, nor Russian, that he spoke ; it was, perhaps, a 72 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. language he had evolved from all of them which he muttered with his last breath, and called the language of the heavenly land. The thought is beautiful and may be true, that the clearest speech and most copious tongue on earth is but a prelude to the symphonies that angel-tongues pour forth in heaven. But whatever the vowels and the consonants, and whatever the pronunciation of them, may your Baby learn to speak the language of the heart, for that is always listened to in the presence of God. That is, indeed, a universal language, better than Greek or Latin, English or French. It is the password at the celestial gates, the conversation of the celestial home. Through it your little child discourses to the spheres. By it he is known among the stars as the child of God. Science teaches us that sound is never lost, that language never dies ; but that the spoken word vibrates on the ear of time and is borne on and on in ever-widen- ing circles. Words spoken thousands of years ago are musical and sonorous to-day. Whatever the origin of language may have been, the language of the heart flows directly from the heart of the All- Father who bids his children call to him from every nook and corner of the world. Your Baby when it moves its pretty lips is trying to repeat that language, and the angels pause to listen and catch its inmost thought. The heart-language of its future life will be noted by those angels, whose ears are the telephones of God, and whose eyes do always behold the Heavenly Father's Face, God bless the Baby in the Home ! your life ! " "UP-STAII^S, DOWN-STAIRS, IN MY LADY'S CHAMBER." " Labor is rest — from the sorrows that greet us ; Rest from all petty vexations that meet us ; Rest from sin promptings that ever entreat us ; Rest from world sirens that lure us to ill. Work — and pure slumbers shall wait on thy pillow ; Work — thou shalt ride over Care's coming billow ; Lie not down wearied 'neath Woe's weeping willow, Work with a stout heart and resolute will ! HERE is a cry for " Help" all over the land. It is not because our houses are on fire or we are besieged by burglars, or have fallen into the river and don't know how to swim. It is not because the highwayman holds a pistol to our nose and says, " Your money or It is not because the roof has fallen in, and we are struggling in vain to get our limbs out of the ruins. It is not the cry of the beggar who has lost the use of his eyes and can only see clearly to count his money when nobody is looking. It is not from the unfortunate who has fallen into a ditch and is too fat to crawl out. It is not from, the starving and the homeless who appeal to our charity. It is not from the missionary society who want more money to send fresh ministers to the Cannibal Islands because the last batch have been eaten up. It is not from the hunter whom a grizzly has driven up a tree, and who is afraid to come down to be hugged by the brute who is quietly sitting on his hind legs to receive him. It is not from persons who want to borrow money, or build school- houses in the wilderness, or churches at the North Pole. It is none of these, although they arc heard often enough. It is a cry for help, "Up-stairs, down-stairs, and in my lady's chamber." It means, " Can you tell me of a good servant ? " (73) 74 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. In the great majority of American families this is the cry, and it is a cry for the most necessary article in a well-to-do family, and the one which is the most difficult to get. If you have money in your purse, you may go out and buy what you please at the market and in the stores. But some of the richest people in the land find it the hardest thing in the world to get a good servant. They can get help in plenty, but not the right sort. If walls have ears, as they say, they must get quite tired listening to some such conversations as this, which are to be constantly heard in the houses of the wealthy and those who are able to pay for help : " My dear Mrs. So-and-so, I am delighted to see you looking so well. How is Mr. So-and-so, and how are the children?" " Thank you, they are all pretty well ; but you must excuse my having the broom and dust-pan in my hand. The fact is, we are all upside-down and I am driven out of my wits." " Dear me, Mrs. S., you quite alarm me. I hope nothing serious has happened." " Serious enough, indeed ! I am without a servant. My house- maid left me last week, and my cook went off yesterday." " Indeed, my dear Mrs. S., how you surprise me ! Why, when I last saw you, you seemed delighted with your new girl, and said that after trying six in three months you had at last found a treasure. Pray put your dusting-brush down and tell me all about it, for the fact is I called partly to ask you if you could recommend me a nurse for the children, thinking you had been more fortunate with servants than myself, for I have changed my nursery maid thirteen times since New Year's." " Then, my dear friend, we can indeed feel for each other. Pray tell me why, your last girl left." " For the first week she suited me very well, but what do you think ? My husband awoke me one night and said he smelt smoke, and that something must be burning. After sniffing for some seconds to satisfy myself that the poor, dear man was not dreaming, I got up, lit a candle, and proceeded to make an investigation. Going up- " UP-STAIRS, DOWN-STAIKS, IN MV LADV S CHAMBER." 75 stairs, to the girl's bedroom, I looked in, for I always keep the key of the door so that the maids may not lock themselves in, for they would sleep till ail hours if they were free from intrusion. What do you think ? The creature had fallen asleep with a dime love-story in her hand, and on a chair beside her was a tallow candle which was slowly burning the ends of her back hair. But for my husband's nose it must soon have caught her bed, and the creature would have been a conflagrated corpse, besides burning the house down!" " How dreadful, to be sure ! Did she come well recommended from her last place ? " "Yes, indeed; she had lived at Mr. Smith's, the minister' .s, who is himself a great sitter up o' nights at his studies. The girl herself told me this, and said she thought she was doing right in improving her mind in the night-time. But this was not all. On opening her box to see if she kept matches or dynamite, I found a whole budget of love-letters, no doubt the result of dime novel reading. I got rid of her in the morning, for fear the inflammable Miss might set fire to the children or set her cap for the coachman." " Goodness ! how horrible ! who can be safe, with such servants, from being burned alive in their beds ! But my own luck with mj- last girl, Mary Ann, was little better. I shall never believe in faces again as long as I live. You must know that I had engaged to spend the day a little way out of town, but lost the train and had to wait two hours for another. I thought I would fill up the time by making a call or two. Just imagine my consternation on turning down High street to come fiice to face with my own servant, dressed in my dark- green silk, second best bonnet with the ostrich plumes, lavender kid- gloves, and my flowered silk parasol in her hand. She looked ready to drop when she caught my eye, and darted across the street. But a policeman was at hand and took her to the station-house, where the matron took my things off her. The girl's penitence seemed sin- cere when she thought she had to borrow a policeman's overcoat to get home in. I would have sent her to state's prison, but my hus- band is a patriot and was much moved when she assured us that her great-grandfather lost both legs in the Revolutionary war." 76 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. " Why did you allow your husband's weakness to interfere with justice ? Such creatures ought to wear a prison dress and pick oakum for the good of society. What are we coming to when our own dry-goods are not safe ? And, by the way, you remember that blue velvet mantilla of mine that I bought in New York last fall? It disappeared about the same time as Susanna, my fifth housemaid before the last. But the creature's admirer was in the dyeing busi- ness and might have turned it pea-green, so I took no steps to re- cover it. It costs more than a thing is worth to prove one's owner- ship." " How about your stout cook, Matilda Pancake, who suited you so well?" " So she did at first, but I found out within a month that she had a weakness for lager beer, which she drank by the gallon. At such times, she was at first convivial and only noisy, but when she came into my parlor, while I was receiving some visitors, and abused me to my face, I ordered her to pack her things and be off. ' Not with- out a month's wages! ' says she; and when I refused to pay it, she smashed half my crockery. She called next day to apologize, and said she suffered with a hot temper caused by standing over the fire. But, of course, one's life and limbs are not safe with a cook who drinks, so I refused to take her back. My husband said we had better try and get along without a cook after such an experience, and that he would try not to mind it as he could dine at the club." " You remember that girl Lucretia Muffins, whom I engaged be- cause her father was a baker and she professed to be skilful in making bread and pastry. I heard a great kicking on the kitchen floor one morning, and found the poor thing in a fit all covered with paste. It seemed, from her statement to our doctor whom I sent for, that she has the St. Vitus' dance, which comes on whenever she works hard. She is now in the female wing of the Epileptic Sanitarium. But I am talking you to death with my own troubles when you have enough of your own. Do tell me how you manage to get a dinner, and if you have a good cook." " UP-STAIRS, DOWN-STAIRS, IN MV LADY's CHAMBER." 77 " I have been almost as unfortunate as yourself, my dear Mrs. S. At present I have no cook at all, and my nursemaid, Barbara, and myself have to get the dinners the best way we can. To save trouble, I generally cook a quarter of mutton, or round of beef, all at once, so that it may last cold all the week. It does very well, for my poor husband seems to have no appetite lately, and his business keeps him away at meal times a great deal. But I should make your blood run cold if I told you why I parted with my last cook, Lucinda Waffles. My maid, Barbara, tells it thrillingly now that Waffles is gone, for, would you believe it, the wretch threatened her life with the rolling-pin if she ever breathed a word. All I know of the matter is that my bills became enormous after Lucinda Waffles came to me. I engaged her on the strength of her advertisement and the reference she gave me to a merchant in the city, who was strikingly like the brother just arrived from India, who spent the Sunday mornings with her in the kitchen when we were all away at church, and only Barbara was left at home to assist in getting the dinner ready. " The way the Cincinnati smoked hams vanished would have par- alyzed me if I had not more than I could do in counting the new- laid eggs which disappeared as quickly as they were brought into the house. Bread, butter, cheese, pickles, fruit, pie, and spring chickens vanished in the same mysterious manner. My suspicions were at length aroused, and I questioned Lucinda Waffles, but could get no satisfaction. She disputed my remark that things couldn't walk off without legs. Hams shrunk in the cooking, eggs were very scarce, cold roast beef was very deceptive owing to the quan- tity of bone in it, and so forth. ' Lucinda,' I answered, *you arc de- ceiving me. The butcher's bill is just double since you came. I feed you liberally, but I will have no more waste.' . But matters went on as before, and I then noticed that little Barbara, my maid, seemed in great fear of Waffles, the cook, and trembled whenever she saw her witli the rolling-pin in her hand. One day I questioned Barbara closely. ' Please, m'm, don't ask me nothing, m'm, for its more'n my life's worth to tell. Waffles has sworn to kill me with 78 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. the rolling-pin if I tell on her.' With much difficulty I persuaded the girl to reveal all she knew. The brother from India was always let in at the back door when every member of the family had gone out at the front. Lucinda sat on his knee and cooked ham and eggs for him in quantities that proved he got no meals anywhere else. I discharged the creature at once without mentioning poor Barbara, who was frightened out of her wits. The brother from India called for Waffles' baggage." Such are the conversations that may be heard in thousands of homes from mistresses who can't get servants and whose cry is "Help!" This, however, is only one side of the domestic picture. The servants often have grievances as well as the mistresses. If too little is expected of them in one way, too much is demanded in an- other. If one rein is too loose, another is too tight. They are allowed to take liberties at one time only to be severely checked at another. The mistress will often demean herself by talking scandal about her neighbors with her own servant and then complain that the servant does the same by her. The relative positions of mistress and servant, employer and employe, requires that the one should set a proper example to the other. But how can the servant be ex- pected to govern her temper when the mistress has no control of her own? It may be said that in a republican country like our own, where everybody is everybody's equal and a good deal superior to every- body in his own esteem, it is impossible to observe class distinc- tions and treat those whom we employ as they are treated in the old countries, where the social scale is graduated from the monarch to the mendicant. "Our servant would not stay with us unless she were treated as one of ourselves," is a remark which one frequently hears in all sections of the country, and it has a right side and a wrong side. The right side is that you must remember that your servant has a proper self-respect and dignity of feeling as well as yourself Her heart, indeed, may be warmer and less selfish than " UP-STAIRS, DOWN-STAIRS, IN MV LADY S CHAMBER." 79 yours. Her mind may be finer than yours if she had enjoyed the privileges of governess, and school, and finishing masters as you did when a girl. Down deep in the current of her nature may be a refinement and delicacy of feeling which is not natural to 3'ourself In point of fact, if the relative circumstances of birth, money, and education had been changed, the mistress and the maid might oc- cupy each other's positions. " When Adam delved, and Eve span, Where was then the gentleman?" But this does not change existing facts. A contract is a contract, and both parties are bound by it. Service may not be one's choice, but when accepted it should be faithfully performed. The person who accepts it may have an inner consciousness of being worth}' of a higher vocation, but, as a rule, those who have a right to this feel- ing are those who will discharge best whatever duties they under- take. Bad servants prove by their unfaithfulness that they are not worthy of a higher trust. One great cause of the discontent of servants is the false idea that there is something degrading to one's self-respect in the service of others. But if this were so, no man or woman in the world would be self-respecting, because all of us, from the highest to the lowest, are dependent on one another. A prince or a president is more de- pendent on his servants than they are upon him. To "suckle fools and chronicle small beer" is a position of immense responsibility. No kind of honest work is degrading, and faithful servants are the salvation of the world. If every woman wore silks, who would wear home-spun? If every one rode in her carriage, who would walk on foot? If vve all sat in the drawing-room, who would attend to the kitchen ? " If wishes were horses, beggars would ride," but who would feed the horses and keep the stables in order? There is nothing mean in the service of others. It is the servant who can degrade the service, not the service the servant. Those 80 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. who would climb the ladder of life must go up step by step. Yet many who accept domestic service in this country seem to think that the whole United States ought to go out to meet them when they land from Ireland, or Germany, or Norway, or Sweden, and put rings on their fingers and bells on their toes. The women expect to see the shores lined with unfortunate bachelors whom the 'native female population does not suffice to provide with wives. The emigration societies of the old world aid in spreading this delusion, and single women think themselves as much in demand here as potatoes were in Ireland in the days of famine. The spinster of uncertain age thinks she has only to set her foot on American soil to be wooed and won, before she has even had time to unpack her baggage, by a well-to-do farmer who will conduct her to a farm well tilled, which only needed her presence to make a home of it. She has yet to learn that wives and of the very best quality are among the native productions of the American soil. It is they who have made our wilderness to "blossom as the rose." Still, there is a fair chance of a home of her own for every likely girl who comes here, and there is no better way of getting ready for it, than by helping to keep in order the homes of others. While she is attending to other people's children she is preparing herself for managing her own. If she lets her mistress's baby fall into the wash-tub, she ought not to expect that any young man who sees her carelessness will propose to her. But if she be faithful and kind, industrious and patient, she will soon feel at home in the home of her employers. She will win their respect and then their affection. No treasure is felt to be so valuable as a confidential servant, when the confidence has been gained, not by liberties taken, but by interests protected. To the nurse-maid mothers intrust the darlings of their home. Upon her care and intelligence their safety and frequently their lives depend. The mother cannot help loving those that love her children. To be kind to them is to win a warm place in her regard. The home may have many antiquarian relics. The old Family "UP-STAIRS, DOWN-STAIRS, IN MY LADV's CHAMBER." 8[ Bible may be there, recording the births, marriages and deaths of many generations. Old trees may stand around the family roof-tree. Old keepsakes may adorn the mantel-shelves ; old portraits hang upon the walls, and old dresses, some of them old bridal dresses, be treasured in the closets, but more precious than all of these is the faithful old servant who has become one of the family by years of endearing service in it. When Joseph had served Pharaoh faithfully, so that he had become essential to his kingdom, he made him ruler of his household, and said to him, " Only in the throne will I be greater than thou." Every one should know his or her place, and each one's place is just his own ; the one in which his duties are. and neither the place above nor the place below him. In order to do this, mutual forbearance as well as mutual confi- dence must prevail on both sides. There must be no treasuring up of little vexations until they estrange mistress and maid from each other. Every stone of offence should be removed at once, as we go along, and not left until a heap accumulates. Little trials are often far more difficult to bear than great ones, just as the sting of a mosquito irritates the skin worse than a good slap with the open hand. Let mistress and servant try to alleviate and as much as possible prevent the little trials of domestic life. Suppose, oh, servant, that you let the fire go out at the hour when your mistress will return tired with a journey and need a cup of tea. Will it make the kettle boil to tell her you are sorry, but that you forgot all about it ? If you are the cook and allow the dinner to spoil, and pour catsup over the pudding, and sweet sauce over the meat, while you deluge your pastry with salt in mistake for powdered sugar, and use cayenne as you would common pepper, will it restore peace of mind and stomach to the family to tell them that your sight is not as good as it was, and that " things are not what they seem " to you ? If you drop hairpins and bodkins into your home-made bread, will it undo the horrible tortures you have inflicted on those who have swallowed it if you say that the baker's man or the butcher's boy rang the bell in your hour oi hiead and put you in a flurry ? If you 6 82 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. tread upon your master's gouty toe, will your begging his pardon make the weight of your heel less painful ? If you feel it very hard to be so often scolded by your mistress, don't you think that she feels it very hard to have to tell you the same thing half a dozen times in the course of the day ? She has told you not to slam doors, or kick them or put your weight against them, but to turn the knob and the lock. Yet you will keep on banging the door every time you enter or leave a room. This is torture even to the eyes and ears of mere visitors who happen to be present : what must it be to the patient mistress who tries, for your own sake as well as for hers, to make a good and thorough servant of you ? And then what a weight of woe there is in an untidy servant ! She scatters pins and needles wherever she goes instead of blessings. She never knows for five minutes together where she has put what you are looking for, and thinks it quite enough to assure you that it is quite safe because she remembers putting it away for safety. Then how friglitful are the effects upon the nervous system of others of little peculiarities, whether of mistress or servant! There is a way of looking at another person which dethrones their reason, and sets them topsy-turvy in a moment. A lady of the highest respectability went hopelessly insane because a single gentleman who took the rooms opposite to hers invariably stared at her with a fixed, sardonic leer. The old lady's reason, never very strong, gave way under such unusual attentions, which, of course, she interpreted as the deepest infatuation and the irresistible attraction of the magnet to the pole. Many a long night did the poor thing lie awake wondering when the old gentleman's eye would become more ex- pressive of affection, and his lips would "pop the question." But the time rolled on and the eye, though fixed upon her wherever she went with the same constancy as ever, did not soften or grow milder in its beam. It was a glass eye, but she did not know it. It is one of the most exasperating things in the world to be stared at, and if homicide were ever justifiable it ought to be so when applied to those who stare other people out of countenance. " UP-STAIRS, DOWN-STAIRS, IN MY LADY S CHAMBER. 83 There are many other excruciating habits by which mistresses can torture their servants, and servants their mistresses. Such, for instance, is the habit of constantly sniffling when spoken to, and saying, " Yes, m'm," a word of doubtful etymology, and not to be found in any dictionary. If a sniff meant approval like "Amen," it might be tolerated; as it is it has no meaning at all, but is a nasal confession of mental vacuity. So " Yes, m'm," if it meant that one's meaning was fully understood, and that one's wish would be obeyed, might be permissible, but if it have any meaning at all it signifies that the servant will go on saying " Yes, m'm," to the end of her days, and will never be any nearer than she is now -to understanding or obeying her mistress. It has frequently been observed by physiologists that men and women have been supplied with a left hand as well as a right, and there is no just reason why they should not employ both instead of leaving all the work to the right. Servants, therefore, show a laud- able ambition when they endeavor to use their left hands as well as their right hands, and, no doubt, it is praiseworthy in them to use them both at the same time whenever they are trying to do two things at once. Yet tea-cups and saucers, tumblers and wine-glasses, china tea-sets and coffee-sets, meat-plates and soup-plates, and fruit- plates, tureens and jugs, sauce ladles and bric-a-brac all cost a good deal of money, and it is very trying to see them destroyed at the rate of one or two a week by one of these ambitious servants, who always has both hands full in trying to do two things at the same time. Many a mistress has died of nervous prostration brought on hy\ the violent palp'tation and nervous excitement caused by constantly- seeing her new servant try how high a pyramid of plates she can carry in one hand, while she is tilting an irregular pile of cups and saucers in the other. When she slips and they go down, as much injury has been done to the poor mistress* constitution and as many nails have been knocked in her coffin as if she had lived to the age of Methuselah in that horrible five minutes. The habit of humming, muttering or talking to one's self in each other's company- is rcpre- 84 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. hensible, whether in servant or mistress. It is no excuse for making hideous sounds that you are singing one of Mr. Sankey's favorite hymns to a tune of your own. Grease spots on carpets have often turned the mutual gratitude and affection of mistress and servants for each other into the most implacable animosity. It is, indeed, more than flesh and blood can bear to see the cruet-stand or the ink-stand upset upon a new Brus- sels or tapestried carpet, all for want of the very commonest care. A girl will stand with her mouth wide open and her eyes staring while from either hand a vessel of grease is pouring its liquid treasures on to the carpet. These are the times that try mistress' souls. Many servants will exert an amount of industry and ingenuity in making a bed so hilly, uneven, misshapen, and uncomfortable that no one can get a wink of sleep upon it, when they might have made it up comfortably for one-half the time and pains. Whatever is worth doing, is worth doing well, applies to tidying a room as much as to making a dress. " Many a mickle makes a muckle," is an old Scotch proverb,- and it is one which domestic servants should lay to heart. One pin, or burnt lucifer match, upon one's parlor carpet, if unre- buked, would in time result in carpets strewn with threads, crumbs, needles, bits of paper, snips of ribbon, locks of hair, etc., " Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks In Vallambrosa." Some servants will leave water in a basin for the person who next uses it to einpty. They don't put back what they take down. Their shelves are in a litter. Their pantry is without order. Their sleeping-room is left to take care of itself Their kitchen is always upside down. They take no proper pride in their own personal ap- pearance, thinking finery on a holiday and a clean show on a Sunday an offset for untidiness and slovenliness on week-days. If I have mentioned many faults of carelessness and stupidity in servants, it is because I esteem their calling to be one of the most respectable upon earth. In many countries the faithful servant is " UP-STAIRS, DOWN-STAIRS, IN MY LADV's CHAMBER." 85 provided for to the end of his or her hfe. They not only have com- forts which their relatives cannot obtain, such as better dwelling and food, but they have opportunities for self-improvement which other modes of living do not supply. It has been said that no man is a hero to his valet, because he is seen by his servants as he really is, not with his " quality manners " on. But every master and mistress should be able to bear this constant survey, and should win the re- spect and esteem of their servants by justice, kindness and noble living. The good and faithful master is one of nature's noblemen ; the kind mistress, who is ever ready to advise her servants and guide them in their duty, is a crown to her husband and her home; and the good servant, in the highest sense, is a masterpiece of Christian civilization. She is no slave, except as all of us are the slaves of circumstances to a certain extent. The position of a servant ought to come next in honor to that of a teacher. Indeed, servants arc for good or ill the teachers of chil- dren, who make them their confidants and take their vaews and im- pressions from their conversation and precepts. In this country good servants are very difficult to get, for reasons that have already been mentioned, but when they are found, they are highly valued and not lightly parted with. The biographies of old servants would make a very interesting volume of domestic literature. Few have such op- portunities for observing character and learning to sympathize with the trials of others. There are training schools for servants, as there are for teachers, but a quick and willing girl can learn more from a good mistress in her first place than from hearing lectures or learning rules. Some girls are " butter-fingered," as the saying is, by nature, and it is hard work and takes a rough experience to make them finger- sure, so that they can avoid breaking, slipping and spilling. There was a famous cook who had to prepare sumptuous dinners for his master's table. They were so numerous when his master gave a dinner-party that he found it difficult to avoid forgetting something. So he arranged a long row of pegs and hung upon each peg a paper cap, and before preparing each dish he put on one of the caps, and S6 THE HEARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME. when the dish was finished he threw the cap down. So he went through with all the dishes and the caps. How happy is that servant; who, when each day's work is done, can throw down the cap of re- sponsibility with the knowledge that nothing has been forgotten, or done badly, or left undone, but that when the tired body lies down to rest the mind may say, " I have done my day's work thoroughly!" That thoroughness will make the work grow pleasant to you. You will feel like an artist when he has finished his picture and sees the colors all in harmony, without daubs and patches, but harmonious and life-like. To acquire this self-confidence and self-respect, the servant should never put off till to-morrow what can be done to-day. Procrastina- tion is the thief of time. Don't l^ave the washing up of the break- fast things until after dinner, or the tidying up till the end of the week. Hate dirt with an intense hatred. Resist the cobwebs and they will flee from you. Don't let the milk turn sour through the heat before you put it in tlie cooler. Have an eye frequently on the kitchen clock, and remember that " moments are ages " in their results, and that a meal not ready, a dish spoiled, a home in disorder has driven many a man to the tavern and made him feel never less at home than when at home. Let not the servant think, " I am only a servant," and therefore of no consequence, for her employers do not so think of helping hands which they cannot do without. It is the hand of the servant that keeps the machinery of home in order. ^ SPOI|TS /ND G/MES FOi|^ L/DIES. " Exercise Makes men laborious, active, wise. Brings health, and doth the spirits delight. It helps the hearing and the sight ; It teacheth arts that never slip The memory, good horsemanship. Search, sharpness, courage and defence, ' And chaseth all ill habits hence." ■ / 'i^^il^^ E are veiy glad to record the fact that the period in " woman's history in the United States has been reached when it is no longer regarded as unlad3^1ike to indulge in any recreative sport or exercise which calls for an unwonted degree of muscular exertion or activity. On the contrary, it has now come to be decidedly out of fashion for a healthy young girl to be unable to hold her own credit- ably in either one or the other of the several out-door exercises or games in which it is possible for ladies to excel. The education of a girl may very justly be said to be incomplete, mentally as well as physically, unless she has been benefited by that activity of mind and body which results from a practical familiarity with the out-door games suitable for the fair sex to engage in. What with equestrian exercise on the Park drives or the country road; rowing in a light boat on a suburban lake ; forming one of a quartette at lawn tennis or croquet ; being one of the contestants at an archery meeting, or joining a girls' pedestrian party for an early morning five-mile walk, a charming variety of healthy out-door exercises and recreative sports is presented which a moderate indulgence in during leisure time from important home duties will yield roseate hues to the cheeks, brightness to the eyes and an elasticity of mind which no (87) £8 THE hearthstone; ok, life at home. cosmetic or drug known to the juatcria nicdica can possibly produce. It is a well-known physiological fact that the circulation of the blood to the surface of the body, induced by out-door exercise, which gives life and activity to the functions of the skin, and through that medium healthy action to the vital organs of the system, results in a magical influence on the moral forces of the mind, in bringing into play good nature in place of ill-feeling, and in substituting a healthy mental condition for those morbid sensations which result from a neglect of physical exertion of a recreative nature. It is only when the physical machinery of the body is in thorough working order that the more delicate mental organization finds its most healthful existence. The list of out-door sports and exercises in which the fair sex can engage with health and pleasure includes walking, rowing, swim- ming, skating — on the ice and on parlor rollers — archery, lawn tennis and croquet. The prominent in-door recreative exercises and games include calisthenics, bowling, billiards, chess, draughts, back- gammon, dominoes, and such games with cards as whist and crib- bage. It would require too much space, and be beyond the intended scope of this work, to introduce into the descriptive chapters of each .sport or exercise any but the mere elementary instructions in re- gard to acquiring a practical knowledge of them. This we now proceed to do briefly and to the point : LAWN TENNIS. The now fashionable game of Lawn Tennis is essentially a field sport adapted for ladies. Its requirements are not such as to de- mand an amount of physical exertion for which an ordinarily healthy girl is not capable ; and its playing rules, too, are not so intricate as to require special mental ability to fully comprehend them. The bat used in the game is light and easy to handle, even by delicate hands, while the rubber ball played with — weighing not quite two ounces — is quite harmless, even if it should happen to hit the face of a player. The game affords the most enjoyable exercise of any field SPORT.S AND GAMES FOR LADIES. 89 game in vogue in which ladies can participate, and it can be readily- played on a plot of level ground seventy-five feet by thirty in length and width. The game can be played by two, three or four ladies, either with one player on each side, or two on a side, or one against two. The following are the lines and measurements of a lawn tennis court, according to the laws of the United States Lawn Tennis Asso- ciation : • LENGTH --18 FT- >• >< X X X LEFT ^ COURT. = RIGHT COURT. 00 3> 3D <: If 1 c/> c «"■ m c Z r- S» -i m z z ?•-• m r. z- *" HALT COURT LI K r ^ — « a - ^ — « rt -1 ?^? 3 ^ ■* , r^ c ^ c m Si z: H sr ^ ,"■ ^■5 m RIGHT r^ COURT. LEFT COURT. SIDE L'MC X > c > < X ■18 n X -21 FT X 39 FT- DIAGRAM OF LAWN TK.NNIS COURT. The appended cut shows a lawn tennis field with four players en- gaged in a match. When two players engage in a match the game is played as fol- lows : A begins play by taking up her position at the outer corner of the right-hand court, and standing with one foot on one side of the "service" line and the other foot on the other side, she takes her bat in one hand and the ball in the other, and proceeds to ''serve'' the ball to her opponent, who stands in her right-hand court on the other side of the net, ready to return the ball bade lo the server's court. The "server" must bat the ball so that it will go over the net and fall within the right court of her opponent's field. If she fails to do this, and the ball either hits the net or goes beyond tlie court lines, a '' fauW is recorded, and two "faults" in succession count as an '"ace" against the "server." If the ball is rightly 90 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. " served," however, then the server's opponent must endeavor to bat the served ball — after it has touched the ground within the court once and before it touches the ground a second time — so that it be returned over the net to the server's ground. Faihng to do this, an " ace " is scored to the credit of the server. If the player, returning the ball, sends it over the net, and it falls anywhere within the outer lines of the courts, the server has then to return it over the net back again, and in doing this she can either bat it after the first bound, or PLAYING TENNIS. before it touches the ground — a batted fly ball being known as a " volley." The game is scored as follows : The first ace made counts 15, the second 30, the third 40 and the fourth gives game. The player who first scores six games wins the, first " set " of the match, and two sets won, out of three played or to be played, v/ins the match. When both players have scored "40," or four aces each, then " deuce " is called, and the player who scores the next ace after the 40 is credited with vantage, and the next ace in succession gives the SPORTS AND GAMES FOR LADIES. 91 game. In order to learn the rules in detail the beginner should pro- cure a copy of the Association rules. The above description, how- ever, will suffice to initiate a novice in the elements of the game. ARCHER Y. There is no field sport a lady can engage in which is so well cal- culated to induce a healthy development of the chest and arms, or to impart grace of movement, as the recreation of the Archery field. ARCHERY. To manage her beau well in the parlor is an art every lively girl of course delights in ; yet to handle her bow creditably in front of the target at an archery meeting is to many equally attractive. Practice with the bow and arrow gives a girl the ver}^ kind of exercise she is most in need of, and that is. exercise of the muscles of the chest. Of course, a class of calisthenic exercises will produce the same result, but in a different manner, the latter being more mechanical 92 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. and less recreative than that of archery practice, there being a decided difference between the methodical work of a calisthenic class and the pleasurable excitement incident to shooting with a bow and arrow at a target, surrounded by all the attractions of a field archery meeting. One is, in a measure, work, while the other is enjoyable exercise and play; and exercise that is not fully recreative in its nature is not very beneficial in a sanitary point of view. Standing in front of an archery target thirty yards distant, and watching the movements of a practised archeress, as she grasps her bow, places an arrow in position, and then with comparative ease sends it flying to the centre of the " gold," the whole action, with its final result, looks so easy of attainment that a casual observer is deceived in an estimate of the amount of patient practice that is necessary to accomplish the feat. But when the young novice tries her hands at this apparently simple act, and realizes by practical experiment what difficulties beset her, and what a number of thincrs she has to learn before she can even hit the target at all, not to mention the " gold," her respect for the sport increases in the ratio of the obstacles she meets with. To become expert in the use of her bow gives a girl of brains something to reflect upon, something to study up and to analyze as to cause and effect; and with this naturally comes hearty respect for the art and a love for the enjoyable excitement it yields. Any novice in archery who has ultimately achieved success will tell you what a thrill of pleasure she felt when, after weeks of disappointing practice, blunders in handling her bow, mistakes in "nocking" her arrows, errors of getting into " bad form " in taking up her position to shoot, and in other ways experiencing all the little shocks to one's amour propre which novices are heirs to, she all at once gets into " good form," and as a result sees her arrow enter the magic circle of the " gold," and that, too, not by chance but by the skill which her final mastery of the art yields. It is then that the exclamation comes, " Isn't that perfectly elegant ? " It is then, too, that she has passed the outer works of archery and captured its citadel. In no sport a lady can engage in does the old saying that " practice makes perfect " SPORTS AND GAMES FOR LADIES. 93 apply with such force as to archery. There are so many little but important details to be attended to which constant practice can alone make you properly familiar with, that any regular rule for special observance fails to be advantageously applicable. It is all very well to put down in a book of instructions in the art that the young novice must do this, that and the other ; but it is by practical experience in the field only, and frequent practice at that, that she will be enabled to overcome the obstacles she has to encounter in her efforts to become an expert. The first thing to be attended to after familiarizing herself with the handling of the bow and arrows is to bear in mind the important fact that the word " aim," as applied in all other methods of shooting, is, in archery, inapplicable. In shooting with a bow you look solely at the centre of the target, and not to the point of your arrow or at any part of your bow. From the moment that you have your bow and arrow in position and in readiness for the final " loose " — letting go the string — your sight or aim must be upon the centre of the target. The difference is, that in archery you feci your aim, as it were, while in shooting with a rifle you sec it. This aiming b)- instinct can only be attained by constant practice. The details to be made familiar with before you can even send your first arrow into any part of the target are enough to engage one's attention, outside of the mental training necessary in learning to shoot with special accuracy of aim. To hold your bow firmly and steadily, as if it were in a vice, is the first letter of the archer's alphabet. The second is to bend your bow to the arrow's head properly, and the third is to " loose " the cord from the fingers of your right hand at the proper moment. This is the A. B. C. of archery. Then come the placing of the arrow in position and seeing that it is " nocked " — attached to the cord — in the right place on the string ; and also that the right feather of the arrow is uppermost, and that the tips of your fingers are properly placed on the string ready for the full and the final " loose." How to stand at ease while using your bow is also an important matter. You do not face the target, as in shooting a rifle, but you 94 THE- hearthstone; or, life at home. stand as described in the dueling code, with the left side of your body facing- the target, so that in looking at the target it is with your face turned toward your left shoulder. The left arm, which grasps the bow, must be kept steady, and held out with firm, unmoving muscles. This arm is the lever on which you depend for a straight delivery of the arrow. As it is raised or lowered, so will your arrow fly high or low. If the arm, too, be allowed to bend, the power to draw the bow to the arrow's head steadily is lessened. Then, too, there is the action of the right arm in pulling the cord forward. In doing this, unused muscles are brought into play, and at first the motion will feci like that of a constrained position. Ladies whose chest muscles are little exercised, and whose arms are weak from want of employment, find that this new exercise comes rather hard upon them, but its physical advantages are sufficiently great to repay all the pains taken in the training. When you have learned to pull the cord correctly, you will have to attend to letting it slip from your fingers. In the first place, you must wear " tips " — leather coverings to three of your fingers — and these should be soft and pliable enough to allow the string to slip from them easily. In holding the cord, too, the correct way is to let the end of your arrow lie between your first and second finger, just sufficiently to prevent its slipping from the cord. Finally, stand steady ; hold your left arm out straight and firm ; look only at the " gold," as you bend your bow, and the moment your eye is on the centre of the target, and your bow is bent to the arrow's head, loosen your finger-hold on the cord, with a quick, easy motion, and if all your movements have been made correctly and in harmony with the thought in your rnind, that moment will see the arrow go direct to the " gold," and just as often, too, as your thought and motion are in harmony. CROQUET. There is no game ladies take part in which so fully affords an observer of character facilities for discovering the real disposition of a woman, her ladv-like manners and the feelings of true refinement SPORTS AND GAMES FOR LADIES. 95 she possesses, as Croquet does. It is a dreadfully effective method of testing a girl's temper, and few go through the ordeal without failure. Croquet is unlike every other game in vogue, owing to the fact that in no two cities or places in Europe or America, where it is played at all, is it played under the same code of rules. In the United States there are the Newport rules, the Saratoga rules, the New York rules, the Boston rules, the Philadelphia rules, and in fact every place's rules as well as every club's rules, each varynng in essential points of play, all of which necessarily leads to annoying differences of interpretation in every contest in which players from different cities take pari. In England the English books of in- struction in the game agree only in one thing, and that is, in the statement that "there are hardly two lawns in England where croquet is played in the same manner and under the same rules in every respect." This of course brings about a decidedly aggravating condition of things, and it has been the one cause which has led to the decline of croquet in popularity as a field-game worthy of taking any special pains to become accomplished in. The prevailing sentiment in regard to it is, " Oh, don't let us play croquet: we shall only get to quarreling over it." Nevertheless, it is a game in its elements, so simple and easy of attainment, and one, moreover, requiring so little physical exertion to play it under the ordinary' rules of play, as to cause it to fill up a gap that would otherwise leave a void in field-sports for ladies. Given a very smooth, close-cut grass lawn, quite level, and so kept as to allow a ball to be accurately rolled on it ; with first-class mallets, balls and hoops, and well-defined and scientific rules for contests, and the means for deeply interesting play, marked by skillful strategy as well as accurate mechanical movements, are afforded, which are well adapted to make very attractive field-sport. This fact can be reali2ied by ocular demonstration by a visit to the croquet lawn of Brooklyn Prospect Park any fine afternoon of the spring, summer or autumn months, when the scientific croquet players of Brooklyn are out on the lawn indulging in their favorite game. The 96 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. contrast between the play of these experts and that of the ordinar>^ picnic girls' croquet parties at the park is of course very great ; but it illustrates very fully the great difference between what croquet is capable of in first-class hands and what it actually is as it is simply and ordinarily played. Croquet is beyond question a great courting and flirting game for ladies. You can play and talk at the same time. Then you have such jolly rests between the turns for playing that ample opportunity is afforded for just the quiet little bit of talking together which girls love to have with their beaux on a field of a summer afternoon. The essential difference in the method of playing croquet may be said to be confined chiefly to the two ways of batting the ball with the mallet. These are the side stroke, by which a girl hits the ball as it lies on the ground at her side, and the front or straight stroke, in which she hits the ball while it is directly in front of her. This latter is a diffi- cult stroke for a girl to make accurately, on account of her dress. We go in for the rule which admits of any way of hitting the ball with the mallet which the player finds most advantageous. Next on the list of differences in the rules is that in which one club code prohibits the player from moving her own ball when she croquets that of her opponent, while another club's code admits of the ball being moved with that on which the croquet is taken ; the one being known as " tight croquet " and the other as " loose croquet." In this respect, too, we favor the rule leaving it optional with the player to use either the "tight" or the "loose" form. The loose croquet admits of carom strokes, as in billiards, either by playing a " following shot " or a simple carom, thus affording opportunities for strategic play which "tight croquet" does not admit of There is one peculiarity of croquet, and that is, it can be played on any piece of ground or turfy field on which it is possible to make a ball roll ; but, of course, skillful play would be impossible on a rough or uneven plot of ground. The turfy fields of the croquet clubs which play at Brooklyn Prospect Park are like billiard tables almost, so much care is there given to keeping the lawns well rolled 98 THE hearthstone; or, life at home, and cut. Those who desire to see a smooth, turfy field for their games should see that the grass is frequently cut, as then the small, short grass will grow up, in the place of the long weedy grass of lawns not frequently mowed. A croquet ground and a lawn tennis field can be made on the same plot of ground, as both need about the same space, as well as the same smooth and level surface of grassy turf. We give a picture of an English croquet ground in a private park„ which in size and finished surface would also make an admirable tennis lawn. The dimensions of a croquet ground regularly laid out should be one hundred feet in length by sixty feet in width. As to the ma- terials of the game, croquet sets can be purchased from three dollars a set up to twenty. A so-called cheap set, as a rule, is an abomina- tion in the sight of an expert. The balls get dry and split ; the mal- lets come off the handles and the hoops get bent out of shape easily. In regard to the use of " clips " to place on the hoops a player makes, these are only necessary when more than two girls play a game, their use avoiding disputes as to whether a hoop has been made or not. There is, of course, a difference in the rules as to the placing of the hoops, as well as to the number used — ten is the limit as to number,, while fewer than eight are never used. The appended diagrams show the three most prominent forms of placing the hoops. The terms used in croquet are chiefly as follows: "Croquet" (pronounced *' crowkay ") — To croquet a ball is to strike your own ball with the mallet when it is in contact with that of your opponent. " Roquet " (pronounced " rokay ") — To roquet a ball is simply to strike another ball. " Wired " — Your ball is " wired " when the wire of the hoop prevents the stroke. " Peg " — To peg a ball is to strike the home- peg in proper order. Of the three diagrams given that of C presents the most difficulties in successfully running the round of the hoops. Diagram A does best for a small field, and that of B is the most simple of the three. The contestants in a garne of croquet number from two to eight. Gen- erally, the most interesting game is that in which sides of two each take part. 'Iv .-_. <=M m di O O X H O o u o z o < o S c< o b. H M »; X **^^^'~^' 1/ \J [CD y (99) lOO THE heart^istonk; or, life at home. CALISTHENICS. Calisthenics is the name given to the lighter class of gymnastic exercises, which are especially adapted for ladies. That such exer- cises are necessary for girls, especially from the age of six to fifteen, has been fully proved by experience, the neglect of them in early girlhood being a great drawback to growth in physical health. The trouble with most of the games girls indulge in when mere chil- dren is that they are simply the medium for the exercise of only one or two sets of muscles of the body, chiefly those of the legs and arms, and not much of the latter. In calisthenics there is a variety of move- ments which brings into play every muscle of the body, and that, too, not in the rather violent manner young men in the gymnastic classes are too frequently subjected to, but in a way calculated to gradually develop the lighter muscular fabric of a girl's system. What with skipping ropes and trundling hoops, girls from six to twelve have the means of healthy out-door exercise, but only to a limited extent. As they get into their teens these recreations have hitherto been replaced by that of dancing, as a general thing ; and even then only under such drawbacks as those of heated ball-rooms and the vitiated atmosphere of parlors on party occasions, both of which entirely obviate the sanitary benefits of the exercise itself It is from the calisthenic class exercises that girls in their teens, as well as ladies approaching the adult period, find the benefits they have previously been deprived of since they left off "play" as mere school-girls, and took on those sedentary habits of life peculiar to fashionable society girls. Thanks to the growing popularity of ladies' cut-door sports, such as lawn tennis, rowing, archery, equestrian exercise and the like, the old sedentary mode of young lady life is being greatly modified, and American girls, under the improved method, bid fair soon to show as healthy physiques as the girls of the leisure-class of English society do. There is one special benefit to be derived from the system- atic exercises of the ladies' calisthenic class of a g^^mnasium, and that is, that for the two or three hours of these exercises the ladies are freed from the restraints impo.sed on their bodily movements by the SPORTS AND GAMES FOR LADIES. lOI fashionable costume of the day. Clothed in the loose folds of their gymnasium costume, with corsets unlaced, and freedom given them for lung expansion ; with feet in their natural position and relieved from the stilted heels, and in every respect with room given them for the play of cvcry^ muscle of their bodies, a delightful relaxation from the bonds of fashion is enjoyed ; and this freedom from dress restraints, combined with the invigorating effects of the exercise itself, imparts new life and action to the blood and thereby strengthens the vital functions of the system. Of course, calisthcnic exercises are not so necessary to those girls who frequent the lawn tennis or archery fields, or who are to be seen rowing on the lake or riding on horseback on the park drives, as they arc to the confined and unexercised fashion- able girls who are such valuable patrons of the medical fraternity. And just here, by the way, it is worthy of remark that a singular unan- imity of opinion seems to exist among a certain class of fashionable doctors in regard to the disadvantages of this, that and the other out-door exercise, and of the injurious effects of this or that in-door game on their young lady patients. Does it arise from the fact that such indulgence in healthy recreation is calculated to lessen the amount of sundry yearly medical bills ? Late improvements in the paraphernalia of calisthenic class exerci.ses present facilities for home recreation of this character in which the girls of a single family can benefit to an extent but little less than in the regular gymnasiums. What the majority of girls most need in the way of such exercises, however, is the development of the chest muscles with a view to healthy lung expansion, and this is attainable in a parlor or the home garden-plat. How many a girl is there to be seen who, by her dancing practice, has trained up finely developed nether limbs, but who, from the total neglect of the muscles of the .arms and chest, is left round-shouldered and with thin arms out of al! proportion to the exerci-sed limbs of her body ! SKATING. Skat.ng is, beyond question, the inost graceful sport a girl can engage in, and as an out-door exercise it has no superior in its I02 THE HEARTHSTONE ; OK, LIFE AT HOME. pleasurable excitement and delightfully recreative features. It is eminently a social sport, too, one suitable for the great majority ; inasmuch as in every other recreation there is more or less isolation from social intercourse during a game or a contest, while in skating social enjoyment is a prominent characteristic. In fact, so much is this the case, that the sociality of a popular skating lake has come to be as proverbial as that of a New England Thanksgiving gathering. Skating, too, when viewed in a sanitary light, is a sport meriting public approval. Aside from its recreative objects, its advantages to health are manifest, especially as regards the fair sex. One of its prominent benefits is the constant open air exercise it yields, and that, too, at a season when the atmosphere is mostly charged with life-giving oxygen. In this special respect skating yields the most beneficial results to young girls, who, as a class, are great sufferers from the want of out-door recreation; their neglect of it being a fertile cause of the delicate and sickly constitutions whicb are so numerous among the wealthy class of metropolitan society. It may be said with truth that two-thirds of the lives of the majority of our wealthy city girls are passed in the poisonous atmosphere of furnace- heated parlors, sitting-rooms and bed-rooms, with the result of that prevention of the necessary inhalation of oxygen and exhalation of carbon which is of such vital importance to the health of every human being. The essentials for the full enjoyment of skating are good ice on a safe sheet of water, such as our park lakes provide ; a pair of model American club skates — the best in the world ; low, flat-heeled skating boots, fitting snugly to the foot and with soles thick enough to hold the skate clamps, together with a warm, comfortable and appropriate skating-dress and cap. In learning to skate you must bear in mind the fact that, like learning any other special art, there is nothing which will aid you so much as confidence in your ability to ultimately accomplish what you are about to undertake. Confidence is especially essential in learning the first elements of skating. In this respect it is like learning to swim, the fear of falling while on your skates being SPORTS AND "GAMES FOR LADIES. 103 similar in its deterring effects to the fear of sinking when first attempting to swim in the water. The first lesson in skating is to learn to walk on your skates. When on skates you are balancing yourself on a very narrow edge, and on an edge, too, which slips forward and backward very readily, but not sideways. First, stand firmly on your skates; then learn to slide forward with your right foot, while pushing yourself with your left, thus : orO This is the first motion made. It is followed bj' the alternate use of both feet as sliders and propellers, and as you advance in this you learn to do the movement known as the " inside edge," which pro- duces the following curves : In learning to balance yourself on skates, you will find that you at once bring unused muscles of the ankles and lower limbs into play, with the necessary result of somewhat painful exercise. But this soon wears off, if it be not too long indulged in at a time. Frequent rest for the newly exercised muscles yield more satisfactory results than too much practice at one time. The fundamental basis of all expert eft'brts on skates is the movements made while bearing on the outer edge of the skate on the ice. This once attained, you liolJ the key to all the variations of the fancy skater's programme. Confidence in your ability to lean on the outer edge of your skate is everything. The very fear that }'ou will surely fall if you attempt it is the cau.se of falling. " Nothing venture, nothing have " is a motto which comes into play admirably in practicing to skate the " outer roll." The lines of this movement are the very reverse, of course, of the inside edge motion or " inside roll," as will be seen by tlie appended diagram : 104 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. If your skate has a keen edge — a requisite in skating whether for th j expert or the novice — it is just as safe to lean over on the outer edge as on the inner. You imagine it is not until you have learned to do it ; but when you have, one will be found as simple as the other. Once having acquired the art of the outside roll, you enter the charmed circle of the fancy skater's arena. Then comes the outside roll backward, with the various circles, and these movements learned, you know the grammar of skating, and need only to see the expert go through all his fancy movements to become an accomplished skater. A prettier sight than a girl in appropriate skating costume doing the outside roll is difficult to find in the winter season. Skating on rollers varies materially from using skates on the ice. In the first place, in roller-skating there is none of that strain on the muscles of the ankles there is in ice skating, simply because while standing on the rollers you stand on a flat surface the same as on the floor ; with the one exception, however, that you are liable to slip forward or backward on the rollers — but not sideways — the same as you are on skates. There is another essential difference between the two methods of skating, however, which it is veiy neces- sary to understand in learning to skate on the rollers after having learned to skate on the ice, and that is, that the roller skate is directed in its forward movement by your actions in balancing yourself; that is, if you wish to do the outer roll, you lean on your skate to the right, not force it in that direction by your foot, and to do the inside' you lean to the inside. In learning to do the outside roll on parlor skates, you will find that confidence is everything. You, of course, cannot do fancy skating on any roller skates such as boys and girls use in the street, but only on those of the Plimpton patent used in the skating rinks. There are hundreds of variations of fancy skating movements capable of accomplishment on ihe Plimpton rollers, but which are impossible on the ordinary street roller skates. SPORTS AND GAMES FOR LADIES. IO5 WALKING. " Let us go out for a walk " is a common exclamation among our young society girls of the period, but the phrase has a variety of interpretations. With one class of girls it simply refers to a leisurely stroll along the most frequented promenade of a city, to look in at the shops, or to observe the latest out-door dress fashions. With another class it means a walk through the fashionable portion of the city, in pairs, of a party of boarding-school girls, under the watchful charge of some ancient teacher, with the chance of taking a sly glance at some masculine favorite en route. But walking for health- ful exercise alone, and in a way to receive all tlfe benefit accruing from it, is too rarely attended to. The ordinary walking done by ladies is not what walking should be, by any means. In the first place, to become a good walker — in the pedestrian's acceptation of the term — thorough attention must be paid to all the established rules governing the exercise, such as taking the regulation step in walking, swinging the arms properly, walking with upright form and with a thorough harmony of movement of all your lin.bs, and not to walk, as most ladies do, with their arms kept in a cramped position at their sides, by their cloaks or shawls, thereby obliging them to walk with a sort of side swing, like the waddling of a duck — a style peculiar to the city promenading of most of our fashionable girls. Then, too, in order to walk propcrl3^ the lady pedestrian 'must wear walking shoes or boots, with flat, low heels no thicker than the soles of the shoe, and easy fitting to the natural form of the foot. Walking for pleasurable and healthful exercise while wearing high- heeled, thin-soled and pointed-toe boots or shoes is next to im- possible. We laugh at the Chinese fashionable belle, whom the custom of her country obliges to have her feet encased in shoes so much too small as to induce a distortion which renders walking, even a short distance, perfect torture ; and yet the fashionable American shoe for ladies of the day is but little less an invention for deforming the feet, with its two-inch heel almost under the instep, and of shape so pointed as to cramp and distort the natural position of the io6 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. toe. English ladies, of the country nobility class, have their "walk- ing shoes," as well as their " dress shoes," as they do their riding habits, each fitted for its special purpose. They never think for a mo- ment of "doing a ten-mile morning constitutional" in high-heeled shoes. In fact, they could not do it; a mile walk, even, under such circumstances, would cripple them, while ten miles done in ap- propriate walking costume gives them " good digestion to wait on appetite," and imparts the roseate hue of health to their cheeks and a bright lustre to their eyes. We are glad to note the fact that ladies' walking parties are be- coming fashionable. Walking clubs, too, comprising lady and gentlemen members, are coming into vogue, the object in view being periodical tramps into the country, such walks occupying the best hours of a fine day and frequently covering a distance of twelve or fifteen miles. What women are capable of in the way of walking, under circumstances of the possession of a naturally strong and healthy physique, is not only shown by the tramping from camp to camp by Indian squaws, with their pappooses on their backs, but also by wealthy English country ladies, who love their walking trips as much as they do their equestrian exercise. Of course, to the city belle of delicate physique, who breathes only the vitiated air of her boudoir or carriage, the healthy invigoration of a fair pedestrian is an unknown sensation. The former manages to drawl her way through a fashionable dance, only to loll in bed the next day to rest from the work of the previous night at the party or the ball. If a girl is of weak physique or is sickly, or in other respects is unfitted for the duties of healthy girlhood, carriage riding, or taking a car rather than walk a few blocks, is excusable. But for a girl who has good limbs, healthy lungs, and is in "good form" for the require- ments of her position as a well-formed and healthy young lady, to fail in her share of walking exercise each day is something every such individual should be heartily ashamed of As regards certain sanitar}'- rules, applicable to lady pedestrians, it is worthy of note to remember that walking too soon after meals is SPORTS AND GAMES FOR LADIES. 107 not the regular thing to do ; nor should you proceed to sit down to the table too soon after a long and rather fatiguing walk. Walking on either a full or an empty stomach is not according to hygienic rules. You must bear in mind that, while exercise aids digestion, it is only after the food has begun to be assimilated this assistance is rendered. To get up from a hearty meal and proceed to any exer- cise beyond that of a quiet, slow-strolling kind of walk is to un- healthily hurry the process of digestion. It is also objectionable to healthy digestion to fill the stomach with food after the system has been subjected to over-fatigue. A little rest before eating, after a long walk, is very essential to good digestion. BILLIARDS. It is only of late years that the game of Billiards has become a fashionable pastime with American ladies, though in England the game has been in vogue with the ladies of the nobility for nearly half a century past. Given a model table, a well-fitted billiard room and a party of lady and gentleman contestants of an afternoon when out-door sports are debarred by the condition of the weather, or of an evening when home recreation is specially in order, and a more attractive in-door game for a family party of both sexes, pleasurable alike to the lookers on as well as to the participants, it would be diffi- cult to find. To learn to play billiards is a comparatively easy task to some, while to others its difficulties seem insurmountable. " Oh, I can't hit a ball properly to save m}- life ! " is a familiar exclamation with the lady novice at billiards. The fact is, the game requires spe- cial attention given to the study of its details to learn to manipulate the balls with the cue skillfully, and this few ladies care to give. The majority want to learn to carom at once. They might as well desire to play chess as readily as draughts, or to do the outside roll on skates the first time they put on a pair of skates. Some people pos- sess a natural aptitude to excel in the game, while others only arrive at even a moderate degree of success as players by steady and indus- trious application. There are the mechanical movements to be I08 THE hearthstone; ok, life Ar HOME. learned first, after which come the mental calculations of the forces governing the varied motions of the ball. The former must be learned by practical experience ; the knowledge of the latter, or method of producing the effects, may be borrowed from an expert. You cannot play billiards until you have learned how to hold your cue and how to strike the ball with its point accurately. But you can learn how to " English " a ball by simply seeing another player do it, and without having the least idea of the cause of the peculiar effect produced. Until, however, you yourself study out these causes and learn to base your shots on the mental calculation of the forces to be employed, you will never become a really expert player. The quickest way to learn billiards is to get a practical player to in- itiate you into the right method of holding your cue and directing its stroke. To do this well requires just the amount of practice necessary to make the handling of your cue as familiar and easy to you as striking the keys of a piano after having learned to play music at sight. When you have learned this, you then begin to study the forces and to apply your own ideas as experience may suggest. BATHING AND SWIMMING. How few ladies there are who know how to bathe properly, and how lamentable is the fact that so vast a majority of women are ignorant of the art of swimming ! Yet the one is a valuable essential of a healthy condition of the system, and the other is of vital importance to every human being — man or boy, woman or girl — as a means of preserving life. With all the deference shown by woman to the behests of re- ligious rules, the one great law of the religious code, " cleanliness is, akin to godliness," is sadly neglected by a large class of wealthy women. Not that they neglect their necessary ablutions in their bath-rooms, but that they are too much afraid of sea-shore or cold water bathing. Thanks, however, to the very great facilities which are now afforded at our metropolitan sea-shore resorts, such as Coney Island, Rockaway, Long Beach, the Hampton beaches on Long Island, and at Long Branch, Newport and other such noted watering- SPORTS AND GAMES FOR LADIES. IO9 places, sea-bathing has become more frequent than it used to be, and with it has come a better condition of health among the women who have taken advantage of the facihties afforded them each sum- mer. We have frequently seen ladies in the water on the Coney Island beach bathing places, however, who have by their neglect of the hygienic rules of bathing almost nullified the beneficial effects of their baths. For instance, how many are there of the lady bathers at our watering-places in the summer who ever strictly observe the following code of rules for healthy bathing ? First — Never take a cold bath directly after a hearty meal, as the drafts made upon the natural heat of the body by the sudden im- mersion in the cold water abruptly retard the process of digestion, even at times stopping it altogether. Going in to bathe, too, on an empty stomach is almost as trying to the digestive organs. An hour after a meal is the least time necessary for the stomach to be prepared for the loss of heat. Second — While it is not advisable to rush into cold water with a system overheated to any excess, it is less objectionable than to go into the water " cooled off," as too many do. It should be borne in mind that the system wants all its natural heat to bring about that reactionary circulation of the blood to the surface of the body, after it has been driven inwardly by the shock of the cold water. To cool off before bathing is to deprive yourself of the very means required to induce that healthy reaction, which is such an essential advantage of the bath. It used to be regarded as necessary to get "cooled off" before bathing, but that has been proved a dangerous fallacy. Third — Never remain in the water long enough to experience a chilly, shivering sensation, as it shows conclusively that you have lost too much of your natural heat. So long as you exercise in the water, either by swimming or by the romping and frolicking of the surf bather's custom, and thereby generate bodily heat as fast as it is absorbed by the water, your bath can be prolonged at will ; but to remain in until your lips are blue and your body is chilled to the marrow, as it were, is to nullify all the good effects of your bath. I lO THE HEARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME. Fourth — Avoid, when swimming, going far from the shore, if the temperature of the water is below the ordinary summer months' range, as it sometimes is, as one result will be liability to seizure by cramps, in which case your nether limbs become helpless. Cramps, too, al- most invariably follow going into the water when the stomach is not in condition to withstand the shock. Fifth — When you first go in the water, take a good douse of water, immersing your body entirely, and then come out and wait until the reaction sets in, then return and exercise in the water, not simply lay off and get cool in it. That is not bathing for the benefit of the bath. Sixth — Never go beyond the stated boundaries — if you are not a competent long-distance swimmer — unless there are safety-ropes or other safeguards on the shore. The best swimmers can be too ven- turesome. There are other bathing rules to be attended to by those who bathe for health alone, but. the above will suffice for this work. How to learn to swim is not only an important subject for study and investigation, but " How am I to learn to swim ? " is a question not very easy of answer, unless through the medium of a regular treatise on the art ; and yet to learn to swim may be said to be some- thing very easy of attainment under certain circumstances, among which may be named the possession of courage, determination and a measurable degree of what is known as " presence of mind," or, the nerve to think, the courage to act, and to act promptly on the sugges- tion of your sudden thought, on the occasion of a critical emergency. Animals which have never entered the water swim by instinct, the requisite motions of the limbs to sustain them in the water coming into play at once by natural influence. Why it is that it is not so in the case of mankind is simply because the controlling power of edu- cation too frequently mars the influence of instinct. The Indian boy at the Sandwich Islands needs no lessons in swimming. From the first entry of the child into the water the little one strikes out naturally, and manages to keep afloat, if nothing more, his progress to- , SPORTS AND GAMES FOR LADIES. I I I ward perfect swimming being rapid. But our boys, and especially our girls, inheriting an educated dread of water, lose all confidence, become paralyzed with fear and muscularly helpless when suddenly thrown into deep water. Could they realize the fact, at such a time, that it is really more difficult to keep under the water than it is to float on its surface, they would then be in possession of that confidence which would allow natural instinct to have its way, and then to strike out and swim at once would be at their command. Confidence is everything in learning to swim. Indeed, the art is almost impos- sible of attainment without it. The point, therefore, in the very be- ginning is how to become inspired with the necessary confidence. We learned to swim in half an hour by obtaining a practical knowl- edge of how difficult it is to keep under water, after we had used up months in unavailing efforts with such ordinary aids to swimming, as floats, corks and rubber life-preservers. Standing in a bathing- house in water four feet deep, we tossed a pebble in, and, keeping our eyes open, dived under the water to pick it up. It looked quite easy, but no sooner was our body under the water than its tendency to float to the top kept us from reaching the pebble. Realizing this fact so clearly and palpably, and having become quite familiar with the movement of limbs necessary in swimming, we at once struck out in deeper water, and swam with ease the length of the bath, though previously we could not progress two yards without feeling the fear of sinking. The motion of the limbs in swimming is simply that of moving your arms and legs as propellers to push yourself forward through the water. However, no book rules will suffice to teach you to swim. Better watch a girl who can swim well, and then try to copy her movements. Remember this : If you think you are about to sink when in the water, keep as still as you can, paddle with your hands, and throw your head back ; but don't struggle wildly. Above all, do not go near deep water unless you can swim. Many a girl's life has been lost at watering-places by venturing out too far, and getting frightened when the water is near her arms in depth. 112 THE HEARTHSTONE; OR, LIFE AT HOME. ^ The editor of the London Truth, after observing that probably not one in twenty of the persons who indulge in boating on a holiday can swim, proceeds to tell his readers how to acquire this accomplish- ment. " Nothing," he says, " is more easy. When the air is out of a body its owner sinks ; when the air is in the body its owner floats. Let any one slowly draw in his breath as he draws back his legs and pushes forward his arms, retain it while-he is preparing for the stroke which is to propel him, and slowly allow it to go through his lips as his arms are passed back from before his head to his sides, and his legs are stretched out. The action of the stroke should not be quite horizontal, but should be made on a slight decline downward. The real reason why people take weeks to learn how to swim is because swimming professors either do not know, or do not choose to teach, the philosophy of breathing, so as to render the body buoyant." ROWING. Rowing a light boat on a stream, a lake, a mill-pond in the country, or on our city lakes at Central or Prospect Park, is a very pleasur- able and healthy exercise for girls, as it gives freedom of action to the much-neglected muscles of their arms and chest; but unless light oars are used the work is rather heavy for ladies. No girl ought to enter a boat alone for rowing exercise unless she knows how to swim. There are so many chances for accidents of one kind or another which involve risk of drowning that this rule ought to be generally ob- served by lady rowers. Of course, if you have a gentleman w^ith you the case is different, or some one who can swim in case of emergency. Light boats, suitable for a girl to row about in, are easily upset, and they require careful handling. In learning to row you begin by using one oar at a time. Don't go to work at it in a hap-hazard way, but study the thing up. and first know what you have to do to pull an oar before you set about it. There is the action of dipping the oar properly ; pulling it forward ; lifting it out of the water and push- ing it back again ready for the next dip — making four separate move- ments which require special attention to be given to each one — and J SPORTS AND GAMES FOR LADIES. II3 then you must attend to doing all four with harmonious action and in clock-work order. The dip, the pull, the lift and push back are the four distinct movements used in pulling an oar. You must avoid dipping your oar too deep in the water, going no deeper than to ob- tain a good hold on the water; in lifting it, too, you must avoid lift- ing it too high out of the water. In deep water let the flat part of the oar go under water, and in lifting let it skim the surface of the w^ater a few inches only above it. In pulling your oar forward, do it with a steady stroke, not with a jerk, giving your full strength to the pull just as the oar reaches the centre of the stroke and its deepest im- mersion ; and when you push back your oar on its return out of water, do it with a quick but steady stroke. Begin slowly, and look well at each of your four movements: first at the dip, that your oar is not too deep in the water; then at your forward pull, that your full strength be not exerted until your oar is well in the water ; then at your lift, that your oar may not rise more than three or four inches above the water, and lastly, at your return stroke, so that your oar may go back quickly and yet enter the water without a splash. After learning these four movements well, you will then have to learn how to " feather " your oar. You will have observed that in making your return stroke after lifting your oar from the water the flat por- tion of the oar acts as a surface facing the wind so as to retard your advance, especially if you are rowing against the wind. To obviate this and to present to the wind on the return stroke only the edge of the oar is what the process of feathering accomplishes, and this feathering is done by the motion of the wrists in turning the handle of the oar half round the moment you lift the oar from the water. The oar while in the water being in position No. i, is, when it is NO. I. NO. 2. lifted, changed at once to position Xo. 2, the centre line of the dia- gram showing the vertical and horizontal position of the paddle of the oar. This feathering of the oar is not essential for the ordinary pur- 114 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. poses of exercise, but it is the finishing stroke of the art, and gives strength to the muscles of the wrist. Of course, when you can do all this while using both hands to a single oar, you then learn to do exactly the same movements first with the right hand and then with the left. When you can do this well, you then begin to row with the pair of oars, and if you have followed the above instructions carefully, you will be surprised to see how soon you can row with both oars, and row creditably, too. CHESS. The gamie of Chess is the king of in-door games, and the most scientific recreation a lady can engage in. It differs from every other game in vogue in that the element of chance is completely eliminated from it. In this fact, too, lies one of its greatest attractions, for a victory won at chess is a triumph due to your skill in out-manoeu- vering youradversary by your superior play, and not by your possession of a full hand of trumps, as in cards, or by the lucky toss of the dice, as in backgammon. Ladies have a prevalent idea that to learn to play chess is an immensely difficult and fatiguing task ; whereas the fact is that there are few games the elementary rules of which are more easy of explanation, and not one which yields such an amount of gratification in the mastery of its rules as chess. A drawback to the general introduction of a knowledge of chess exists in the fact that nearly all the books of instruction on the game are written as if the authors regarded the game in the light of a mathematical study rather than a mental recreation. One effect of this course has been to frighten young students, especially ladies, at the very outset of their attempt to learn the game, by impressing them with the idea that quite an amount of laborious work is before them ere they can hope to become adepts at the game. Another characteristic of most books of instruction is the too great prominence given to the study of the various chess openings, as if a thorough knowledge of these would alone make one a first-class player. The study of open- ings, as well as the playing over of games by noted masters of the art, are well enough in their way ; but the utmost familiarity with the SPORTS AND GAMES FOR LADIES. II5 best openings extant, or with the style of play of the greatest of chess-masters, will not make you a chess-player unless you possess the mental aptitude and ability to excel in the game, and by means of which due effect is to be given your " book knowledge." This latter aid to chess is like the use of cork floats in learning to swim — they merely assist one to familiarize himself with certain movements prior to his entire dependence upon his own resources. The "book" player, in chess, goes on swimmingly while he is in the shallow water of his knowledge of the openings ; but the moment he goes beyond that depth, and has to depend upon his own mental powers for suc- cess, if he lacks the nerve, the control of temper and the strategic skill to outwit his wily adversary, all his " book-learning " goes for naught. An important element of chess study, after the learner has mastered the initiatory moves, and the various powers possessed by the six different pieces of the chess board — the king, queen, rooks, bishops, knights and pawns — is to acquire the art of chess analysis, which can only be attained by learning to calculate the effect of the various moves on the board without moving the pieces, just as is done in the effort to solve a problem by studying a printed diagram. Without this power of mental analysis book study is comparatively useless. The best way to learn this is to try and solve two move chess problems. To give special detailed instructions in chess would be beyond the scope of this work. We therefore only present a brief chapter of hints to beginners by way of an introduction to the study of some more elaborate work. We first present a diagram of the board, with the chessmen placed in their proper positions. It will be seen that the white men are before the first player, and that the board is placed so that a white square is in each right-hand corner of the board. We now come to the peculiar move of each of the six different pieces on the board. It will be understood that there are in all thirty-two pieces with which the game is played, sixteen of which are white men and sixteen black. Of each sixteen all but the ii6 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. king and queen are duplicated ; the bishops, knights and rooks being in pairs — four of each on the board, two of each being white, and two black — while there are eight pawns of each color. But then.- are but six pieces in all, each of which has separate and distinct moves. Placing each of these pieces in the centre of the board with no other piece on it at the time, and it will be found that each has the following number of moves at command : Beginning with the king, as he moves but one square around his position, he com- BLACK, white. mands just ei^ht squares. The queen moves as the king does, but with the addition of no limit to the number of squares it can move to, thereby commanding twenty-seven squares. The bishop moves only diagonally, each bishop on its own squares, one for the white squares and one for the black, each commanding thirteen squares. Place the two bishops of the white men on the two central squares adjoining each other, and it will be seen at a glance how many SPORTS AND GAMES FOR LADIES. II7 squares each commands by its diagonal movement. The rooks each command fourteen squares to the right or the left, or forward or backward, but not diagonally. It will be seen that the move of the queen combines that of the king, rooks and bishops. The knight has a move peculiar to itself, and as it stands in the centre of the board commands eight squares. It is the only piece that, standing in its regular position with all the other pieces in their places, can be moved before a pawn is moved in the beginning of the game, one knight moving from black to white, and the other from white to black. A study of the moves of the pieces as above directed will rapidly familiarize the learner with the value of each piece. The pawns also have a different method of moving to that of the other pieces, and, by the way, the pawns are always known as " pawns," and the other pieces as " pieces." The pawn always moves forward, one square at a time, but it can only take by moving sideways. By learning this much of the game carefully, you will have progressed far enough to be able to begin to play with an experienced opponent. THE L1BI|AI[Y \\ THE HOME. "Books Are a substantial world, both pure and good; Round these with tendrils strong as flesh and blood Our pastime and our happiness will grow ! " jHE ideal home, like the ideal life, should aim at com- pleteness and perfection. I use the word " ideal " be- cause it exactly expresses a high mark to be aimed at, and I use the two words " completeness " and "perfection," the one to denote quantity and the other quality. The first reminds us that there must be enough — that is, neither deficiency nor superfluity ; the second, that what there is must be the best of its kind. In reality, perfect completeness and complete perfection are never attained by man either in his life or in his home. Physically, men- tally and morally man is an imperfect being. Even the strong man armed finds a stronger than himself Our vision is limited and imperfect, and both the physical and intellectual eye can see but a short distance, and are bounded by a narrow horizon beyond which there stretch circle after circle beyond our ken until they fade away in infinity. But an old historian makes this the great difference between man and brute, that while the brute looks always downward and earthward, man looks upward and beyond himself Yet we must never think that the eye in us is the centre of the universe, or forget that " There are more things in heaven and earth Than are dreamed of in our philosophy." Because we cannot attain completeness or perfection is no reason (ii8) THE LIBRARY IN THE HOME. 119 why we should not aim at the best and highest. The mere ambition and endeavor carries us a long way up the mountain of progress. One of the greatest men who ever lived seemed to be wholly filled with this idea. He urged his fellow-men to aim at being perfect as God is perfect, although he was oppressed by the perpetual con- sciousness of his own and other's imperfection. St. Paul's mind was that of a spiritual and intellectual architect who aimed at making life a perfect building, fitly joined together in all its parts, each part in harmony with all the rest, and all blending upward into one sym- metric spire. The home should be the same, complete in its furniture, no bare walls or floors, no rubbish strewed around and every chamber informed by harmony, which is only another word for perfection. To approach toward this completeness and perfection, one of the first things needed is to know what is wanting, and should be added, as well as what is useless and should be thrown aside. A great heathen philosopher discoursing about friendship expresses his wonder that while the multitude of men are so eager to provide costly furniture, and elegant appendages to life, they neglect to provide themselves with sincere and faithful friends, whom he con- siders to be life's noblest furniture. Of course, in the making of our home, as in the making of our lives, there will always be something which we cannot complete. The finest architecture will have some imperfection or defect. We shall find the convex where the concave would be better; the rounded for the pointed, the inclined for the straight, the elliptical for the spherical. So must it ever be ; whether in life or in the home, so long as man is the builder. " The unfinished window in Aladdin's palace Unfinished must remain." This thought should stimulate and not dishearten us. Let us see what the defect is, and supply what is wanting if we can. The great 120 THE hearthstone; OR, LIFE AT HOME. thing wanting in most homes is not more chairs and tables, but books, and not so much more books as better ones. There is a new method of ministering to minds diseased, and alleviating melancholy and other disturbed conditions of the nerves and brain, which is very simple, and is said to have done good to many who have tried it. It is called the color cure, and merely con- sists in selecting for wall-paper, window panes, furniture or carpets, curtains and drapery, those colors that relieve the eye, and acting through the sight upon the mind produce a diversion of feeling and give another current to the thoughts. Every one has been conscious of the relief which beautiful flowers, both by their colors and their perfume, afford, when one is suffering with headache or what is known as " the blues." They have the same effect upon us through the eye as a strain of exquisite music has upon us through the ear. A single rose has often gladdened a whole room, and brought pleas- ant thoughts and feelings to the invalid in mind or body. Beautiful books can do the same, and with more permanent effect. Not by the rich binding, the fine paper, the clear type, the pretty pictures — although all these are pleasant to the taste, and good food for the imagination and the fancy — but chiefly by the precious jewels of truth and light, of memory and hope, of beauty and sweetness that lie within the casket of the leaves and bindincr. Of completeness and perfection, size or bulk is not the test or the condition. A large and showy book may not be worth reading, while a small and unpretending one may be a pearl of great price to the reader's mind. " Handsome is that handsome does," is true of books as well as men. A showy person, however faultless his exterior, may be a fool, and some little people are the greatest of men and the most agreeable of companions. The beauty of a house does not I'.epend upon its size. It may be very defective, although very large; and have completeness and perfection, although merely a cottage. "A man's life," said One who knew what was in man, " does not consist of the abundance of the things that he possesses, for the life is more than meat, and the body than raiment." Neither do the com- THE LIBRARY IN THE HOME. 121 pleteness and perfection of a man's life depend upon the length of it. A short day may see great deeds done, and a long day may be full of emptiness. Some men and women have accomplished their life- work at thirty, while others who live to be a hundred have never done anything at all. One man has been a benefactor to his race while yet a youth, and has retired to rest early because his work was done. Another may go on living, if that can be called living which is merely eating, drinking and sleeping, until all his companions have departed and all whom he has conversed with have fallen asleep, and nothing of him be noted or have ever been observed, except that he was a creeping thing made up of coat, and hat and cane. " Little and good " is better than big and useless. Nimble Jack was too much for the giant Blunderbore, The ants do more than the tortoises. Old Parr, who died of too much cakes and ale at Charles the Second's court, was a mere boy when he died because, in a century and a half, he had not learned as much, or done as much, or tried to do as much, as many a village lad who marvelled at him and why he went on living when all other folks died decently. Plato taught men centuries ago that it is far better to learn a little well than a great deaf confusedly. Smattering is bad both in life and reading. Many a centenarian has only smattered through life, and does not know much about it when his book of life is shut for- ever. The same is true of indiscriminate and desultory readers. They remind one of those who have no ear for music, but think it must be fine in proportion to the loudness of the noise it makes. The still small voice is inaudible to them ; they want thunder from plenty of big drums. Some people's taste in books is like that of the New York gamins in plays ; they must have plenty of blood for their money, and the play to suit them must be " full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." There are certain marks and signs by which one may know the mental habits of others, just as a man's good breeding or the reverse may be manifested in little things. Good old Launcelot Andrews, Bishop of Winchester, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, used to be 122 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. very much annoyed by idle visitors who disturbed him while he was studying in his library of a morning. " Methink," said he, "that they be no true scholars who call upon man before noon." In the same way, we may set down a few of the tokens by which the sham thinker and shallow reader may be known. There are persons — their name is legion — who borrow books as they do umbrellas, without the remotest intention of ever returning them. This is bad enough, but it is almost as bad to deface, "dog's- ear," or tear a book before returning it. Some valuable books when they come back to their too kindly owner present the appearance of having been used as a portable dinner-table, the once unsullied pages wearing the aspect of a greasy table-cloth. This is vulgar and in- decent, but even worse than this is it to find one's book desecrated by the idiotic remarks and egotistic emendations of the conceited coxcomb, or, let us charitably hope, silly lunatic, to whom in a moment of amiable weakness we lent the cherished volume which had solaced many a lonely and enlivened many a leisure hour. The shock is almost as great as if we saw again the face of a dear friend besmeared with mud by some miserable urchin of the gutter. Nothing has ever made a rational being regret his ability to read so much as the perusal of these inane, asinine comments and presumed improvements on some favorite author, written on the margin. Show us the girl who cannot admire a sentence or a sentiment with- out scrawling " very true " or '! how beautiful " beside it, and we will show you a girl whom the sensible young men of her neighborhood will do well to avoid. No rational man would make love or offer marriage to one of these feminine annotators. She would write her impressions on his shirt front and make remarks upon his cuffs. The note-taker, the annotator, the commentator, the critic are of course inevitable everywhere, and are well enough in their place. " A chiel's amang ye takin' notes, And, faith, he'll prent it ; " but that will be in his own book; he will not pencil it in ours. It is THE LIBRARY IN THE HOME. 1 23 not fair to lay all the blame upon school-girls and maidens, how- ever, in this matter. The youth whose imagination is " sicklied o'er ", with his own conceit does it as often as the skin-deep female annotator. He obtrudes his cant, his bigotry, his feeble unreason and even his bad spelling and vile grammar upon all who have the misfortune to become his victims by reading hereafter the page upon which he has left his impress. To deface a man's book in this way should be a felony by law ; it is like the trick of some dishonest jewellers who extract the genuine and insert a bogus stone into the ring they profess to repair. Save us from this literary repairing of our books, say we. Not only does it destroy the value of the work as private property, but when perpetrated as it constantly is upon the volumes of a public or circulating library, it diffuses an intellectual small-pox and marks with varioloid all the reading of a neighborhood. Un- happily, these self-inflated scribblers conceal their names, or the public intelligence which they have outraged might deface and make mar- ginal notes upon the fleshly tablets of their own " calf" These strictures, of course, do not apply to those real note-takers who study what they read, and make references in books that belong to themselves. The interleaved plan is an excellent one, when some ancient or modern standard author whom one has often to refer to is being studied, especially when comparison with other authorities upon the same subject is necessary. This, of course, involves the unbinding and rebinding of the book, with alternate blank pages for annotation, but where that is too expensive a process, the separate note-book may be made as useful, if intelligently indexed and ar- ranged. Having decided that our home is incomplete and imperfect without a library, the next step is to set about providing one. And here the principle of a little, thoroughly, rather than a great deal superficially, should guide us. Wealthy people who give a wholesale order for a library all at once, never read, and often do not know the names of the books they buy. Hence it is, that famous and costly libraries pass by public auction from one wealthy owner to another, each new 124 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. possessor reading the precious volumes as much as the last one, which is not at all. Indeed, the books might as well be dummies, 'for the backs of the bindings and the titles are all that are looked at. It is better to begin with a small selection of books, and add to them as we need more. As Milton said that, " Words are the fool's counters but the wise man's money," so books should be used for their real value to the mind. For the Home Library I do not think that sufficient value is set upon works of imagination. Family read- ing ought not to be too dry and serious, or made too much like the severe training of professional and academical study. The vast majority of readers have to work for their daily bread, and need relaxation and amusement in their leisure hours. A game of chess is a better mathematical exercise for them than the propositions of Euclid. Popularized science, however, where the text-books are written by the best masters, may be quite as interesting, and more instructive than most works of imagination. Theology and moral philosophy, not less than social science, may be made delightful. But as general culture should precede special knowledge, it is best to humanize the family circle before making it scientific. And this humane culture comes from the good story and the beautiful poem more than from the learned treatise or the didactic discourse. The works of Charles Dickens have had an immense influence upon English-speaking humanity, but they have helped to change the very conditions of life they described, and for that reason are no longer as much read by the young as formerly. The same may be said of the more exclusive and select circles that Thackeray satirized. The " Vanity Fair " we mix in nowadays is not one of rakes and marquises, of fashionable clubs and classical old schoolfellows. The virtues and vices of humanity are the same always and everywhere, but we have to take them out of one frame and put them into an- other to suit the times. Major Pendennis and Colonel Newcome are passed away, and their qualities are dressed in other uniforms. Hence, the story-writers who take life on a large scale, and make their stories less dependent upon the accidents of birth and place, THE LIBRARY IN THE HOME. 125 last longer and are less ephemeral. Such are George MacDonald, Charlotte Bronte, and the supreme George Eliot. The last-named, especially, merely used the novel as a setting or frame for her pic- tures of the truth. It would be very difficult and of little use to suggest a list of books for the library at home. Not only would the size of the library have to be considered in relation to the means and social condition of the particular family, but the previous education, tastes, capacities, and idiosyncrasies of every member of the family, would have to be taken into account. I have met persons of good intelligence who worshipped Carlyle, and others who could not endure him. All authors who write in a singular or affected style create repugnance in some, to whom their ideas would be acceptable in another dress. This is why Washington Irving and Hawthorne are so universally beloved in every household. Their style has no affectations ; it is as natural as their stories. Ours is pre-eminently the age of story-reading and of story-writ- ing. It is rare to find a novel nowadays which has not some merit ; but since, amid such abundance, one cannot possibly read all, it is best to keep to the great masters whose works have borne the tests of criticism and of time. Life is too short to read every new novel to find what there is of nourishment, pleasure, and mental profit in it. It is best to be guided by those who have read the book and recom- mended it. Hence Emerson said that he never read a book until it was twenty years old. Sir Walter Scott's novels are wholesome reading. More recent novelists too often write down to the frivoli- ties of their own time, instead of up to the humanity of all time. And of books that inspire us with power, and are not merely a re- source for killing time, it may be said that, " no one who has tasted old wine straightway desireth new, for he saith the old is better." In the judgment of Archbishop Trench, the greatest master of the English language among modern autliors was Thomas DeQuinccy; and in the judgment of Anthony Trollope, the greatest novel in the English language is Thackeray's " Henry Esmond." Mr. Trollope's 126 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. own novels are very widely read, both in America and in Englarid ; many persons of good taste are enthusiastic about " Orley Farm," and " Barchester Towers." Yet there are people of good taste who confess that they never felt power or stimulus from any of Trollope's novels. The ground' one treads upon when offering advice to others as to the selection of a home library is so crowded that no matter what selection may be made, others will suggest a better and others a better still: The guiding principle of all readers should be to read such books as give them power, not such as weaken them. The analogy of the body and food holds good of the mind and reading. There are some foods that make bone and others that make flesh. A child fed on nothing but candies would soon die. Doctors tell us that only two foods contain every possible element of nutrition which every part of the human system requires. These are milk and eggs. These foods assimilate quickly and are easily digested ; milk the more so, as the glutinous substance in eggs takes longer. If any one had to choose two books that should do most for all his moral and mental constitution, and should ask me, " Where are the milk and eggs for the mind ? " I should answer at once, " The Bible and Shakspeare." That is not saying that all parts of these two volumes are equally valuable, or denying that some parts are not the most wholesome brain food. All milk is not equally good, and the shells of eggs are not eaten. I mean only that within the covers of the Bible and within the covers of Shakspeare there is the finest food for heart and life that has ever yet come into the human market. A home library, therefore, would be incomplete and imperfect without these- two master-pieces of experience, humanity, philosophy, and poetry. The mention of poetry reminds us that it must be ranked with the story as an educator of the imagination. Some persons do not care for poetry, others like one poet and dislike another. There are many who care nothing for any of the fine arts, whether the eye or the ear is appealed to. The reason of this is that imagination is by no means THE LIBRARY IN THE HOME. 127 a universal quality, and that a vast number of human beings are esthetically blind and deaf. Yet it is not possible to overrate the influence of the imagination upon every phase of human life. It has founded empires and destroyed them ; it has built cities, temples and palaces, and laid them waste; it has given impetus to commerce, and discovered continents. A quick, vivid and reason-tempered imagination is the most powerful weapon for success in life. A warped, perverted, feeble, irresolute imagination will never get from the shadow to the substance. Hence, so many lives are spent in dreaming and nothing else. That only is true imagination which sets the will in motion and leads to definite results. Poetry comes in as proper food for this divine gift and wonderful faculty within us. It is foolish to be always asking others such ques- tions as who is their favorite poet, and whether they think this poet better than the other. Every one has his own taste in literature as in all else, and especially in poetry. Too much even of wholesome food is bad ; we ought to digest thoroughly whatever we eat. Indiscrim- inate reading leads to mental dyspepsia, but a moderate meal of stimulating food gives lustre to the eye and energy to the mind. After Shakspeare, the poets I should next think of placing in my little library would be Wordsworth, Byron, Scott, Tennyson, Mrs. Browning and Longfellow, Bryant and Whittier. Others would be sent for when we had more room. This training of the imagination before the life and character are formed is, perhaps, the most solemn responsibility that can devolve upon parents and teachers. If once the youthful imagination is made familiar with gross and sensual thoughts, the heavenly dew of purity is brushed rudely off it. "Can a man touch pitch and be undefilcd?" Hence, the deadly poison of much of the cheap sensational fiction and debased journalism of the time. Let us fill our children's minds with angels, lest devils enter in and dwell there. To write well for children, as to be a good oral teacher of children, the author must have the child's feelings fresh in himself, through the power of sympathy and imagination. Charles Kingsley once went 128 THE hearthstone; or, life at home, out to rebuke some boys who were trespassing upon his grounds and jumping over his fences; but so boylike was his heart, that he no sooner caught sight of their happy faces than he forgot his wrath and joined their frohc. It is this youthful spirit of sympathy that makes many of his books such healthy reading for boys and girls. He is always true to a high standard of honor, fidelity and manhood. It seems to me that there is no better way of guiding one's own or others' children in the choice of books, than to look back upon our own childhood, and trace the mental influences that formed our own mind and character. If that does not show us what to choose, it often shows us what to avoid. Wherever we see that a book, what- ever its literary merits, did us harm, we should be careful not to put it in the way of others. In looking back to our childhood, how often can we distinctly see the ill effects of the first book that shook our faith in religion or humanity! It set our minds doubting instead of doing, and threw a haze of uncertainty upon the duties and hopes of life at the very start. It might not have been so ten years later, but destructive theories suddenly introduced to a wondering but trusting and yearning mind have a disastrous effect upon the mental and moral energies. To please God we must believe that he is, says St. Paul, and the infidel writer who tells us he is 7iot, shakes our trust in him, and wish to please him. Beside this, early scepticism engenders the habit of universal scepticism, for which there is seldom any cure on this side of the grave. Let us build up principles in the minds of the young, not wantonly tear them down. I have no yearning for the Inquisition, or the Roman " Index Expurgatorius," but, so far as happiness and singleness of heart in childhood are concerned, I wish that the books of Robert Taylor and Tom Paine had been burned. Terrible to many even now is the memory of the double thinking at church, the secret misgivings when the Bible was read to them, the sleepless nights, in which all that their parents held sacred and true seemed as the baseless fabric of a vision. Next to instilling doubt, however, in mischievous effects, is the cramming children's minds with superstition. The reaction is sure to come. THE LIBRARY IN THE HOME. T 29 They will first believe the fables taught them ; then disbelieve the truth, because they had been once deceived. From believing too much, they will believe too little, and often nothing at all. Too many feel with a sharp sense of pain what the destructive in- fluences in their childhood were. Let them try to recall the construc- tive, strengthening and confirming ones. The sentiment of pity grew apace within them, as they studied the healing deeds of Christ, and they found religious reflection much stirred by his parables. Next to these, perhaps, John Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress," and other sacred allegories to a less degree had the most to do with serious religious feeling and imagination. Religious allegories are good reading in proportion as they are true to man's real experience of the conflict of good and evil within him. The " Pilgrim's Progress" is a true parable of life. In secular literature appealing to the imagination, the poetry that made them grow most was, first, that which reflected their own heart and taught them to look within ; and, secondly, that which drew the imagination out into a world of light of beauty by bringing nature home to them, and impressing its wonders and beauties on the mind. Wordsworth, especially his " Excursion," had a great progressive effect upon early thinking and feeling. For young people I do not like Milton because he is too deep and classical, and the military parade and speech-making of the Satanic conspirators have no attraction for them. But when they grow old enough to separate the kernel from the shell, they find a sense of sub- limity in Milton, which is to be found in but one or two other poets. In poetry we find the truest and most perfect pictures of humanity in action, yet my own mind never felt an enthusiasm such as many do for epic or narrative poems. The poetry I loved best as a child was that of the affections rather than that of the battle-field. I would rather read of the battle of Hastings in a good history of England. than in Tennyson's " Harold," and of the martyrs of Queen Mary's reign in Blunt's " Sketch of the Reformation in England," than in Tennyson's " Queen Mary." For the same indefinable reason I have 9 130 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. never been fond of dramatized history. I like best a play that relies upon imagination for its facts, these facts being true to human nature and experience, outgrowths of the imagination which is based on truth, rather than of the fancy which is not so derived. Of all the definitions of poetry which I have met with, that of Words- worth will best bear repetition and looking into earnestly. " Poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge, the impassioned expression which is in the countenance of all science." The body of knowledge and of science is not necessary to our appreciation of this spirit and admiration of this countenance. Hence, poetry is a great help and stimulus in the patient pursuit of knowledge. Next to romance and poetry come history and biography. History is not the learning by repetition of dates, places and names. We must look for laws and principles in it, and hence a complete view of it is called the philosophy of history, because in widely distant ages, peoples and lands we find that like causes produce like effects. To be a real' student of history is to view all things in the light of law, to have the mind well furnished with parallels and similitudes, with principles and cautions. There are two ways of reading history. One may begin with the general and work down to the particular, or one may begin with a centre and work to the outer circumference. The last mentioned is the best plan for general readers. Let us begin with our own race and country, and from them extend the circle of our reading to other countries, ancient and modern. Some teachers would tell us to read modern history before we read ancient, and perhaps that is the better method when our time is limited by active pursuits and bread-making. But, on the other hand, modern history, especially in its politics and institutions, is much easier to learn and understand, when we know the history of Greece and Rome in their main outlines and chief events and persons. History, in its best aspect, is but diffused biography, because it is man that has made events, not events that have made man. Biography, on the other hand, is history condensed and incarnated in a repre- THE LIBRARY IN THE HOME. I3I sentative maker of it. No reading is more healthy than that of first-class biography. " \Vhat man has done, man can do," says the proverb, and biography best teaches us what man has done. Long- fellow puts this truly in very simple verse : " Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime; And departing leave behind us Footprints in the sands of time." But as " they also serve who only stand and wait," so it is not necessary to go to the wars in order to do service as a good soldier in the battle of life. Every human being has some influence upon others, and in using this influence for good we write a good biography of ourselves. In selecting works of biography for a home library the names of Washington, Franklin and others connected with the rise of the Republic will occur to every one. Of the life of Shakspeare very little is known, but we should know that little. Milton's life is one pf the most instructive. One should read it in connection with that of Oliver Cromwell, whose Secretary Milton was, and with the history of Charles the First, the Commonwealth and the Restoration. To know a man we must know his surroundings, and the times in which he lived. Boswell's " Life of Johnson " will never be out of date for family reading. It can be laid down and taken up without a break in the interest. And this reminds us that Dr. Johnson had that intuitive power which only few possess of getting the cream of a book by instant apprehension and attention. Some people may read a book through and then know very little about it, while others understand and comprehend its meaning and merits at a glance. Some books are good to dip into, but not to .spend many hours upon. Others should be referred to again and again, and read through more than once. A good biographical encyclopaedia brought down to our own time should be in every home library. When we hear or read of some great act or work achieved in art or science we wish at once to know who the man was and what stock he came from. 132 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. One of the most delightful kinds of family reading is that of such essays as can be read aloud, chatted about and finished at a sitting. Macaulay's are too long and critical for this ; they must be studied alone. But William Hazlitt, Emerson, and Boyd, and even Froude's " Short Studies on Great Subjects," are good company for social evening reading. It is not easy to recommend special books in biography or essays, without a personal knowledge of the character, tastes and ambition of those who need such guidance. Sex as well as age has to be considered, for while the majority of good books are suited to both sexes alike, boys and girls have each a special literature of their own. Both will de- light and find profit in the lives of those who have overcome diffi- culties, attained their object by perseverance and self-denial, and been a blessing to others. But the boy will naturally have a heroic, the girl a domestic taste. A little incident will illustrate the diffi- culty of selecting books for others. A young friend of ours desiring to make a birthday present to another of a useful book, did not know what to choose. By accident his eye fell upon a sentence in one of Bulwer Lytton's novels which ran thus : " Whoever you are, and whatever your condition in life, read the ' Life of Robert Hall.' " Here the question seemed settled for him, and he lost no time in making the purchase. Some time afterward he asked his friend how he liked the book, for he himself had not read it. The answer was that Robert Hall was a great preacher and a good man, who must have suffered much in mind and body, but he did not see that his life was more interesting than the lives of other good men. Then our friend read the book himself, and sought eagerly for any special reason why the great novel writer had urged every one to read the " Life of Robert Hall " as more instructive and valuable than other good lives. Robert Hall had been subject to spells of insanity, but so had Cowper, and Collins, and Swift, and many other great minds. He had suffered much also from bodily pain, but there were numbers of greater men who had suffered more. He wondered why Lord Lytton had selected and commended it above all others, and he THE LIBKAKV IX THE HOME. 1 33 resolved to judge for himself before choosing for another in future. As lives that should be read by every one, those of Columbus, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Isaac Newton, Nelson, Wellington, Napoleon. Michael Angelo and Charles the Twelfth of Sweden, occur readily in addition to those already referred to. The lives of Raleigh and Michael Angelo are conspicuous beyond all others for thju versatility of powers they exhibit ; that of Newton for patience in study and discovery; that of Charles the Twelfth for an indomitable will-power never exceeded and perhaps hardly equalled. Beside the great commanders on sea and land whom I have named, the heroes of the reign of Elizabeth, who made Great Britain the mistress of the seas, ought to fix the attention in reading the history of England. Charles Dickens' " Child's History of England " is good to start with in the nursery. Hume will come bye-and-bye, and after that the imagination and the memory will find the volumes of ]Macaulay and Froude more interesting than romance. It is well in the library at home to have some fav^orite representative of every art, science and profession, although we must not carry our hero-worship too far or be too exclusive in the choice of our representative men. Carlyle and Emerson have both chosen for their readers, but every one can make a selection of his own. In music, painting, sculpture, poetry, history, we may choose our own favorites as we come to know them. Gibbon preferred Livy to any other Latin historian, and Addison preferred Virgil to any other Latin poet. Addison himself ought not to be neglected as one of the greatest masters of gentle humor and delicate satire in the English language. His papers in the "Spectator" are delightful as well as instructive. For boys, it is not necessary to recommend " Robinson Crusoe," the "Arabian Nights " or " Don Quixote." They are sure to find their way into every home library. In reading history, it is well to pause now and then, and reflect upon the different course it must have taken if this or that event had 134 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. not happened. If Hannibal had besieged and taken Rome after the battle of Cannse : if Harold instead of William of Normandy had won at Hastings ; if the Prussians under Blucher had not arrived at Waterloo ; if King James and all his Parliament had been blown to pieces, and the Gunpowder Plot had not been discovered by that mysterious letter; if Queen Victoria had been shot like Presidents Lincoln and Garfield ; these and a hundred similar questions will occur as we read, and give exercise as well as pleasure to the imagi- nation and reasoning powers. In reading biography it is well to reflect upon the different kinds of greatness and success, the various qualities, and the several paths of human enterprise. , Samuel Rogers, the poet and banker of London, said he would have given half he was worth to have been the author of that exquisite farewell to life, by Mrs. Barbauld, which ends with — " Say not Good-night, but in some brighter clime Bid me Good-morning; " and General Wolfe, as he was approaching his heroic death upon the Heights of Abraham, declared that he would rather have been the author of Gray's Elegy than have taken Quebec. There are diversities of gifts, as Ave have been told, and one star differs from another star in glory. In reading, as in life, it is good for us to have some special line and inclination. Our general reading and the gradual insight we gain of our own mind and character will help us to choose aright both our work in life and our particular studies. But whatever our des- tined path may be, the lives of great men in all callings will be help- ful to us. Such a life as that of Thomas Edwards, the Scottish naturalist, is a monument of final perseverance and triumph over adverse circumstances, such as should nerve and brace every earnest reader of it to do with all his might whatever he finds to do. As a last piece of advice, let the young reader avail himself rever- ently and earnestly of the results arrived at by others. You have neither time nor learning to pick out groups of words out of the THE LIBRARY IN THE HOME. I35 dictionary, and trace their history and meaning for yourself. But you have time to study Trench on " The Study of Words," a Httle book, but brimful of useful knowledge and suggestive thoughts. You cannot search out and apply the proverbs of different countries, or even of your own English-speaking race, for yourself, but you can take the hand of the same great teacher as he leads you through " The Lessons Contained in Proverbs," a book which you can carry about you in your pocket like that on " Words." Wilmot's " Pleasures of Literature " and " Summer in the Country " are little books equally portable, but each contains a treasury of guidance in reading and illustration from nature, and its best interpreters. Read and cherish the little books as you would a photograph of a wondrous pan- orama, or the miniature of a dear friend. Help's " Companions of my Solitude," Boyd's "Recreations of a Country Parson," Emerson's " Society and Solitude," Thackeray's " Roundabout Papers," and Washington Irving's charming "Alhambra " are all good for family and fireside reading. The recent pocket classics, like " English Men of Letters," edited by John Morley, the " Ancient Classics for English Readers," edited by the Rev. W. Lucas Collins, and the works of Professor J. R. Green, of Oxford, in history, are all excellent and of convenient size. For poetry, the last edition of Bryant's " Library of Poetry and Song " is of great value from the extent of its selec- tions, the biographical dates of the several poets, and its admirable indexes which enable one to find what we want, either by author's name, or subject, or first line. In natural history you may have a rich feast for very little cost. That ever-charming work, Gilbert White's " Natural History of Selborne," Stanley's " History of British Birds," Audubon's " Quadrupeds of America" and " Birds of America," Mrs. Agassiz' " First Lessons in Natural History," " Wake Robin," by Burroughs, " Child's Book of Nature," by W. Hooker, " Our Feathered Friends," and " Houses without Hands " and " Nat- ural History," by Rev. J. G. Wood, Charles Kingsley's " Glaucus," " Seaside Studies in Natural History," by E. C. and A. Agassiz. form a splendid array, and )'ou may add Buckland's " Curiosities 136 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. of Natural History " and Hamerton's " Chapters on Animals " if you will. But in all your reading, remember that you do not live to read but read to live. Sow that you may reap ; seek that you may find, learn that you may teach, and amid all your learning and knowl- edge, learn to " know thyself" CHOICE OF OCCUPATION. "As garment draws the garment's hem, Men their fortunes bring with them ; By right or wrong Land and goods go to the strong." VERYBODY, whether rich or poor, must do something with his time in this world, and those who do not have to work for a Hving, really have a harder time of it than those who do. Doing nothing is very hard work, because it has to " kill time," as the saying is, and time is the hardest creature possible to kill ; just when we think we have killed it, the poor old thing comes to life again and stares the idle man or woman in the face and says : "• Now what are you going to do with me ? " If we wanted to punish any one with great severity, there is no work which could be set him which would be more tiresome than to do nothing. Only imagine a person being tried in a court of law for doing wrong, and the learned judge, after the jury has brought in a verdict of guilty, sentencing him to do nothing for the rest of his life, or for a certain length of time. It would be worse than a sentence of death, because while we live our minds and bodies demand employment. One might as well bind a man with fetters as forbid him to use his hands and feet. It would be dreadful to have to sit twirling one's thumbs and doing nothing, even for a single day. The eyes would be sure to fall on something which the mind would ask the hands to lay hold of or the feet to walk to. The thoughts would be sure to keep on saying: " I ought to be doing this or that ; to-morrow will be too late." Some people think tha' men and women only work because they ('37) 138 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. are driven to it, and that if bread and butter grew upon the trees and fell into their mouths without any trouble, they would stop workinf^ altogether. This is not so. Happily, it is not possible for any one but a lunatic or an imbecile to be utterly idle in this world, and perhaps even they have some employment in their efforts to think clearly which others do not notice. But if a man or woman is a rational and healthy bemg, he or she must keep doing something or other all the time, until they grow too old to do anything else than sleep, and dream about the past and get ready to die. The effect of continued idleness is severely felt in mind and body, and is noticed by every one around us. " The sleep of the laboring man is sweet," said the wise writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes, but the man who does no hard work during the day can enjoy no refreshing sleep at night. He has no weariness to recover from, and therefore needs no rest. On the contrary, nature will take her just revenge upon him for breaking the laws of health and happiness. If you have not walked or used your feet all day, they cannot be tired at night, except with the dreadfully tired feeling of laziness. If your hands have done nothing, they do not need a rest. If your brain has been listless and idle all day, then nature will wind it up at night like a clock, and it will keep on ticking and striking the hours, and beating the minutes in your ear, so that you cannot get a wink of sleep, and are glad when daylight comes so that you may turn out of bed instead of in it. Many men and women — thousands and millions of them — are over-worked and need more rest than they can get. Some of them break down, and are killed by over-work. Hundreds of factory hands and store girls in every large city die before they have reached their prime of life, because the strain of work is too great for their strength, and they are not able to bear it. Such cases are very sad, and every year fresh efforts are being made by kind and feeling masters — for there are some such in the world, though not too many — to lighten the burden by lessening the hours of labor. But while those who are over-worked are to be pitied, those who CHOICE OF OCCUPATION. 1 39 hav'e no work at all are more unhappy still. It is better to die of work than to live in idleness, and let the powers of mind and body wear away for want of using. Many persons go crazy or so eccentric as to be thought crazy lor want of employment. They " don't know what to do with themselves," as they say, and the world does not know what to do with them. They bore themselves and everybody that comes near them. As they do nothing, so they think about nothing, and as they think about nothing of course their talk is all about nothing. The man or woman who works has a bright, intelligent look in the eyes, even if they are sometimes weary and anxious. They feel an interest in life because they bear their share in its burdens. If they fall in the hard battle of life, they fall nobly, like brave soldiers. They have fought a good fight in toiling patiently day by day to win bread for their children or their parents as well as for themselves. The working man i« sometimes God's nobleman, higher in true rank than the man who is rolling in luxury and wealth. It does not always follow, however, that because a man is not working he is not willing to work. When the supply of labor is greater than the demand, there must always be some who at times are unemployed. But a great many of those who are thus often out of work are left behind, not because there is no work to be had, but because others are more skilful and therefore get ahead of them. Every man should aim at the highest excellence in his work, but in order to attain this, one must have ambition to excel and a real interest in and liking for one's work. The choice of one's occupation, business, trade or profession is therefore one of the most important acts of a man's life. Next to choosing a good wife is choosing a good business, and the two choices are intimately connecte'd with each other. If a man chooses a business for which he is unfitted he will be a failure, not a success in it. And if he fail in his work how can he make a home for a wife, and what first-rate woman will listen to his proposal ? She will reason — for women sometimes do reason, whatever some men may say to the contrary — that a man who is a poor workman will be a poor home-builder and husband. Women I40 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. worth winning like the man who never lags behind, but goes straight ahead in life by honesty, good conduct and skill in his work. " Pity is akin to love," they say, but it is asking too much to expect a woman to take pity on a man who cannot take heed of himself, much less of a family. Take heed, then, how you choose your occupation ; and when you have chosen it, devote all your energies to make yourself a master of it. Many influences, however, beside his own free choice determine a man's occupation in life. Parents exercise a great influence in this matter. Some fathers take it for granted that their sons will follow their own occupation. The farmer makes his son a farmer, the carpenter makes his son a carpenter, the builder makes him a builder, and so on. . But very often the son has no taste or ability whatever for his father's occupation. How often do we find the business an energetic father who took pleasure. in his work has built up in the course of a lifetime, destroyed in a few years by the son who succeeds him, but has no such fitness for it! It is so with the professions. It does not follow because a man's father was a skilful surgeon or physician that he himself will be so. His nerves may be weak where his father's were strong. His hand may be unsteady where his father's was firm. Because a man's father was a great painter, it does not follow that he will be a great painter also. As well might we expect the son of a great general or navigator to inherit the military or nautical talent of his father. Yet in how many businesses and professions it is " Father and Son " who compose the firm, when the son is really a nonentity in it so far as skill and fitness are con- cerned ! Take the case of the minister. It sometimes happens that for gen- eration after generation the son follows the father's profession, and sometimes there is really hereditary fitness for the work handed down and transmitted, like the ministerial dress, from one to another. This hereditary fitness is more frequent in the ministerial calling than in any other, for the simple reason that the minister is more at home than men of other occupations, and preserv^es the same stereotyped CHOICE OF OCCUPATION. I4I manner and conversation in private that he does in pubhc. He sees more, therefore, of his children, and impresses his habits and senti- ments, his dogmas and feehngs upon them more powerfully, because more constantly and seriously, than is the case with men of secular occupation, who converse with their boys only at long intervals and are separated from them the greater part of the day. The minister's son, therefore, acquiesces without a murmur when his father tells him that he is going to send him to a theological college that he may study for the ministry. Very often he is the more reconciled to a pro- fession which he would not himself have chosen if he had been per- fectly free, by the reflection that his father's and forefathers' names are so honored in the particular denomination that he is sure to get good positions and be made much of by the laity. In outward de- corum, solemnity of manner, the ready use of religious phrases and the like, he is to "the manner born," as it were, so familiar have these qualifications been to him from the nursery. In the Biblical and general knowledge required for the pulpit he can very easily array himself, but when it comes to originality of thought and power of moving others by extemporaneous discourse, the son is often a very poor successor to the father in the pulpit. Of course, if he preaches from manuscript, he may conceal his inefficiency for a time by preach- ing his father's or some other man's sermons. But he is pretty sure to be found out at last and to be estimated at his real figure. And then people will shrug their shoulders and say that he is a very well- meaning young man, but unfortunately is not gifted with the eloquence of his father ; that it is a pity he did not choose some other occupa- tion than that of the ministry ; that his manly form would have looked better in a soldier's uniform than in a preacher's gown ; or that he would have won a great deal more custom by his shallow affability behind a counter in the dry-goods business than stuck up to smirk and simper or show the whites of his eyes in a pulpit. Sometimes the unhappy man who becomes a minister to please his father or gratify the ambition of his doting mother and sisters is himself conscious of his being out of place in the pulpit, and longs 142 THE hearthstone; ok, life at home. to be delivered from a restraint and responsibilities for which he has no calling. Some few great instances there have been, on the other hand, of young men who hcxve qntered the ministry under protest, and quit:: against their own will, who have, nevertheless, become famous preachers and attracted immense congregations by their eloquence and earnestness. A man may learn to like an occupation which at first is distasteful to him. Some little accident or incident may change the current of his thoughts and feelings. Not seldom a disappoint- ment in love, when a man has got over the first terrible distress and anguish of learning that he has been loving one who never cared a straw for him, but had given her affections, if she had any, to another, and yet allowed him to woo her in delusive hope, changes the whole character and aspirations and gives a tremendous, almost a desperate, energy to a young man's career. Many great preachers and mission- aries have been converted by such a terrible heart-sorrow to absolute self-abnegation and self-consecration in the work of the ministry. One of the greatest, and in the opinion of some very able judges of ser- mons, the greatest preacher of the present century, Frederick William Robertson, entered the ministry at the earnest desire of his family against his own choice. He wished to be a soldier, and his sermons are remarkable for their courageous and aggressive tone. Sins and vices assumed to him the aspect of a rebel army arrayed against the kingdom of God, and few who ever heard him could forget the thrill produced by his appeals when he urged men to enlist under the ban- ner of Christ as the Captain of Salvation. It sometimes, though rarely, happens that a man has supreme ability in several lines. Michael Angelo and Leonardo Da Vinci are notable instances of this versatile genius, but Lord Bacon was great in natural science, in mental philosophy, in theology and in law. Shakspeare has been called a " myriad-minded man," but practical success did not attend him in life because he did not work steadily at any daily labor. There have been men and women, however, who have achieved success in more kinds of work than one. Some men, CHOICE OF OCCUPATION. 1 43 like Sir Walter Raleigh, have been soldiers, sailors, inventors, poets, historians and the like. But, as a rule, each man and woman has his or her own gift, talent, and calling, and the great thing is to find out what it is. It is generally the " ne'er do weel " who goes fi"om one thing to another and fails in each. "A rolling stone gathers no moss," says an old proverb, and life is too short to allow of our trying our hand at half a dozen trades before we fix upon the right one. How many a lad, when he looks upon the sea stretching away into the boundless distance and sees the white-sailed ships that move majestically on it like things of life, is seized with a restless desire to be a sailor. He pictures the foreign ports where* he will land, and the strange people he will see ; he longs to see the tropical splendor of the sunny south, or the sublime desolation of the northern seas. It seems womanish to him to stay at home and work at some hum- drum calling, and die like his fathers, knowing nothing of the great world except one little corner of it. Even a father's objections and a mother's tears are not strong enough in their influence to keep him ashore. Away he sails till his native land is left far away behind him. Sometimes the rough experience of a sailor's life suits his hardy and adventurous nature, but in many instances he repents his choice before the first voyage is over and wishes he had stayed on land. But if he now abandons the sea after some months of seamanship, he will find it harder to settle down into the routine of trade or business than before. Many captains even are heard regretting that they chose the seafaring life, and advising young lads not to do the same. It is a great mistake to imagine that regular attention to commerce or trade prevents a man from feeling an interest in anything eke and makes his mind narrow and unsympathetic. Some of the greatest of our modern poets and historians have been bankers and merchants; many farmers and field laborers, as well as clerks in public and private offices of business, have written beautiful poems and stories, or made great political .speeches and been chosen by their fellow-citizens to represent them in the national legislature. A man's mind may travel 144 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. / far and wide while he is toiling with his hands and arms. Of course, however, he must not forget what he is about or let his imagination interfere with his figures or his mechanical skill. To succeed in any wprk one must have one's heart in it. When a man gets up in the morning it makes all the difference in the world whether, when he bids his home good-bye for the day, he thinks " Now for another day's slavery " at that abominable trade or busi- ness, or as he looks at the clock feels eager to be at his desk in the store, or at his work in the field, and go on with the job he is doing, just where he left off yesterday. It is pleasant to watch the honest pride and pleasure which some men take in their work. The gardener points with kindling eye to his beautiful flower-beds, and as he culls some pretty specimens tells you all about the nature of the soil and the time and trouble he has taken to make such and such plants grow in it, or asks you what you think of the shape of the beds, the effect of his combinations of colors, the neatly trimmed borders, the even grass plots, the greenhouse with its tropical and early produce. The cabinet maker shows you his last piece of work, and tells you how long it took him to carry out his ideal of what the piece of furniture should be in design and ornamentation. The artist begs you to notice the light and shade in his last picture, and tell him what you think of the effect of his grouping and colors. The builder, as his edifice rises higher and higher, stands in front of it every now and then to feast his imagination on what it will be when it is finished and ready for occupation. The printer is well pleased when he sees his proof-sheets so free from errors and looking so neat and clear. The bookbinder comes next with a feeling of satisfaction that he has put the printer's sheets together in such a strong, compact and elegant binding. The publisher, third of these three book-makers, rubs his hands with content as he assures him- self that no other firm in the business could have tur-ned out a more beautiful volume at a more reasonable price. Lastly, comes the solitary brain that set the whole of these men working — the poor author who sat up late at night, and toiled long hours by day to CHOICE OF OCCUPATION. I45 write these original thoughts, or facts, or discoveries which the printer has printed, and the binder has bound, and the pubhshei' has pubHshed. How miserable would work be if there were no pleasure to be found in it ! Who would do with his might what his hand found to do, if it brought him nothing but headaches and heart- aches, weariness and disappointment ? Even in infancy man begins to rejoice in the work of his own hands. The childish hands that build an Aladdin's Palace or a Noah's Ark with little blocks of wood, are clapped together in ecstasy when the work is done, and papa or mamma look at it with feigned wonder and admiration. How eager is the child, when it be- gins with pencil or chalk to make figures on the paper or the board, to turn out a first-rate article in men's or donkeys' heads ! The artistic genius of the child concentrates all its efforts on the pig's curly tail or the old lady's bonnet. If the child be of a serious turn, the face it draws will have a pensive and sedate appearance, like a lion in love, or " puss in boots," But if the child be a humorist it will draw its subject weeping or laughing, and the more comic the child's fancies the funnier will be the picture. What pride and delight there is in this, but not greater than that of the boy who has learned to cut out with his knife the model of a ship, and who hastens to try its sailing capacities on the nearest pond. No captain or shipbuilder in the United States feels prouder than he. How gleefully do he and his playmates find a name for the tiny craft, and call her the " Pride of the Ocean," or the " Gem of the Sea," and fling an old shoe after her as she leaves the port in the meadow to scud around, and after a stormy voyage of a few minutes arrives safely at the same dock of pebbles from whence she sailed. The same love of the chosen work and pride in doing it well attends the boy or girl who wins the prize in a favorite study. They have denied themselves many pleasure trips and social amusements that they might devote every moment of leisure to the coming examination and competition. At last the dreaded yet longed for time has come. Preparation is over; trial begins. " Well done," is the verdict, whether JO 146 THE HEARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME. the prize be first or second. The labor has not been in vain ; the conscience whispers, " I did my best, and I feel all the better for it." It is no laughing matter, but rather a spectacle to feel sad at, when we see a man who would really have attained excellence in one occu- pation foolishly devoting himself to another for which he has no special talent at all, except in his own conceit. Yet how often do we sec this! We find a man painting pictures who ought to be shovelling coal, and another giving lessons in grammar who cannot read or write correctly. Anybody who can stamp around, and rant, and rave, and frown, and' start, and roll his eyes, and throw his head back, thinks he is a born actor. He resolves to eclipse Edwin Booth or Salvini, but is amazed at seeing a broad grin on every face at his most pathetic passages, and at finding himself regarded rather as a remarkable specimen of the donkey than as a tragedian. He is like the youthful artist who has to explain in writing under each sketch what it represents, otherwise " Mother Eve and the apple " would be taken for the cook about to construct an apple- dumpling, and the gorgeous palace be mistaken for a mud hut. The label, " This is a man's head," is our only safeguard against thinking it something else, and, without an explanation, it would baffle our skill to tell " which are Daniel and which is the Lions." So many people think themselves first-class in the work they are most inefficient in. Did you ever meet a cook who did not think his or her cooking the very best cooking possible ? When a whole family is afflicted with spasms, cramps, dyspepsia, groanings, ill humor, mutual snappishness and quarrelling, a total loss of cheerfulness, atheism or superstition, belief in witchcraft, and a desire to torture and burn other people alive, soon after they have all partaken innocently of the new cook's latest and most stalwart effort in dough and invention in pie-crust, will the cook admit for a single instant that she has been the cause of this indigestive anguish and stomachic miser)'? Certainly not. She will put her elbows a-kimbo, and stand you out to your face that pie-crust is her particular forte, and CHOICE OF OCCUPATION. 147 that her synthetical method of mixing the ingredients of a pudding has made her a domestic blessing to every family she has lived with. Perhaps the chambermaid may really possess, without knowing it, the requisite genius for broiling a chop or boiling a potato, had she not been misled into chamber-work. The too solid cook also may have her divine afflatus. She may be well adapted for platform oratory or the character of fish-wife on the stage. But she has chosen the very thing for which heaven has denied her the qualifi- cations, and society has to suffer because genius has mistaken its department. How many girls go on strumming on the piano and singing all the evening, till every other house in the block is posted as " To Let," who have not the slightest idea of either harmony or melody, bass or treble, a sharp or a flat! But the milkmaid at the dairy and the farm, who was never taught a note in the scale, she can sing like the night- ingale and make men stop to listen as if suddenly they heard sweet sounds from heaven. O that the town miss with no talent could sometimes change places with the country lass who has music in her throat, in her feet, and in her heart. All we can say is, if the melo- dious dairy-maid cannot be our songstress, for pity's sake don't let the inharmonious mademoiselle of fashion, whose throat is like a nutmeg grater, make us vibrate with her discord from top to toe. Thanks for this every day improving land of ours in which strangers- are so quick in detecting merit and so generous in bringing it to the front. The boy or girl with real genius in them, however poorly born, and clad, and fed, is pretty sure in America of recognition and encou ragement. All the assistance and introductions in the world, however, will not change a stale loaf into a leg of mutton, or make copper pass current as gold. Let fathers and mothers, therefore, be sure they do not encourage vain hopes in their children by telling each child who can jingle rhymes together that he or she is born a poet; that their vocation is music, because they can make a noise ; painting, because they can daub unlikenesses ; navigation, because they have 148 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. been on a ferry-boat ; or oratory, because they use big words and roll out their platitudes. When you see one advertisement, " Wanted a good hand at cobbling," and another, "Wanted a professor of lan- guages," be quite sure in your own mind which position, if either, you are fitted for before you apply for it. Many a lawyer would have done well at feeding swine; many a minister would make a fortune as a ventriloquist, so sound is he in wind and so windy in sound; many an actor should turn scene-shifter, and some scene- shifters have before now made good actors ; many a physician should be dressing leather instead of wounds, and be engaged in lath and plaster instead of plaster without the lath, unless his patient serve for it. A life insurance agent who will feel your mental and financial pulse and harrow up your soul about sudden death, loss of faculties, untimely grave, starving family, suffering children going around in ten years' time begging their bread or supported by the State, has often been a parson in his earlier years, and he turns his pulpit moral suasion and fearful pictures to good account in his business. There are bishops who would do credit to a bar-room, and circuit preachers who are more amusing than the showman. It is certain that many ministers would make excellent law- yers, and that many lawyers would make a good appearance in the pulpit. This is perhaps the reason why, in ancient times, the office of judge was always combined with that of religious teacher or priest. In our own times, the minister is very often the family adviser about wills and property arrangements, and he is also not infrequently the prescriber of medicine. Many clergymen have had a thorough medical training with a view to missionary work in dis- tant lands, and not a few physicians seek ordination and exchange medicine for theology. As a general rule, the youth himself is the most likely to know by a kind of instinct what work and occupation in life will be most likely to suit him. But this, as has been shown, is not invariably the case. Still, the cases where a boy's own nature does not point him to one selection rather than another are exceptional. Most men who have CHOICE OF OCCUPATION. I49 achieved greatness in any work have begun early. " The child is father of the man," and in boyhood those qualities are manifested which become fully developed in the subsequent career. The great scholar is generally noted in childhood for a wonderful memory. Sir Isaac Newton, who invented when a boy the art of flying a kite, discovered when a man the law of gravitation. He had no pleasure in mere playthings such as other children care for, but delighted in toys of intricate mechanism which employed his observant young mind in understanding it. Galileo, it is said, would be lost in phil- osophical reflection whenever he saw a top spun by his playmates. Mozart, when a mere infant, exhibited that wonderful inspiration for music which determined his future vocation. Nicbuhr, Arnold, and Thirlwall, the two former historians of Rome, and the last named of Greece, were all remarkable in their early childhood for their in- tense observation and retention of facts. Hogarth and many other famous painters, indeed almost all of them, have been remarkable in childhood for the quickness of their eye, their imitative powers, and fondness for drawing. Sir Walter Scott, when a child, was captivated by Border minstrelsy. The life of that remarkable man whose name is reverenced by every American, Benjamin Franklin, ought to be in the hands of every lad who is trying to decide upon his future occupa- tion in life. "At ten years old," he writes in his Autobiography, " I was taken (from school) to help my father in the business, which was that of a tallow chandler and soap-boiler; a business to which he was not bred, but had assumed on his arrival in New England, because he found that his dyeing trade, being in little request, would not maintain his family. Accordingly I was employed in cutting wicks for the candles, and filling the moulds for cast candles, attend- ing the shops, going of errands, etc. I disliked the trade, and had a strong inclination to go to sea, but my father declared against it; but residing near the water, I was much in it and on it. I learned to swim well and to manage boats; and when embarked with other boys, I was conmionly allowed to govern, especially in any case of difficulty." 1-50 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. The men who are to lead the world and come to the front in the later battles of life are generally leaders of their school-fellows, in the play-ground if not always in the school-room. Individual force of character soon makes its appearance, and is acknowledged as soon as seen. Whatever the choice of occupation and the results that follow from that choice, a man's natural force or weakness of character is quite sure to display itself. As those who cross the seas, according to the old poet, change their climate but not their disposition, so those that change their occupation will exhibit the same characteristics. The man who reasons about things will continue his reasoning whether he be an apothecary putting up prescriptions or a blacksmith shoeing horses. The man who takes everything for granted and walks by bodily sight only, and never asks the why and wherefore of anything he comes in contact with, will be the same unreasoning machine whether he drive a team or feed the brutes of a menagerie. The same instinctive love of what is beautiful to the eye will show itself whether a man be adorning a house or painting a landscape. The sense and sentiments of religion and poetry will be with him whether he earn his living as a market gardener or a school-teacher. The old motto, " Know thyself," was said to have been sent from heaven for human guidance. It is not so easy a study, this self- knowledge, as some people seem to think. A great many men and women pass all through this life without ever knowing more of them- selves than the sheep and oxen do of their own individuality and destiny. It is very difficult to believe that there is any future life awaiting such grovelling earth-worms as form the greater portion of the human race. The contemplation of the baseness and stupidity of his fellow-men led Solomon, who was called the wisest of men, to doubt, if not thoroughly to disbelieve, in any future destiny for them. "There is no difference," he argued, "between man and brute; as the one dieth, so dieth the other ; both are of the dust and both turn to dust again." If something within you whispers, " It shall not be so with me ; I shall not all die ; I shall rise above, not sink below, the common horizon of existence ; I feel a higher pulse and nobler CHOICE OF OCCUPATION. I^I aspirations beating within me than those of the base, the mean, the sordid and the dirty," then carry these high thoughts with you in all your work. Remember that no honest labor is degrading in itself, and that man has the heaven-given power of shedding his own internal light upon the external darkness around him. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might," and whether it make you rich or not it will make you a better man. But it will also make you comfortable externally and enable you to give comforts to your wife and children and all who look to you for help. It is only the lazy man who is always counting the mouths he has to feed. There is a curious principle involved in the new system known as Co-operation, which is steadily making its way in various cities both of the old and the new world. It is, that the more chil- dren you have the richer you will be, because the more provisions you will have to buy in order to feed them. This seems quite ridiculous when first stated. Common sense bawls out at once, "Why, what wretched nonsense ! How can I be better off with seven children than I was with one or two ? How can I be as rich when I have to buy twenty pounds of bread a week as I was when I bought five ? " But when he learns that on this system all the profits, after the cost of management, made under the co-operative plan upon the ordinary retail prices, are saved as capital for the purchaser, a man begins to see that the greater his outlay the greater also are his profits. A similar law obtains in a man's or woman's life-work. The more we sow the more we shall reap. The more earnestness and industry we bestow upon the occupation we have chosen, or which circum- stances have allotted us, the greater will be the returns, the larger the profits. These profits are not to be estimated only by money. It is a great thing and should be every man's ambition to provide a comfortable home for those belonging to him, and to make that home as beautiful as possible with all that can add to the comfort and hap- piness of living in it. He should try to save all he can against the evening of his life and the time when " the night comcth in which no 152 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. man can work." As his eye rests upon house and garden, fruit-trees and flowers, live-stock and furniture, it is a grateful feeling to know that they are all his own and have been won by the honest labor of brain and muscle. But the man who has thus built his house, not on the sands of idleness, but on the rock of industry and independence, has other profits for his toil than house and lands and produce. He has educated himself by the noblest sort of education, that of hard work and honest ambition. While others have lagged behind at the pothouse or the gaming table, trusting to some turn of luck that will never come to recover lost time and neglected opportunities, the suc- cessful working man has never loitered, but has pressed forward steadily, not by fits and starts, in the race of life. He has reached the goal and won the prize, not only of material good but of the sweetest of all feelings, approval within. He can reflect with honest satisfaction that he did not owe his success to luck, but to law, the law which teaches that " whatsoever a man soweth, that he shall also reap." Those that sow to the wind of idleness will reap the whirl- wind of poverty and degradation. Those of whom it may be said, as of " the Village Blacksmith," " Toiling, rejoicing, sorrowing, Onward through life he goes ; Each morning sees some task begin, * Each evening sees it close ; Something attempted, something done, Has earned a night's repose," deserve all that they have earned. And the best reward of all is the consciousness of duty done and rest well earned. This is the true socialism, to help others, but be independent one's self; to " owe no man anything except brotherly love." This is a noble ambition, that of rising from being an employe of others to being an employer of others. Choose the occupation you are best fitted for and feel most interest in ; give your heart and energy to it ; then the world instead of being your master will be your servant, and in the good old Bible words, " When thou liest down thou shalt not be afraid ; yea, thou shalt lie down and thy sleep shall be sweet." IN THE SICK-ROOM ; OR, SANITARY NURSING. "O woman! in our hours of ease Uncertain, coy, and hard to please — And variable as the shade By the light quivering aspen made; When pain and anguish wring the brow, A mmistering angel thou!" iF every law of life were faithfully obeyed, its nature and application having been n ad,^ part of the training of every child, and repeated till as familiar as the multipli- cation table, there is no doubt that dying would be as unconscious an act as that of birth. Now and then such a case is seen, but the physician of widest experience can record but few. Dr. Richardson, whose name is famiHar to all as one of the popular scientific writers on the hygiene of daily life, and who has observed with the utmost minuteness the course of life and death in' thousands of patients, records but ten such cases. After a life of simple obedience to all natural law, temperance in all things having secured sound body and sound mind up to advanced age, the intel- lectual faculties seemed quietly to slip away. To sleep and not to- dream was the pressing need, till nearly all the hours passed in this manner. " The awakenings were shorter and shorter; painless, care- less, happy awakenings to the hum of a busy world, to the merry sounds of children at play, to the sounds of voices offering aid ; to the . effort of talking on simple topics and recalling events that have dwelt longest on the memory ; apd then again the overpowering sleep. Thus on and on, until at length, the intellectual nature last, the instinctive and merely animal functions, now no longer required to (153) 154 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. sustain the higher faculties, in their turn succumb and fall into the inertia." This is natural death, and not many generations will pass before death by disease will be counted unnatural, and " this act of death, now, as a rule, so dreaded, because so premature, shall, arriving only at its appointed hour, suggest no terror, inflict no agony." This is for the future. For the present we are still the victims of inherited or acquired or accidental disease. Every house is at some time in its existence a hospital ; every woman, whether fitted for it or not, a nurse. That in the larger cities and towns a corps of trained nurses is yearly made ready for this unending battle with disease, does not affect the fact, that the majority must remain untrained. The rich can call upon efficient aid ; the poor, if in cities, can have the comfort of a well-ordered hospital ; but where thousands can be cared for by these methods, millions are beyond their reach, and must trust to such care as can be given in the home. A vital necessity then exists for some knowledge of the first prin- ciples of nursing, and hopeless as such education might seem for all but the intelligent, it has already been proved that even the poorest and apparently most stupid working-woman can understand and carry out the simple precepts, laid down by a teacher wise enough to know how to be simple. In one of our largest cities during the past winter, a woman of wide and energetic benevolence brought together through a course of several weeks some two hundred women, who listened wiJi an eagerness almost pitiful to the careful instructions of physi- cians, who had doubted if they would listen, in every form of nursing and general care of health for sick or well. A manikin made the lecture on " Care of a Baby from its Birth " a very real and not-to-be- forgotten matter ; and simple bandaging, changing a bed without dis- turbing a patient, and many other essential and usually unconsidered things, each became an object-lesson, and has already worked per- jnanent alteration in methods. Such teaching need not necessarily be limited to cities. There is not a village in the United States where interest could not be stimu- IN THE sick-room; OR, SANITARY NURSING. 1 55 lated and the same work done by some intelligent woman, aided by the village physician, who in nine cases out often will be an educated man, thankful for anything that will make it possible for his directions to be understood and followed out. Quacks will object, for their trade rests upon ignorance ; and patent medicine makers and takers will think it all very superfluous, but if it can be accomplished, there will be fewer sick to nurse, and better nursing when they are sick. There are popular hand-books which cover this ground, some large and some small, nothing being better than Miss Nightingale's " Notes on Nursing," and so simple and clear that it is impossible to err if the direction is followed to the letter. Larger books cover the same ground, but one and all treat the subject under practically the same heads. Pure air, proper temperature, cleanliness, both of person and of surroundings ; disinfectants where needed ; suitable food and its preparation, are all vital points, whether in log-hut or brown-stone front, and it is with these that we have to do in the present chapter, each very sketchily because of limited space, but each in the order given. And first, pure air. Every authority on the care of the sick sums up this question in a rule which should be in large letters before the nurse's if not the patient's eyes : " Keep the Air Breathed as Pure as the External Air, Without Chilling the Patient." No matter what the sickness is, from measles or mumps up to consumption, this is one of the chief considerations. It is not enough to open a door into another room, for that room may hold all sorts of evil smells, from the fumes of dinner to gas, or the mustiness that comes from being long shut up, or from having things stored in it. An open fire-place, above all, with a fire burning in it, is an almost perfect ventilator; but few houses have them, and air must generally come from the windows. Even in winter there is no danger. People 156 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. do not take cold in bed. If chilly, a hot-water bottle to the feet and an extra blanket will keep the patient warm. To make a room cold does not necessarily prove that it is venti- lated. It should not, save in special cases, where the doctor must be the judge, go below sixty degrees, and it ought never to exceed seventy unless specially ordered. A good fire and an open window will enable one to secure this, and in summer, when fire is not required, the chill of early morning or of exhaustion can always be prevented or checked by hot-water bottles. Do not dread night air, even in a malarious country. To breathe even that is better than to take in the poison thrown off by the lungs, and as there is no air at night but night air, we may conclude it was intended to be used. Air by means of windows and not through doors which may admit effluvia of every sort. Allow nothing in the room which can give off moisture. If damp towels or clothing are dried in the room, the damp passes into the air breathed by the patient, and may be the cause of a sudden relapse. And, above all, let no excreta remain there a moment uncovered. It is a custom to push such vessels under the bed, the effluvia from them saturating the under side of the mattress. If you do not believe harm can be done in this way, examine the lid of such an utensil after it has been a short time covered. Drops of offensive moisture will roll from it, which must go to whatever is above them where no lid is used. Disinfectants and fumigations will not help where the cause of the foul odor remains in the room, and they are useless in any case unless absolute cleanliness in both room and house is the rule. Infectious diseases are far less likely to prove so under the present system of open windows and light bed-covering than in the old days, when closed windows, heavy fires and piles of " comfortables " made death prefer- able to the torture they caused. Cleanliness is next in order, and though this is partially included in the arrangements for pure air, some special treatment of walls or sinks and drains may be necessary. Where the drainage is bad and the sickness results from such cause, there is no help for it during the IN THE sick-room; OR, SANITARY NURSING. 1 57 sickness save in disinfectants, much scrubbing, and a removal of the false system of pipes or drains at the first practicable instant. Carpets, heavy curtains and bedding are all disease-holders, and therefore disease-breeders. Dust in a sick-room is more irritating and harmful than anywhere else, and the greatest pains must be taken to remove it. Of course sweeping is not to be thought of during severe illness, but all wood work and furniture can be wiped with a damp cloth, and the carpet with a dry one. Papered walls are very objectionable, as paper also accumulates dirt and holds the germs of disease. If it were possible for every house to have an unpapered, uncarpeted, airy room for use in sickness, convalescence would be speedier. It need not seem bare and comfortless, for the walls could be painted and thus admit of wiping off daily with a damp cloth, and the floor could be oiled or stained, and also wiped daily, a rug being by the bedside for comfort. Only perfect and exquisite cleanliness can check infectious diseases, and it is the chief requisite in all. Those who have gone through a well-appointed hospital, gain an idea of what the word means, which even the best and most care- fully-kept private house never dreams of carrying out, the chances for recovery in a good hospital being for this very reason far greater than at home. Next to general comes personal cleanliness, and this is one of the most difficult points. The poor mother, who very likely bathes but once a week, perhaps not as often, cannot understand why a daily sponging is necessary. The rich one, who may know its uses in health, is in terror lest sickness be increased by a chill, and so one of the surest means of relief remains untried. There is hardly an illness in which the skin is not more or less disordered, the secretions sometimes being actually poisonous, and generally offensive. It is a slow poison, but a very sure one, and clothing left day after day, saturated with perspiration, or skin clogged in the same way, mean very often death, and always a delayed and enfeebled recovery. The feeling of relief and comfort after a sponging may be regarded as a " notion," when it is really a proof that " the vital powers have been relieved by removing something that was oppressing them." 158 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. The great danger lies in exposing too large a surface at once, and thus causing a chill. It is possible to give a thorough cleansing, yet avoid this altogether. A large towel or extra folded sheet should be under the patient to prevent the bed or clothing from being wet, and the sponge can be passed under the bed-covering, a bath in this way being easily accomplished after a little practice. Even in hot weather it will be wisest not to leave the patients uncovered, but to draw a sheet over them, and thus prevent any possibility of a chill. Where special forms of bathing are required, the doctor should give his instructions, but in all ordinary cases a sponging with tepid water and plenty of soap will answer every purpose. In dysentery or acute diarrhoea, the skin is hard and harsh, and the greatest relief is experienced in using soap profusely, castile or palm-oil being the best varieties. Where there is great weakness and exhaustion, a hot towel should be used in drying the skin. Beds and bedding are an important question. We have discarded in great degree the old-fashioned feather bed, and also the curtains and valances of the last generation. The bed in sickness should be as free from all drapery, or anything that can hold contagion or effluvias, as it is possible to have it. It should stand out from the wall, so that the nurse can have access to every side. It should be low, to save as much exertion as possible, if the patient can get up and down at all, and, if practicable, it is best to have an iron one, such as is used in hospitals and is considered essential in real nursing. Such a bed with good springs and covered with a thin hair mattress is more comfortable by far than the ordinary one with an under mat- tress, or perhaps a feather bed, which can never be quite even and free from a sense of lumpiness. The best authorities agree in pro- nouncing a hard bed to be unnecessary, and injurious as a very soft one. A wide- one is supposed to afford the patient most refreshment, as he can move over to a fresh side ; but where it is practicable, a fresh bed is a better method. A very sick patient is hardly likely to change his position much, and where he is able to, an entire one to another small bed gives the opportunity of thoroughly airing both IN THE sick-room; OR, SANITARY NURSING. 1 59 bedding and mattress. In airing either the clothing or bedding, if they cannot have a thorough sunning, dry them before a fire, which not only dries but airs them, such drying being more important for partly soiled things than for clean. A bedside-table is a necessity, for no waiter or dish should ever be put on the bed itself. Miss Nightingale writes amusingly, yet with much feeling, of the difficulties she has encountered in this way : " When I see a patient in a room nine or ten feet high upon a bed four or five feet high, with his head, when he is sitting up in bed, actually within two or three feet of the ceiling, I ask myself, Is this expressly planned to produce that peculiarly distressing feeling common to the sick, viz., as if the walls and ceiling were closing in upon them, and they becoming sandwiches between floor and ceiling, which imagination is not, in- deed, here so far from the truth ? If, over and above this, the win- dow stops short of the ceiling, then the patient's head may literally be raised above the stratum of fresh air even when the window is open. Can human perversity any farther go in unmaking the pro- cess of restoration which God has made ? The fact is, that the heads of sleepers or of sick should never be higher than the throat of the chimney, which ensures their being in the current of best air. And we will not suppose it possible that you have closed your chimney with a chimney-board." Let the bed covering be always as light as possible, using blankets, and never comfortables where it can be avoided. Weight is not warmth, and a weak patient will be made weaker if obliged to bear it. The pillows should not be piled upon one another like bricks, but arranged so that the lower one will fit in to the hollow of the back and the whole form an easy inclined plane. The breathing is more or less difficult in all sickness, and the pillows should always be so placed that the shoulders can fall back and the head be sup- ported but not thrown forward. The position of the bed is also of importance. The well person thinks little of this, for the bed-room is occupied at most not over seven or eight hours at once. But the sick man craves light, and i6o THE hearthstone; or, life at home. there are few cases where a room must be darkened, abundant sun- light being a powerful means of recovery. A patient instinctively turns to the light, and is never likely to turn to the wall unless indifferent and approaching death. If able to sit up at all, it should be in the sunshine, except in hottest weather, and a shadowy north room is the worst possible one for any invalid, chronic or temporary. Where a patient is too ill to move and sheets must be changed, the best method is that practiced in hospitals and described by Dr. Burdett, of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain, in a valuable book on " Cottage Hospitals : " " When it is necessary to change the bed-clothes of a bed-ridden or nearly helpless patient, the following will be an easy course to pursue : Having the clean sheet ready, roll up the dirty under-sheet as close to the patient as possible, then half roll up the clean sheet, and place the unrolled half over that portion of the bed from which the dirty linen has been removed. Then lift the patient on to this, and having removed the remainder of the dirty sheet and replaced it by unrolling the clean one, the patient will be made comfortable very rapidly, and with the least possible inconvenience. If the patient be too weak to be moved bodily, as we have suggested, it is not diffi- cult to change the under-sheet without lifting the patient much, pro- vided the aid of an assistant is secured. With this method it is necessary to begin at the head of the bed ; to gradually withdraw the dirty sheet and at the same time replace it with the clean one, which must be rolled up and put in readiness at the head of the bed before the dirty linen is removed." The draw-sheet is very essential in some forms of sickness or after some surgical operations. The bed can be protected by rubber, but where there are discharges a soft old sheet should be folded to about two feet wide and rolled up, letting a free end be under the patient. Then as it becomes wet, it can be drawn along on the opposite side from that where it was passed under, and the soiled end be rolled tight and pinned. In this way, " one sheet will admit of IN THE SICK-KOOM; OR, SANITARY NURSING. l6l several changes, and by pinning to it a clean one a succession of draw-sheets may be passed under a patient, with a minimum of dis- turbance." In an article of this nature it is, of course, impossible to give more than general directions, but principles of nursing are fortunately the same for all forms of sickness. And among the rules which viust be followed, no matter what the case or age or condition, quiet ranks in importance with pure air and suitable food. The thing which passes unnoticed by the well person, or is regarded as the merest trifle, is a source not only of annoyance, but often of acute suffering to the invalid. The child may not be able to define this like the adult, but the fact remains the same. Some are far more sensitive than others, but then one or two rules are applicable to all. The most essential of these is one often ignored altogether. " Never allow a patient to be waked, either intentionally or acciden- tally." Even in health one who is roused suddenly from a first sleep is apt to remain wakeful and restless for some time. Miss Nightingale puts the case more simply and intelligently than any other authority. " It is a curious but quite intelligible fact, that, if a patient is waked after a few hours' instead of a few minutes' sleep, he is much more likely to sleep again. Because pain, like irritability of brain, perpetuates and intensifies itself. If you have gained a respite of either in sleep, you have gained more than the mere re- spite. Both the probability of recurrence and of the same intensity will be diminished ; whereas both will be terribly increased by want of sleep. This is the reason why sleep is all important. This is the reason why a patient waked in the early part of his sleep loses not only his sleep, but his power to sleep. A healthy person who allows himself to sleep during the day will lose his sleep at night. But it is exactly the reverse with the sick generally ; the more they sleep, the better will they be able to sleep." Try and have everything in order for the night, early in the even- ing, so that there will be no disturbance at the time the patient would naturally sleep. And in the matter of noise in general, remember II 1 62 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. that a loud noise is often less harmful than an unnecessary one. A flapping window-shade, a creaking door, a stiff and rustling dress or squeaking shoes are unbearable evils, and a bustling, fidgety manner is equally so. " Study to be quiet," is the injunction here as well as in other forms of active life, and a calm manner, an even tone and gentle yet decisive movements are of incalculable benefit to a patient. Do not feel that if he used a little more self-control these things would not be noticed. They are half unconscious irritants when one is well, but in sickness, whether of child or adult, there is mental as well as physical pain. The nervous system is unhinged and mor- bidly susceptible, and " the sick person who behaves decently well exercises more self-control every moment of his day than you will ever know till you are sick yourself. Almost every step that crosses the room is painful to him ; almost every thought that crosses his brain is painful to him ; and if he can speak without being savage, and look without being unpleasant, he is exercising self-control." Above all things, do not whisper in a sick-room. The ear is in- voluntarily strained to listen, and in the case of fever, the patient will not only be worse, but often become delirious from the irritation. Never discuss symptoms or treatment before him, and never allow visitors or one of the family to describe similar cases. Nor is it well to continually ask, " How are you feeling now ? " Watch care- fully and learn how to judge for yourself The faculty of observa- tion is seldom cultivated even among the best educated. A trained nurse has this advantage over the untrained, that she has been taught to watch every variation in color or expression, and can tell on the instant what each indicates, while, the ordinary one notices nothing, and is amazed at some sudden collapse. Remember, also, that the horrible monotony of the sick-room is a constant irritation. The well person, no matter what their troubles and anxieties may be, has a thousand resources which unconsciously lighten them, but for the sick there is no escape. Plan to give them a little occupation if they can bear it, or at least move the bed where they can look out of the window. A picture on the wall, changed IN THE sick-room; OR, SANITARY NURSING. 1 63 now and then, a glass of fresh flowers, or a growing plant, afford a pleasure beyond anything known in health. A bare wall in fever cases seems often to make all sorts of faces, but flowers never do. It is an old-fashioned notion that they are unhealthy, and the nurse who will leave her patient stewing and stifling in an over-heated and foul atmosphere will order a fresh rose out of the room on the in- stant. " They give off carbonic acid." On the contrary, in such a room they absorb it, and die a speedy death because they have. The beautiful custom, dating back only a few years, of the " flower mis- sions " in large cities is beneficent in more senses than one, and act- ually acts as a healing force. Remember, also, that a gloomy and troubled face is a weight you have no right to lay on any one, sick or well. A laugh will often alter the course of an illness for the better, and if there is incurable disease gloominess will only add to the inevitable sorrow. Aim to give as much variety as possible. Tell every pleasant thing you hear, and keep the sufferers' thoughts as much off of themselves as possible. In a long chronic case, a pet bird or other animal will often be the greatest comfort, and babies and sick people are ex- cellent society for one another. " If you think the 'air of the sick- room ' bad for the baby, why it is bad for the invalid too, and, there- fore, you will of course correct it for both. It freshens up a sick person's whole mental atmosphere to see ' the baby.' And a very young child, if unspoiled, will generally adapt itself wonderfully to the ways of the sick person, if the time they spend together is not too long." Reading aloud is a great resource, but in fevers will often excite and irritate, and no fixed rules for occupation can be given, com- mon sense being the only guide here as elsewhere, it being only necessary to remember that some occupation is a means of cure for all but the dangerously ill. We come now to Food, a question next in importance to that of air, which is simply a form of food demanded by the lungs. More and more as time has shown the errors of the past, physicians have 164 THE hearthstone; ok, life at home. come to rely on suitable food as their strongest and most efficient ally. A change in food will often cure a long established trouble, and certain diseases are now treated by the food-cure — diabetes, for instance, having its own peculiar regimen. Where this question is understood, drugs may be dispensed with ; and as constant investiga- tion' and experiment are going on, we are able now to plan the diet best suited to the disease. Among the many authorities on diet- etics none are better than " Pavy on Food and Dietetics," and Chambers' " Manual of Diet." Both are English physicians of highest scientific reputation, and accepted there and here as unquestioned authorities. Dr. Edward Smith's book on foods is also useful, and there are many smaller treatises ; but if one studies at all it should always be the best, and if the physician is intelligent be will always be glad to explain any dubious points. The diet will probably be ordered by him with as much or more care than the medicines, and the nurse's business will be, first, to see that his directions are implicitly obeyed, and, second, that the food is properly cooked. Good cooking is an essential to health. It is even more an essential to recovery from sickness, but it is the rarest of accomplishments. Burned toast, scorched gruels, flavorless beef- tea or broth, with a coat of floating fat, are offered to the uncertain or entirely wanting appetite, which rejects them involuntarily. Nothing seems more difficult than the perfect preparation of simple things. How many persons are capable of sending up a perfect slice of toast, crisp, golden brown, hot? How many, a cup of tea, fragrant, steaming and alluring ? The gruel is lumpy ; the chop scorched outside and raw within ; the egg overdone or underdone. To make this part of nursing easier, a set of receipts, endorsed by the best physicians and long in use by the writer, are given at the end of this article. Every one has been tested over and over, and if directions are followed to the letter, there cannot be failure. There is no doubt that many patients are actually starved in the midst of plenty. A weak patient who has had a feverish night has a dry mouth, and the thought of any solid food before ten or eleven IN THE sick-room; OR, SANITARY NURSING. 165 A. M. is disgusting. The nurse, therefore, does not urge it, and ex- haustion comes on, when a spoonful of beef-tea, of egg-nogg, or some form of good gruel, would have kept up the strength. To wa.sh out the mouth in any case of sickness, but especially in fevers, is a great comfort, and the physician will give a prescription for some liquors of permanganate of potash, which in water will give the mouth a fresh, cool feeling, even in high fever. A patient can swallow liquid when solid foods are impossible, but no matter in what form, the hours for taking it should be punctually attended to. A delay of even five minutes will often destroy the appetite of a nervous patient, and in severe cases delay may mean actual death. " Let the food come at the right time, and be taken away, eaten or uneaten, at the right time, but never let a patient have something always standing by him, if you don't v»^ish to dis- gust him with everything." Find out if you can at what hours a patient feels most inclined to eat. Often when there seems no way of tempting appetite, and meals go away untasted, it may be possible by a change in hours to succeed better. Often, too, the being watched anxiously will destroy appe- tite. Leave the patient alone as much as possible while eating, and if there is failure at one meal, make it up by some addition to the next. Leave very little to his judgment, and try also to estimate amounts properly and to learn how to tell what has been eaten. It is very easy to find out what is meant by an ounce of meat or drink. Often a patient will turn over food and give the impression of having eaten it, and a careless observer will take away the tray, without noticing that next to nothing is missing, yet the doctor will be told that the meals have been taken about as usual. ^ Remember also that research has proved many things to be less nourishing than you may have been brought up to believe. Beef- tea is an essential in sickness, but it is not nourishment. It is a powerful stimulant, and has what is called "a reparative quality," which makes it of greatest value. Gelatine was once believed to be condensed nourishment, but careful experiment showed it to be of i66 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. no value at all. Eggs are desirable, but people of nervous or bilious temperament are often unable to take them, except whipped up in wine. A smoothly baked custard is considered very digestible. On the contrary the baking of eggs in either custard or pudding has ren- dered them almost hopelessly indigestible. Arrow-root, especially among English nurses, is a great dependence, but it is really only starch and water, flour being far better, as well as less likely to fer- ment. Oatmeal, crushed wheat, and corn-meal are all preferable to sago, tapioca, or arrow-root, corn-meal being especially good for weak and chilly invalids because of its heating qualities. Milk, too, is one of the best of foods, and cream as efficient a healer of delicate lungs as cod-liver oil. The least change in milk renders it unwhole- some, and the utmost care must be used in keeping it. Buttermilk is very useful in fevers, and often where used plentifully is not only food, but a cooling medicine. ■ Do not disregard what may seem senseless craving on the part of the patient for some article of food which even the well are supposed to find it hard to digest. A patient with dysentery or chronic diar- rhoea has often been known to beg for fat ham or bacon, suet pud- ding, cheese, fruit, or pickles, and preposterous as it sounds, these articles represented two classes of food demanded by the Avasted tissues — fat and vegetable acids. Pavy gives a rule for preparing suet for such cases, and an intelligent nurse or physician will always consider such requests carefully before either denying or granting them. There is great difference in the amounts which different patients can digest, and this is apt to be the source of one error in feeding the sick. A case of typhoid, for instance, may be ordered four ounces of brandy a day, and the nurse proceeds to dilute it till there are four pints to be swallowed. Tea, beef-tea, gruel, and other foods are treated in the same way, with the idea that the nourishment is just so much increased. Nothing could well be more mistaken. It may be necessary to reduce the strength of brandy for easier swallowing, IN THE sick-room; OR, SANITARY NURSING. 167 but in cases where taking food is nearly impossible, this should be but very slightly. There are cases where nutritive enema must be given, and the form recommended by Pavy is chosen here. Remember also that the matter of appearance is of far more im- portance to a sick than a well person, and even if the meal be only toast and tea, follow instructions for making each, and serve them on the freshest of napkins and in dainty china. A tete-a-tete service is very nice for use in a sick-room, and in any case a very small tea- pot can be had, that the tea may always be made fresh. Prepare only a small amount of anything, and never discuss it beforehand. A surprise will often rouse a flagging appetite. Be ready, too, to have your best attempts rejected, and take comfort in the fact that tlio article disliked one day may be just what is wanted the next. Finally, remember that there are duties to one's self as well as the patient. Try to secure at least a few minutes daily in the open air. Rest as regularly as possible, and keep a quiet mind. Patience is the first necessity above all with children, who in convalescence are apt to be exasperatingly fretful. Every power of self-control and repression is called into play by sickness, and in this as in many other emergencies of life, the same word applies — "and having done all, to standy FOOD FOR THE SICK. It seems v/ell, before giving formal rules of preparation, to place here the different tables of diet used in the best hospitals ; not that they are to be followed literally, but to be examined carefully for the purpose of seeing what proportion of solid and liquid is con- sidered best, and what amounts are regarded as necessary in " full " and " low " diet. The appetite of a convalescent is usually greater than when in health, and these tables have been made after long con- sultation among physicians who have given a lifetime to the subject, and whose object is the very speediest possible restoration to health. Having once discovered what amount makes a solid and a liquid ounce, it will be easy to judge as to quantities specified. i68 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. In severe sickness a glass tube is very useful for feeding gruels and drinks, and several can be kept on hand in the medicine closet, which should be in every house, for the sake of having in one spot all the simple remedies necessary in ordinary life. Small, white china boats with spouts are as useful as the tubes, but let them be used only for food, as if medicine is given in them the patient is likely to associate it with the food, and thus lose relish and appetite. A wooden tray with legs six or seven inches high, to stand on the bed, is convenient for serving meals, and if there is no bed-rest for use when the patient can sit up, a chair turned with the back down and a pillow against it is a very good substitute. Fever or Low Diet. Bread -------- 6 oz. Milk -------- 2 pints. Beef-tea or mutton broth (i lb. meat to pint) - i pint. Arrowroot ______ 2 oz. Tea, ^ oz. Sugar, I oz. For a pint of tea. Middle or Half Diet. Bread -_____- 8oz. Butter - - - - - - - -loz. Fish -------- 6oz. Or, hashed mutton or beef - - - - 3 oz. Potatoes, mashed _____ 8 oz. Milk i^ pint Rice, sago or arrowroot » _ _ _ 2 oz. Tea, ^ oz. 1 f, } For I pint of tea. bugar, I oz. j Full or Ordinary Diet. Bread - - - - - - - 16 to 20 oz. Meat, cooked without bone, - - - 7 oz. Potatoes - - - - - - - 12 oz. IN THE sick-room; OR, SANITARY NURSING. 169 Butter ------- loz. Cheese or gruel - - - - - - 2 oz. Milk 1^ pint. Tea - - - - - - - -i^oz. Sugar I oz. Of course, these are merely guides. Fresh fruit can often be used to great advantage, and stewed prunes and other dried fruit may- take the place of fish in winter. Lemons are of greatest value, and lemonade, freely drunk, is often prescribed for certain ailments, while the juice of half a lemon, morning and evening, with very little or no sugar, is an almost infallible cure for constipation. Beef Essence. — Cut a pound of perfectly lean beef into small bits. Do not allow any particle of fat to remain. Put in a wide-mouthed bottle, or a glass can, cork or cover tightly, and set in a kettle of cold water. Boil for three hours, and pour ofl"the juice which is now completely extracted from the meat. There will be about a small cupful. Season with a saltspoonful of salt, unless directed other- wise. This is given in extreme weakness, feeding a teaspoonful or more at a time, as ordered. Beef-tea, as ordered by Pavy. — " Mince finely one pound of lean beef, and pour upon it, in a preserve jar or other suitable vessel, one pint of cold water. Stir, and allow the two to stand for about an hour, that the goodness of the meat may be dissolved out. Next stand the jar in a saucepan of cold water, and allow it to gently boil for an hour. Remove the jar and pour its contents on to a strainer. The beef-tea which runs through contains a quantity of fine sediment, which is to be drunk with the liquid, after being flavored with salt at discretion. The jar in which the beef-tea is made may be introduced into an ordinary oven for an hour instead of being surrounded by the water in the saucepan." Beef-tea thus prepared represents a highly restorative liquid, with an agreeable, rich, meaty flavor. It is a common practice among cooks to make it by putting it into a saucepan and subjecting it to I/O THE hearthstone; or, life at home, prolonged boiling or simmering over a fire, but the product then yielded constitutes in reality a soup or broth instead of a tea. The prolonged boiling leads to the extraction of gelatine, and the liquid gelatinizes on cooling (which is not the case when prepared as above), but at the same time the albuminous matter becomes condensed and agglomerated in such a manner as to form part of the solid rejected residue, and the liquid loses in flavor and in invigorating power. Mrs. Garfield's Beef-tea. — This form has long been known to physicians as " Liebig's beef-tea," and is used in extreme weakness, but is not as palatable as either of the other forms. Take half a pound of lean beef and mince it finely. Pour on it, in a glass or earthen vessel, three-quarters of a pint of cold water, to which has been added four drops of muriatic acid and about half a saltspoonful of salt. Stir well together and allow it to stand one hour. Strain through a hair-sieve and rinse the residue with a quarter of a pint of water. The liquid thus obtained contains the juice of the meat, with the albumen in an uncoagulated state, and syntonin or muscle-fibre which has been dissolved by the agency of the acid. It is to be taken cold, or, if warmed, must not be heated beyond 120° Fahr. No cooking is here employed, and, although much richer in nutritive material and more invigorating than ordinary beef-tea, the raw-meat color, smell and taste that it possesses sometimes cause it to be objected to. Savory Beef-tea. — Two pounds of lean beef finely chopped ; one small onion with two cloves stuck in it; half a small carrot, cut fine; a saltspoonful of celery seed, and a sprig of parsley or thyme ; one teaspoonful of salt ; half a teacupful of good tomato catsup, or a tea- cupful of canned tomato. Prepare precisely as in first form for beef- tea ; strain, and use with toast or crackers. Milk and Suet-Pavy. — Boil one ounce of finely chopped suet with a quarter of a pint of water for ten minutes, and press through linen or thin flannel. Then add one drachm of broken cinnamon, one ounce of sugar, and three-quarters of a pint of milk. Boil again IN THE sick-room; OR, SANITARY NURSING. i;ri for ten minutes and strain. A wineglassful to a quarter of a pint forms the quantity to be taken at a time. It constitutes a highly nutritive and fattening article, but must not be given in excess, as it may occasion diarrhoea. Chicken Broth. — One chicken weighing one and a half or two pounds. Cut the chicken in pieces and the meat from the bones and put all in three pints of cold water. Skim thoroughly when it comes to a boil ; add a teaspoonful of salt and simmer for three hours. Strain and serve. A tablespoonful of soaked rice or tapioca may be added after the broth is strained, in which case it must be returned to the fire and boiled half an hour. Chicken Jelly. — Boil chicken as for broth, but reduce the liquid to a little less than a pint. Strain through a fine strainer into a cup or mould and turn out when cold. Chicken Panada. — Take the breast of the chicken boiled as above, cut in bits and pound smooth in a mortar. Take a teacupful of bread crumbs ; soak them soft in warm milk, or, if liked better, in a little of the hot broth. Mix them with the chicken ; add a saltspoon- ful of salt, and, if allowed, a pinch of mace, and serve in a cup with a spoon. Mutton Broth. — Make like chicken broth, skimming off every particle of fat. Beef, Tapioca, and Egg Broth. — One pound of lean beef, pre- pared as for beef-tea, and soaked one hour in a quart of cold water. Boil slowly for two hours, and then strain it. Add a half teaspoon- ful of salt, and half a cupful of tapioca, which has been washed and soaked an hour in warm water. Boil slowly half an hour. Serve in a shallow bowl in which a poached egg is put at the last, or stir a beaten egg into one cup of the boiling soup and serve at once with wafers or crackers. Oatmeal Gruel. — Have ready in a double boiler one quart of boiling water with a teaspoonful of salt, and sprinkle in two table- spoonfuls of fine oatmeal. Boil an hour; then strain and serve with milk or cream and sugar, if ordered. Farina gruel is made in the same way. iy2 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Indian or Corn-meal Gruel. — One quart of boiling water; one teaspoonful of salt. Mix three tablespoonfuls of corn-meal with a little cold water, and stir in slowly. Boil one hour; strain and serve, a cupful at once. Milk Porridge. — One quart of boiling milk; two tablespoonfuls of flour mixed smooth in a little cold milk, and half a teaspoonful of salt. Stir into the milk and boil half an hour, strain and serve. If allowed, a handful of raisins and a little grated nutmeg may be boiled with it. Wine Whey. — Boil one cupful of new milk, and add half a wine- glass of good Sherry or Madeira wine. Boil one minute, strain, and use with or without sugar as liked. Egg-Nogg. — One egg; one tablespoonful of sugar; halfacupof milk ; one tablespoonful of wine. Beat the sugar and yolk together to a cream; add the wine and then the milk. Beat the white to a stiff froth and stir in lightly. Omit the milk where more condensed nourishment is required. Rice Water for Drink. — One quart of boiling water; a pinch of salt; one tablespoonful of rice or rice flour. Boil half an hour and strain. Use cold or hot, as liked. Arrow-Root, or Rice Jelly. — Two heaping teaspoonfuls of either arrow-root or rice flour; a pinch of salt; a heaping tablespoonful of sugar; one cup of boiling water. Mi.x the flour smooth in a little cold water, and add to the boiling water. Boil half an hour, and pour into cups or a small mould. For a patient with summer-com- plaint, a small stick of cinnamon may be boiled in it. For a fever patient add the juice of half a lemon. Toast- Water. — Toast two slices of white bread very brown, but do not scorch. Put in a pitcher, and, while hot, pour on one quart of cold water. Let it stand half an hour and it is ready for use. Crust Coffee. — Two thick slices of Graham or Boston brown bread, toasted as brown as possible. Pour on one pint of boiling water and steep ten minutes. Serve with milk and sugar like coffee. Or, dry brown crusts in the oven and use in the same way. IN THE sick-room; OR, SANITARY NURSING. 173 Beef Juice. — Broil a thick piece of beefsteak three minutes. Squeeze all the juice with a lemon-squeezer into a cup, salt lightly, and give like beef-tea. Jelly and Ice. — Break ice in bits no bigger than a pea. A large pin will break off bits from a lump very easily. To a tablespoonful, add one of wine jelly, broken up. It is very refreshing in fevers. Panada. — Lay in a bowl two Boston or Graham crackers, split; sprinkle on a pinch of salt, and cover with boiling water. Set the bowl in a sauce-pan of boiling water, and let it stand half an hour or till the crackers look clear. Slide into a hot saucer without break- ing, and eat with cream and sugar. As they are only good hot, do just enough for the patient's appetite at one time. Milk Toast. — Toast one or two slices of bread a bright brov;n; dip quickly in a little salted, boiling water and spread on a little but- ter. Boil a teacupful of milk; thicken with an even teaspoonful of flour mixed smooth in a little cold water, with a pinch of salt; lay the toast in a small, hot, deep plate and pour over the milk. Cream toast is made in the same way. Beef Sandwich. — Two or three tablespoonfuls of raw, very ten- der beef, scraped fine and spread between two slices of slightly but- tered bread. Sprinkle on pepper and salt. Prepared Flour. — Tie a pint of flour tightly in a cloth and boil four hours. Scrape off the outer crust, and the inside will be found to be a dry ball. Grate this as required, allowing one tablespoonful wet in cold milk, to a pint of boiling milk, and boiling till smooth. Add a saltspoonful of salt. This is excellent for summer-complaint, whether in adults or children. The beaten white of an egg can also be stirred in if ordered. If this porridge is used from the beginning of the complaint, little or no medicine will be required. Rice Coffee. — Parch rice to a deep brown and grind. Allow half a cup to a quart of boiling water, and boil fifteen minutes. Strain and drink plain or with milk and sugar. Herb Tea. — For the dried herbs allow one teaspoonful to a cup of boiling water. Pour the water on them, cover, and steep ten min- utes or so. 174 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Beefsteak or Chops. — With beefsteak, cut a small thick piece of good shape; broil carefully, turning every minute, eight minutes for rare, twelve for well done. Serve on a hot plate, salting a little, but using no butter unless allowed by the physician. Chops should be neatly trimmed and cooked in the same way. A nice way of serving a chop is to broil and cut in small bits. Have ready a baked potato. Cut a slice from the top; take out the inside and season as for eating ; add the chop and return all to the skin, covering it and serving hot as possible. When appetite has returned, poached eggs on toast, or a little salt cod with cream, will be relished. Tapioca Jelly. — Two tablespoonfuls of tapioca soaked over night in one cup of cold water. In the morning add a second cup of cold water and boil till very clear. Add quarter of a cup of sugar; two teaspoonfuls of brandy or four of wine; or the thin rind and juice of a lemon may be used instead. Pour into small moulds wet with cold water and turn out when firm. Apple Water. — Two roasted sour apples or one pint of washed dried apples. Pour on one quart of boiling water; cover and let it stand half an hour, when it is ready for use. Tea. — Never use a tin tea-pot if an earthen one is obtainable. An even teaspoonful of dry tea is the usual allowance for a person. Scald the tea-pot with a little boiling water and pour it off. Put in the tea, and pour on not over a cup of boiling water, letting it stand a minute or two for the leaves to swell. Then fill with the needed amount of water still boiling, this being about a small cupful to a person. Cover closely and let it stand five minutes. Ten will be required for English breakfast-tea, but never boil either, above all in a tin pot. Boiling liberates the tannic acid of the tea, which acts upon the tin, making a compound, bitter and metallic in taste, and unfit for human stomachs. Nutrient Enema. (From "Chambers' Manual of Diet.") — Take half a pint of beef-tea, thicken with one teaspoonful of tapioca. Reduce i ^ ounces of raw beef to a fine pulp, rub through a sieve IN THE sick-room; OR, SANITARY NURSING. 1 75 and mix with the whole twenty grains of acid pepsin and four grains of diastase, or a dessertspoonful of malt flour. Use not more than quarter of a pint at once. Beef tea alone may also be used. Egg Gruel. — Beat the yolk of one egg with a tablespoonful of sugar till creamy and light. Pour slowly on this, stirring all the time, one teacupful of bouiiig water. Beat the white of the egg to a stiff froth with one teaspoonful of powdered sugar, and a drop or two of any flavoring allowed, and put on the top. The yolk of the eg'g is more digestible for the slight cooking given by the boiling water. The white is much more digestible uncooked. A teaspoonful of ivine may be added if ordered. THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME, ♦• Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense, Lie in three words, — health, peace and competence. But health consists with temperance alone, And peace, O Virtue ! peace is all thine own." — Pope. H ETHER you live in town or in the country there are times when a physician cannot be had just when he is needed, and therefore some knowledge of medicine and the laws of health is indispensable. If you wish to keep yourself and your children in health you must not only be careful in eating and drinking, but in everything that has to do with the condition of your bodies. A supply of simple remedies for ordinary ailments should always be at hand. You may destroy the strongest constitution and poison the healthiest blood by disobey- ing the laws of health, and you may wonderfully strengthen and improve your own health and that of your children by a careful and constant attention to those laws. I say " constant " attention, because so many people take care of their bodies by " fits and starts," and begin all sorts of regulations which they break within a week or two. A tonic is recommended to them, and the dose to be taken as well as the precise time to take it is prescribed, but after the first dose or two one hears the cry, "O, I have forgotten my medicine ; I wonder had I better take it now ! " If it should be taken before meals such persons take it after ; if it should be taken after meals they take it before. If a teaspoonful is the dose they take a tablespoonful, or, more frequently, to save the trouble of a spoon, they take " a swallow," the size of which will de- pend upon their liking or disliking the taste of it. But medicines only need to be taken when there is something (176) THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. 1 77 wrong. Why should there be something wrong ? Doctors and medicines are luxuries which those with large families and limited incomes ought to try to do without. Not that the doctor's practice ought to be taken away from him ; he ought to have a regular income and be relieved from all financial anxiety, just for calling upon every- body and asking how they feel and telling them how everybody else in the neighborhood is feeling. Doctors are among the most genial of men ; they can amuse and excruciate at the same time, and make you laugh and howl during the same operation. The doctor is gen- erally the best informed man in the village, and his society is on this account much sought for and valued. But there are other ways of getting on friendly terms with him than making one's self sick, and you need not pay your first visit to him on a broken leg. He will be still invaluable in his neighborhood if he give warning of epidemics, and, like the curfew bell, sound the hour when everybody should be in bed. His cheerful greeting will do you more good than his long- drawn face when he sees you in a very bad way. Let your children hail his coming as the "minister of health," not a "black prophet" of stomachic woe. The American doctor, as a rule, is so true a man, so noble a gentleman, and so proud of his profession as a conserver of health, that he would far rather see you well than sick even if he loses a fee by it. There are some places where the policemen are promoted according to the number of arrests they have made during the year. It is therefore to the interest of each policeman to arrest as many persons as he possibly can, so he improves the opportunity by locking up as a " suspicious character " any young man from the country who asks him the time or the distance. But surely the better plan would be to make his promotion dependent upon the good order and absence of violence on his " beat," just as judges com- pliment the grand juries when there are very few cases on the calendar awaiting trial. So ought it to be with the village doctor and undertaker. Their fees ought to depend not upon the number of patients they give physic to or bury, but upon the health of the community in which they live, 12 1^8 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. How beautiful would be the ideal parish in which the doctor should be able to say, " I have not lost a patient ! " not because he has no practice, or because he has very nearly lost a great many patients, but because young and old, weak and strong, rich and poor, follow the rules he constantly impresses upon them for the preservation of health and the avoiding of sickness. What a glorious sight it would be to have, in such a parish, a beautiful cemetery, filled with flowers and trees and neatly trimmed grass-plots, and on some summer morning to assemble the parson, and the doctor and the undertaker and all the inhabitants to have a real good time ! After a repast of perfectly wholesome and delicious food, which the doctor should certify could do no harm to the liver and cause the digestive organs no uneasiness, accompanied with such refreshing beverages as should " cheer but not inebriate " or bring any headache, the sexton should be called upon to report the state of the cemetery. If he could only say, " Ladies and gentlemen, citizens and taxpayers of Healthytown, everything I have planted in this cemetery is doing well, growing up, budding, blossoming, and looking finely. The grass is tender and green because of the fine soil; the flowers and trees are all beautiful from the same cause; the calm you see around you is not the silence of death, but the tranquillity of life. The cemetery of Healthytown has no corpses in it." Then the good old parson would tell his story. " I have preached for fifty years in yonder church that all flesh is grass and that grass withers and fades, but as the grass in this cemetery is still green, so the people of Healthytown have perpetual health, and even the oldest inhabitants, like myself, enjoy a green old age. I have not written a funeral sermon since I prepared one for the funeral of Farmer Fresh- twig, and he disappointed me by getting well — for it was a very fine sermon and a pity not to use it. If it were not that this cemetery looks so pretty as it is and that the marble slabs with no inscriptions look better than with them, I should almost suggest that it is about time for some of us to die." THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. 179 Then the doctor would step forward and say, that when he first came to Heahhytown he found many children with the measles, and many old folks with the colic, and many middle-aged people suffering from headaches and chills and fever and indigestion. But since the sausage factory had been removed, and the sewage and drainage altered, and the pump water was no longer drunk, and garbage and refuse were no longer thrown in the street, he rejoiced to say that everybody was feeling well, and that he felt much greater pleasure in giving this certificate of life than a certificate of death. Lastly, the undertaker would tell them that he had added cabinet making to coffins, as the demand for the latter was not brisk enough to suit him, and that instead of putting silver mountings for the boxes of the dead, he should be very happy to supply elegant chests of drawers and work-boxes to the living. This beautiful world, which disease and death have changed from a paradise into "the place of a skull," might be changed again into a universal Healthytown if people would only attend to the laws of nature for the preservation of health. The first of these laws of health is cleanliness. Be clean yourself and make every one belonging to you be clean. Shun the company of slovenly, unwashed, and dirty people. Cleanliness, like charity, must begin at home, and if you ask how to begin, the answer is a simple one, " Was/i and be clean." Many people, especially women and children, are quite willing to be clean if they were not required to wash in order to be so. "A lick and a promise " is the extent of the children's acquaintance with soap and water. Some of them scream at the sight of a bath-tub, as if the delightful feeling of plenty of water on the skin were as painful as having a tooth out. This, of course, is unnatural, and must be the result of unnatural train- ing. Children are imitative little creatures, and if they are afraid of the bath-tub, it is because they notice that their parents seldom use it. What do the parents too often plead in excuse for not bathing ? The man, if he neglects it, pleads that he begins work too earl)- in i8o THE hearthstone; or, life at home. the morning to feel like bathing, and that he is too tired at night and has to go to bed when the day's work is over. Women — some of them, not all — object to the free use of the bath for themselves and their families that it makes work ; that water is so often "spilled and has to be wiped up ; that so many more towels have to be used that it makes the washing too heavy, and so forth. The real truth is that they have not vitality and energy enough to keep their bodies in re- pair ; they are too " tired" to keep themselves clean. Some of them are so used to dirty faces and hands that they would feel as great a transformation after a thorough, full length bath, with the head ducked under often, and rough towels to dry with, as a Chinaman does when his pigtail is cut off. They would not know themselves, and their friends would not know them. What a dreadful shock it would be to some families to be accused of being clean ! Those who omit to bathe regularly lose one of the greatest enjoy- ments, as well as one of the greatest preservatives of health. Disease loves dirt. Long life loves cleanliness. Some doctors think that once in forty-eight hours — that is, a bathing of the whole body from head to foot every other day — is sufficient ; but a bath every morn- ing when one is in sound health cannot do any harm. Frequency in ablutions, of course, depends somewhat upon the nature of the per- son's occupation. Where copious perspiration is produced by the daily work, a cold bath every morning is no more than health and cleanliness require. Where there is little action of the skin and no accretions of dirt to clean off, a man or woman can bathe every day or every other day, at their own discretion. But even the finest flan- nel or merino, or any other fabric next the skin, will render a thorough cleansing of the pores conducive to health. And it is a fact beyond all dispute, that those who have accustomed themselves to a cold bath every morning, can get v/et, pass from a hot temperature of air to a cold one, and the contrary, as when passing out of a crowded theatre or church into the street, without ever taking cold. Some people in bathing make a great rnistake by using tepid or lukewarm water, because it feels so soothing and luxurious. This is THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. l8l very lowering, and would in time reduce the vitality ana muscular and nervous energy, even of the strongest. Extremes meet in the temperature of water. Water as cold as you can bear it will strengthen you, and water as hot as you can bear it will do the same; but luke- warm water relaxes and debilitates the system. If the water is too cold, only take the chill off it. Be sure to dry yourself with a rough, not a soft, towel, so that your skin may glow and be quickened into active work. If you have aches and stiffness in your joints, get yourself rubbed, or rub yourself as well as you can with oil, which is very pleasant, especially if pleasantly perfumed, and will give suppleness and ease to the joints. Do not stay too long in the water — ten minutes should be the limit — or you will feel a reaction of lassitude. Dry yourself thoroughly after bathing, and never put on underclothing that is damp from per- spiration after drying your skin. It seems unnecessary to remind any sensible person of the folly of sitting in wet clothes, yet men frequently do so to escape the trouble of changing, and many victims to rheumatism and consumption are made by it. Many persons suffer with cold feet, the result of imperfect circula- tion and poverty of blood. Keep them well covered by the blankets at night; rub them to promote circulation, and if these remedies fail sponge them with cold water and put a thick pair of socks on. Take the socks off when they get warm. Put mustard in the water if the sponging and rubbing do not suffice. Sponging the whole body both night and morning where the full bath is not at hand, followed by a thorough rubbing with a rough towel or gentle scrubbing with a flesh-brush, arc excellent both for cleanliness and circulation. Next to the thorough purifying of the skin and invigorating the system by cold water, moderate exercise and wholesome food arc the best preservatives of health. Never bolt your food, or allow your children to do so. Let everything you eat be thoroughly chewed. Give yourself a rest after dinner, if only for a quarter of an hour, for 1 82 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. the rushing to heavy work just after a full meal is a fruitful cause of indigestion and dyspepsia. Always keep bicarbonate of soda in the house in case of sour stomach, heartburn, and flatulency. It will afford greater and speedier relief than anything else, but it should never be used except in these cases, and then only a tablespoonful or wine-glass should be taken of the solution you make, which should be in the proportion of half a teaspoonful of the bicarbonate to a tumbler of water. Take a sip as you need it. Used constantly it injures the coats of the ^mach. In exercise, take sufficient every day, either in walking, riding, running or athletic sports, to make you feel strong and vigorous, but be careful not to overdo it or you will weaken the action of the heart and make it irregular. Many deaths from heart disease are caused by excessive muscular exercise in rowing, weight-lifting and the like. Both moderate exercise and properly digested food promote healthy sleep at night. Never eat heavy suppers just before going to bed, and avoid the other extreme of going to bed with an empty stomach after many hours' fasting. A liglit and simple supper about an hour before retiring will help you to sleep well. Stimulants, like strong tea, should be avoided at night. A glass of pure, fresh milk before going to bed will quiet the nerves and assist repose. A little pure Holland gin may be added to it in case of age and debility. Nar- cotics should not be taken except under positive medical advice, as when once commenced they are very difficult to dispense with. It is better in many cases to get half a night's rest naturally than sleep soundly the whole night under opiates. Where stimulants are taken, you should measure the dose just as you would medicine, and limit yourself rigorously to the quantity that does you good. In the vigor of life and health it is as foolish to accustom one's self to alcoholic stimulants as it would be to live on borrowed money while one has plenty of one's own lying idle at the bank. So far as stimulants are useful it is not as beverages but as tonics, to arrest physical waste, not to create it. THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. iS' J The breathing of pure air is essential to health. Some people have such a dread of fresh air that they let it in during the daytime as if they were admitting an objectionable visitor on the sly, and at night- time they say to it: " Now, Fresh Air, it is our bed-time, and it is time for you to go." Down goes every window and every door is shut close. The fold is made air-tight for the night, and the family wonders why they rise feverish in the morning and have sallow com- plexions and suffer with coughs and chest troubles. Always let fresh air into your bedroom while you sleep. This does not mean that you are to sleep in a draught ; but let there be sufficient ventilation to keep impure air out of your lungs. As for changes of clothing, common sense should teach you how to dress in season. But in a changeable climate you should be con- stantly on your guard to adapt the thickness of your coverings to the temperature of the day. The weather is a deceitful prophet, and you may have deep reason to regret the sudden leaving off of wraps. But your own sense must guide you in this matter, for every one is his own guardian in matters of health. Indeed, the strange thing is that to rational human beings any advice or rules should be necessary. It is a humiliating fact that there are people who have to be reminded that they need washing and exer- cise, care in eating and drinking, proper changes of raiment and the like. It is painful to be a cross-questioning missionary of cleanliness and have to ask people whether they clean their teeth, pare thetr nails, or brush their hair. Yet how many persons who would otherwise be attractive are spoiled by discolored and irregular teeth, as though the mouth out of which should come sweetness were a lumber room for broken furniture and never needed cleansing! Rinse your mouth and brush your teeth every night and morning, if not after each meal. Get rid at once of offensive teeth, remembering that an empty house is better than a bad tenant. If you cannot do without teeth and have lost all your own, the dentist will supply you. Only you must not swallow them, as they are an expensive diet and not easily digested. Also: do 184 THE hearthstone; or, life at home, not plaster your hair with pomatum and bear's grease, the bear having been a pig, but use only a little oil if your hair needs lubrication. Grease clogs the pores of the skin and engenders headache in con- sequence of the suppressed perspiration. Cold water is the best tonic for the head and hair. Lastly, gentle reader, be regular in your habits as to rising, going to bed and meal times. Don't fool with your stomach or brain or nerves, for they are partners in one firm that will stand no fooling, but will avenge upon you terribly a defiance of their rules. Old saws are often better than modern instances, so do not forget the nursery rhyme : " Early to bed and early to rise Is the way to be healthy, wealthy and wise." MEDICINAL AND HYGIENIC RECIPES. Bruises. — Use warm fomentations, flannel dipped in warm water laid over the part, or a bread-and-water poultice. If very severe or near a joint, put on leeches. If near the knee, keep perfectly quiet, and do not attempt to walk. Keep on fomenting or poulticing till the swelling goes down and the pain be gone. Some prefer rags dipped in Goulard lotion (that is, one drachm of Goulard's extract to six ounces of soft water) to the warm fomentations. Other medi- cal men of great experience strongly recommend a lotion of tincture of arnica and water; one part arnica to ten of water. Keep the patient quite quiet. Cramp. — Put the patient at once into a hot bath, if possible; and if not, sponge all over in water as hot as he can bear it. Unclasp his Hhnds, if much contracted. Put smelling bottle to his nose, and give weak brandy and water, or some stimulant, and put to bed, and warm the bed, if there is such a thing as a warming-pan in the house. If the cramp is only local, that is, affects only one limb, such as the arm or leg, use plenty of friction and extension of the muscles under spasm. Fits. — If you are present when a person is first taken with a fit. THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. 1 85 put, if you can get one, a bottle of smelling salts to his nose, and per- haps you may ward the fit off. If not, immediately unfasten the neckcloth, unbutton the waistcoat, and loosen the braces. Give all the fresh air possible, take the shoes off, and bathe the forehead with cold water; then put a piece of soft wood, or something to save the tongue being bitten, between the teeth; a cork even will do. Then, if possible, put a strong mustard poultice on the back of the neck, and put the feet into hot water. Undress and put the patient into bed as soon as possible; let him sleep six, eight, or ten hours. Do not attempt to grasp his limbs tight, or hold them tight while he is in convulsions, as he will only bruise himself Restrain, but do not violently oppose, the struggles. For cases of this kind give the simplest and lightest diet: beef-tea, rice, milk, tea and toast, chicken-broth, etc.; and be very careful to let no one subject to fits overload his stomach, or otherwise play the fool with himself DiARRHCEA. — Do not try to stifle it immediately with chalk-mixture, opium pills, or any of the common di^rhoea medicines, but give first a small dose of castor oil or tincture of rhubarb, or Gregory's pow- der, and wait till it has operated: taking care to keep the patient, if possible, perfectly quiet, and on his back. In case there is much pain, you may put five drops of laudanum into the dose of tincture of rhubarb. If the diarrhoea still continues after the medicine has operated, and you cannot get a doctor, then give, according to age and strength, five, ten, or fifteen drops of chlorodyne in a wine-glass of water every two hours; and if that does not answer, then a half- grain or one grain opium pill every two hours, or a wine-glass of water with fifteen to twenty drops of laudanum, and a little essence of peppermint and powdered ginger. Feed the patient with dry toast, tea without milk, rice-pudding and arrowroot; allow no meat and no vegetables, and keep him quiet in his berth; a warm bed is best of all. If you keep on your legs, or moving much about, you may have a very bad time of it. A rice diet is very advisable. A very able medical man states that he finds the following 1 86 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. treatment to answer admirably : Commence with a mild dose of some opening medicine or other, and then give ten drops of diluted sul- phuric acid three times a day in a little water. For common cases, not violent, of diarrhoea, the homoeopathic treatment of camphor pills, one or two every quarter of an hour or so, works extremely well. To Stop the Flow of Blood. — Bind the cut with cobwebs and brown sugar, pressed on like lint; or — if you cannot procure these — with the fine dust of tea. For Headache, wet with camphor a piece of flannel (red), sprinkle with black pepper and bind it on the head ; before it is on long the headache will be gone. Fainting. — Put the patient immediately in a chair, and make him sit down, and bend his head low between his knees, until the head be brought pretty well on a level with the lower part of the stomach: by these means (the feeling of) faintness will at once pass off. Lumbago. — Use plenty of friction, with a Turkish towel, or if you can bear it, with a flesh-brush. Apply flannel, moistened with mus- tard liniment, to the place where the pain is bad, and wear a flannel belt round the waist and loins — red flannel is best. If you have no mustard liniment at hand, use a mustard poultice or plaster, sprinkled with a few drops of spirits of turpentine: it will answer the same purpose. A Turkish bath, if you can get one, or if not, any medicine to act upon the skin and bring out perspiration, is generally useful. Measles. — First and foremost, do not invite it, in case it is preva- lent, by catching cold, lying on damp grass, by any exposure to wet, cold, or damp, or by disordering your stomach by sweets, pastry, and 90 forth. If measles is prevalent, such a course of conduct would be especially foolish. Symptoms. — Eyes running, hoarseness, violent sneezing; on the third or fourth day a rash comes out, much as if the patient had speckled his face with raspberry jam. Treatment. — Put the patient to bed, and keep him warm; allow no cold draught in his room, but do not let it get close. Wash the THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. I87 hands and face with hot water; keep the eyes clear, and manage somehow to keep down the cough, by a bran poultice if necessary, till the doctor comes. Poison, — Send at once for a doctor, and lose no time. Meanwhile administer doses of warm water with plenty of mustard in it, or else ipecacuanha wine, and irritate the throat by the feather end of a quill. Should the case be past the power of sickness and relief by vomiting and there be no stomach-pump, then perhaps your best chance is to administer a strong dose of castor oil, or some even potent purgative. Of course if you know any special antidote fbr the special poison that has been taken, use it. Sting of Wasp, Bee, or Hornet. — Take care and extract with your fingers or a small pair of tweezers any bit of the sting that is left in the wound. The place may be then gcntl}' squeezed to extract the venom, or even sucked with impunity, if there be no scratch, crack, or abrasion, on the lips. Then wash with warm water and rub some sweet oil into the place, which will generally abate the pain. A small poultice may be put on at night, if the pain be not all gone, or the place be still swollen. Ijoecacuanha powder poultices arc useful. Toothache, How to Treat. — To alleviate the wretched pain — for nothing probably short of "cold steel," that is, extraction, can work a perfect cure — take at once a tolerabl}^ strong dose of opening medicine; as soon as this operates, in all probability the pain will be gone for a week or two. Meanwhile, apply a small mustard poul- tice outside, just over the place where the pain is most violent, and rub the gum and the tooth with chloroform and laudanum mixed. If the tooth be a hollow one and very painful, then put in the cavity a little cotton-wool dipped in chloroform and laudanum. It will ease the dreadful pain. A little bit of cotton dipped in a solution of shellac, or of gum mastic and spirits of wine, makes a good tempo- rary stopping for very bad teeth. Avoid the ordinary vaunted " nostrums," that is, the quack medicines said instantly to remove toothache. Creosote is the safest domestic remedy to employ, if the 1 88 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. pain be very bad ; only get a friend to employ it, by putting a little bit of cotton-wool dipped in it into the hollow of the tooth for you, and do not try to put it in yourself, or you will scarify your tongue and gums. Ammonia is also a good remedy for toothache. Apply a small bit of cotton saturated in a strong solution of ammonia to the de- fective tooth, and after a momentary nervous pain, the aching will have ceased. Teeth, Hints on the Care of, etc. — The tooth-brush, which should be used night and morning, should be small, and have its not too stiff bristles arranged in separate bundles (in order that they may pass readily between the teeth and into the natural depressions). The outer and inner surface of both front and back teeth should be brushed. The direction of the brushing should be from the gums; that is, downwards for the upper teeth, and upwards for the lower. This mode of cleaning the teeth is the best preventive against decay, which causes toothache, and also against the accumulation of tartar, which makes the breath foul, and in course of time causes the teeth to loosen and fall out. If you use any tooth- powder, you cannot go far wrong in employing camphorated chalk, to be bought at any chemist's. Some prefer powdered chalk mixed with castile soap. A teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda and a table- spoonful of Eau-de-Cologne, to a quart of water, make an excel- lent preservative rinse for the mouth and teeth at night, and after the taking of acid medicine. If the gums need hardening use a little borax dissolved in water. Whooping-Cough. — Not much can be done by unprofessional per- sons in the way of cutting short an attack of this complaint; but the following general directions may be useful. Keep the patient in- doors, and feed, or rather nourish well ; attend to his general health by keeping the room warm and well ventilated, but with no cold draughts. Keep the bowels regular, and give a drop or two drops of tincture of belladonna in a little water every now and then. Some much recommend a little alum dissolved in water, or a little alum to THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. 1 89 suck, or cochineal ; but the belladonna is preferable. As whooping- cough may cause fits and other dangerous consequences, if possible, always call in a doctor. Bronchitis. — In case you can get no proper doctor, apply linseed- meal poultices to the throat and chest, keeping one on, constantly warm, and changing it when it begins to lose its heat. Maintain also a warjn, damp atmosphere in the room; and if you have no proper steaming apparatus, then let " Polly put the kettle on " the fire, let it boil, and send its steam out into the room for the patient to inhale. You may, too, from time to time, bring the boiling kettle near the patient, and let him inhale some of the steam from its spout; only dont bring it too near him. In case of giving medicine, you cannot go very wrong in the following prescription, if no medi- cal man can be had to give a better one : — Ipecac, wine, ten or fifteen drops in three teaspoonfuls of spirits of Mindererus, that is, in the solution of acetate of ammonia. If ipecac, wine is not to be had, then use, instead of it, half a teaspoonful of oxymel of squills. Take care, above everything, that your patient does not get a chill, or sit in a thorough draught, or the consequences may be very serious. Erysipelas. — Give a good strong saline purgative dose, such as sixty grains of sulphate of magnesia along with ten grains of carbon- ate of magnesia and an ounce of peppermint water (and if you cannot get that, plain water) to begin with. In case you are where there is no medicine chest, then take half a tumblerful of sea water before breakfast instead. Follow this up with fifteen to twenty drops of what is called the tincture of steel — that is, "Tr. Ferri Perchlor." bottle, in ihe medicine chest, so labelled, or else " Liquor Ferri Perchlor." which is a good deal stronger — combined with three grains of quinine, three times a day, and powder the part affected over- with fine flour, or else cover it with cotton-wool sprinkled with flour, or else with the oxide of zinc powder, if it be within reach. Painting the inflamed part over with collodion is the practice in some of our hospitals, and limiting the spread of the inflammation by pencilling it round with a stick of nitrate of silver — that is, caustic. ipO THE hearthstone; OR, LIFE AT HOME. Ingrowing Nail. — First and foremost, give up wearing the absurd tight boot or shoe that has been the sole cause of this painful — it may be dangerous — affection. In the next place, do not attempt to give it relief by cutting away the nail, where it eats into the flesh of the toe by the side, but proceed to thin the middle of the nail, its whole length, by scraping it with a penknife. Poultices. — The ingredients best suited for a poultice are those which retain heat the longest; of these ingredients, the best are lin- seed-meal, bran and bread. Jaundice. — Symptoms. — Yellowness of the skin and of the white of the eyes. Motions, color of pipe-clay. Urine, dark brown or green in tint. Loss of appetite, flatulence, sometimes sickness. Causes. — Intemperance in liquors, over-eating, constipation, exposure to cold, obstruction in gall-duct from a gall-stone. Treatment. — Low diet, milk, arrowroot ; no stimulants, no slops ; linseed and mustard poultices over the pit of the stomach. Give a dose of blue pill and colocynth at night, and half a Seidlitz powder in a tumbler of water three or four times a dav, for a week or more. If there has been severe pain in the bowels for a day or two before the jaundice comes on, and also severe vomiting, the disorder is probably due to the passage of a gall-stone out of the gall-bladder. In this case, use hot bath, and give doses of laudanum (lO to 20 drops every three hours for an adult) till the pain is relieved. Employ hot fomentations to the bowels, and give iced milk (if you can get it) and soda-water to drink. During convalescence, beware of exposure to cold and any intemperance in diet. How TO Give Chloroform in Case no Doctor can be had. — In case you are at sea, with no surgeon on board, and you would fain .still the agony to the patient, in having to amputate, at the first or second joint, some dreadfully crushed finger or thumb, then bear in mind that the administration of chloroform is preferable to, and safer than, that of ether, unless this last be given by a medical man. First: Do «(?/ give chloroform unnecessarily; for, even when given with every precaution, bear in mind that a certain, though very sni^ll, THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. 191 risk of death is incurred. Let the patient take no food — in any case no soHd food — for four hours before the operation. This will lessen the chance of his vomiting. First take off his boots or shoes, loosen his necktie, shirt-collar and wrist-bands, and take care that there is nothing tight about his body. You want all the room and space you can get for his lungs and his heart to act freely. Then lay him on his back on a table, with his head on a low pillow, and let a man stand on each side of him to hold his arms ; for, if he be a strong, robust man, he will probably struggle ; if he be an intemperate man, he will certainly do so. Put about four tablespoonfuls of chloroform into a phial and keep it in your waistcoat pocket. Next fold a piece of lint, a foot long and four inches wide, thrice, and turn your phial upside down in the centre of this, with the lint covering the mouth of the phial, till you get a wet spot in the middle of it about the big- ness of a penny-piece, and keep this spot constantly moist by appl}-- ing the phial of chloroform to it occasionally. Hold the lint so that the wet spot be three inches from the patient's mouth and nostrils. Do not bid him to inhale it, or he may be frightened and begin to cough and choke; but bid him to blowout strongly, while you bring the moist part of the bit of lint gradually nearer and nearer his lips and his nostrils. He cannot help then necessarily taking a deep in- spiration each time after the puff he has given, so that all the air he breathes will pass over and through the moistened parts. The patient will probably struggle, kick, and talk nonsense. Restrain him without using much force, and as he moves his head, do you move the bit of lint in unison with it, and keep it close to, but not touch- ing, his face. When you can pluck a hair out of his temples without his feeling it or flinching, then he is under the anaesthetic influence, and the operation can begin. Give him then more air by removing the lint a little farther from him ; but do not take it away, unless he begins to snore. This sign always indicates that he has had as much as is at all safe for him, and you must remove the lint till the snormg ceases. luring the operation, while the patient is under the influence of 192 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. the chloroform, pay the greatest attention to his pulse and his lips. Don't take your eyes off his lips for a moment. Should these be- come purple, give him more air; and should the breathing cease, take away the lint and throw open the doors and windows, and resort to artificial means of producing respiration. Should the patient become very pale, turn his head on one side, as this sign indicates that he is going to be sick, and put a towel or cloth under his face, that he may be sick upon it, and then go on with the inhalation. The pulse generally increases, at first, in force and frequency of beats; and you must take particular notice if it fails or becomes intermittent, as that is a symptom of danger, and you must instantly stop the chloroform and give all the air you can. In any case of danger or difficulty, open the patient's mouth and pull the tongue quite forward. Lastly, and most important, if any indication of fainting comes on, keep the patient's head low, and do not on any account raise it. A few drops of brandy gently poured between the gums and the teeth will trickle slowly down the throat and will improve the pulse, while any attempt to make the patient drink in the usual manner will invariably bring on coughing. Remove the pillow at the same time. When the operation is over, and you wish to bring the patient to, open the doors and windows, and allow the cool air to play upon his face and chest. It is sometimes, but rarely, needful to slap the face with a wet towel. The patient will be drowsy for some hours after- wards, and the best thing to do, for all reasons, is to let him sleep. Sucking a bit of rough ice, if you can get it, always allays the thirst and nausea, in case these should follow. The Evil Effects of Iced Water. — One of the most able and famous French writers on health subjects recently remarked in an interview : " I have heard that you Americans are a people lacking in physical health and power. This is untrue. No people on earth are stronger! It must be so, for you drink iced water and //zr.' It would kill me, or anybody else but an American." THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. I93 The point to be remembered is this : The normal temperature of the stomach is not far from 99°, while the temperature of iced water is probably 39° or 40°. Here, then, we take suddenly into that centre of the body and of the nervous system (for the stomach is only second to the brain and ganglia as a nervous centre) an ice-cold fluid 60° colder than the circulation and the digesting organ into whicfi it is so unceremoniously plunged ! What a shock ! Is it to be wondered that its effect is often fatal ? — that if it does not kill at once, like a bullet, it frequently produces dyspepsia, and other causes of chronic ill health resulting in death ? Cold Tea. — The mistake that most people make in preparing tea for a cold drink is in letting it stand too long on the tea leaves — stand until cold. This brings out all the bitter, indigestible qualities of the tea leaf, which may be somewhat disguised by the lemon and sugar added, but remain to torment the drinker. To get the full benefit of good iced tea, first heat the proper quantity on a tin plate, or any iron plate ; let it get thoroughly hot, so that it would crumble to dust between the finger and thumb. Then scald out the teapot very hot, using an earthen pot, which is the only teapot that has no black de- posit left on it from other tea-makings ; add to this from the kettle the first boiling of water out of the freshly-filled kettle, and let it draw five minutes and no more. Pour off to cool, and when entirely cold, add the same quantity of good milk to your pitcher. You will have not only a refreshing but a nourishing drink. Of course, if lemon is called for, you omit the milk. To Purify Rooms after Sickness. — Wash the furniture, wood- work, floor, and walls (scraping off the paper) with the carbolic solu- tion and soap. Then shut up tightly, and burn in it a pound of sulphur for every hundred cubic feet of space it contains, and allow the fumes to remain in the closed room for twenty-four hours. Lastly, open the doors and windows so as to ventilate freely for a week, at the end of which time disinfection may generally be con- sidered complete. To Make Pepsin. — Cut up v(try fine half a dozen pigs' stomachs »3 194 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. and macerate for ten or twelve hours in a menstruum composed of one part of muriatic acid and thirty-two parts of water; decant and macerate a second time; pour the two products together, and add common salt until no further pepsin is formed. The pepsin will float on the top. Collect it on a muslin strainer and press out the adhering moisture. This is the pepsin so much valued in cases of great debility, and which costs so much at the druggist's. A test of its strength can be made by mixing a small quantity with milk and suiiar, and determining how much albumen it will dissolve. A powerful antidote to strychnine poison is found in chloral hy- drate, which is given in very large doses with gratifying success. Strychnia itself is now considered, by a sort of medical consensus, to be the most important remedy for diphtheria. How TO Treat a Cold. — When you get chilly all over and away into your bones, and begin to sniffle and almost struggle for your breath, just begin in time and your tribulations need not last very long. Get some powdered borax and snuff the dry powder up your nostrils. Get your camphor-bottle and smell it frequently ; pour some on your handkerchief, and wipe your nose with it whenever needed. Your nose will not get sore, and you will soon wonder what has become of your cold. Begin this treatment in the forenoon and keep on at intervals until you go to bed, and you will sleep as well as ever you did. The free use of lemon-juice and sugar will always relieve a cough. Sick Stomach. — A wine-glassful of water drank as hot as it can be borne will frequently arrest a very distressing vomiting, but it should be /to/, not warm. Good strong vinegar sipped at pleasure is another prompt and safe remedy. The TOMATO is a powerful aperient, and is a wonderfully effective curative agent for liver and kidney affections. It is also a thorough remedy for dyspepsia. Soda for Burns. — All kinds of burns, including scalds and sun- burns, are almost immediately relieved by the application of a solu- tion of soda to the burnt surface. It must be remembered that dry THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. I95 soda will not do unless it is surrounded with a cloth moist enough to dissolve it. This method of sprinkling it on and covering it with a wet cloth is often the very best. But it is sufficient to wash the wound repeatedly with a strong solution. It would be well to keep a bottle of it always on hand, made so strong that more or less set- tles on the bottom. This is what is called a saturated solution, and really such a solution as this is formed when the dry soda is sprinkled on and covered with a moistened cloth. It is thought by some that the pain of a burn-is caused by the hardening of the albumen of the flesh which presses on the nerves, and that the soda dissolves the albumen and relieves the pressure. Others think that the burn generates an acrid acid which the soda neutralizes. Acid Burns Cured by Magnesia. — Two French students who were much burned about the face by the explosion of a retort filled with boiling sulphuric acid, were, at once taken to a druggist, who covered their faces 2mm. thick with a soft paste made of calcined magnesia and water. In a few seconds, fissures appeared in the mag- nesian mask, and a new layer was then substituted. The patients were thus tended for five hours, after which the one hurt the least was able to wash his face, which merely showed some reddish spots. The other had his magnesian mask renewed during twenty-four hours. Suffering acutely at first, the students ceased to suffer in less than a quarter of an hour. Their faces retained no traces of burns. A quick cure for slight burns is to apply a layer of common salt and saturate it with laudanum. Hold it in place an hour or so by simple bandage. The smarting sensation will disappear rapidly and the burn get well. Simple Method of Removing Insects from the Ear. — Dr. B. F. Kingsley, U. S. A., relates a number of cases where soldiers sleeping on the plains have come to him to have bugs removed from their isars. Accidentally he discovered that by holding a lighted candle near the ear, the insects would at once leave the cavity and come forth. The patient should be in the dark when this is done. Nits in the Hair. — The London Lancet gives the two following methods of removing nits from the hair: 196 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. 1. Apply spirits of wine freely, so as to dissolve the glue which attaches the nits to the hair, and then wash them away with soap and water. 2. Apply to the hair rather a strong decoction of larkspur seeds (Delphinium staphisagria). This will kill the parasites very quickly. Wash the head with carbolic soap, after two or three days. The nits will then readily come away by brushing and combing. The Night-Air SuI'ERSTITIon. — Dr. Felix Oswald, who is an authority on sanitary matters, says: " Before we can hope to fight consumption with any chance of suc- cess, we have to get rid of the night-air superstition. Like the dread of cold water, raw fruit, etc., it is founded on mistrust of our instincts. It is probably the most prolific single cause of impaired health, even among the civilized nations of our enlightened age, though its ab- surdity rivals the grossest delusions of the witchcraft era. The sub- jection of holy reason to hearsays could hardly go further. "'Beware of the night-wind; be sure and close your windows after dark ! ' In other words, beware of God's free air; be sure and fill your lungs with the stagnant, azotized and offensive atmosphere of your bed-room. In other words, beware of the rock spring; stick to sewerage. Is night-air injurious? Is there a single tenable pretext for such an idea? Since the day of creation that air has been breathed with impunity by millions of different animals — tender, deli- cate creatures, some of them — fawns, lambs, and young birds. " The moist air of the tropical forest is breathed with impunity by our next relatives, the Anthropoid apes — the same apes that soon perish with consumption in the close though generally well-warmed atmosphere of our Northern menageries. Thousands of soldiers, hunters, and lumbermen sleep every night in tents and open sheds without the least injurious consequences; men in the last stage of consumption have recovered by adopting a semi-savage mode of life, and camping out-doors in all but the stormiest nights. Is it the draught you fear, or the contrast of temperature? Blacksmiths and railroad conductors seem to thrive under such influences. Draught! THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. 1 97 Have you never seen boys skating in the teeth of a snow storm at the rate of fifteen miles an hour ? ' They counteract the effect of the cold air by vigorous exercise.' Is there no other way of keeping warm ? Does the north wind damage the fine lady sitting motion- less in her sleigh, or the pilot and helmsman of a storm-tossed vessel? It cannot be the inclemency of the open air, for even in sweltering summer nights the sweet south wind, blessed by all creatures that draw the breath of human life, brings no relief to the victim of acro- phobia. " There is no doubt that families who have freed themselves from the curse of that superstition can live out-and-out healthier in the heart of a great city than its slaves on the airiest highlands of the Southern Apennines." Advice to Dyspeptics. — Avoid pork, fat meats, grease, gravies, pastries, spices, confectioneries, tea, coffee, alcoholic drinks, beer, malt liquors of all kinds. Let your food be plain, simple, wholesome — chiefly fruits and vegetables. Let your bread be made of un- bolted wheat-meal. Take your meals regularly ; if three, let the supper be very sparing. Eat slowly, lightly, masticate thoroughly. Beware of hot food and drinks. Avoid luncheons by all means. Exercise freely in the open air; never sit moping, but turn your mind entirely from your disease and troubles. Keep regular hours; rise early, exercise half an hour gently before breakfast. Bathe fre- quently; keep the skin clean and the pores open. Keep the feet dry ; let the soles of your shoes be thick, that no dampness may penetrate them. Wear loose fitting garments, especially about the region of the lungs. Banish the pipe, quid, and snuff-box, as the plague, forever. Of all the dyspepsia breeders and promoters nothing exceeds the use of the " Indian weed." Finally, keep a conscience void of offence; pray God to forgive your past sins of gluttony and intemperance, for no one who lives temperately as he should will ever be troubled with dyspepsia. Alcohol and Dyspepsia. — Many persons are under the impres- sion that alcoholic drinks are beneficial in dyspepsia, but the truth is 198 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. that alcohol precipitates the pepsin of the stomach and interferes with digestion; hence dyspepsia is a common symptom in habitual drinkers. Table Salt an Aperient. — Physicians have for a long time known that common table salt is an efficient aperient in ordinary cases of constipation. Each morning on rising a tumblerful of water — cold, to prevent nauseating — in which was dissolved a teaspoonful of table salt, should be taken. This simple aperient is successful in nearly all cases of constipation. A GOOD DISINFECTANT is made by dissolving a bushel of salt in a barrel of water, and with the salt-water slack a barrel of lime, which should be wet enough to form a kind of paste. If used freely about cellars, gutters, and the like, this home-made chloride of lime is an excellent disinfectant. Coffee is a most convenient and effective disinfecter. Burn it in an open pan. The juice of ripe tomatoes will remove the stain of walnuts from the hands without injury to the skin. One of the most important things to be considered in dress is the careful covering of the chest and back. Exposing the lungs by in- adequate shielding of these portions of the body from cold is too generally practised, especially by ladies. To cover the chest alone most carefully is not enough : there should be a thick covering be- tween the shoulders. For mental headache, coarse brown paper wet with strong cider vinegar will often prove effective and soothing; and sometimes to have the eyes bathed with cool water is a relief to the aching head. The best remedy for a sprained ankle or wrist, until medical aid arrives, is to bathe the afflicted member in arnica, and if it is not near at hand, use a strong decoction of vinegar and wormwood. A flan- nel cloth wrung out of the above just as hot as the patient will bear, and bound on the affected part, will give immediate relief. A safe and almost sure remedy for an inflamed eye is to bathe the afflicted member in lukewarm water, into which a small quantity THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. 199 of common table salt has been dissolved. Hold the eye open while bathing, and immediate relief will be experienced. Bathing the eyes morning and night with cold water is an excellent practice for those who are obliged to use their eyes to any extent. The water acts like a tonic, and strengthens and brightens the eye. The eyes should be kept open as much as possible during the process of bathing them. Early Rising. — There is not one man in ten thousand who can afford to do without seven or eight hours' sleep. All the stuff writ- ten about great men who sleep only three or four hours at night is apocryphal. They have been put upon such small allowance oc- casionally, and prospered ; but no man ever kept healthy in body and mind for a number of years with less than seven hours' sleep. If you can get to bed early, then rise early ; if you cannot go to bed until late, then rise late. It may be as proper for some men to rise at eight as it is for others to rise at five. Let the rousing bell be rung at least thirty minutes before the public appearance. Physicians say that a sudden jump out of bed gives irregular motion to the pulse. It takes hours to get over a sudden rising. Half*a-dozen onions planted in the cellar, where they can get a little light, will do much towards absorbing and correcting the atmos- pheric impurities that are so apt to lurk in such places. Preventive Against Sea-Sickness. — Let your last day on shore be a day of perfect rest; no shopping or farewell calls ; let your body, which is likely to be pretty well tired by previous fatigue, get thoroughly rested. At least twenty-four hours before you sail, take as strong a dose, or doses if necessary, of cathartic medicine as you can bear. Eat lighter meals than usual for two or three days before sailing and abstain from beer. Then, if the malady assail you on your first day out, take twenty or thirty grains of bromide of sodium, and repeat if necessary. So shall you find the ocean voyage the pleasantest part of your foreign tour, so shall you make your trip an expensive one to the steamship in the way of board. 200 THE hearthstone; OR, LIFE AT HOME. Asthma has been cured by sleeping on a pillow made of " wild balsam," or, as many people call it, " life everlasting." It grows wild in most places in the country, and is very sweet, and considered by some an excellent thing for colds — made into a tea, of course. The remedy is so simple that it deserves a ti-ial. A FEW hints in case of drowning may at some time prove of assistance to all my readers. When bodies are taken out of the water after remaining in it for fifteen or twenty minutes life is not always extinct, as is oftentimes thought ; but from want of proper and im- mediate treatment the persons do not recover consciousness. When the body is taken from the water, do not wait to carry it to a house, if the house is at a distance ; lay the person on the ground face down- ward, and with the centre of the body elevated a little, so as to allow the water taken into the system free egress through the mouth. Open the mouth of the patient, and press the tongue down with the finger, as it may have become swollen, so that it will not stop the action of the throat. To remove the wet garments is the next step, and if blankets or other wraps are not at hand, take your own wraps to cover the patient. If he shows no signs of life, pat and. rub the limbs, and roll the body backwards and forwards, slowly and gently; see that the mouth is kept open, and that the head is turned, so that the water that is in the ears may come out. After working at the patient in this way for twenty minutes or a half hour, taking care to slap and rub the body, especially the palms of the hands and feet, and perceiving no symptoms of a return to consciousness, put the ear down to the heart and listen for the least perceptible flutter. The patient may now be removed to the nearest house or shelter, and haste should be made to obtain blankets, and a warm bath prepared. As soon as the patient shows signs of conscious- ness, a few teaspoonfuls of whiskey should be carefully poured down the throat, and the limbs and chest rubbed freely with the same. A warm bath, doctors and proper nourishment will effect the rest. THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. 20I An excellent and palatable way to take cod-liver oil, which some- times produces nausea, is to take it in tomato catsup. A GOOD idea, and a congenial one to lovers of the aesthetic, is to plant sunflowers in the garden when obliged to reside in a malarial neighborhood. Cranberries for malaria, and popcorn for nausea, are also recommended. An important item in housekeeping, and one oftentimes sadly neglected by over-zealous housekeepers, is the proper airing of the beds. Three to four hours is the shortest time which the clothing should be aired. It should be taken from the beds, well shaken, and each piece placed on a separate chair. To hurry the making of the beds early in the morning is a false idea of neatness. A TEASPOONFUL of ammonia in the water in which you wash removes all the unpleasant effects of perspiration. Advice with Reasons. — Beware of salves, beware of plasters, be- ware of eye-waters, beware of washes refining the skin, beware of toilet powders, and be careful in the use of scented soaps. Why? Salves make and keep the skin sore, plasters prevent wounds from healing, eye-waters do often more injury than good, most hair-dyes produce sore eyes, beautifying washes are often poisonous, ditto toilet powders, while scented soaps are usually too sharp with free alkali. The best remedy in ordinary hiccoughs is about twenty-five grains of common table salt placed in the mouth and swallowed with a sip of water. When the finger or hand is badly cut, and when plaster is out of reach, a good substitute is brown paper, or black cobweb. W^hen plaster has been obtained, press the cut together firmly with the fingers, and sponge with a soft rag and tepid water ; then apply the plaster, which should be cut in narrow pieces about the sixth of an inch wide, and place in diagonal lines over the wound. Sulphur used as a gargle is said to be a sure cure for diphtheria. This disease is only an accumulation of fungus in the throat, and sul- phur is a specific for every species of fungus. If the patient can- 202 THE hearthstone; OR, LIFE AT HOME. not gargle, put the sulphur on a live coal and let it burn under his nose. Sleep. — Sleep will do much to cure irritability of temper, peevish- ness and uneasiness. It will build up and make strong a weary body. It will do much to cure dyspepsia, particularly that variety known as nervous dyspepsia. It will relieve the languor and prostration felt by consumptives. It will cure hypochondria. It will cure the head- ache. It will cure neuralgia. It will cure a broken spirit. It will cure sorrow. Indeed, we might make a long list of nervous maladies that sleep will cure. To persons afflicted with cold feet this remedy is offered. Before retiring, dip the feet in cold water for a brief period, often just to im- merse them, and then rub them thoroughly with a coarse Russian towel or a pair of hair flesh-gloves. Disagreeable as this plan is, it is often very effective and conducive to both health and comfort. Carbolic Acid as a Disinfectant. — Dr. G. M. Sternberg, of the United States army, in a report to the National Board of Health, gives these results of his experiments on the value of disinfectants. Carbolic acid he finds of little value. He says that "the popular idea that an odor of carbolic aCid in the sick-room, or in a foul privy, is evidence that the place is disinfected, is entirely fallacious, and in fact the use of this agent as a volatile disinfectant is impracticable, be- cause of the expense of the pure acid, and the enormous quantity required to produce the desired result." To have Perfect Ventilation. — Open your windows, pull up your window blinds, turn up your mattresses and bed-clothes, and every morning let the products of the night be swept out by the incoming current of fresh air. Then, all through the day, remember to have a small chink open at the top of your windows ; or, better still, raise the lower sash, close the opening beneath with a piece of wood fitting closely, and so the air will enter at the junction of the sashes and pass upwards without draught. The secret of ventilation without draught is a little and constajiily. Once permit the air to become close and stuffy, and the moment you endeavor to remedy THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. 2O3 this result of carelessness a cold draught will rush in, and the fear of injury will prompt you to stop it. The mere fact of living in a close atmosphere begets a shivery, susceptible condition of body which is intolerant of the slightest sensation of chill. If you accustom your- self and your children to fresh air you become robust ; your lungs play freely, the vital heat is sustained, and even a draught becomes exhilarating. Household Dirt. — A most subtle enemy to health, whether at home or at the seaside, is to be found in the oftentimes cherished presence of what may be comprehensively called household dirt. The dirt of an ordinary house, the dirt which may be wiped from the walls, swept off the furniture and beaten out of the carpets, would be sufficient, if it were powdered in the form of dust over the patients in the surgical wards of a great hospital, to bring all their wounds into a condition which would jeopardize life. It cannot be supposed that such dirt is innocuous when it is breathed or swallowed, and it certainly possesses the property of retaining for long periods the con- tagious matter given off by various diseases. Instances without number are on record in which the poison of scarlet fever, long dormant in a dirty house, has been roused into activity by some probably imperfect or bad attempts at cleansing. The preservation of health is not a mere mechanical question of the perfection of cer- tain traps to drains, but depends upon the intelligent avoidance of the causes by which disease is liable to be produced. Ventilation of Cellars. — Housekeepers have to deal constantly with the question of health in their homes, and as the condition of cellars has much to do with good health, the following article on their ventilation, which is by Major John P. Hawkins, of the United States army, is reproduced in these pages : " The frequent and great losses at posts of vegetables during winter, and of meats during summer, that are stored in cellars, make it ad- visable that some suggestions should be made on the subject of cellar ventilation. Damage to stores in cellars is generally caused by heat, moisture and light, or by some one of these. Proper ventilation will 204 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. remove heat and moisture ; light is easily excluded, and ventilating appliances should be so constructed as not to admit it. In any arrangement for ventilation the following principles should be borne in mind : " Cold air is heavier than warm air ; cold air has less capacity for moisture than warm air, and therefore at the period of its greatest cold it has its least capacity for moisture, and as a corollary of this, as it becomes warmer its capacity for moisture increases. When the ventilation of a cellar is not influenced by the wind, the outer air, if colder than the cellar air, will descend into the cellar by its own weight, and force the warm air therein upward and out of the cellar, and as this air becomes warmer it will absorb moisture, and in turn be forced upward and out, carrying with it moisture and impurities, and this process continued long enough would bring the outer air and the cellar air into the same thermal and hygrometric conditions. When the outer air is warmer than the air of the cellar, and ventila- tion is desired to remove moisture or impure air, advantage should be taken of a dry wind from a favorable direction, and having in mind that the colder the air the less its capacity for moisture, and as in hot weather it is generally the coldest about 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, it would follow that about these hours would be a favorable time for ventilating a cellar during the warm season. Although simple op- posite openings in the upper part of the cellar walls might be suffi- cient for ventilation alone, tubes for the inflow of the outer air (inlet tubes) and tubes for the outflow of the inner air (outlet tubes), with a sufficient number of elbows, and painted black on the inside, are necessary to arrest the entrance of light. The inlet tubes should extend to the bottom of the cellar, and have at that point a tight-fitting slide or cap for opening or closing them. To obtain the best results their mouths (the outer or upper end) should be presented horizontally, and may be hopper-shaped, and be arranged to turn horizontally 180° so as to be turned toward the wind; they should also be provided with a door for security against a driving rain. THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. 20$ " The outlet tubes should be placed at the top of the cellar wall, and not extend beyond its inner face. The outer end should present its mouth upwards (vertically), in order that the escape of air may be interfered with as little as possible by the wind, and be provided with a tight-fitting cap. To obtain the full effect of the direct force of the wind for the inlet tubes, and an aspiratory action for the outlet tubes, they may be fitted with cowls, with vanes so arranged that the inlet tubes shall always be presented to the wind and the outlet tubes be always turned from the wind ; the upper rim of the cowls should project a little so as to lessen the chance of rain getting in, and if it . is practicable to procure a cap formed thus, it should be provided for the outlet tubes. This cap will cause the wind from any direction to exercise an aspiratory or suction power up the tubes, and will pre- vent the entrance of rain or snow. The longer the outlet tubes the better this action. "Air communication between the cellar and outside, except through these tubes, should be prevented as far as possible, and therefore with the adoption of this method of ventilation, the cellar windows of the usual style that may have been in use should be closed up, and arti- ficial light might be employed whenever the cellar is visited. "The number of tubes to be used will depend upon the size of the cellar and its peculiarities, but it is suggested that they be not less than ten inches in diameter. The action for which they are designed may be stated as follows : The tubes being closed with their caps or slides, the inlet tubes will be filled with cold air ; then when the caps or slides are removed from them and from the outlet tubes, the cold and heavy air in the inlet tubes will mov^e down and out into the cellar, over the cellar floor and under the warm air, which it will force upward and out of the cellar through the outlet tubes at the top, and similar action will take place when it is necessary to ventilate in warm weather by taking advantage of a proper direction of the wind. Tile pipe or galvanized sheet-iron would be a good material for these tubes, or they could be made of boards seamed with white or red lead, and secured with screws. If made of galvanized iron their efficacy would 2o6 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. be increased by encasing them tightly with boards. This would pre- vent the inlet tubes from being warmed by the higher temperature of the cellar, and the outlet tubes from being cooled by the lower outside temperature, and if an outlet tube could be carried inside the cellar up to and through the roof, its efficacy would be much increased, and when practicable a chimney flue leading from the cellar to the roof may be utilized as an outlet tube. An approved method for an inlet tube, to preserve a uniform temperature, is to lay a pipe six feet below the surface of the ground, connecting with the cellar and a point about sixty feet distant ; at this latter point erect a ven- tilating shaft for the inflow of the outer air, which, passing through the length of this pipe, will be warmed in winter and cooled in summer. " To illustrate the efficacy with which cold air acts as a vehicle for the removal of moisture, it may be stated approximately, that if the outer air at a temperature of zero Fahrenheit be admitted to a cellar, and raised therein to a temperature of 60 degrees, it could absorb and carry out about 5 Troy grains of moisture per cubic foot, and if raised to lOO degrees, it could absorb and carry out about 19 grains per cubic foot." Cure for Earache. — Earache may be produced from various causes. Accumulation of wax pressing on the drum of the ear; congestions and inflammation of the inner ear ; the presence of in- sects or foreign substances ; catarrh and various affections of the brain. In cases of earache arising from an accumulation of wax, syringe the ear thoroughly with soap and water, or water in which is dissolved bi-carbonate of soda or borax, in the proportion of a tea- spoonful to a quart of water. At least a quart of water should be used and the operation repeated twice a day. Always have the water warm. After washing out the ear insert a pledget of lint or cotton soaked in glycerine ; if much pain exists a few drops of laudanum may be added. Never use a pin to pick the ears with. It is seldom that anything is necessary ; when it is, an ear spoon made for the purpose, or, what is better, a bit of sponge on the end THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. 207 of a probe, such as are sold in drug stores, may be used. When there is congestion or inflammation there is likely to be a good deal of pain. Relief may be obtained by the application of poultices to the ear, or rub a little camphor liniment back of the ear. Steaming is often useful. In the absence of an instrument for that purpose, this may be done by heating a brick very hot, enveloping it with flannel, then pouring vinegar upon it and holding it to the ear. Relief has been given by wetting a pledget of cotton in chloroform, putting it into a common clay p^pe, inserting the stem into the ear and blowing through the bowl. The vapor of the chloroform is thus forced into the ear. The Prevention of Sunstroke. — To avoid sunstroke, exercise in excessively hot weather should be very moderate; the clothing should be thin and loose, and an abundance of cold water should be drunk. Workmen and soldiers should understand that as soon as they cease to perspire, while working or marching in the hot sun, they are in danger of sunstroke, and they should immediately drink water freely and copiously to afford matter for cutaneous transpiration, and also keep the skin and clothing wet with water- Impending sunstroke ;iiay often be warded off" by these simple meas- ures. Besides the cessation of perspiration, the pupils are apt to be contracted, and there is great frequency of micturition. If there is marked exhaustion, with a weak pulse, resulting from the cold water application, stimulants should be administered. The free use of water, however, both externally and internally, by those exposed to the direct rays of the sun, is the best protection against sunstroke, and laborers or soldiers, and others who adopt this measure, washing their hands and faces, as well as drinking copiously of water every time they come within reach of it, will generally enjoy perfect im- munity from sunstroke. Straw hats should be worn, ventilated at the top, and the crown of the hat filled with green leaves or wet sponge. It is better to wear thin flannel shirts, in order not to check perspiration. We may expose ourselves for a long time in the hot sun, and work or sleep in a heated room, and enjoy perfect immunity from sunstroke, if we keep our skin and clothing wet with water. 2o8 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Unrecognized Qualities in Charcoal. — Among the numerous and varied properties possessed by charcoal there is one — one, too, of the most wonderful — which does not seem to be adequately recog- nized, probably from its being imperfectly known except to physicists. It is that of being able to condense and store away in its pores many times its own bulk of certain gaseous bodies, which it retains, thus compressed in an otherwise unaltered condition, and from which they can be withdrawn, as required, as from a reservoir. It is this enor- mous absorptive power that renders of so much value a compara- tively slight sprinkling of charcoal over dead animal matter as a pre- ventive of the escape of the odors arising from decomposition. A dead dog having been placed in a box in the warm laboratory of an eminent chemist, and covered with charcoal to the depth of between two and three inches, could not be discovered to have emitted any smell during several months, after which time an examination showed that nothing of the animal remained but the bones and a small por- tion of the skin. Worth Remembering. — Persons travelling by railway are subject to continued annoyance from flying cinders. On getting into the eyes they are not only painful for the mom^t, but are often the cause of long suffering, that ends in total loss of sight. A very simple and effective cure is within the reach of every one, and would prevent much suffering and expense were it more generally known. It is simply one or two grains of flaxseed. These may be placed in the eye without injury or pain to that delicate organ, and shortly they begin to swell and dissolve a glutinous substance that covers the ball of the eye, enveloping any foreign substance that may be in it. The irritation or cutting of the membrane is thus prevented, and the annoyance may soon be washed out. A dozen of these grains stowed away in the vest pocket may prove, in an emergency, worth their number in gold dollars. A horse hair twisted into a loop care- fully inserted under the eyelid will remove cinders. Cure for a Felon. — The cure is said to be certain, and is pub- lished at the particular request of a person who has experienced its THE PPIYSICIAN IN THE HOME. 2O9 success for a great number of years. Take a piece of rock salt about 'the size of a walnut and wrap it up closely in a green cabbage leaf, but, if not to be had, in a piece of brown paper well moistened with water; lay it on hot embers and cover it up as if to roast for twenty minutes ; take it up and powder it as fine as possible ; then take some hard soap and mix the powdered salt with it so as to make a salve. If the soap should contain but little turpentine, which its smell will determine, add some more, but if it smells pretty strongly of it, none need be added. Apply the salve to the part affected, and in a short time it will totally destroy the felon and remove the pain. Medical Value of Asparagus. — A medical correspondent of an English journal says that the advantages of asparagus are not suffi- ciently appreciated by those who suffer with rheumatism and gout. Slight cases of rheumatism are cured in a few days by feeding on this delicious 'esculent; and more chronic cases are much relieved, especially if the patient avoids all acids, whether in food or beverage. The Jerusalem artichoke has also a similar effect in relieving rheuma- tism. The heads may be eaten in the usual way, but tea made from the leaves of the stalk and taken three or four times a day is a cer- tain remedy, though not equally agreeable. Sticking-Plaster. — An excellent sticking-plaster for fresh cuts or cracked hands is made of three pounds of rosin, a quarter of a pound of beeswax, a quarter of a pound of mutton tallow. When well melted and dissolved together, remove from the fire and keep stirring till it is about as cool as it will pour; then add one table- spoonful of spirits of turpentine ; then pour the whole into a pail of cold water, and when cool enough take it out and work it as a shoe- maker does his wax. When sufficiently worked, roll it out in small sticks. This is equal to any plaster ever bought. Keep the hands greased, to prevent it from sticking to them while working it. Diphtheria. — Dissolve one tablespoonful of sulphur in a glass of cold water ; gargle the throat six or eight times a day. Cook salt pork in vinegar and bind on the throat ; when the paroxysms come on soak the hands and feet in just as hot water as the patient will 2IO THE hearthstone; or, life at home. bear, with a tablespoon of baking soda thrown in. Rubbing the hmbs and body will assist greatly in throwing off the disease. The simple sulphur remedy is very effectual in common sore throat. Mustard Plaster. — By using syrup or molasses for mustard plasters they will keep soft and flexible, and not dry up and become hard, as when mixed with water. A thin paper or fine cloth should come between the plaster and the skin. The strength of the plaster is varied by the addition of more or less flour. To Stop Bleeding at the Nose. — A French surgeon says the simple elevation of a person's arm will stop bleeding at the nose. He explains the fact physiologically, and declares it a positive remedy. It is certainly easy of trial. Or, a strong solution of alum water, snuffed up the nostril, will cure in most cases, without any- thing further. To Cure Colic. — For the violent internal agony 'termed colic, take a teaspoonful of salt in a pint of cold water ; drink it and go to bed. It is one of the speediest remedies known. The same will re- vive a person who seems almost dead from a heavy fall. Cure for Hoarseness. — Take the whites of two eggs and beat them with two teaspoonfuls of white sugar, grate in a little nutmeg, then add a pint of lukewarm water ; stir well, drink often, and it will cure the most obstinate case of hoarseness in a short time. Gargle for Sore Throat. — Take one teaspoonful of cayenne pepper, one teaspoonful of salt, one pint of water, two tablespoonfuls of vinegar ; sweeten to taste with honey or loaf sugar. Mix to- gether and bottle. An excellent way to cure a sore throat is to bind the neck with a towel soaked in ice or very cold water, and then outside of this place a dry towel. Wear this during the night, and in the morning the throat will be much better. Hot Lemonade is one of the best remedies in the world for a cold. It acts promptly and effectively, and has no unpleasant effects. One lemon properly squeezed, cut in slices, put with sugar and covered with half a pint of boiling water. Drink just before going to bed. THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. 211 and do not expose yourself on the following day. This remedy will ward off an attack of the chills and fever if used promptly. To Prevent Choking. — Break an egg into a cup and give it to the person choking to swallow. The white of the egg seems to catch around the obstacle and remove it. If one egg does not answer the purpose try another. The white is all that is necessary. To Remove Proud Flesh. — Pulverize loaf sugar very fine and apply it to the part afflicted. This is a new and easy remedy, and is said to remove it without pain ; or burnt alum pulverized and applied is an old and reliable remedy. Stings and Bites. — Carbonate of soda wet and applied externally to the bite of a spider, or any venomous creature, will neutralize the poisonous effect almost instantly. It acts like a charm in the case of snake bite. Lean Fresh Meat will remove the pain of a wasp-sting almost instantly, and has been recommended for the cure of rattlesnake- bites. It is said to have a marked benefit in cases of erysipelas. Common Salt, mixed in cold water (tolerably strong), and used as a gargle night and morning, is found to harden the throat and keep off bronchial attacks. How TO Remove Stiffness and Aching of the Limbs after a VERY LONG RiDE, Walk, Row, OR Day ON THE IcE. — Sponge all over with water, as hot as you can bear it, just before going to bed ; and if you have had any bad bruises, use plenty of hot fomentations with tincture of arnica, in the proportion of one part of arnica to twelve of water. Then put bright, clear, hot cinders into a warming-pan, and upon them, just before proceeding to warm the bed, throw a large handful of the commonest, coarsest brown sugar you can get. Warm the bed thoroughly with the pan, so that it is filled with the hot steam and vapor from the sugar; slip in neatly and cleverly, so as to allow as little as possible of the steam to escape. Get some one to tuck you in tight, all round, go to sleep warm and cosy in your sugar-vapor bath, and the chances are that you will awake next morning light and limber, without an ache or twinge. 212 THE hearthstone; OR, LIFE AT HOME. Swelled Neck. — Wash the part with brine, and drink it also twice a day until cured. The Lemon. — Few people know the value of lemon-juice. A piece of lemon bound upon a corn will cure it in a few days ; it should be renewed night and morning. A free use of lemon- juice and sugar will always relieve a cough. Most people feel poorly in the spring, but if they would eat a lemon before breakfast every day for a week — with or without sugar, as they like — they would find it better than any medicine. Lemon-juice used according to this recipe will sometimes cure consumption : Put a dozen lemons into cold water and slowly bring to a Hoil ; boil slowly until the lemons are soft, then squeeze until all the juice is extracted; add sugar to your taste, and dri-nk. In this way use one dozen lemons a day. If they cause pain, or loosen the bowels too much, lessen the quanrtty, and use only five or six a day until you are better, and then begin again with a dozen a day. After using five or six dozen, the patient will begin to gain flesh and enjoy food. Hold on to the lemons, and still use them very freely for several weeks more. Another use for lemons is for a refreshing drink in summer, or in sickness at any time. Prepare as directed above, and add water and sugar. But in order to have this kept well, after boiling the lemons, squeeze and strain carefully; then to every half-pint of juice add one pound of loaf or crushed sugar, boil and stir a few minutes more until the sugar is dissolved, skim carefully, and bottle. You will get more juice from the lemons by boiling them, and the preparation keeps better. Fasting is recommended as a cure for rheumatism. In cases of acute articular rheumatism the fasting must be continued from four to eight days. In no case is it necessary to fast more than ten days. Patients may drink freely of cold water or lemonade in moderate quantities. No medicines are to be taken. Less positive results are obtained in cases of chronic rheumatism than in acute cases. The latter form of rheumatism is, after all, only a phase of indigestion, and is cured by giving complete rest to all the viscera. THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. 21 3 Cure for Neuralgia. — Mix an egg with corn-meal, or any coarse flour, and apply the poultice to the face or parts affected. This is a good remedy for toothache. In these days of neuralgia and sudden colds it is sensible to have some means of relief close at hand. Make two or three little bags of cotton cloth and fill them with hops. Then when you need them heat just as hot as possible even to the extent of browning the cloth, and apply to*the aching member. People who cannot endure the odor of the old-time remedy of hops and vinegar do not object to the hops alone. The dry hop-bag is a great improvement upon wet cloths of any kind. To Relieve Sciatica and Severe Neuralgic Pains. — Heat a flat-iron sufficiently hot to vaporize vinegar, wrap it in woollen cloth moistened with vinegar, and apply as warm as can be borne to the painful spot two or three times a day. As a rule, the pain disap- pears within twenty-four hours, and recovery is rapid. A Physician finds a preparation of oatmeal and beef-tea useful in giving strength to weak patients. To make it, take two tablespoon- fuls of fine oatmeal and make it perfectly smooth in two spoonfuls of cold water ; pour into this a pint of strong beef-tea ; boil it eight minutes ; keep stirring all the time ; it should be very smooth ; if lumpy pass through a sieve. In a room heated by a grate fire, and in fact in all rooms heated by artificial means, a glass or basin full of water will absorb the impure air arising from the gas in the coal, and keep the air pure. Birds or fish which are confined in stove-heated rooms often die from the impure air, and flowers and plants also. A Certain Remedy for Corns. — Dissolve four pearl buttons in the juice of one lemon. Add a little water, put in a bottle, shake well, and use night and morning. After a few days the mixture will have to be renewed. If persistently used, it will destroy corns. Catarrh Remedy. — Take a pint of soft water, and put in a table- spoonful of fine salt — as much salt may be used as will dissolve well. Take two teaspoonfuls before going to bed. 214 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. To Remove Warts. — Tincture of cantharides, with some drops of tincture of iodine ; apply to warts with a small brush or little stick three or four times a.day. In a few days the warts will disappear. Cautions in Visiting the Sick. — Do not visit the sick when you are fatigued, or when in a state of perspiration, or when the stomach is empty, for, in such conditions, you are liable to take the infection. To Disguise Castor-Oil. — Rub two drops of oil of cinnamon with an ounce of glycerine and an ounce of castor-oil. •Children will take without hesitation. Coughing can be stopped by pressing on the nerves of the lip in the neighborhood of the nose. A pressure there may prevent a cough when it is beginning. Sneezing may be stopped by the same mechanism. Pressing, also, in the neighborhood of the ear, right in front of the ear, may stop coughing. It is so also of hiccough, but much less so than 'for sneezing or coughing. Croup can be quickly cured with alum and sugar. Shave or grate off about a teaspoonful of alum, then mix it with twice its quantity of sugar (to make it palatable) and administer as promptly as pos- sible. If it is shaved off instead of grated, care should be taken to have it cut in small particles. Flannel should, in almost all instances, be worn by women and children, next to the skin, in winter. The same garment should not be used at night that is worn during the day. Cleanliness demands a change, and comfort would be increased by wearing a lighter article at night. To make a mustard plaster that will draw well, but not blister, mix with the white of an egg instead of water or vinegar. The White of an Egg is a most efficacious remedy for burns. Seven or eight successive applications of this substance soothe pain, and effectually exclude the air from the burn. Opening the Eves and submerging them in clean salt-water has been found beneficial to those whose eyesight is impaired by weak- ness or soreness. Bathing the eyes in salt-water is the best of pre- scriptions for strengthening and healing them. THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. 2I5 Chloride of Lime is essential to the purification of all sick-rooms. It keeps the atmosphere healthy, even in the most terrible epidemic diseases. It is a Mistake to load a weak stomach with water on the theory that it is a tonic. Water should be taken only as it is desired to quench thirst. The Leaves of Geranium are an excellent application for cuts, when the skin is rubbed off, and other wounds of the same kind. One or two leaves must be bruised and applied on linen to the part, and the wound will become cicatrized in a very short time. Two Teaspoonfuls of finely-powdered charcoal taken in a half- tumbler of water will often give relief to the sick headache, when caused, as in most cases it is, by a superabundance of acid on the stomach. In Smallpox the pits can be entirely prevented by covering the pustules as fast as they brftak with a coating of collodion — a liquid cuticle sold by all druggists. When a person is overheated and exhausted, both the hands and feet should be bathed in cold water, and something warm should be taken at once — hot lemonade, ginger water, or something of this kind. m ECONOMY IN THE HOME. "A penny saved is two pence clear, A pin a day's a groat a year." •OMESTIC ECONOMY ought to rank as one of the fine arts. It is a duty which everybody preaches, but very few know how to practise. There is stinginess in thousands of homes, but true economy and good man- agement in very few. There are thousands of house- keepers who mistake meanness for economy, and there are thousands more who want to be economical and don't know how. What they save in one thing they waste in another, so that their efforts to re- duce their household expenses are like pouring water into a bucket that has a hole in the bottom. What is put in at one end runs out at the other. The dollar saved in a carpet is spent upon some frail mantel ornament whi'ch is broken the first week. What is saved in the gown is lost in the bonnet, and people will go without a new pair of shoes which they need to buy a new ribbon which they don't need. There are men who will walk two miles to save a five-cent car fare and spend the five cents on the way in a vile cigar made of cabbage leaf, or a glass of froth which makes them hiccough for the rest of the journey. There are women who will go slipshod with their heels out of their stockings all the week in order to astonish their neighbors by some piece of finery on the Sunday. ' There are families that are half starved during the week in order to eat too much at Sunday's dinner. There are mothers who will even sacrifice their children's health to what they call economy, and have to pay ten dollars to a doctor because they would not pay for nourishing food in sufficient quantity. It was said of some highwayman when he died (216) ECONOMY IN THE HOME, 217 that after all he was not a bad fellow, for if he stole from one man he assisted another, and while his left hand was in somebody else's pocket his right hand was often relieving distress with the money thus obtained. Domestic economy is practised in much the same way. What the man saves by short commons of beer or whiskey he spends in an extra allowance of tobacco. What the good wife saves by altering an old dress she invests in kid gloves or a feather. She will talk freely of how long she has worn the dress, but be mod- estly silent about the money she has wasted upon other things. She will give her children molasses instead of butter to economize, while she allows them to waste bread and meat as if they cost nothing. She will scold her little girl for buying candy while she has her own mouth full of ice-cream. So that while she thinks she is a wonderful manager she is often only "penny wise and pound foolish," and spends a dollar where she saves a cent. All of which is very human but very unwise, and perhaps the first step toward learning true economy is taken when one begins to under- stand what false economy is. There are young men in the stores of large cities whose parents in the country have tried to teach them economy and who really desire to practise it. But while they stint themselves in necessaries, such as proper food, they spend money foolishly upon mere luxuries which do them no good. Such young men never prosper, because at the end of each year they have always spent more tlian they have made, and yet very often their pinched and hungry looks show that they have not had comforts enough. They should have smoked fewer cigars and gone oftener to the sea- bath. They should have spent less upon new ties and more upon flannels. They should have drunk less lager beer and more beef-tea. They should not have cheated their boarding-house or the washer- woman to pay for tickets to the theatre, however innocent that amuse- ment may be for those who can afford it. Economy is by no means an easy habit to acquire, especially for persons of a generous disposition. It is very hard to have to count every half-dollar one spends, but at the same time it is as much a 2i8 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. duty to provide for " the rainy day " of old age or adversity as it is to get fuel and warm clothing for the winter. Yet a large proportion of men and women when they die do not leave enough to bury them, and the number of charities for the relief of the aged of both sexes clearly shows how many thousands of persons who are too infirm to work for their daily bread are dependent upon others for the miser- able pittance that keeps body and soul together. It ought not to be so. Every child should be taught, and every man and woman should have learned, the honorable pride which shrinks from the thought of ever becoming dependent upon the charity of others. All that is needed is the habit of saving a little week by week and of never quite living up«to our income. But many will say: " My income is only so and so. How can I possibly save ?" Our answer is : " You could save what you waste." " But I don't waste anything." " Yes, you do ; and if you -are saving in one thing you are wasteful in another." Suppose, for instance, you waste only ten cents a day in bread or meat that you allow to be thrown away, or in candles burned unneces- sarily, or in any other item of household expense : you would say to the friend who told you that you could as well save that ten cents a day, that it amounted to nothing in the total, and that so long as you al- lowed no reckless extravagance you were practising as much economy as a liberal housekeeper ought, unless she wished to set an example of meanness. But you forget — and all waste in the home is the result of forgetting — that if you take care of the pennies the pounds will take care of themselves. You wonder, perhaps, to see a stone hollowed out beneath a waterfall. One day's dripping of water only wetted the stone, and a year's dripping did not perceptibly hollow it, but as an old poet remarked nearly two thousand years ago : " The drop of water hollows the stone, not by force, but by constantly falling." So it is with economy. Do you know what the ten cents a day, which you could easily save, would amount to at the end of fifty years, when it would do so much good to your children, if not to yourself, if you were to put it in a bank at 6 per cent, interest ? It ECONOMY IN THE HOME. 219 would amount to ^9,564. Here is a table that shows what would be the result at the end of fifty years of saving a certain sum every day and putting it to interest every day at the rate of 6 per cent. : One cent saved every day at 6 per cent, in fifty years would Ten cents " " " " Twenty cents « « « « Thirty cents « « « « Forty cents « « « « Fifty cents « <( « l< Sixty cents (< (* « « Seventy cents « « M « Eighty cents <( t* (C « Ninety cents « « « « One dollar « « « (( Five dollars « « « « Ten dollars « « « « be 5950 9.564 19,008 28,512 38,016 47.520 57.024 66,528 76,032 85.537 95.041 475.203 950,406 Of course, no one who is able to put by ten dollars or five dollars a day is under the necessity of practising domestic economy, but the table is useful as showing the v^ast increase of capital and interest in a course of years from the one cent, which every one could put by without feeling it. Baron Wilhelm de Rothschild, of Frankfort-on- the-Main, one of the famous firm of bankers, has an income of four cents a second. Four cents is not much, and a second is not much, yet four cents a second is two dollars and forty cents a minute, which is one hundred and forty-four dollars an hour, which is three thousand four hundred and fifty-six dollars a day, which is twenty-four thousand one hundred and ninety-two dollars a week. Go on multiplying and you will become giddy at the amount which four cents a second will come to in a month, a year, ten years, fifty years. But there are 31,536,000 seconds in each year. Put by your cents and you will soon have saved many dollars. The foundation principle of economy in the home, therefore, is to be saving and careful in little things, which seem nothing in them- selves, but which amount to a great deal when put together at the end of a given time. It is not economy to buy bad things because 220 THE hearthstone; OR, LIFE AT HOME. they are cheaper than good. It is always economical to keep up one's health. Children who are stinted in proper food cost more in the long run than those who are kept strong and well by generous diet. But generous diet does not mean over-feeding. Swill-milk is dearer than pure milk, although it may cost only half as much a quart. Poor meat is dearer than good meat, although it may cost only half as much a pound. A good housekeeper will soon learn how much bread, meat, milk, tea, sugar and other comforts are neces- sary for the household, and so be able to make a regular estimate and allow so much money a week for living and no more. A good housekeeper should keep an account book, entering every item, and filing every receipted bill. Every bill should be examined carefully, hcAvever sure one may be of the butcher's, baker's and grocer's hon- esty, because honesty is no guarantee against occasional mistakes in arithmetic. In order to avoid waste, all remainders should be utilized as much as possible. This is how the French poorer classes live better than those of other countries. They make soup of the scraps and bones instead of throwing them away. In clothing, the cheapest goods are not the most economical, be- cause good cloth and silk and cotton will last so much longer and wear so much better than bad that the difference in price is very soon made up. Ill-fitting clothes are always dear because they tear and crease, to say nothing of " looks," which ought always to be con- sidered. Yet people often boast of having saved a few dollars by buying goods of an inferior quality when in fact they lose by it, be- cause they will want two suits instead of one during the winter or the summer.*^ Very few people are to be trusted to make purchases, and those are especially not to be trusted who think themselves great hands at making bargains. A man or woman goes into a store to buy one thing and sees another thing which is offered very cheap. The idea of making a good bargain, like the propensity of the gambler to try his luck, is too strong to be conquered. The article they want to buy and which they need is bought, and with it something which ECONOMY IN THE HOME. 221 they do not want, and which therefore is no bargain to them, how- ever cheap in itself. On this false notion of making bargains house- keepers will often buy a larger supply of some article of food than they want, and they only discover their mistake when they have to throw away what is spoiled and will not keep. The reduction of price which induces them to purchase more than they can use is not econ- omy, yet many people think that by buying " wholesale," as they call it, they will make a great saving, instead of which it is a "whole- sale " waste and loss to them. Whenever you buy anything which you have no use for because it is cheap, you commit an extravagance. It is ' best, therefore, before you enter a store to decide beforehand precisely what you are going to buy and how much money you can afford to spend. Summon up your resolution, and when you have bought the article you came for, do not begin pricing everything you see, for it is the business of the tradesman to persuade you to pur- chase whatever he sees you take a fancy to. Remember poor Moses in Goldsmith's " Vicar of Wakefield," who thought he had made a fine bargain for his father when he exchanged his horse for a parcel of shagreen spectacles, and beware of bargains if you wish to practise economy. LIFE AT HOME. "Domestic happiness, thou only bliss Of paradise that has survived the fall !" — Cowper. " The first sure symptom of a mind in health Is rest of heart and pleasure felt at home." — Young. ^^^^#1 OW little do people think, when they speak of a home ./M^^ as happy, or the contrary, of the many influences and i^iw circumstances which combine to make it so. It is mWE'^l more difficult to describe a happy home than an un- happy one, because while one single obstacle or defect will suffice to mar the perfection of any home, a great number of advantages and good points may fail to make it happy. Every member of a family may be in sound physical health ; there may be abundance of all the necessaries and even comforts of life ; the prop- erty or income of the father may be a certain one, so that the grim shadow of want cannot cause apprehension of poverty in the future, and yet with all these ingredients of contentment and prosperity the horn? may be far from a happy one. One virtue will not make a perfect or consistent character, but one vice will mar any number of virtues. So in the home, one disturbing element will mar the har- mony of the whole. Any one member of a family may blight the peace and happiness of the entire household. Take the case of an ungovernable temper. Everybody is liable in turn to be the unfortunate occasion or victim of it. The fire of home may burn ever so brightly and all the surroundings be ever so cheerful and cosy, and as one peeps in and sees one girl at the piano and another at her knitting, or one brother reading aloud some de- lightful story or poem while the others listen, one would fancy that (222) LIFE AT HOME. 223 here at all events peace and good will, mutual help and affection had made their dwelling upon earth. One, perhaps, is telling an experi- ence which has happened to the speaker during the day, and, as it is comic or serious, it amuses or deeply interests the whole family circle. But while the tale is being told an unsteady footstep is heard outside the door. A father, a son, a brother, as the case may be, bursts into the room with flushed face and angry or incoherent speech, disclosing too plainly that drink is his undoing, and the peace and happiness of the little circle is at an end for that evening, and perhaps for days or weeks to come. The drunkard can make a wilderness of the home which else would blossom as the rose. But drink is not the only deadly nightshade that can poison the life-blood and cloud the serenity of a family. One act of dishonesty in any member of it may bow down a father's head and break a mother's heart, and make innocent sisters ashamed to appear among their friends. Perhaps it has not been the result of any natural ten- dency to theft or forgery, but has been caused by desperate losses at the secret gaming-table. Parents and sisters may never have had the faintest suspicion that anything was wrong until the detective ap- pears upon the scene and the criminal is arrested or makes his escape. In either case, the happy iiome is shattered like a beautiful picture or fragile vessel by a madman's hand. Sometimes an awful and mysterious destiny seems to come upon a home when its happiness is at the flood. What fearful tragedies have resulted from an unnoticed or lightly regarded brain or nervous trouble in some member of a family, all the rest of whom are sane and possessed of rationality, balance of faculties and self-control ! What shame and humiliation may a morbidly secretive, untruthful or thieving child bring upon a home ! As a rule, such abnormal tendencies as inveracity, where the rest are truthful, envy, where the rest are proud of one another, and any other evil disposition which is not hereditary, may be eradicated and cured bv wise and kindly treatment if taken at its earliest manifesta- tions. But too many parents grieve ovjr a child's idiosyncrasies 224 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. and never attempt to deal with them until it is too late. Example is not enough ; precept is not enough ; the axe must be laid to the root of the tree of evil tendencies as soon as it appears above the ground. Few human beings are incurably and irreparably bad in their childhood. While the heart and affections are not seared and dead to good influences, the vicious child can be cured. It is, nowever, of the awful fact that when one member suffers with some tendency or infirmity of the moral nature, all the members suffer with and through it, that I here remind the reader. The warnings of legions of angels would not be too much for such reminders. It is the selfish feeling that a brother or sister or child must be left to go their own way that ends in such wholesale misery as we see in many once happy homes. Of a really happy home the secret spring is harmony ; of an un- happy one, discord. The example of parents has the chief influence upon the conduct and future life of children. Not only are they imi- tative and observant, but from the dawn of thought they sit in silent judgment on the ways and words of their parents. For the harmony which makes home happy, affection and justice are two of the chief contributors. In too many families there is much affection but little justice. Partiality and favoritism shown by father or mother for one child at the cost of another is one of the most detestable of parental crimes. With mothers there are undoubtedly in some cases physiological causes for loving Jacob more than Esau from their birth. Some mothers take a dislike, if not a positive antipathy, for one particular child. The fact is recognized by all pathologists, although different causes are assigned for it. What is most sad to look upon is when the mother takes a prejudice and aversion to the child who more than the others, by reason of its weaker constitution or defect in any sense or organ, needs her tenderest love and care. There is a Cinderella in many households. The kitchen is for her; the drawing-room for her sisters, who think themselves her " betters." The worn and shabby dress.es are for her ; the new and costly ones for them. She LIFE AT HOME. 22 5 is the scullion ; they are the fine ladies. Yet her heart may be the diamond, theirs the paste. The mother has caresses for the others, unmerited rebukes for her. She is the " butt " of every jest, the slave of every petty tyrant in the home. She does not complain of this, perhaps, but her heart bleeds inwardly and the warm fountain of her young affections is checked and frozen at its source. Fathers are, as a rule, less prone than mothers to this unjust dis- crimination. Sometimes the father interposes in behalf of the snubbed and persecuted child, but when his back is turned her tormentors treat her more cruelly than ever in jealousy of his kindly intervention. The pillow of the child-martyr is wet with tears ; no bright sunshine and spontaneous flow of happiness make flowers spring up along her path, and the hardest part of her lot is the reflection that the unkind- ness comes from the parent or sister or brother whom she loves and longs to cling to. Many parents, either from innate narrowness of moral perception or from those servile and tyrannic notions of parental authority and youthful discipline which Christians have inherited from the Jews, have no idea that they commit the wrong of injustice when they show partiality. To make the less favored child the fag and slave of the more favored and more selfish one, is a crime against one's own flesh and blood and the divine rights of children. They are not machines; they are not insensate or passive recipients of unfair treatment. They know when they are unkindly spoken to without a cause and unjustly punished without having committed an adequate offence, and every stripe unjustly laid upon the child's back is an iron nail driven into the child's heart, and an indelible mark branded upon the child's con- sciousness and memory. No after petting and caressing can efface the wrong, remove the scar, or heal the wounded spirit. Years upon years may roll away ; the blow may never be repeated ; much kind- ness may be subsequently shown ; father and boy may never speak of the long past injustice; the father's memory may have forgotten it, but the boy's memory forgets it never, though he forgave it long ago. The memory of wrong done us in childhood is ineffaceable ; it is '5 226 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. never righted ; it is never obliterated. For one instance in which to spare the rod is to spoil the child, there are a thousand cases in which to use the rod unjustly is to engrave an eternal stigma on the heart and to write a "minute" in the note-book of the memory which may be legible beyond the grave. Scarcely less hurtful to the child's nature and to the home life is petting and spoiling. Better, perhaps, is it for the boy or girl to suffer from neglect than pampering. Better to be punished and blamed un- justly than to be praised and rewarded for virtues one does not pos- sess and good deeds one has not done. Both treatments are alike unjust, and what is needed in the home is justice. Many children who are naturally generous and would willingly "share and share alike " the little windfalls of good things that come to them, are made selfish and greedy by the eagerness which is created in them by a parent's unfairness. They see every dainty, every treat, the first choice in every selection of presents and the tidbits of every delicacy, given to the mother's or the father's darling, made so, per- haps, because this child has a prettier complexion, a fairer skin, more curly hair and bolder manners than the others. The favorite has more pocket-money given him or her to spend; has greater care and cost bestowed upon dress ; is made more of before company who ad- mire»it to please the foolish parent. Every dispute must be referred to the pet chicken of the little brood. At table the best seat, the most attention, the daintiest plateful, the ripest peach or pear. The other children are silent that the pet manikin or miss may talk. This is the privileged little egotist who may contradict papa and tell mamma that he knows better than she does. If a servant waits upon this pigmy lord in his own conceit, the man ol- maid is treated with disdain and insolence. His will is supreme in the nursery and the kitchen. If he is thwarted or not instantly obeyed, the domestic is rebuked or discharged by the fond mother, who wonders how any one can refuse anything to so precocious a child. The little brothers and sisters see all this and submit to it, but they are quite conscious of the injustice that prevails, and while some of LIFE AT HOME. 22/ them may be of that self-abnegating character that they easily con- vince themselves that there must be some superiority of worth and power in the one so idolized, the greater number of children feel a just resentment and adopt the policy of looking out for their own interests. This feeling, that unless they " grab " for their share they will be left out and thrust aside, becomes implanted by degrees in an unselfish nature and works a great deterioration in the character. The care for one's self soon becomes disregard of others. The gen- erous bosom becomes selfish by constant contact with selfishness. If the character were fully formed it might not be so. Noble men and women can associate with the mean and churlish without-becom- ing like them. But in the unformed mental and moral habits of the child, to daily witness and be the victim of injustice and selfishness, begets a spirit of retaliation and self-regard which would not other- wise exist. To make home happy it must be a miniature republic with equal rights for all. En\y and jealousy sap the foundations of home life. Among the boys and girls there must be a chain of mutual love, an anxiety for each other's happiness and welfare, a generous pride in each other's success. The prize at school gained by one must be tlic cause of joy to all. The industry of one must excite the emulation, not the envy, of the rest. The special talent of one must be respected by all. The sensitive spot of one must be allowed for by the others. Every member of the home circle should judge charitably of an- other's faults, knowing how much need he has of a like charity of judgment himself We sometimes hear people say that they don't want charity from others, so long as they get justice. But in our thoughts and treat- ment of each other charity is often a part of justice. We must make allowances — that is charity. Wc must bear and forbear — that i.s charity. We must not be exact to mark what is done amiss — that is charity. We must do to others not as others do to us — that might be only justice. But we must do to them as we would that they should do to us — that is charity. A brother or a sister may be 228 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. quicker in apprehension and intelligence than we are. They may- think us very stupid and dull-witted, and they may tell us so. It is not kind of them, but we must judge charitably of their impatience, remembering how trying it is to those who see things clearly to find themselves unable to make them clear to others. If we are the smart and they the dull ones, let us remember that it is not their fault or our merit that made the difference between us. It is conceited and unjust to be offended with others for what they cannot help. Per- haps there is some quality in them that will awake to action some day which may be better than all our smartness. Among the members of the same family, each will have his or her peculiarities in mind and ways as in bodily appearance, and no two will be exactly alike. One will care most for this study, duty or amusement, and another for that. It is these diversities of gifts that make up the combined energy of the world, and it is these separate notes which blend into the harmony of home. If all the brothers and sisters were exactly alike in disposition, tastes, thoughts and aspirations, the home would have but one note, which would not be harmony but sameness. It contributes greatly to this harmony, however, that there should be some centre to which all the diversities which I have mentioned should converge. Hence the harmonizing effects of a game in which all can join, a pursuit in which all take an interest, a book which all can read aloud by turns and talk over together. In the morning parents and children divide and each goes forth or engages in his or her separate work. But in the evening and on Sundays the family should be together as much as possible, thus keeping warm the fires of sympathy and affection. When brothers and sisters are parted far from each other in after life, they look back fondly to these social gatherings when the whole family were together and there was no place vacant. It is this that makes the memory of old birthdays and Christmas days so pleasant as time goes on. It is not for the par- ticular holiday or evening, but because each one remembers that then the family were all assembled together and enjoyed life at home in common. LIFE AT HOME. 22g To make such memories complete, to fill the canvas with an ideal picture of" Life at Home," many faces must be limned, many colors blend in the sunshine of love, many qualities of many hearts combine. The father, perhaps long dead, must be there, presiding over and revered as well as beloved b}- all. Justice as well as mercy must be written on his brow and remembered in his acts. The mother must be there, loving her children with an equal lov^e, and not helping her smooth-tongued Jacob to supplant his rougher but more honest brother Esau. Rebekah was a bad mother, and designing mothers generally are not good for much. Too often they implant hatred between brothers by their unjust favoritism, where there would other- wise be brotherly affection. Sisters and daughters must be there, one loving her music, another painting, another flowers and garden- ing, another languages and reading best. Out of their several tastes and above them like a canopy must be their love for each other, which began with their first feelings and can never be extinguished by time or absence. Brothers must be there, now parted in the race of life, but who played and worked together in the days of childhood, and gave each his contribution to life at home. Perhaps, an aged grand- father or grandmother is remembered, whose gray heads were crowns of glory in the sweet home picture. And the baby brother or sister may be there, who left the world before its eyes had seen it so as to know even dimly in an infant's dream where and what it was. "The baby wept; The mother took it from the nurse'.s arms, And hushed its fears, and soothed its vain alarms, Anti Vialiy slept. " Again it weeps. And God doth take it from the mother's arms, From present griefs, and future unknown harms, And baby sleeps." The dead brother or sister, baby, child, or youth, is sometimes a sad, sweet memory in the picture of Life at Home. The cradle, the nursery, the library, the kitchen, health and sick- 230 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. ness, pleasure and pain, unions and partings, tears and laughter, pastimes and studies, hopes and aspirations, talents and tempers, for- bearance and little quarrels which are so easily and so much better avoided, mornings and evenings, school-days and holidays, arts and sciences, hurts and healings, likes and dislikes, justice and injustice, charity and severity, all these various states, scenes and ingredients make up the picture of life at home. Virtue and intelligence make the life at home beautiful. Love is the guardian angel of it. Vice spoils the picture. Cruelty, injustice, envy, malice, hatred, lying, selfishness, make life at home a hell instead of a heaven, and old men and viromen shake their heads mournfully as they tell the younger folks around them that theirs was not a happy home. Few spectacles are more piteous than that of an ill-treated son or daughter gazing on the dead face of a stern, tyrannical and unjust father or mother, and thinking, with a tear and sigh of remembered affection and present forgiveness, that if "poor father" or "poor mother" had only dealt niore justly and less harshly with them, this or that calamity would not have happened and the old life at home might have been other than it was. For love sweetens everything and makes all duty pleasant and all hardships bearable. Without it the palace is haunted with demons; with it the hut is tenanted by angels. " In palaces are hearts that ask. In discontent and pride, Why life is such a dreary task. And all good things denied ; And hearts in poorest huts admire How Love has to their aid (Love that not ever seems to tire) Such rich provision made." f Whether in palace, mansion, or cottage, in crowded cities amid the incessant roar and traffic of the busy world, or in the country village, a world in miniature, whose news and gossip have seemed more im- portant than the fate of empires, home life is the life that has been most real to us, whose joys have been the dearest, whose sorrows the LIFE AT HOME. 23 1 keenest. The world may be a " stage and all the men and women merely players," but home life is a reality to every one of us, mak- ing us what we are in feeling if not in fortune. In other chapters of this volume the separate phases and component parts of home life are considered. Of life at home as a whole, when we view it as a picture of the past, the memory and imagination of each reader must fill up the scenes and circumstances. Of life at home as a present reality to every one, if it be a happy one, full of flowers and sunshine, let us thank Heaven for it and guard it well. If it be unhappy, let each of us honestly consider what share he or she may have had in making it so, and what remedy or reformation is still within our power so that it may be life at home indeed. '■ 1:: HOUSEHOLD ORN/MENT/TIOf^. " Infinite riches in a little room." ^, ARGE BAGS to place slippers in for parties, or to carry rubbers or waterproof to opera or theatre, are made of gray, brown, or stone color, with a monogram em- broidered, braided, or outlined in the centre. Antimacassars are now called chair backs, and some of the new ones are made in coarse toweling embroidered and cut to the shape of the chair like a hood, so that they can be slipped over the back. No material is too common to be a medium for ornamentation. If you have any old worn-out hassocks, procure some green or crim- son baize, and on this work at intervals ^.fleiir de lis or any blossom, in a neutral tint, and then cover the old hassock with the same, putting any additional stuffing beneath where required. A sheet of unbleached cotton can be easily converted into a quilt by lining and binding it to the depth of six inches with Turkey red twill; cover the sheeting with a trellis, work in green crewel wool, worked in outline, the diamonds about six inches long, and at each insertion work also in outline a bunch of cherries. It will both look and wash well. Pincushions, to be hung on gentlemen's looking-glasses, are made of swan-skin in the shape of a rabbit, and well stuffed. ]For a lady's toilet-table there are two new shapes — one like a gypsy ket- tle, supported on three sticks, covered with ribbon, the kettle being represented by a round satin cushion, bordered with ribbon ruching; also a high back chair, the seat, the cushion, which lifts up and forms (232) HOUSEHOLD ORNAMENTATION. 233 a receptacle for studs, earrings, etc. This is made in card-board, and covered with pink calico and muslin. • Among the latest notions in short blinds is a piece of white woven transparent material, stretched across the glass, and nailed all around the window frame ; also Japanese crape squares having lace inser- tion between. These are not, however, as effective as the transparent gauze pictures, with gold thread interwoven with the ground work (which may be either black or white) ; birds, trees, and flowers standing out boldly upon them. Work-baskets may be decorated in novel fashions. In lieu of quilted satin linings inside, and bands of embroidered serge outside, with numerous tassels depending, of all shades, the exterior of the basket is left unornamcnted, and the inside is merely plainly lined with holland. On this holland on one side is a large sunflower, lily, or any other flower that is deemed suitable, worked in crewel. If the basket is of the square form, with a lid, holland is still used and ar- ranged as pockets, on each of which a flower is worked. Many of the newest work-baskets are simple squares of buckram, bordered with ribbon wire, and bent so that the two corners meet at the handles; these are worked with sprays of flowers in gold thread. The wicker baskets on stands have their contents hidden by charmingly worked covers. The reversible satin sheeting is a favorite material for these; any conventional design is worked on this. A serviceable cover to throw over a lounge or couch in the sitting- room is made by taking a broad, bright stripe of cretonne; on each side of this put a stripe of black or dark brown cloth (line it to give body to it); on each edge put a row of fancy stitches in silk or crewel ; the ends may be finished with fringe or not, as you choose. Aprons which are very useful in the kitchen are made of ticking; get one yard ; put a band on as for any apron, then turn it up at the bottom for a quarter of a yard, or even more, on the right side; fas- ten each end securely, and in this pocket the clothes-pins can be carried or used with ease. Wall-baskets have two bows of ribbon on them, one placed in the 234 THE hearthstone; ok, life at home. centre of the flat part that is fastened to the wall, and the other on the projecting part. This large bow is broad, and fuller than the other, and has a cluster of fruit or flowers in the centre. Little remnants of plain or shaded ribbon can be cut into lengths of seven inches or eight inches, and four inches to five inches wide, edged at each end with lace, gathered up, with one or two rows of "gauging" in the centre, and converted into pretty ornaments for the front of the baskets. Mus- lin can be made up in the same way. Scraps of colored sateen can be mounted over double pieces of card-board cut into the form of a min- iature fan, then joined together to hold pins. These fans can be of various sizes, and the divisions are marked by gold or colored silk. A small floral design can be worked or painted on. The pins are put in all round the edge. Other pin-cushions of old-gold satin, mounted in the same way over card-board, in the shape of Maltese crosses, with a small one worked in red silk in the centre, and pins put in all round, are also novelties. For woven silk curtain bands and table spreads, collect every scrap of silk, whether new or old, pretty or homely, about the house. If you have light silk dresses you can have them colored at a dyer's any color you wish. It matters not how small the piece is, they will color it for you at small expense. Then cut them in small strips, a quarter of an inch wide — it is a mistake to cut them too wide, some use them half an inch wide — then sew them carefully together the same as for catpet-rags. The stripes may be shaded from light to dark with a "hit-or-miss" strip in the centre, or the whole strip may be "hit-or-miss," and may be made much handsomer by care being taken in sewing the strips together. Whether the strips are straight or bias, or cut from a circle, they can be sewn together and woven just the same. Weigh the balls and when you have eleven pounds of silk send them to a weaver. The usual price for weaving is twenty-eight cents per yard. This will give eight yards of material thirty-five inches wide. The woof is usually of linen thread and is scarcely visible ; but if the silk is very nice and a particularly hand- some article is desired^ silk woof is the most desirable, embroidery HOUSEHOLD ORNAMENTATION. 235 or knitting silk being used. These bands are used for curtain val- ances, long curtains, or portieres ; for mantel valances, chair stripes, table scarfs, etc. Square table covers can also be worn in this way, the edge finished with a handsotne netted silk fringe. These woven stripes and covers are very handsome, and will well repay one, even if they have to buy ribbons to help fill out the stripes. Ribbons are so cheap now, especially those that are a little out of style, and the wide ones can be cut into many strips. This material when finished is really handsome, falling in heavy, rich folds, and it will wear ad- mirably. Woollen goods woven in the same manner make admirable rugs and foot-mats, coarse and rough garments being utilized for the latter. A useful and pretty gift is a long strip of satin cloth to hang against the wall, with a succession of pockets, all embroidered with birds, butterflies, and daisies. Perfume sachets may be made by taking pieces of bright-colored silk or ribbon, four inches long and two inches wide, sew up two- thirds of the length and put narrow lace on the edge, fill them with cotton sprinkled thickly with perfume powder, trim with bows of narrow satin ribbon and paste a small embossed picture on each one. These are pretty for children. To crystallize grasses and flowers, dissolve six ounces of alum in one quart of water, and boil until dissolved ; then steep the grasses or flowers in the solution while hot. If, by the time the water is cold, the crystals are too large, then add more water. Separate the little branches gently, taking off the superfluous lumps. Fern leaves, oats, flax and the long feathery grasses arc the most beautiful for crystallizing. To press flowers, gather the flov/ers to be pressed when the dew- has quite dried off" from them, and before the sun has become so warm as to wilt them. Put them between newspapers or any other porous papers, and place them under a press. Change them every day to fresh paper until they are dried. All the thin-leaved flowers will be found best to use for this purpose. 236 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. The long " catkins," or pampas plumes, now so fashionable every- where, can be arranged in large bunches, the long stems tied once or twice with bright ribbons. They are placed in a blue ginger jar, and make a pretty decoration in a hall or a corner of a room. In hanging-baskets, one of the prettiest styles is made by taking a common horse muzzle, made of wire, and have it painted, with oil colors, green. Then, when dry, take large pieces or sheets of the bright green moss, which abounds in the woods and by the roadsides in the spring, and line the inside with it, letting the green side be turned outward. Then fill up the centre with earth and plant your vines and flowers, three cords being fastened to the top wire at regular distances, by which it is to be hung up. It can be watered occasion- ally, and the moss freshened by dipping it into a bucket of water. Another variety is the rustic style, so popular and beautiful. In order to make one of these, procure from the woods a number of crooked branches and rough, knotty twigs. Put them to soak in hot water, or steam them, so as to render them perfectly pliable. Get one of the turned wooden bowls, such as are to be found in house- furnishing stores ; stain it with som.e of the brown staining materials or black varnish, and then bore holes or insert screw rings on the outside for the cords or chains to pass through. Now bend around the outside of the bowl one of the branches and nail it securely at the top edges on either side. Several pieces can be twined around in this way, according to one's taste, until the whole surface is covered ; then finish off with one around the edge for a border. • When this is varnished it is very pretty, and the vines will, of course, be trained to hang over the edge. No picture ought to be hung higher than the height of the aver- age human eye when the owner of the eye is standing. It is the most universal rule in our houses to hang pictures much above this level, and they cannot be enjoyed there. If the picture is a portrait or it has human faces in it, its eyes should look as nearly into ours as possible ; and if there be no such simple guide, perhaps a good rule will be to have the line that divides the picture horizontally into HOUSEHOLD ORNAMENTATION. 237 equal parts level with the eye. If one starts to hanging pictures with the determination to place them so that they can be easily seen and enjoyed without stretching the neck in the least, or stooping the body, he will be pretty sure to do well. As people come to enjoy pictures and get some intellectual, spiritual nourishment out of them, they want them as they want their books, where they can see them and use them. Among designs for screens, usually the panel shape is preferred, and ciel blue, maroon, pale yellow, olive green, gray, old gold and black are the colors preferred. Take the silk and line it with two thicknesses of paper cambric. It is better to use white cambric, as a dark shade will sometimes be perceptible through the texture of the silk. Cut the lining somewhat narrower than the outside silk, place it on the silk, and sew up the two opposite long edges. Then turn it so that the seams will be inside, leaving the top and bottom edges raw and unfinished, and stretch it upon a drawing-board or small table ready to paint. If unused to the free handling of the brush, the worker may find it desirable to trace the outline of her design with faint pencil marks upon the silk. Afterward the color may be carefully laid on, and the design may then be enlarged or improved upon as desired. Water-colors are preferable in painting upon silk, though oil paints, if carefully put on, may also be used. Daisies, thistles, wheat, clover, grasses, water lilies, Cherokee wild roses, morning glories, scarlet cockscombs, cat-tails and Japan lilies are among the prettiest flower designs. Three or five peacock plumes carelessly grouped together, a stork, peacock or scarlet flamingo are among the odd designs for screens. When the painting is completed the silk panel must then be framed. Plush or velvet is generally used for the frame or border put on the top and bottom edges and the sides left plain. The frame is usually of a contrasting color in bamboo, reeds or wood. Very pretty work-baskets may be made of strawberry baskets, lined with red Turkey twill or satin, the lining forming a bag, which draws up at the top with a ribbon, and when open turns down over 238 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. the basket. Two pockets are set on opposite sides of the basket (inside, of course), and a needle-book and straps for holding scissors, thimbles, etc., are fastened to the others. As the season approaches when the fires are about to die out, there comes up the question of fireboards, or some means of replacing the cheerful glow of the hearth. One of the prettiest ways is to cut out of black net the shape of a peacock's tail and mount it and then cover it with the feathers of the peacock, which are now so happily intro- duced into all kinds of decoration, and are especially adapted to this purpose. In the centre can be placed the head and breast of the bird itself, if possible ; if not, a bird with suitable tints, such as comes for milliner}'- purposes, can be used. There are, in fact, few more beautiful feathers than can be found in our ordinary barnyard fowls, which might be saved and used in various ways. Other beautiful fireboards can be made of silk, linen, or any of the woollen goods which come for decorative purposes, and embroidered in silk and crewels. Of embroidery it should be urged that for effectiveness it is necessary to adhere to one kind of stitch, as well as to insist on tones in choosing color, rather than contrasts. For example, avoid using orange in connection with blue, but choose in preference red or green. To ex- plain this preference is not within the scope of this chapter ; but it is worth while for all persons interested in decorative work to give some attention to modern color schemes as against those which formerly prevailed. Painted screens are equally desirable. It is not necessary to refer to materials in regard to these, further than to mention that such grass matting as comes about tea chests, and ordinary coarse burlap, stretched and gilded, is an excellent ground to receive bold decoration in oils or water colors. Suitable grounds for such designs are cacti and flowers — sunflowers, hollyhocks and other large-petaled plants and foliage with brilliant coloring. The banneret adapts itself nicely to the use of the fireboard, and has the advantage of serving as a screen in winter. The standard can be purchased of gilded bronze, in itself very attractive, or can be made out of wood by any carpenter who has a lathe. This consists of an upright on legs or HOUSEHOLD ORNAMENTATION. . 239 with a solid base, and a cross-bar nicely finished at the ends. This is the foundation for whatever the skill of the individual can produce. Still another purpose to which the ubiquitous Japanese fan is applied is that of serving as a foundation for a wall-pocket. Cover one side with silk or satin, and above this sew a full, flat pocket, con- cealing the stitches along the edge under a ruche of satin ribbon or pinked silk. Fasten a bow of ribbon or a cluster of flowers in the centre of the pocket, and bore a hole in the handle, through which pass a string to form a loop by which to hang the pocket. Finish by adding a knot of ribbon tied around the handle, to hide the loop. Sachets for bureau drawers and boxes can be made of pieces of silk merino or muslin. Take a piece of silk eight inches long and two and one-half inches wide. Double and sew sides together; fill with aromatic herbs, if you have any ; if not, your druggist will fill for a trifle. Fill to within an inch and one-half of the top ; then sew across, draw up and fasten. Tie a ribbon around with bow. Sew lace or fringe all around sachet. Economical mats, for use in front-doors, fireplaces, bureaus, stands, etc., may be made of coffee-sacking, cut to any desirable size, and worked in bright worsted or Germantown wool. Any simple pattern may be used, or it may be entirely filled in with a plain green. The edges of the sacking may be fringed by ravelling. To give it weight, line with an old piece of carpet or heavy cloth. To paint on velvet, use any of the ordinary non-corrosive pig- ments or liquid colors thickened with a little gum. Preference should be given to those that possess the greatest brilliancy and which dry w^ithout spreading. Stretch your silk as you would for water-color drawing. Take your water-color and mix with thin solution of gum-arabic to prevent from rubbing off To paint on silk with oil-color, a sizing is necessary to prevent the oil from .spreading. Take the white of an egg and whisk. Soak the silk thoroughly with the egg, then wipe dry with a piece of v/hite silk, stretch tightly on frame, and when dry paint as in water-color. Pretty stand covers can be made of brown Turkish towelling and 240 . THE hearthstone; or, life at home. bright worsted braids. A lovely one is made as follows : Baste two inches from edges brown worsted braid and cat-stitch with gold- colored silk ; one and a half inches above that, scarlet braid cat- stitched with black silk ; and one and a half inches above that, brown again ; finish with fringe to match. Often would we recover some of our old, faded chairs, but dare not attempt it, lest we make, in our inexperience, a sorry job. A few hints on the subject will enable the most timid to become with success their own upholsterers. The nails must first be drawn from the old cover, and this is best accomplished by first loosening them, placing a screwdriver or chisel against their sides and hammering them. When the old cover has been removed, lay it over the new material, and cut the latter carefully out, making all the slits and markings with pins where the arms are to come, so that in placing it on the chair it will not be drawn either to the one side or the other. There are three pieces — one for the bottom, one for the back, and the third for the outside and back part of the chair. For buttons, button-moulds covered with the material used for the chair would do, but the prunella or velvet buttons, which all the upholsterers have, are better. After carefully placing the piece cut out for the seat of the chair over it and fitting it exactly, begin to button it down. Take a long mattress needle, thread it with string, and push it from the under side of the chair up in the place which marks the position of the old button through the new cover. Then force the button on the needle and twine, and pass the needle down again through the cover one-eighth of an inch from where it came up ; pull the twine very tight, and tie in a tight knot. A knot used by the trade, which is better, is made by holding one end of the string in the left hand, passing the twine under and through the loop from the under side. This knot will run up close, and can be tied fast without slipping. The corner must be folded by the buttons, and made to lie smoothly. After the buttons are all fastened, nail on the cover of the back, pin- ning it to keep it in place, and button it down in the same way. Pin the outside of the back on, which requires no tufting, and nail it HOUSEHOLD ORNAMENTATION. 24I smoothly with the tacks quite close together, turning a little of the material tinder to make it stronger. The braid is put on last of all, and can be either tacked on with gimp tacks or sewn. If it is sewn, the needle used is shaped like a crescent. And now our chair is finished, and will quite pay for the trouble. Nothing is better to clean silver with than alcohol and ammonia. After rubbing with this, take a little whiting on a soft cloth and polish. Even frosted silver may be easily made clear and bright in this way. A pretty pincushion is made of three pieces of woollen three inches square ; sew together and fill with bran or flannel clippings, and crochet an edge around the seams ; crochet a cord and tassels to hang up by. Very pretty moss frames for engravings or photographs may be made of moss that is found on the bark of forest trees. To make these frames, make stiff cardboard foundations and attach the moss with glue, commencing with the lightest shades of moss for the inside edges of the frame, and the darkest for the outer edges. Colored sheeting looks well for a carriage rug, if a large mono- gram is worked in the centre and a spray of flowers in each corner. Brown Holland, bound around with red or dark-blue braid, should be worked in all one color, or chintz flowers may be arranged all around and appliqued on ; or if a design of flowers and leaves are worked upon a wide band of blue, it would look well ; the blue to be stitched to the carriage cloth, adding long stitches on each side of the band ; they should be " spikcy " stitches, which are easily worked and very effective if done in some bright color. Inexpensive and vciy pretty tidies can be made of ticking, bright Germantown yarn and the gay borders of print. Take the print and sew on one strip in the centre of the ticking, and unless the tidy is very large a strip on each side will be sufficient. With the wool, or zephyr, if it is preferred, work in the white stripe, coral or feather stitch. Tie a fringe in the ends, of the same yarn used in working the tidy. The brown figured towelling is also very pretty and durable ; 16 242 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. work the figures with zephyr of all different shades and finish with fi-inge; or, if preferred, ravel out the ends and overcast with the yarn. Now that the whisk-broom has been accommodated with holders of every description, its cousin, the feather-duster, is beginning to emerge from retirement, and occupy a place on the wall in some convenient corner. A case made for it which really serves to convert this useful article into one of ornament, is on the same plan as those modelled for the whisk-broom, except that it is round instead of flat. The lining may be either scarlet or blue satin, and both the top and bottom of the holder are trimmed with fancy fringe, headed by a ruche of satin ribbon, matching the lining in color. A band of satin ribbon crosses diagonally from the top to the bottom, and is caught in the middle under a bow. A cord and tassels fastened at the top serve to suspend the holder. A very pretty way to use ferns is to make a picture to hang in a window. Take two pieces of glass of the same size and as large as you wish the picture to be. Try to select them as clear and free from blemish as possible. Upon one of these arrange some of the finest and prettiest of the pressed ferns. A few tiny shells can be put among them, and bright-hued butterflies, in such a way as to seem poised upon the leaves. Some moss, such as can be found anywhere in the wood, upon stumps or fallen trees, can be placed at the place where the stems come together, and some little red berries stuck in it. When fairly arranged fasten each separate piece to the glass with a drop of gum arabic, which is colorless and does not affect the ferns. Do not use mucilage. When dry and secure, place the other glass over and fasten the edges by a tape gummed on of exactly the width of the two glasses joined. A pretty finish over that is a bind- ing of silver paper extending over the edges upon the glass on each side. This is not necessary if the picture is put in a light frame in order to suspend it. If the frame is not used, then holes must be drilled in the glasses for a cord before the picture is made. When selecting a place to hang a thermometer, remember, in the HOUSEHOLD ORNAMENTATION. 243 first place, the temperature of the wall of any building at any hour of the night or day is not the true temperature of the circulating air, and is of no use to science. A wooden wall will radiate its heat more rapidly than a brick or stone, and the amateur scientist who hangs his thermometer on a wooden wall can force his mercury down below the amateur who selects a brick wall. The proper way to expose your thermometer is to surround it with a light wooden frame, covered with slats, like shutter-work, and roofed over. This will protect it from the direct rays of the sun and reflected heat. Run a light wooden bar across the centre of }'our shelter, to which you can attach the thermometer, which should be, when properly ex- posed, on the north side of the building, and at least one foot from all surrounding objects. If these directions are followed, erroneous reports of extreme cold weather will not find their way into print so often. To make a case for overshoes, take one-half yard square of leather cloth, line with thin flannel and bind around with worsted braid. Place two pockets inside diagonally, twelve inches long, twelve and a half broad, line with leather cloth, flannel outside. Around the edge of the case and pockets put narrow serpentine worsted braid and fasten with yellow floss. To fasten the case, tie each corner in the centre, or roll and fasten with a button and loop, first turning the two points and tying to keep the shoes in place. If tablecloths, napkins, and handkerchiefs are folded an inch or two beyond the middle they will last much longer; it is on the edges of folds where they first wear, and not folding them on a middle line, each ironing, they get a new crease. A charcoal sketch may be preserved by brushing the back of the drawing with a spirit varnish, made of one-third of an ounce of white lac dissolved in one half-pint of alcohol. Brown paper of the darkest shade and thickest texture, and gray paper of a cool granite tint, are just now much in demand as mate- rials for painting upon for dadoes, panels, cornices, book-covers, and other things. They give a background on which the light and 244 THE HEARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME. shade are at once relieved; and while gray paper is the softest, brown paper, partly by the contrast of its rough surface, gives the most relief. The best brown paper for the purpose is the stout, con- tinuous kind used by paper-hangers and upholsterers for backing. Salad oil bottles make very good vases. Remove the straw work and cover with two coats of black paint; paste on them scrap pictures of flowers, butterflies, ferns, etc.; varnish well and tie bows of bright ribbon round the neck or a band of gold paper. If small, common flower-pots are covered with the black silhouettes frequently seen in illustrated papers and German books, and afterward var- nished and suspended by cords, they will form unique hanging-bas- kets for ferns and vines. A novel hanging-basket maybe made as follows: Among trees that have just been felled some may be found with slender trunks. Cut a piece from one of these about a foot long, more or less, as you care, remove the bark, saw off the top flat on the lengthy side and scoop out the interior, leaving about one inch or less of thickness on the sides and bottom ; paint of a brown color and varnish ; tack on the sides either a chain, ribbon, or card to hang it by; fill the trunk with artificial moss and flowers, and you have a hanging-basket unique in its way. The following is said to be an excellent method of fastening cloth to the top of tables, desks, etc.: Make a mixture of two and a quar- ter pounds of wheat flour, two tablespoonfuls of powdered resin, and two tablespoonfuls of powdered alum; rub the mixture in a suitable vessel, with water, to a uniform, smooth paste; transfer this to a small kettle over a fire, and stir until the paste is perfectly homogene- ous, without lumps. As soon as the mass has become so stiff that the stirrer remains upright in it, transfer to another vessel and cover it up so that no skin may form on its surface. This paste is applied in a very thin layer to the surface of the table; the cloth, or leather, is then laid and pressed upon it, and smoothed with a roller. The ends are cut off after drying. If leather is to be fastened on, this must first be moistened with water. The paste is then applied, and the leather rubbed smooth with a cloth. HOUSEHOLD ORNAMENTATION. 245 Old photographs of the fancy kinds may be used advantageously by pasting them on screens or lampshades, and subsequently glazing them. Cone frames are easily made, and the materials are within the reach of all. The foundation is of heavy paste-board and the various materials are secured with glue. Cone scales are placed around the outer and inner edges, and the centre of the frame may be filled with acorns, the centre of cones, which look like little roses, beech-nut hulls, small twigs and the various nuts and seeds formed into flowers to represent a continuous wreath. The frame must be cut to fit the picture and may be of any width desired; the back must also be of card-board, and then the glass and picture placed between the front and back, and the two sewed together, after which the frame may be decorated as above. A lovely pair of curtains may be made of ordinary fine muslin, curtains on which may be tastefully grouped birds, flowers, Watteau shepherds and shepherdesses, or graceful ferns, peacocks, oriental foliage, and bright-hued butterflies cut from cretonne. Cretonne may be purchased in great variety of styles, but too many subjects should not be introduced into one piece of work. The flowers, etc., are appliqued on, and worked up in colored filoselles. The result of this work is very graceful if the design is carried out in an unstudied manner, and has always the charm of novelty. A pretty three-fold screen may be worked on dull blue English serge in crewels. On one panel might be a bird-nest and birds 011 a branch, upon the next, wild roses and butterflies, and on the third, a bouquet of lilies or marguerites. Waste-paper baskets, work-baskets, or rush-baskets for shopping, make' a pretty and inexpensive present. Lace ribbon in and out through the rushes, put a bow on the front and fasten in a bunch of acorns, either natural or manufactured of silk and chenille. If the natural ones are used, take a piece of fine wire and fasten to the stem of the acorn, and you can easily arrange them in any way to suit your taste. They are very ornamental when bronzed, but may be used .246 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. when in a state of nature, just as they were picked up in the woods. -To bronze them get a few cents' worth of bronze powder at a drug store, mix it with varnish and apply with a soft cloth. The powder must be used very soon after mixing with the varnish, or it will harden so that it will be impossible to use it successfully. Easels are so general in drawing-rooms where engravings and water-colors accumulate, that it is the fashion to cover old ones with velvet, adding ornamental silk tassels to the top and to the lowest of the set of holes which support the ledge. The covering is not diffi- cult to manage. The velvet requires tacking first, and then sewing, where the stitches will be most invisible, with fine but strong black tliread. Where the holes are, cut the circle in four, saturate the in- side of the velvet with strong gum, and press the pieces well down with the wooden pin. A bouquet of cut flowers may be preserved fresh in vases by put- ting a handful of salt or a piece of charcoal in the water, to increase its coldness. If put under a glass shade, or vase, where it can be excluded from the air, it will keep a long time. For watch and jewelry cases, select some smooth, unbroken pine chips and cut them into heart-shaped leaves; have a circle of card- board to which you have fastened either a standing wire or stick, intended for the bouquet-handle; then glue your pine leaves upon the card-board like a rose, three or four ply; upon this place a piece of card-board cut in points, that you have first lined with silk or velvet and edged with beads. This is for the jewelry. Make a bouquet of chips; ornament with stitches of silk, or touch with water-colors; in the centre of the rose glue a second velvet-covered receptacle for the watch; tie the bouquet to the bouquet-handle. A chain of gilt beads connects the watch-case to the jewelry-case on each side. A coat of white varnish preserves and improves the chip-work. This must be applied with a hair-brush. When made it is beautiful. Those ,in possession of fine large shells can obtain beautiful jewelry-cases by having them mounted on carved pedestals, either of wood or metal. "Another way to mount these shells is to have them supported on HOUSEHOLD ORNAMENTATION. 247 each side by dragons or other mythological subjects, but this style is more costly. A nice knife and fork case may be made of wash-leather and flan- nel or cashmere. For the inside, cut a piece of wash-leather twenty inches wide and twenty-four inches long, shaped at one end with the corners cut off; then cut a similar piece in cashmere or flannel and ornament with a cross-stitch border all round : bind the leather and cashmere together with a narrow ribbon. Sew a strip of embroidery down the centre of the inside, stitching it across at intervals to form loops through which to pass the knives, etc. The two pieces fold over the sides, and the case is fastened with a strap and button. Tobacco pouches are made of soft kid, cut in a circle and bound with ribbon, embroidered in colored silks with a floral design and monogram, or Panama or Russian canvas, lined with India-rubber cloth. Flat-bottomed chairs can be made to look nicely by first taking a strip of strong cloth as wide as the chair seat, and twice the length, pass it under the chair and sew it tightly together on the top ; then cut a pattern exactly fitting the chair and cover with rep, cretonne, or chintz. Finish with a border of the same about three inches wide. Very good covers can be pieced log-cabin style and finished with a valance of woollen goods pinked around the edge. A much-used room, where the wall-paper is likely to be marked by chair backs, etc., can be made neat and pretty by a dado of col- ored matting, which comes in a variety of block patterns and shades, and of various widths. Even the ordinary red and white matting makes a good finish tacked up to the wall, with brass, or silver, or invisible tacks; and there are larger delicate checks in greens, and yellow, and brown mattings that combine beautifully with pale wall- papers. Autumn leaves or ferns arranged on thin silk, and covered with transparent muslin with pinked edge, are lovely; and pretty shades are made of lace lined with colored silk and edged with fringe. An easy way to make zephyr balls is as follows: has any one ever 248 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. made worsted balls on a fork? It is a great deal easier and quicker way than cutting out pieces of card. Wind the worsted around the fork ; be sure and wind considerable, so as to have the ball full ; then tic tightly through the centre of the fork with the cord ; cut the worsted on two sides of the fork, then finish by trimming it to its proper shape. To make a pretty trimming of feather-edged braid take the braid and crochet a heading on one side, then a pretty edge of crochet on the other, making it wide or narrow, as you like, using medium-sized thread. The little Japanese parasols, which can be bought for four or five cents, make very pretty hair receivers. Open them about half their extent; if necessary to make them stay half open, catch them with a few stitches. Put a loop of ribbon around the handle and hang them up. Chain stitch is now but little used in embroidery, although it may sometimes be suitable for lines. It is made by taking a stitch from right to left, and before the needle is drawn out the thread is brought round towards the worker, and under the point of the needle. The next stitch is taken from the point of the loop thus formed for- ward, and the thread again kept under the point of the needle, so that a regular chain is formed on the surface of the material. This chain stitch was much employed for ground patterns in the beautiful gold-colored work on linen, for dress or furniture, which prevailed from the time of James I., to the middle of the eighteenth century. It gave the appearance of quilting when worked on linen in geomet- rical designs or in fine and often-repeated arabesques. Examples come from Germany and Spain in which the design is worked in satin stitch, or entirely filled in with solid chain stitch in a uniform gold-colored silk. Twisted chain or rope stitch is effective for out- lines on coarse materials, such as blankets, carriage rugs, footstools, .etc. It is like an ordinary chain, except that, in place of starting the second stitch from the centre of the loop, the needle is taken back to half the distance behind it, and the loop is pushed to one side to allow the needle to enter in a straight line with the former stitch. It HOUSEHOLD ORNAMENTATION. 249 is not of much use except when worked with double crewel or with tapestry wool, and should then have the appearance of a twisted rope. A pretty mat for the floor and one that will cost little is made of burlap worked in cross stitch with different colored worsteds. There is no pattern or design, but use the odds and ends of zephyrs that you happen to have left from other fancy work, and let them come haphazard. The effect is very unique. If any one cares to spend time upon it, a centre piece and border may be worked and then filled in as first suggested. Line the mat with a piece of carpet or new ticking, and finish it with fringe, or a bright-colored flannel strip cut in scallops. Worsted fringe which has been worn upon a dress and put away may be used for this purpose, and if it is dark-colored brighten it up by tying in lengths of bright worsted of the various hues in the mat. A good way to keep the earth moist in a hanging-basket without the trouble of taking it down is to fill a bottle with water and put in two pieces of yarn, leaving one end outside on the earth. Suspend the bottle just above the basket, and allow the water to drip; this will keep the earth moist enough for winter, and save a great deal of time and labor. Pretty washstand mats may be made of white felt or flannel, bound with a broad band of color and large woollen stars roughly worked all over in the color of the binding — red, blue or pink may be used ; or they may be made of colored sheeting with a deep woollen edging. Skeleton leaves may be made by steeping leaves in rain-water in an open vessel, exposed to the sun and air. Water must occasionally be added to compensate loss by evaporation. The leaves will pu- trefy, and then their membrane will begin to open ; then lay them on a clean white plate, filled with water, and gently take off the mem- branes; separate them cautiously near the middle rib. This process requires patience, as some require some time to decay. Purchase a frame with a box six inches deep and fourteen by sixteen (width 250 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. and length) ; line with black velvet. Make a wreath for the back, starting either side at the bottom of the box, and let them taper toward the top ; make this of the largest leaves. Set a small statue or picture in front of this wreath ; put an upright post on either side of this picture a little shorter than the wreath ; and towards the front two other smaller standards. Run white thread from back to front, on which glue the small leaves, and fix in any fantastical way you choose. The method of executing the fashionable and pretty tapestry- work is one that can be learned without any difficulty, and it will be found very useful for very many purposes. The embroidery is worked in Gobelin-stitch over silver or gold braid, which closely covers the canvas. Each row covers two threads, and is fast- ened to the canvas by a few stitches at each end. The embroid- ery is then worked with zephyr wool in two shades of red in Gobelin-stitch. To do the work neatly, and avoid " puckering," which would otherwise follow, the canvas should be placed in a frame. » Cases for brushes, combs and sponges are not hard to make, and useful in protecting them from dust. Brush broom cases ornamented with applique work, or with a monogram worked in silk, or with a bunch of flowers, are very pretty. An excellent imitation of carving, suitable for frames, boxes, etc., may be made of a description of leather called basil. The art con- sists in cutting out this material in imitation of natural objects, and in impressing upon it by simple tools, the same as in wax flowers. Begin with a simple object — an ivy-leaf, for instance. Cut the proper shape, and impress the veins upon it ; then arrange them in groups, when you have sufficient, on the frame. The tools required are ivory or steel points of various sizes, punches and tin-shapes. Before cutting out the leaves, the leather should be well soaked in water until it is quite pliable. When dry the leaves will retain their artistic shape. Leaves and stems are fastened together with glue, and varnished when dry, or you may varnish with sealing-wax HOUSEHOLD ORNAMENTATION. 251 dissolved in spirits of wine. Wire, cork, gutta-percha, bits of stems, etc., may severally be used to aid in the formation of groups of buds and seed-vessels, etc. There is much effort made nowadays by both ladies and gentlemen to collect mineral specimens, shells and curiosities for a cabinet. They are collected by parties exchanging their duplicates for kinds they do not possess. After one has been exchanging a few months a good collection will be secured. Those who have but a few specimens can arrange them by getting a wooden box which has a sliding cover. Remove the cover and cut out of glass one that will fit the box. Apply to the box the prepared liquid shoe-blacking, which, by using two coats, will make a good imitation of black ebony, or logwood chips boiled as for dyeing purposes brushed on and afterwards brushed over with vinegar will do full as well. Varnish with transparent varnish. After tl.e exterior of the box is made to suit you, line the inside with red flannel by cutting out pieces of flannel which just fit the sides and bottom of the box; then cover with glue or paste, and paste or glue the lining in. Place in your specimens after they have been properly labelled, the label giving the name, its locality where found and the donor, and here we have a nice miniature cabinet. A pretty ornament can be made of a few specimens of minerals, shells and curiosities by sawing out of pine a lyre twelve or fourteen inches long ; paint the wood, and after it is dry cover the front and side with putty. Then arrange the minerals, etc., on the putty after the fashion you would shell-work ; for strings for the lyre use knitting needles fastened into the putty ; fasten a strong wire on the back forming the wire in the shape of a large hairpin and set it up like an easel. We have seen a little work- box or jewelfy casket m.ade by glueing bright squares of velvet on the lids and sides of a small wooden box, and around the velvet squares various ores, shells and stones were stuck on with a cement ; the inside lined with silk or velvet, and when completed it formed a unique and pretty ornament. The best cheap material for portieres is canton flannel, which is 252 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. sold in the stores under the name of fashion drapery, for about ninety cents a yard. It is soft and downy, and being the same on both sides is admirably adapted as a hanging between two rooms. It is easy to trim it in such a way that it shall suit both apartments ; it looks well with a simple border of darker material laid on, or it may be em- broidered in crewels, in any conventional design. It can be bought in all colors ^nd hangs in very soft and graceful folds. Portieres should always be sewed 01/ to rings, and suspended from a pole, so that they can readily be drawn back at will. Seaweeds rank among the most beautiful natural objects, while the work of collection and mounting is delightful occupation for the leisure hour. The best time to collect is when the tide has just commenced to flow, after the lowest ebb, as the seaweeds are then in good condition. Mounting is done by immersing a piece of paper just below the surface of the water, and supporting it by the left hand ; the algae is then placed on the paper and kept in its place by the left thumb, while the right hand is employed in spreading out the branches with a bone knitting-needle or a camel-hair pencil. If the branches are too numerous, which will be readily ascertained by lifting the specimen out of the water for a moment, pruning should be freely resorted to, as much of its beauty will depend upon the distinctness of the branching. Pruning is best performed by cutting off erect and alternate branches, by means of a sharp-pointed pair of scissors, close to their junction with the main stem. When the specimen is laid out, the paper should be raised gradually in a slightly sloping direction, care being taken to prevent the branches from running together. The delicate species are much improved in appearance by reimmersing their extremities before entirely with- drawing them from the water. The papers should then be laid flat upon coarse, bibulous paper, only long enough to absorb superfluous moisture. If placed in an oblique direction, the branches are liable to run together. They should then be removed and placed upon a sheet of thick white blotting paper, and a piece of washed and pressed calico placed over each specimen, and then another layer of thin HOUSEHOLD ORNAMENTATION. 253 blotting paper above the calico. Several of these layers are pressed in the ordinary way, light pressure only being used at first. The papers, but not the calico, may be removed in six hours, and after- wards changed every twenty-four hours until dry. If the calico be not washed, it frequently adheres to the algae, and if the calico be wrinkled, it produces corresponding marks on the paper. The most convenient sizes of paper to use are those made by cutting a sheet of paper, of any size, into sixteen, twelve, or four equal pieces. Cut-work is revived in modern artistic needlework. The patterns are in the quaint designs of Venice lace. A pure white or ecru linen is chosen. A pillow-case linen with an even thread is preferred, and the design to be wrought is usually stamped as a border and is oftener an insertion than an edge. The pattern is outlined in button-hole stitch and the ground of the design is then cut away and rich trac- ing in open work of graceful arabesques and flowers left. In many of the English castles there are still counterpanes and pillow-cases in ancient cut-work. The needlework seems naturally adapted for this purpose. A counterpane of this kind of work thrown over a tinted silk or satinet quilt would be much richer in effect than those so often seen in antique lace. A coverlet copied from one wrought by Mary Queen of Scots would be charmingly suggestive of Scottish romance, and probably tasteful, as the employment of high art in needlework is only the revival of an ancient practice. Small pieces, like doylies, are often wrought with a border of cut-work, but a rapid worker in button-hole stitch would hardly find a large piece of this work tire- some, though like all lace work it lacks the relief of color. The Eng- lish revival of art designs has put in the reach of every one an infinite number of exquisite patterns for embroidery in South Kensington stitch and outline work. The details of these artistic stitches are easily mastered by an ordinary needlewoman, but if desired, instruc- tion can readily be had at the classes for this purpose. A set of doylies is an excellent selection for a beginner. If one or two are spoiled in the first attempts no great loss of time is incurred, as the embroidery of one doylie is little work. A firm white linen is the 254 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. material chosen, and a different design is stamped on each of the set. The stitch used in embroidery is South Kensington. The patterns, which are in Japanese effect, are usually wrought in solid color with bobbin silk or crewels. Nodding grasses and a flight of birds, lilies, clusters of roses, a straying vine or scraps of sea-weed, are some of the pretty designs. Ceramic patterns, showing a vase, a plaque or teapot, are in pure Japanese style, and are worked in old Nankin blue. These doylies add a dainty bit of color to the after-dinner cloth, placed under a wineglass or a fingerbowl. The tablecloth used with them may be embroidered around the edge in corresponding designs, but often a white wine-cloth with a double border woven in old gold, ruby or Nankin blue, is used with doylies embroidered in a similar color. The new tidies are about a yard in length by half a yard in breadth. Soft India pongee silk is now used. The edges of the silk are hemstitched the desired length, and the ends are finished with fringe. A vine of English clematis is wrought across the tidy in con- ventional color to suit the room, or is embroidered with olive leaves and white or purple flowers. A straggling blackberry vine is often used for decoration. A spray of golden-rod or sunflowers would be selected for a room furnished in oriental yellow. Rooms in this color are so managed by English art decorators that they seem to be in a continual flood of golden sunshine. Figures in genre style are often wrought on tidies in outline work, which is easily done and is very effective. A realistic figure is the pumpkin girl, a buxom beauty who bears in her arms a sample of the yellow fruit. Though the pumpkin is not likely yet to be selected as an ornamental climber for garden trellis, the vine that strays at the feet of the girl is conventionalized into something like beauty, and the outline curves of the design are suggestive of golden October days. In an entirely different spirit is the slender maiden 'neath a moonlit sky " catching lunar moths." The short waist, short clinging skirts and fluttering scarf of the cos- tume are like old English pictures of women seen in the " Scottish Chiefs " and books of that time, and belong to the sentimental type of woman, of whom Mrs. Hemans sang and lady novelists of her day wrote. HOUSEHOLD ORNAMENTATION. 255 Pongee silk is also used for charming little work-aprons. The bottom is turned up to form a pocket, and a ribbon in color is run through the hem at the top to fasten the apron around the waist. A spray of Virginia creeper and berries, or a branch of carnations, is embroidered in South Kensington stitch across the pocket, or a few long-stemmed violets are scattered over the apron. Bureau covers are of cream-white momie cloth. They are embroidered on the ends with vines and powdered through the centre with violets, pink rose petals or tiny blue love-in-the-nests, or scattered with rose-buds. The decoration and color are chosen in reference to the coloring of the room. Wall protectors, for the backs of washstands, are wrought in South Kensington stitch with crewels. A cream-white buff ecru or gray linen is selected with regard to the prevailing tint of the wall. An aquatic scene of water grasses and floating pond lilies may be chosen for embroidery, and in place of the suggestive motto, " Clean hands and a pure heart," a flight of birds is often substituted. Sub- marine scenes for the same use show swimming fishes, shells, sea anemones and floating sea-weed. Pillow protectors or " shams " are of white linen, and are usually bordered by a ruffle of sheer linen or a frill of lace. One corner of the sham is embroidered with sprays of poppies or lotos leaves, and the words " pleasant dreams " or " good night" are wrought in English or in the homelike German language, in whose rough gutturals there is always a rugged sound of hos- pitality. A merino or cashmere dress may be mended neatly by wetting a piece of court-plaster of exactly the same shade as the goods, and putting it on the wrong side, pressing down every frayed edge and every thread, and laying a weight on it until it is thoroughly dry. The stitch known as the " Kensington," or " South Kensing- ton," and used in what is called, in a phrase of the day, "artistic embroidery," is as nearly as possible no definite stitch at all, but much like drawing done on cloth with needle and thread, a single thread stroke, or " stitch," representing each pencil stroke, how- ever long or short, only that curves, of course, can only be done 256 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. by a succession of short strokes of the thread. The stitches are mostly made in the " back-stitch " manner, and are regulated by no rules whatever, either as to length or direction, but by the eye alone, the object being to produce the effect of the design in the quickest way. It is done with embroidered silks or worsteds on articles not intended ever to be washed ; can be made very effec- tive, and is not at all tedious. Any one able to use a needle and thread at all knows all the mechanical manipulation necessary ; but in order to produce the beautiful designs given in the fashion or ladies' magazines for borders, etc., worked in this stitch, you must be able to copy the pattern by your eye alone, as in drawing. The very useful and widely adaptable embroidery stitch now called " Kensington outline " is different from the above, being produced by a succession of stitches all exactly alike. It is the best of all stitches for the pretty outline designs, resembling etchings, now so fashionable for working with colored marking-cotton on handker- chiefs, table-napkins, and many other articles destined to form an intimate acquaintance with the wash-tub. These designs have no filling in, all that is worked being the outlines together with such lines as, in a pen and ink drawing, would be put in to mark the folds of drapery and so forth. Any one can copy a little outline picture on the white goods where it is to be worked, by placing the ^oods over the picture (holding against the window-pane, if necessary) and marking the lines with a lead-p'encil ; then all you have to do is to follow the pencil marks with your Kensington outline. A line of this stitching looks on the right side like a small, twisted cord, and on the wrong side appears as a row of ordinary, plain hand-stitching. By this description many ladies will recognize Kensington outline stitch as only a new name for their old friend " stem " or " cord " stitch. It is extremely effective on even the most ordinary ma- terials. A bag for soiled clothes may be made of Macrame lace, lined with silk, satin, or wool goods. The lace extends only two-thirds of the length of the bag, and is finished with a ruche of satin ribbon. The HOUSEHOLD ORNAMENTATION. 257 bottom is completed by a handsome bow of ribbon and tassel made of the thread used for the Macrame lace. Draw up the bag at the top with silk cord and tassels the shade of the lining. Very pretty bags are also made of blue and white ticking, the blue stripes covered with black braid feather-stitched with colored wool, and the white stripes embroidered with bright-hued wools in as great a variety of fancy stitches as the maker's skill can compass. A plainer style, much liked by many persons who wish to have such articles fre- quently washed, is made of stout brown linen, trimmed with rows of scarlet braid, three-quarters of an inch wide, feather-stitched with black wool. These rows are placed an inch apart and may be arranged in regular order, covering the bag to half or three-fourths of its depth, or in three groups of four rows each, one at the bottom, one in the centre, and one at the top of the bag, just below the drawing-string, which should be of scarlet braid in place of cord and tassels. When sewing buttons on children's clothes where there will be much strain on the button, the danger of tearing the cloth out will be greatly lessened by putting a small button directly under the larger outside button. This applies, of course, only to buttons with holes through them. The beauty of netting consists in its firmness and regularity. All joins in the thread must be made in a very strong knot, and, if pos- sible, at an edge, so that it may not be perceived. The implements used in netting are a netting-needle and a mesh. In filling a netting- needle with the material, be careful not to make it so full that there will be a difficulty in passing it through the stitches. The size of the needle must depend on the material employed, and the fineness of the work. Steel needles are employed for every kind of netting except the very coarsest. The fine meshes are usually also of steel ; but as this material is heavy, it is better to employ bone or wooden meshes when large ones are required. Many meshes are flat, and in using them the width is given. The first stitch in this work is termed diamond netting, the holes being in the form of diamonds. «7 ?58 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. To do the first row, a stout thread, knotted to form a round, is fastened to the knee with a pin, or passed over the foot or on a hook, sometimes attached to a work-cushion for the purpose. The end of the thfv^ad on the needle is knotted to this, the mesh being held in the left hand on a line with it. Take the needle in the right hand, let the thread come over the mesh and the third finger, bring it back under the mesh, and hold it between the thumb and first finger. Slip the needle through the loop over the third finger, under the mesh and the foundation thread. In doing this a loop will be formed, which must be passed over the fourth finger ; withdraw the third finger from the loop, and draw up the loop over the fourth gradually until it is quite tight on the mesh. The thumb should be kept firmly- over the mesh while the stitch is being completed. When the neces- sary number of stitches is made on this foundation, the future rows are to be workc-d backward and forward. To form a round the first stitch is to be worked immediately after the last, which closes the netting into a circle. Round netting is very nearly the same stitch, the difference is merely in the way of putting the needle through the loop and foundation, or other stitch. After passing the needle through the loop it must be brought out and put downwards through the stitch. This stitch is particularly suited for purses. Square netting is exactly the same stitch as diamond netting, only it is begun at a corner on one stitch and increased (by doing two in one) in the last stitch of every row until the greatest width required is attained. Then by netting two stitches together at the end of every row, the piece is decreased to a point again. When stretched out all the holes in this netting are squares. Square and diamond netting are the most frequently used, and are ornamented with patterns darned on them in simple darning or in various point stitches ; in the latter case it forms a variety of the sort of work termed guipure. Stitches in netting are always counted by knots. Fireplace curtains are often only half a yard wide, and just long enough to touch the floor, but then again rep ones with a worsted worked border are much fuller. For stamped velveteen we should HOUSEHOLD ORNAMENTATION. 259 say from three-quarters to one yard, according to the size of the mantel-piece, would be enough. Dark blue, outlined with gold, will be very handsome; the mantel border should be about six or eight inches, but it is impossible for us to say decidedly the best propor- tions for such things when we are ignorant of the dimensions of the room, or even of the fireplace. Mantel shelves now never have the valance put on separately from the top ; it is all one, and only the corners are shaped out by a seam around the mantel ends. Fringes are out of fashion in a great measure, and, as often as not, the border is only hemmed up underneath, or a cord laid along it. Chenille cord, or ordinary chenille like that put round glass ornament shades, often looks better than silk cords on velvet. A pretty pen-wiper is made of six pieces of flannel, two brown, two red and two green, in the shape of a beech leaf Nip the edge of each leaf into very tiny points and chain-stitch veins upon it in gold-colored floss. Attach these leaves together at their upper ends arranging under them three pointed leaves of black broadcloth or silk, to receive the ink, and finish the top with a bow of ribbon. A very pretty scrap-bag, for sitting-room or bed-room, is made in a simple manner by taking a good-sized Japanese parasol, or small umbrella: take a piece of fine wire and make in a ring, catch it to the partly-opened parasol with thread, tie a bright ribbon to the handle. Of course, this is serviceable only for bits of paper and light scraps. To wind a watch, turn the hole downward, and let the small end of the key point upward. This will allow any little particles of dirt, metal or dust to drop out, and the watch will not need cleaning so often. There are many new and pretty designs for perfume and glove aijd handkerchief sachets. One for gloves may have on the back the half of a long kid glove, applied to satin, all the seams being elab- orately worked in colored silks in small flowers, with two narrow floral bracelets above. Another sachet has two peacock feathers em- broidered with silk, on a ground of pale blue satin, with a deep red 26o THE hearthstone; or, life at home. ribbon attached, which is " appliqued on " with gold thread. " Bon jour " was worked on one end with gold letters. Just now one finds the legend " bon jour " painted or embroidered on all sorts of pretty fancy articles. Sprays of jessamine seem to be most in favor for painting or embroidery this season, and are pretty ornamentations for blotting-books of black, dark red or rich blue satin. Another blotter design has a simulated pen, worked slantwise, with the letters of a name apparently strung on; a small spray of flowers is found in the corners. Beautiful coverings for chairs, ottomans, sofa pillows and screens, and drapings for tables and doors, are secured by working over the designs on these materials in silks and crewels. The color of the design beneath is immaterial, but the colors used in the embroidery depend upon the general tone of the ground. This embroidery is, of course, not closely wrought. The form is usually outlined and indi- cated by long stitches of various colors, giving the effect of the innumerable dyes used in Persian and Indian goods, and, after a little practice and skill in choosing the colors, can be very quickly done. To make rag rugs, cut rags and sew hit-and-miss, or fancy striped, as you choose. Use wooden needles, round, smooth and pointed at one end, of any convenient length. The knitting is done back and forth (like old-fashioned suspenders), always taking off the first stitch. Shoe pockets are made of about two and a half yards of calico, one yard of which makes the back, to be tacked to the door when done. Split the remaining yard and a half in two, lengthwise, and, placing the slips about one inch apart, make across the back three rows of pockets, by stitching first the ends of the strips to the sides of the back, and then gather the bottom of each strip to fit the back ; then separate each strip into two, three or four pockets, according to the use for which they are designed, and fasten by stitching a narrow " piping " of calico from top to bottom of the back between the pockets. A border of leather sewed on the edges of the back, HOUSEHOLD ORNAMENTATION. 26l and a narrow strip used instead of the calico " piping," make the whole much stronger. To make a case for comb and brush; take some Holland, drill or ticking, cut in one piece ten inches wide and twenty-five in length, each end turned up five and one-half inches, leaving a plain piece in the centre of three inches. Ornament with an embroidered vine ; fasten together with ribbon strings. A "lace album" contains either a specimen, or painted imitation of a specimen, of all the kinds of real lace issued since the manufacture of lace began. The whole of a design must be given. Fragments of real lace of family interest, as having been worn by remote ancestry, are introduced, each one being labelled with the name of the lace and the noted occasions on which it was worn. The album leaves are of satin, so as to better display the pattern. When it is possible to pro- cure a fragment of lace worn by some great celebrity, the autograph, too, is obtained if possible. Some little contrivances which have added much to the appearance and comfort of the dressing-room are as follows : When a room does not happen to contain a hanging wardrobe, an excellent substitute may be effected by means of a set of those portable folding pegs, which can be bought for a very small sum, fastened to the wall by strong nails. But dresses and cloaks are not sightly objects when hung up ; and if not covered, they catch the dust in a manner very detrimental to their preservation. Make a cretonne curtain (a light ground is the best) the required width and length, with several cur- tain rings at the top. Then procure at any hardware dealer's two of those little brass hooks to screw into the wall, which are used for hanging up cups in china closets — the largest size of these — and a strong piece of cane about three-quarters of a yard long. Screw in the hooks just over the pegs, run the cane through the curtain rings and fasten it up, the two hooks supporting each end. Thus a port- able hanging wardrobe is at once made, and when the room is swept nothing need be done save to turn the flowing curtain inside out and pin it tightly round the dresses underneath it. When there are pegs 262 THE HEARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME. behind the door the same sort of curtain can be put up and has all the appearance of a portiere. The cretonne should match the window curtains and harmonize as ijiuch as possible with the shade of the carpet and the whole tone of the room. Boxes and trunks, which never look well in a bedroom in their natural state, may be converted into ottomans by cretonne covers, made to fit loosely and take off and on. A flat piece lined for the top of the box, a piping cord round, and a loose flounce gathered on, is the best way to make them. And when curtains, box covers, portiere, and hanging wardrobes are all made of the same pretty light cretonne to match, the effect is very good. When " doing up " a bedroom it is well to buy as many yards of cretonne as you are likely to want at first, in case of not being afterwards able to match the pattern. Nothing looks worse than a " patchy " room, and the idea should be fully carried out or not attempted at all. FLORICULTUp^iND H0]^TICULTU1|E, O improvement is more marked in the modern home than the prominence which is being more and more assigned _, to the cultivation of flowers. This taste is a develop- ment of the general sense of beauty and picturesqueness which is one of the best signs of a pure, healthy and intellectual life. A few years ago it was a rare thing to find flowers in the windows and on the tables of any but the wealthiest classes in America. Hothouse flowers were purchased by the wealthy because they were costly, and the more they cost the more necessary they were deemed. But for any but the rich, flowers were deemed little more than litter, or, at any rate, were not thought of as among the most beautiful adornments and attractions of the simple home. Now they are prized in every household, and so universal is the apprecia- tion of them becoming in all English-speaking communities, that there are societies of benevolent ladies in almost every city for sup- plying hospitals and sick-rooms and the dwellings of the poor with flowers. Next to the necessaries of life are those little comforts to the senses which " adorn and cheer the way." It is wonderful how much the senses of sight and smell have to do with tranquillity of mind, aspira- tion after all that is good and noble, patience under present gloom and hope of future welfare. Hearing may reveal things to us on a grand scale. The sound of martial music may thrill the soul with more sudden impulse and stronger energy. But the sight and per- fume of flowers has a quiet power of beneficence over the feelings, which makes bare walls seem fairyland and " the wilderness to blos- som as the rose." To all thoughtful minds, they have ever been (263) 264 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. emblems and types of qualities, virtues and blessings. The purest mind that ever pondered the great parable of nature saw in the lilies of the field a beauty which Solomon arrayed in all his glory could not equal. The language of flowers is a language that speaks directly to the heart. Even if "A primrose by the river's brim A yellow primrose was to him, And it was nothing more," it was a great deal, for the most stolid and matter-of-fact observer cannot take from the flowers their divine gift of beauty. No sight is prettier than that of children gathering wild flowers, in pure enjoy- ment of their beauty, in the natural gardens planted by the Father's hand. The love of flowers is a redeeming feature in characters other- wise unamiable, if, indeed, any but the amiable can love objects and possessions so pure and beautiful. They suggest beauty and har- mony, virtue and peace. They are full of what Matthew Arnold calls " sweetness and light." The tired sight finds rest and recrea- tion in the variegated colors and beautiful arrangements of a garden. , Through the eye the fancy, and the higher faculty than fancy, imagi- nation, is gently stimulated. We turn back to look again at the beautiful rose-bed, or the other flowers majestic, or simple and re- tiring, which recall to us some scene or feeling of the past. As aids to memory, flowers are to some minds more powerful than music. The familiar flower appeals through the eye as the familiar melody does through the ear to the memory of the past. Memory is itself a flower-garden where good deeds and kindly affections blossom as we look back. And even more vividly to the sensitive imagination are the happy pictures of the past recalled by the perfume than the aspect of a favorite flower. The air made aromatic by the flower-beds ^seems to waft us back to the days of other years, and perhaps other countries, where the same perfume made some special scene, event, f)r person eternal in our memory. Some one we loved may be im- pressed upon our remembrance chiefly by a flower. Hence there •was true philosophy in Shakespeare's letting poor Ophelia deck her- FLORAL WINDOW. FLORICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE, 265 self with flowers, which she makes emblems of the past and of the feelings of the heart. Every one must be conscious, on first entering a garden or a room in which beautiful flowers strike the eye and their fragrance rises to the brain, of a change in inward feeling, a throwing off of thought-burdens and a taking on of pleasanter feelings and ideas. No ambition is more noble in an humble toiler for daily bread than that of having a little garden as well as a home of his own. The road of life would be far gloomier and harder than it is if there were no flowery meads along the way ; no perfumes to exalt and purify the thoughts from the dull routine and murky atmosphere of a world which seems divided between work and want — all but the oases in the desert, the flower-gardens and the incense-laden plants of beauty that spring up like visions of Eden regardened by a restored gardener. For man's first, happiest and healthiest employment was the " sweet gardening toil " which God gave him for his pastime in Paradise. Toil-worn, foot-sore and hand-stained as the wanderer from that first garden of peace and plenty may be, we shall never find a home, how- ever humble, in which a garden is well kept and cheers the roadside, or flowers adorn the windows and shed their fragrance through the rooms, inhabited by vice and vit)lence. The flowers soon wither in a drunkard's home. The hand uplifted in anger cannot trim the flower-beds ; the fairest plant would wither at the touch of hatred, lying and envy; there must be love and friendship, truth and sanctity in the home in which flowers grow. Else men and women would not use them as nature's emblems and adornments to wreathe the bridal feast and shed the hope of reunion in a brighter world upon the obsequies of the loved and lost. As home is happy, the weeds become extinct and the flowers bloom in greater beauty and abun- dance. When selfishness and sin have spoiled the Eden of home life, the roses die, the violets fade, " presently the fig tree withers away," only the bare boughs with " nothing but leaves " are left upon the roof-tree of happiness, duty and contentment. The following general directions for the information and guidance pf such lovers of flowers as desire and have occasion to cultivate and 266 THE HEARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME. tend them in the home will be found useful. These directions refer only to the simplest flowers and those easiest to cultivate. With proper care and attention, roses can be grown in a satisfac- tory manner in the conservatory or drawing-room. To that end, commence operations by throwing away all the old, scraggy plants you have had in pots for years, and commence anew. Then get some new plants. The best are those that have been growing in the open border for one or two years. Take any hybrid perpetual, tea, Bourbon or noisette, one that has had a good freezing and at rest. Take up carefully, so as not to injure the roots, and pot in a strong, rich soil. The best is well-rotted turf, three parts, and well-rotted manure, from the cow-stable, one part. Any new soil — that which underlies the sod of a meadow — is good. Avoid soil from the vege- table garden or from the woods. Choose a heavy clay in preference to a light, sandy soil. A heavy, sweet loam is the more desirable. In choosing pots, take those that will comfortably hold the roots, which should be shortened with sharp pruning shears or knife, say one-third the length. Be careful to have the roots evenly distributed through the pot, press the earth firmly around the roots, and thoroughly water. As soon as potted, or before, if more convenient, the plant must be well pruned or cut back. This point is one of the essentials in rose culture and must not be overlooked. It is a simple thing to show one how to prune the rose; but a difficult task to tell how to do it properly. New wood of nearly all roses usually starts from the root. In that case cut back to within four inches of the ground. If the new growth — that of the past year — has started from above the root, cut still closer — say to within two inches of the old wood. Do not in any case leave any old wood for the purpose of flowering. When the young wood starts from the root cut the old entirely away. Set the pots in a cool, dark room or cellar, where they should re- main four weeks, unless in the meantime they commence rapid growth, in which case they should be brought into full light and heat. After the watering the plant received when potted, no more is required until brought to the light. At this point much care is to be FLORICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE. 267 observed. Give no more than is actually necessary. During the first stages of growth absorption by the plant is slow. Increase the amount as the growth increases. As soon as the first leaves are fully developed, sprinkle every morning with tepid water. From this time onward give the plants all the light and sun possible. Do not let them get a chill, neither draughts of cold air, which will surely cause mildew, from which plants rarely recover. When the room needs ventilation, lower the windows only sufficient for the purpose. As long as artificial heat is used, do not raise the windows to admit warm air from outside, even though the temperature is higher than within. As a preventive of mildew, the plant should be lightly dusted once a week with the flour of sulphur. Should the green fly {aphis) put in an appearance, immediate steps toward its destruc- tion must be taken by fumigation, which, as a rule, is inconvenient in the living room, or dipping the plant in strong soap-suds and rinsing with clean water. Follow this plan daily as long as it is a necessity. There is no more destructive enemy of the rose tree than the slug or worm that eats the varnish that nature has spread upon the upper side of the leaf, causing bushes to look often much as though the fire had singed them. These little worms should be met and conquered at once as soon as they make their appearance. A sure remedy is pulverized white hellebore. Put two ounces into six gallons of water, and with a brush-broom give the bushes a sprinkling, bending them so as to wet the leaves on both sides. It may possibly require two or three applications. A PRETTY and easily-grown window plant maybe obtained in the fol- lowing manner: soak a round piece of coarse sponge in warm water until it has thoroughly expanded. After squeezing it about half dry, place in the openings millet, red clover, and barley-grass seeds, rice and oats. Hang the sponge in a window where the sun shines a part of the day, and sprinkle it lightly with water every morning for a week. Soon tender leaves will shoot out, and, growing rapidly, will form a drooping mass of living green. If regularly sprinkled it will later be dotted with the blossoms of the clover. 268 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. To Preserve Rose Buds. — Cover the freshly cut stems with wax. Place each one in a paper cone or cap so that the leaves do not touch the paper. The cap should be sealed up with glue to prevent air, dust, or moisture from entering. When the glue is dry it should be placed in a cool place. When wanted, cut off the waxed end and place in water, where it will bloom in a few hours. Watering Window Plants. — There is nothing that seems to bother more those who would grow window flowers than how often to water them. It is an exceedingly simple thing to those who have had experience, though so mysterious a thing to those who have had none. When the skilled gardener is asked for advice he says, " Water only when the plants need it," but this tells the inquirer nothing. There still remains to be understood how to tell when plants need water. After all, this is a species of knowledge that cannot well be taught by another. It has to be learned from experience. The good plant cultivator tells from the color of the earth ; but even this is a relative term. There is dark soil and there is light soil ; but all soils are darker when they are wet than when dry. One can soon learn this by experimenting a little; and can soon tell whether the earth is dry or wet by the eye or finger alone. If it is wet it of course wants no more water; if much lighter than its usual color, the earth is dry and needs some. It is an exceedingly simple matter to those who will try to learn; to those who cannot learn themselves it is a hopeless task. There is one hint that we may give that may be of value. If the earth never gets dry, the plants are not in good con- dition. Something is wrong. It is the active, growing, working roots that take the moisture out of the earth. It is a sign of good health for the plant to want frequent watering. Window Gardening. — Among the difficulties that beset window gardening in the winter are: i. Lack of room. Most window gar- deners use by far too large pots. Four or five inch pots will do for nearly all the plants usually grown. When the plants are lifted in the fall, cut back sharply. Remove nearly every leaf and all flower buds ; then reduce the ball of earth to three or four inches in diame- FLORICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE. 269 ter, and pot accordingly. Give the plant a cool, shady place till well started, then place in your window. Water occasionally with weak liquid manure. Geraniums and roses intended for the garden in the spring can thus be kept in large numbers, but without expectation of profuse bloom. 2. Lack of flowers. The only remedy is to keep just that number of plants that you can give full light and keep near the glass, with the temperature ranging from fifty to seventy or a little more. A few plants will bloom well somewhat back from the window, but heliotropes, geraniums, bouvardias, roses, require abundance of sunshine. 3. Abundance of bugs. These are natural scavengers provided to prevent you from being poisoned by sick plants. They indicate false conditions of growth. The affected plant is rotting at the roots from standing water or lack of drainage, or it is sick for want of sunshine. Bugs abound out-of-doors where there is damp shade or a tree disturbed in its adjustment of root and branch. Doctor your plants and lice will generally vanish. Red spiders ap- pear only where the atmosphere is too dry. Dust and dirt on the leaves, closing the pores, also induce diseases and calls in the scav- engers. 4. Damping-off and mildew. This is due to a false system of watering, in connection with the low state of atmosphere. Great mistakes are made in watering. It seems nearly impossible to induce some plant lovers from trying to grow all their plants in a marsh. Few plants can endure standing in a soil constantly drenched, or in saucers of water. Less damage is done by drouth than by over-watering. A good rule is to thoroughly drench the soil once in two days, using water but little warmer than the tem- perature of the room. Geraniums especially revolt from superfluous water. Ageratums and heliotropes just as decidedly protest against being in the least dried. The difficulties of damping-off and mildew are also fostered by the exceedingly rich soil som.etimes used. It should be remembered that a plant or tree can be made dyspeptic. Geraniums, as a general thing, are wonderfully accommodating plants. They will grow almost anywhere and bear a great amount of ill-treatment and even neglect These remarks are, however, more 2/0 THE hearthstone; OR, LIFE AT HOME. applicable to those of the so-called zonale varieties, which require plenty of sunlight and abundance of room to spread themselves. If grown in small pots, so that the roots will be cramped, they will bloom much quicker. One of the commonest errors of the amateur florists consists in the belief that the larger pot you give a plant just so much the better it will grow. Now here is the folly of the thing. If you give them a great deal of soil, of necessity the earth will be- come sour, because, in order to keep the soil moist, you will have to give more water than the plant can use. How TO Preserve Flowers in Sand. — While our art lovers warmly applaud all successful efforts to represent nature for the adorn- ment of our homes, the art of imprisoning real bits of nature for the same purpose is not sufficiently studied. The neglect of some of the pretty means of installing art in our homes is greatly observable in the preparation of flowers and leaves of all kinds for winter use. As usually pressed, they are flat and unnatural, and their fibres being packed closely and forced into straight lines, are extremely brit- tle. In the pretty ferns and autumn leaves, their delicate veinings are obliterated, and their characteristic dimples conventionalized away, while a pressed rose is no more like a rose than your best friend would be like herself if passed between the rollers of a paper mill. The best plan, but one which is not generally known, or used, is to press in sand, and this can be done as follows: Procure nice, clean, dry sand, white is preferable, and for white flowers indispensa- ble, if their pure tone would be retained. Pluck your flowers as freshly blown as possible, that they may contain plenty of sap; in most cases remove the stems, as they take up too much room, are not easily managed, and when dry do not carry the flowers as well as wire stems. Cover the bottom of the box with sand, then, resting the stem part of a flower thereon, and letting each petal fall in its natural position, fill its every interstice with sand, at the same time that you build up evenly and neatly about it. A common envelope box will contain enough flowers for two bouquets. Of course heavy- petalled flowers, such as dahlias, camelias, roses, etc., press better FLORICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE. 2/1 than more delicate ones, although verbenas, and many small and delicate petalled flowers have come from their sand-beds looking so natural that only by very close inspection could they be told from natural flowers. The petals and leaves are quite tough, will bear handling almost as well as when fresh, and when placed in the bon- net, can with difficulty be distinguished from the finest artificial flowers, and when in the hair might readily be taken for a blossom fresh from the garden. Ferns and leaves are best laid flat in the box, especially the former, as their slender form will give them all the droop that is desirable. A bouquet or wreath, which it is usually im- possible to keep as a souvenir, can, wnth patience, be admirably pre- served in this manner. When once buried in the sand, no care is required, save that the boxes be kept in a moderately dry place, and await resurrection of their buried contents; flowers remain in sand from three to eight weeks, for the thinnest to the thickest leaved, and it is wise to give them a few days' grace. By the sea and in lake countries the sand is inclined to absorb moisture. They are not brittle, but to the touch are like tissue paper; when creased sharply, they break. To ascertain the best time for re-potting plants, knock the ball of earth out of the pot, and if the root is all grown together in a mass at the sides and bottom, the plant should be transferred to the next- sized pot. Never remove the soil from the roots with the hands, but rather wash it away, otherwise the fine fibrous roots on which the plant depends for subsistence ma\- be damaged. There is no better cure for a sickly plant than to wash the roots clean, and then put in a new pot, using fresh soil. A FLOWER that can be heartily recommended to those cultivating out-door plants is Erysimum. They grow easily, and if planted in the summer will bloom late in the fall. Like Nemophila, Er}'simum will almost take care of itself Of all house plants, a Catalonian Jessamine pays the best. From the 1st of August till New Year's day it bears a profusion of deli- cate white flowers, which exhale the most exquisite fragrance. If 272 THE hearthstone; or, life at home, there were no flowers, the foliage, a delicate vine, would amply re- pay wintering. They never have a bug, the leaves never turn yellow and it requires very little care. A Water Bouquet. — A water bouquet is a novelty which ladies may be glad to hear about, especially when flowers are scarce* and ingenuity is taxed its uttermost for novelty and variety. The articles required are a circular glass dish and a low glass shade to fit inside the dish. The bouquet is made according to the size of the shade, as there must be a margin of an inch or so between the glass and the flowers. If the shade is small a very few flowers will suffice, and these should be put tightly together, with fern or moss arranged as nmch as possible to hide the stalks, which must be tied firmly together, and cut close. To look well for the centre of a dinner-table, the shade should not be smaller round than a pudding plate. A larger size would look even better; but the difficulty in making it is the quantity of water required, as you must place the dish in the bottom of a bath, with sufficient water to go over the top of the shade. Then weigh the bouquet with the glass stopper of a decanter or some like convenient article to make it stand upright and prevent the bouquet from floating. Perhaps a smaller stopper on each side would keep it more upright. Place the bouquet in the centre of the dish which is at the bottom of the bath, and ta e the shade, holding it sidewise underneath the water, and place it carefully over the flowers, resting it on the dish. Care must be taken to keep the shade well under the water, as, when the bouquet is completed, the shade must be quite full of water, to the exclusion of all air. Lift the whole thing out of the water, slowly and with care; dry the dish and place it on the table. It is unnecessary to say that it will be very heavy. The effect is beautiful, as the flowers appear magnified through the water, and a sparkling silvery effect is given to the leaves. This bouquet will last for two or three days as it is, and by changing the water, for much longer. In removing the shade it must be placed underneath the water, and care must be taken to do this gradually, or else the glass may crack and break. Even FLORICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE. 273 if the flowers have a withered look when seen without the water, they appear fresh again when the water is renewed. Very small water bouquets can be made with finger glasses, and pink ones have a pretty effect. These ornaments are exceedingly attractive on the breakfast and dinner-table. Growing Smilax in the House. — This beautiful winter climber — the graceful queen of decorative vines — is adapted alike to the green-house and conservatory. With very little care it can be grown successfully as a house plant. The seed should be sown in a box, or in pots, in the house; should be kept moist till the young plants appear. The seed being rather slow to germinate, you must not think it bad if it does not make its appearance for two weeks. The young plants should be potted off into three inch pots as soon as they are three or four inches high. Once a year the bulbs should be allowed to dry off and rest; they will start into growth again in about six weeks. The vine does not require the full sun, but it will grow in a partially-shaded situation. It can be trained on a small thread across the window or around pictures. It is a climbing vine, and will attach itself to a string in just about the right condition to use for wreaths, etc., or, when required for tighter work, the branches which become entangled can be separated. A Flower Bed. — One pretty and simple way to make a flower bed is to first prepare a rich soil, make a round bed, raise it a little in the centre, then in the centre drive a stake, and to it tie a string twenty inches long. At the other end of the string tie a pointed stick, and with it, walking around the bed, make a circle ; then untie the string and lengthen it thirty-five inches long, and in the same manner make another circle around the bed outside the first ; then again make the last or outside circle five inches from the centre ; now pull up the stake, and in its place put eight or ten zinnia seeds ; of course, don't throw them all in a heap. When they come up, pull up all but three or four thrifty plants ; it is better to have a few good plants than a dozen' crowded ones. In the first circle or the one next to the centre, sow balsam ; in the second, asters ; in the third or out- 18 274 THE hearthstone; or, life at home, side circle sow candytuft. When the seeds come up, thin the balsam and asters six or eight inches apart, and the candytuft two inches ; if any are missing, transplant. This plan is a much better one than to throw the seeds in the ground promiscuously, without regard to size or color. In this bed, of course, can be used different seeds than those named ; but be sure to have all the tallest plants in the centre, and blend the colors. This arrangement will be liked ; the balsams hide the long, naked zinnia stalks, while the white candy- tuft looks like a rift of snow around the bed. Another Way. — Select then for a rich and gorgeous show of bloom a few varieties of zonal geraniums, both single and double flowers, verbenas, heliotrope, etc. For a more artistic show, select lantanas, yellow jessamine, a half dozen fuchsias and varieties of flowering begonias. Of foliage plants, for ornament, the coleus, rex begonias, cannas, ricinus, and the caladium esculentum are not sur- passed in producing a tropical effect when properly massed in the door-yard or lawn. An attractive bed of these may be formed by first planting for a background a row of the ricinus, then a row of cannas, leaving two and one-half feet space in centre of row for the caladium esculentum, the next row may be of dark or velvet coleus, another of light colored or golden coleus, finishing off" with a row of cineraria maratima. This forms a very attractive bed on the lawn, even when viewed from a distance. In front of this, but not too close, will be wanted a bed of the queen of flowers, the rose. They should be of the ever-blooming class, as they, with good soil and culture, make a grand show of sweet-scented buds, from early summer until late autumn. If you are not ac- quainted with the varieties you had better send your order to the florist and let him select for you, as he will in nine cases out of ten send you a better selection, variety, and color than you could your- self. As a late-blooming plant none excels the china aster. Sow the seed in a box about the middle of April, or in the open ground two FLORICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE. 2/5 weeks later. When the plants are about three or four inches high transplant to a bed in the lawn or garden, made very rich, and in the full sunshine. Seasonable Hints. — Plants growing with full vigor with the pots full of roots will require an abundance of water — every day will not be too much if the weather is clear. Take the same plant with but a few leaves on it, just shifted into fresh soil, with but a few roots, and watering once a week may even be too much for it. The tem- perature of the water supplied to plants should be about the same degree as the temperature of the room in which they are growing, and when water is applied sufficient should be given to thoroughly saturate the soil. A mere dribbling on the surface does more harm than good, as it draws up what moisture there may be in the soil when it is wet. Let the water run through into the saucer and then empty it out, but on no account allow the plants to remain in it. Repot plants into the next size in which they have been growing, but remember that most plants bloom more quickly by having their roots cramped in small pots. If you have any sickly plants, wash all the dirt off the roots and give new soil and clean pots. The best time for cutting flowers is immediately after sundown — unless to preserve them from a storm, which would otherwise destroy or prevent their being cut in the evening. On cloudy days the time of cutting is a matter of much less difference. The explanation of these rules as to the proper time for cutting is found in the state of the sap at different times of the day and night. From the earliest dawn until sundown the leaves are actively drawing upon the roots, and the sap is flowing freely. After that time the leaves are nearly dormant till morning. The plant is then resting — is asleep. A flower cut in the sunshine will wilt at once, and if not put into water will quickly perish ; whereas, if cut at sunset it will remain fresh all night. In a cool place it will not appear to change for a long time, even if not put in water, yet in a close, hot room it will fade in an hour. In this connection, it must be remembered that no rose should be allowed to expand fully before cutting. Cut them all 2/6 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. while in bud. This rule may be apphed to every flower. It cost the plant more to bring one flower to full maturity than to produce a dozen buds. Therefore cut as soon as in condition, and cut them all. To suffer flowers to fade on a plant, and go to seed, is to lose nine-tenths of the whole crop. Freedom and generosity in cutting flowers is the best and the truest economy. Plants at rest are usually stored away under the benches, in the greenhouse, or by amateurs under a flower-stand or in the cellar. It is unnecessary to remove them from their pots. A period of six or eight weeks' rest is generally allowed to fuchsias, crape myrtles, lemon verbenas, and such shrubby plants. To Preserve Flowers. — An excellent method for preserving flowers consists simply in immersing them for a moment in melted parafline, drawing them out quickly, and shaking them gently so as to remove the excess. The flowers should be fresh-plucked and en- tirely free from drops of water. The parafline must be heated only enough to be liquid, as a greater degree of temperature would injure the flowers. The flowers should be immersed one by one, and shaken about somewhat so as to prevent the adhesion of bubbles of air to the surface. This method was discovered by a celebrated German perfumer, and is quoted as being a perfect one. Flower Raising. — The soil for potting plants should be composed of two parts of fine fibrous earth from the woods and some good garden soil. For cactus use one-half sand or old lime. Second, for drainage, place small pieces of charcoal or broken earth ware over the hole in the bottom of the pot. Place your plant in the centre of the pot, press the earth around it closely, water thoroughly and enough to wet the roots and moisten all the soil. Do not use any more water until the earth looks dry. Some will require water sooner than others. Rap the side of the pot, and if the sound is dull they are wet enough, but if clear and sharp they need more water. Use soft water always; it should be lukewarm. Evening is the best time for watering them. Cuttings of oleander and some other plants root best in a bottle of water in the sunshine. Slips that are pulled FLORICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE. 2'JJ off of plants so as to bring a piece of the old wood will be more apt to live. Keep in the light as much as possible. Plants will not live in the dark. It is a good plan to wash plants every few weeks with lukewarm soap-suds and rinse with clean water. The plants suitable for winter blooming are numerous, but none afford so much pleasure as a good collection of bulbs, such as hya- cinth, narcissus, and the early tulips and other bulbs. Plants for winter use should be started from slips or seed in May or June. They should be set in a rich loam and kept damp. In a cool but light situation a large growth is not good, but a strong, close one. Allow no flowers or buds until removed into the house in Septem- ber. When old plants are taken for winter use they should be well cut in, so that new wood may be produced. Remember, it takes about six months to produce a plant for house use that is suitable for blossoms. English Ivy is a charming decoration for rooms in the winter sea- son, but it is difficult to keep the leaves fresh-looking with furnace heat and gas. A lady, whose ivies, in spite of these drawbacks, always retain the appearance of vigor and beauty, put a small piece of beefsteak at the root of the plants every spring and fall. The same result it is said can be produced by lightly rubbing each leaf on both sides with sweet oil. To keep cut flowers fresh the first rule is not to put too many into the glass at once; change the water once or even twice a day, re- move decayed leaves directly they appear, and cut the ends of the stems occasionally. A still better way is to put nitrate of soda in the water — about as much as can be easily taken up by the fingers ; put into the glass each time the water is changed. It will preserve cut flowers in all their beauty for above a fortnight. Common salt- petre in water will almost answer the same purpose, but it is not quite so efficacious. Tuberoses are tender. To do well and blossom early they should be started in the house. Here is oneway: Plant them in old tomato cans, without punching any holes for drainage, set them on the man- 278 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. tel over the kitchen stove, and keep warm and wet. When well started move to a cooler place, and in June set out in the garden. The old double variety runs up a stem six or seven feet high, and produces very fragrant flowers. Now there is a dwarf sort called pearl; the bulbs of this are much smaller but the flowers are equally as good. Fancy Fern-Pans. — With but little pains the fancy fern-pans, or " Boston ferneries " as they are called by florists, can be filled. These will g-row and remain fresh for months if well watered. If the woods are visited on an open winter's day a variety of pretty mosses and ferns may be gathered. A basket should be taken in which to place rock moss, wood moss, and swamp moss, which will be found in rock crevices, at the roots of trees and in the swamps. This is used as the foundation for the fernery. At any tin shop a pan half an inch deeper than a round tin pie-pan can be made. In this mix the several kinds of mosses. The prettiest collection to gather is graceful branches of pines, pitcher plants, snake roots, wintergreen, fungus, wood berries, lycopodium, wild cranberries, acorns, pterris, linum, and ferns of any kind. Arrange them tastefully in the moss, plunging the roots and stems well into it. The fernery should be soaked with water morning and night. The water should be well drained off by tipping the pan. If these ferneries are placed on the round gilded baskets so popular this season, they make a charming and economical centre-piece for the dinner-table. Fuchsias are propagated by cuttings taken from the young wood in early spring, rooted in damp sand. As soon as roots are formed they are potted in very rich earth, for they are voracious feeders. In a very few weeks the pots will be full of roots, when the plants should be shifted into the next size, and this treatment should be followed as often as the pots are filled. Quite a large plant can be grown in a season from a cutting. Fuchsias are very fond of iron in their food, and some florists give them copperas dissolved in water. Others use nails put in the earth, and the plants grow more rapidly than when not so treated. FLORICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE. 279 A fuchsia, if left to its own accord, will generally make a strag- gling growth. They can be trained into perfect shape in this way: As soon as the cutting has grown about eight inches in height, the top is cut out, which induces the plant to throw out side branches. These again are kept shortened in such a manner that the plant becomes bushy at the base and runs to a point at the top. If this course is regularly pursued a most symmetrical plant will be the result. Rotted Sods are made by cutting turf-grass with the soil attached to the roots — in the spring time. These sods, or turfs as sometimes called, are then piled up one on top of another in piles and left to decompose. If soap-suds be carried from the wash-tub and thrown on the pile the potash in the suds will go to make the compost still richer. Many florists have soil on hand so prepared that it is kept many years. How TO Set Grafts. — The season for grafting may be said to be from the first of April to June, the time when the forces of nature are impelling the upward flow of sap in the tree. " Grafts have been set the last day of May with as much success as at any other time. When understood — and it ought to be an easy thing to learn — any one can do his own grafting. Yet due care must be taken in all the details to insure growing. "Stocks or limbs to be grafted, not over two inches in diameter, should be cut off at the distance of four inches. A fine saw should be used. Incline the saw so that the stump will shed the rain. The bark must be uninjured. With a sharp knife smooth off the sawed stump. Take a case-knife, which is as good as any, place it across the heart of the stock, and force it down with a wooden mal- let. Use a very narrow screw-driver for keeping open the split. Shape the scion wedge-fashion both ways, keeping the bark intact. Make a shoulder as far up as the scion is shaved; it is not so strong, but better insures growth. The inside of the bark of both scion and stock must meet or cross, in order that the sap of the two may commingle. Set the scion at a slight angle spreading from each other. When the stock is small and only one scion inserted, place a 28o THE hearthstone; or, life at home. piece of wood on the opposite side of corresponding thickness. If the sHt does not close up sufficiently, tie round a cotton string to keep it tight upon the graft. Cover with wax every part of the cut wood and sHt. In three weeks' time go over the grafts and rewax if needed. It is air and rain getting in that destroy. Where the limb to be grafted is from two to four inches over, it should be cut say six inches from the tree, and from four to six scions may be inserted. The cause of buds blasting may be attributed to several reasons. One is allowing the plant to get too dry, both at the roots and the fo- liage, from want of sprinkling. A still more common cause is the escape of coal gas from the stove. This gas from coal-stoves also causes the leaves to drop, and often leads to still greater damage. The entire contents of a large greenhouse have been destroyed because of the fact that the flue used in heating the building in some way cracked in the night-time, and, as coal was burned in the furnace, the deadly coal gas killed everything. In order to rid house plants of small, white worms, gardeners take a fine flour sieve and sift the dirt well before putting in the pots for the plants. Cut off the flowers of roses as they fade ; the second crop will be much better for the attention. Seeds of all flowering plants should be also taken off; all this assists the duration of the blooming sea- son. After the walks and lawns, the flower-beds should be a constant source of attention. If the plants appear to suffer by drought, there is no better remedy than to place a fork around the plant and loosen up the soil deeply without disturbing the plant more than can be avoided. After being thus loosened, it will not dry out near as much as before. Above all, keep the surface continually broken by hoeing and breaking fine. Nothing is so sure a preventive of soil- drying as a loose, porous texture. But much of watering and hoeing will be saved, if in hot places the flowers have tan or other mulching substances over the beds among the flowers. To Grow Hyacinths in Water. — To grov/ hyacinths in glasses is the most simple thing imaginable, and yet let it be remembered FLORICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE. 28 1 that the roots of all plants will, by their natural instinct, hide them- selves from the light, so whenever you purchase hyacinth glasses, which are very cheap nowadays, select dark colors, blue or red for instance, and those of the long narrow or Belgian pattern in prefer- ence to the more elaborate styles. The hyacinth makes long white roots, and to make them quickly and before it starts into leaf growth, the bulbs, after being either potted or put in the glasses, must be put entirely in the dark for about six weeks. Always use rain water. Fill the glasses so that the water will barely touch the bottom of the bulb. The water should be changed as often as once in three weeks, using pure rain water of the same temperature as you took them out of. A piece of charcoal in the water will cause it too keep sweet longer. A little ammonia dissolved in the water will give the flowers much brighter color. To grow the hyacinth in moss, you need only place in the bottom of your intended bulb garden a layer of nice clean moss laid in quite loosely. On this plant your hyacinth or other bulbs — and by the way the Polyanthus narcissus is a good one for this purpose. Cover them with moss, and take care to keep it always damp. Holes may be cut in large sponges, such as coachmen use, and a small nyacinth bulb stuffed into them. The sponge may be suspended by a string, and will naturally excite curiosity as the bulbs develop themselves. Of course the sponge must be kept wet. Remember, the hyacinth will grow anywhere and in anything where it can have abundant moisture. Propagating Plants. — One of the first necessary conditions is that the plant from which the cutting or slip is taken must be in vigorous health. If, for example, you wish to root cuttings of green- house or bedding plants, one of the best guides to the proper con- dition is when the cutting breaks or snaps clean off, instead of bend- ing or kneeing. If it snaps off so as to break, it will root freely; if it bends it is too old, and though it may root it will root much slower and make a weaker plant. A general idea is current that a cutting must be cut at or below a joint or eye. The practice of this system 282 THE hearthstone; OR, LIFE AT HOME, leads to many cases of failure, from the fact that when a slip is cut from the joint the shoot often has become too hard at that point, while half an inch higher up, or above the point, the proper condi- tion will be found. The best condition to root cuttings of the great majority of green- house plants is sixty-five degrees of bottom heat and an atmospheric temperature of fifteen degrees less. Sand is the best medium in which to place cuttings ; color or texture is of no especial importance. From the time the cuttings are inserted until they are rooted they should never be allowed to get dry; it is best to keep the sand soaked with water. Kept thus saturated there is less chance of the cutting getting wilted, for if a cutting is once wilted, its juices are ex- pended. Permitting a moderate circulation of air in the propagating house prevents the germination of that spider-like web substance which is known as " fungus of the cutting bench." It is best to pot off the cuttings at once when rooted. They should be placed in small pots from two to two and a half inches wide. In larger pots the soil dries out too slowly and the tender root rots. Begonias are indispensable plants for the window gardener, as tlieir leaves are often more beautiful than their flowers, and so very numerous are their varieties and so continuous their flowering, that one could furnish a window with no other plants, and be sure of having them in flower the year round, while they will endure any amount of heat and a good supply of water if the soil is sandy and it is not kept in a sodden condition. Yet they will fully repay careful treatment by a more luxuriant growth of leaves and flowers. There is no variety of begonia that does not make a desirable window plant, but B. alba 7iitida and B. rosea nitida are the most constant bloomers that are now cultivated. B. incaniata and B. fuchsioides are also lovely plants, with drooping panicles of blush and crimson flowers. Good drainage is essential, and a few bits of charcoal at the bottom of the pot will keep the soil in good condition. A compost of half garden soil and half leaf mold, or peaty soil with a table- spoonful of sand well stirred in, will grow very fine plants. There are FLORICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE. 283 three germs or species of begonias : those above mentioned, rex begonias, or elephant-leaf begonia and the tuberous rooted varieties, which make very beautiful plants, either for the window garden, vase, or basket culture, and the open border. The tubers can be taken up in the autumn and kept like dahlias when they are used for bedders in summer. Camellia Japonica. — Grafting should be done in August and September, and inarching in July. The cuttings may be started under glass. Care must always be observed in watering, as too much or too little water will cause the buds to drop, and the tem- perature must remain even, and there be no sudden change of an}- kind, or the result would be the same. Water thoroughly, and turn all water from the saucer, as they are very sensitive, and sour soil is always sure death. The leaves must be sponged frequently. In its native woods the camellia grows in moist, shady localities; therefore do not put it in the sun, and, if the buds are thick, pick off the small, weak ones, that the blossoms may not crowd each other. Never touch the buds, as they blast so easily, and do not sprinkle when in bud, but apply the water to the soil and sponge the leaves if necessary. If your leaves are spotted, it was causea by sprinkling when the sun was on them ; care must be here exercised also. They need but little heat or sun, and why they are not more generally cultivated in window gardens is not understood. They are usually expensi\e, but not more so than many other plants. They will die if you give too rich a soil. There are several of the evergreen shrubby varieties which do well in the dry air of our living rooms. One of the best is what is known as Piltisporuin tohira Chinensis ; it has a beautiful glossy, dark color, rich foliage. Preserving Autumn Leaves. — Autumn leaves are used in various methods, the most popular being, perhaps, to dry them flatly and care- fully, and take great care to preserve their stalks. When thoroughly dry, they are varnished with "Canada balsam varnish," which gives them a pretty gloss, and also acts as a preservative to them from all insects and moths. After this they are carefully laid aside for the decora- 284 THE hearthstone; or, life at home, tion of the winter dinner-table, and may be most safely preserved in a tin box, with a well-fitting cover. Grasses added to them are very effective, and when dry they may be dyed at home with Judson's dyes. They may be also frosted when dry, by dipping each stalk into a solution of alum, and leaving them to dry upright. With the glasses and leaves may be used the dried everlasting flowers and the prepared moss ; however, no little taste is needed in their arrange- ment to avoid the least heaviness of effect. Grass vases and stands are the most effective for their arrangement, as the transparency of these increases the wished-for lightness and grace. Another way of using the dried leaves is for the ornamentation of tables, blotting- books, or boxes. Old cigar boxes, when painted black, are very favorite articles for decoration; but now we know the value of var- nished unpainted wood. Many people will prefer the effect of the cigar boxes unpainted, with the unvarnished leaves gummed on, and the box and leaves varnished afterward. If, however, a black ground be especially desired, use " Brunswick black," to stain the wood, or " Brunswick black " and turpentine mixed, to make a rich-looking brown grounding. Then gum on the leaves in a central group, be- ing careful to cut away, with a sharp pair of scissors, all the under parts of the leaves which will be hidden by others above, as too many thicknesses of leaf will make an uneven surface, and give an ugly appearance to the work when finished. Rockeries and Grottos. — These rustic ornaments are made of common rocks, stones and shells, piled up in pyramidal forms several feet high and many feet across the base. The rocks can be cemented together or fastened by piling them up irregularly, so that they will form nooks and pockets all the way up to the top, to hold the soil for growing plants and vines. At the bottom niches and grottos can be filled with ferns and vines that grow best in water, while at the top can be placed those plants that most enjoy heat and sunshine. Do not locate the rock-work too near the house, for distance here adds beauty to the view. Nature always hides her mossy and ferny nooks away in the depths of woods and trees. Make it look as FLORICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE. 285 natural as possible, never allowing any pieces of the painted pottery or any of the other imitations of statuary or rock-work to be placed in or near it. Gather material for it yourself from the woods and rocky shores ; old gnarled knotty roots of trees are an addition ; all sorts of wild wood plants that grow in damp, dark places can be made to grow here if they can be kept damp enough. When one has any means of bringing water in pipes to the ground, it is an easy matter to manage this, and in most cases a fish pond can be arranged in the grotto. Where one cannot have water brought to the grounds, then it will be a better and more successful plan to plant only the vines and flowers that do not need much water. Creeping Charlie, Kenilworth ivy and many other vines will grow in dry places, and several species of cactus will grow in the dry, sandy soil. When plants are brought from the woods they should be transplanted in their native soil. Mosses, lichens, dwarf ever- greens, strawberry vines. Jack in the pulpit, joy Virginia creeper, caladiums, coleuses, and all other species of ferns will grow here. Those that grow best in damp and shade should be placed at the base, and such flowers as mignonette, pansy and wild colum- bine will grow up nearer the top, and so will nearly all geraniums. ■ The . brilliant yellow and scarlet nasturtiums, also chrysanthe- mums, are very beautiful. The latter are a brilliant purple, white or yellow. The moneywort is a hardy little plant ; the ice plant is particularly pretty with its leaves sparkling with dew drops, but is not very hardy, nor is the maurandia. The pretty little sedum and wandering Jew are also effective. Anything will grow in a rockery that will grow in the shade or shallow soil. Some of the plants and vines men- tioned will not grow in the rockery if entirely shaded, and if it could be placed so that the sun would shine on it an hour or two each day, and the sun-loving plants placed on the sunny side, it would be an improvement. Many of these, particularly where there is a fish pond, are placed out in the open grounds, and when the sun shines brightly the fishes dart in the shadow of the rocks. 286 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. The Preservation of Bouquets. — (i) Bouquets that are made in the morning for evening wear should be put away in tin boxes rather than placed in water, or kept in the dark with water ; they will be much fresher by so doing. (2) A little gum is sometimes dropped into the centre of flowers, or round the outside of their petals, to help in their preservation. This treatment is particularly necessary for flowers whose petals are but loosely attached to their stems, or where the whole flower drops at the slightest touch, as the patience of the decorator is much tried when, on the completion of the bouquet, half the work falls away. The gum to be used for flowers should be pure and colorless, and is best made at home. Buy at the druggist's some best white gum arabic, pick av/ay from it any discolored lumps, and dissolve in boiling water. When quite liquid, strain through an old muslin handkerchief, and place it in a bottle ready for use. Drop into the centre of such flowers as azaleas, pelargoniums, jessamines, and stephanotis a little gum from the point of a clean paint-brush, and allow it to dry before using the flower. Round the outside of the azalea, besides the inside application, pass a brushful of gum, and do the same to the stephanotis just where the petals of the fragile flower join together. The gum must be very strong, so that a little used is sufficient, and it should not be apparent unless the flower is closely examined. (3) Bouquets can be sent a great distance and kept fresh, provided they are properly packed. The flowers should always be immersed in clear, cool water before wiring and making up, and when placed, wet moss should be rolled round their founda- tions, and cardboard or tin boxes about their sizes provided for them to be packed in. They fare best in tin boxes, as the outer air is then entirely excluded, and the flowers are not hurt by the pressure of other parcels. To Transplant Mignonette. — Those who have tried to transplant mignonette have found to their satisfaction that it is no easy thing to do, especially when the plants have gfown two or three inches high. The best plan is to fill small flower-pots, such as florists call thumbs (they are two and a half inches across the top), with good soil, press FLORICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE. 28/ it firmly, so that it will not crumble when turned out, make it even on top, then put the pots in the ground up to the rim ; if properly done they will look like honey-comb. Sow the seed broadcast over the pots, cover the same way with fine soil — not more than one-eighth of an inch deep — then water lightly ; shade when the sun is out with muslin or paper until the plants begin to come up. When they are one or two inches high, plant them in the open ground. If there are too many plants in the pot, thin them out ; water them every evening if the weather is dry ; by so doing you can have the rows full and the plants one or two weeks earlier. Planting Flower Seeds. — A good way to plant seeds which you wish to take particularly good care of is to take a turnip, cut it in halves, scrape out the shell, then fill with earth and plant the seeds. When the time comes to put the plant out-doors, dig a hole in the flower- bed large eno^igh to set the turnip in. It will root in a short time, and your plants will thrive by not having the tender roots disturbed. In every garden, no matter how much may be done in the way of ornament, there should be somewhere a bed from which the flower- lovers of the household can feel free to cut as they please. Flowers in masses, and ribbon lines, or as specimen plants, are well, but it is much better to have a place where those who really love flowers can go and cut a handful with no gardener to prevent. Such a bed should have, of all things, an abundance of the best kind of mign- onette, and if confined to annuals, the candy tufts, white and crimson, sweet alyssum, sweet peas, stocks, China asters, the annual pinks, and a host of others. Never mind about the arrangement, so that there will be flowers, and a plenty of them ; then all the household can " cut and come again," without feeling that they trespass. Training Tomato Plants. — Many more and better ripened toma- toes can be obtained when the plants are carefully trained, and the labor required in this operation is slight. It is only necessary to drive some stakes into the ground about each plant, and tic the branches to it; this may be done with or without encircling hoops. One way of training that has approved itself is to drive a strong stake 288 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. by each plant, so that it shall stand four or five feet high. Having stopped the plant when young, and made two eyes to start near the top, raise up two stems, and as they grow, wind or train them around the stake until the top is reached, and there stop them, causing numerous branches to form. This is a very simple and excellent method of training. How THE Japanese Restore Faded Flowers, — After a bouquet is drooping beyond all remedies of fresh water, the Japanese can bring it back to all its first glory by a very simple and seemingly most destructive operation. A visitor to Japan says : " I had received some days ago a delightful bundle of flowers from a Japanese ac- quaintance. They continued to live in all their beauty for nearly two weeks, when at last they faded. Just as I was about to have them thrown away the same gentleman (Japanese gentleman) came to see me. I showed him the faded flowers, and told him that, though lasting a long time, they had now become useless. ' Oh, no,' said he, ' only put the ends of the stems into the fire, and they will be as good as before.' I was incredulous ; so he took them himself and held the stems' ends in the fire until they were charred. This was in the morning ; at evening they were again looking fresh and vigorous, and have continued so for another week. What may be the true agent in this reviving process I am unable to determine fully; whether it be the heat driving once more the last juices into every leaflet and vein, or whether it be the bountiful supply of carbon fur- nished by the charring. I am inclined, however, to the latter cause, as the full effect was not produced until some eight hours afterwards, and as it seems that if the heat was the principal agent, it must have been sooner followed by visible changes." Hyacinths, Tulips, etc. — Hyacinths, tulips. Narcissus, and other so-called Dutch bulbs, that have been planted in boxes or potted in September or October, should by November i.st be well rooted ; see that they are well rooted before you put them in the light, and when they once start to grow, if in pots, see that they get plenty of water, as nothing will cause them to fail so easily as want of water just FLORICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE. 289 when they are in their growing state, ready to bloom ; you may once in two weeks water them with a Hquid manure, or some of Bowker's ammoniated food for plants, dissolved in water; this is very invigorat- ing for them just at this time. Give them plenty of sun when they start to throw up the flowering stalk, and on warm days let them have fresh air. 19 THE LAUNDRY. " Cleanliness is next to godliness." EXT after good food one wants good washing, and a home that is poorly provided in this respect is lacking in a most essential feature. Sweet, clean clothes are a comfort, and the week's washing, folded in snowy heaps after a careful airing, is a restful sight to a housekeeper. To wash well is a gift, since there are many who try with all their strength to do it and fail. The qualification requisite is a taste for it, and appliances at hand with which to wash easily. Not all city homes are provided with stationar}^ tubs, wringers and other con- veniences, but where they are furnished the work is accomplished with greater speed and efficiency and the laundress is not tired out from the day's occupation. The work is the hardest, at best, that falls to women, and it should be made as easy as possible. It is the work that is always allotted to them, and where men are compelled to take any part in it, in large institutions for instance, all mechanical appliances that can be furnished are supplied to lighten the labor. Women take it as it comes, and do it under the most discouraging of conditions. If they know how to wash, knowledge makes it easier, but to a young beginner it is laborious, discouraging and depressing. There are directions without end as to how to wash, and no two are agreed. In every home there arc special ways of doing work, and each laundress has a plan of her own. To those who have no knowledge on the subject a few hints are offered below. Experience allied to neatness makes the best laundresses we have, and unless a (290) THE LAUNDRY. 29 1 woman is very tidy she will never make a good washer and cannot learn to like it. To iron well requires care and practice, but it is easier to learn to iron than to wash. The clothes once clean and ready to be ironed, the ironing seems a much less laborious under- taking, and it certainly can be done with less disarrangement of the room or the worker's attire. The best housekeepers contend that clothes should not be soaked over night, because it gives them a gray look, and the soiled parts lying against the clean portions streak them. Before beginning to wash, the clothes should be assorted, and the fine ones kept separate all through the washing. Rub the clothes in warm — not hot — water. Hot water sets, instead of extracting, the dirt. Turn them and rub them till perfectly clean in the first water. If the water becomes much soiled, throw it out and take fresh, for if the water is allowed to become very much soiled, the clothes will be dingy. The clothes should then be rubbed out as thoroughly in the second as in the first water. No amount of rinsing or boiling will ever make clothes white which have not been thoroughly rubbed out. After the second rubbing, put the clothes in cold water to boil, without rubbing soap on them or putting soap, in the water; they arc soapy enough. Too much soap makes clothes yellow and stiff. As soon as they begin to boil, remove them to the " sudsing "-water. If they boil long, they will be yellow. Let each article be well " soused " up and down in the sudsing-water, rubbing them out thoroughly with the hands to get the suds out; wring dry and throw in the " rinsing-water," which is the last water. Let this be slightly blued. Excessive bluing is the careless washerwoman's refuge. The rinsing is to be as thorough as the sudsing. After rinsing, starch. The old-fashioned idea, that clothes require to be dried before being starched, is not sustained by intelligent ob- servation. Dip the articles in boiling hot starch, plunging the hands constantly into cold water to prevent their being scalded, and rubbing the starch well in. Next hang out, and be sure to stretch every inch possible to the 292 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. sun and the wind. Garments hung double, or in bunches or festoons, will not bleach. Wash flannels in lukewarm water, and rinse in water of the same temperature. Avoid rubbing soap upon the flannels. Stretch them ; when thoroughly clean, snap them energetically, and hang them up immediately — by the fire if the weather is bad. Two waters are enough for flannels. • Bleaching Flannels. — A solution of one and one-quarter of a pound of white soap and three-eighths of an ounce of spirits of ammonia, dissolved in twelve gallons of soft water, will impart a beautiful and lasting whiteness to any flannels dipped in it, no matter how yellow they have been previous to their immersion. After being well stirred round for a short time, the articles should be taken out and well washed in clean, cold water. When sprinkling clothes, dip collars, cuffs and shirt-bosoms in cold starch, made so thin as to look like water with a little milk in it. Clothes starched thus need no wax, lard, nor other preparation to make them iron easily. A smooth, dead white is generally more highly esteemed now than the glazed look which shirt manufacturers give to their linen. All-wool dress goods or colored flannels should be washed out quickly in tepid water, rinsed in water of the same temperature, wrung dry, and then folded up for a time, together with one or two sheets, so that the moisture shall be extracted by the cotton or linen ; they should then be ironed till dry. A patent wringer (made of India- rubber rollers, which can be adjusted) is almost indispensable in washing. It does not wear the clothes like the twisting and wrench- ing of hand-wringing, and saves the most exhausting part of the wash, besides having the clothes drier than can be the case with ordinary hand-wringing. Salt or beefs-gall in the water helps to set black. A tablespoonful of spirits of turpentine to a gallon of water sets most blues, and alum is very efficacious in setting green. Black or very dark calicoes should be stiffened with gum-arabic — five cents' worth is enough for THE LAUNDRY. 293 a dress. If, however, starch is used, the garment should be turned wrong side out. To Wash Light-colored Cashmere, and Method for Remov ING Spots. — All spots should be removed from the goods before they are put into the water, and the method must depend upon what they are and also the color of the goods. Benzine, which should always; be used with caution because of its inflammable character, is one of the best and quickest means of taking out grease. A little rubbed lightly in the direction the warp runs will usually remove it entirely. Get the highly rectified benzine, such as first-class druggists keep. Chloroform rubbed on lightly and quickly will also remove grease. Unless done rapidly and finished by rubbing with a dry cloth it is apt to leave a slight stain. Fruit stains can usually be removed by a little salts of lemon. Frequently a lighted sulphur match held under the stain will drive it away. Acid stains, unless they be nitric, , will yield to an application of ammonia, while those produced by alkalies, such as soda, ammonia, etc., will usually disappear by the application of acetic acid, diluted in a good deal of water. Of course, the use of these things depends much upon color and material. After the spots are removed, put the goods in warm (not hot) soft water and wash carefully. Lay it while still very damp upon the ironing-board, with a linen cloth over it, and iron with a hot flat-iron until dry. Press a fold down the centre of each breadth, and the cashmere will look almost if not quite as well as new. Potato water is excellent to wash black calicoes in, as it starches the calico without impairing its cleanness. Ordinary starch cannot be used. The potato water should be boiled to a thick consistency. Black bombazine may be nicely washed by making good suds, and adding to it a small quantity of ox-gall. It should be squeezed and rinsed, but not rubbed or wrung out. To Wash Blankets. — Wash them in good suds until quite clean ; if much soiled, they will require two or three waters ; rin.Te them in tepid water until clear, adding to the last rinsing-water a very little fine soap. 294 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. To Clean Black Cashmere. — Wash in hot suds with a little borax in the water; rinse in bluing water — very blue — and iron while damp. It will look almost equal to new. Washing Light-colored Calicoes. — Take a tablespoonful of alum and dissolve it in enough lukewarm water to rinse a print dress. Dip the soiled dress into it, taking care to wet thoroughly every part of it, and then wring it out. Have warm (not hot) suds all ready and wash out the dress quickly ; then rinse it in cold water. (White Castile soap is the best for colored calicoes if it can be commanded.) Have the starch ready — but not too hot; rinse the dress in it, wring it out and hang it out to dry, but not in the sun. Place it where the wind will strike it rather than the sun. When dry, iron directly. Prints should never be sprinkled, but if allowed to become rough-dry, they should be ironed under a damp cloth. It is better to wash them some day by themselves, when washing and ironing can be done at once. To Wash Delicate Muslins. — Put three pints of wheat bran and a handful of salt into a loose bag, and boil half an hour in six quarts of soft water. Use this water for washing muslins or lawns with delicate colors, keeping at hand the bag of bran to use instead of soap, on any soiled spot that will not yield to slight rubbing. Rinse the muslin in clear water and dry quickly in the shade. Many colors in calico goods, which are injured by using the most delicate soap, can be safely washed if wheat bran ( or, if more convenient, wheat flour) is boiled and used instead. When washing cambrics, do not allow soap to come in contact with the fabric. To Wash Silk Handkerchiefs. — Wash them in cold rain-water with a little curd soap ; then rinse them in rain-water — cold — slightly colored with stone-blue ; wring well, and stretch them out on a mat- tress, tacking them out tightly. They will look as good as new if carefully washed. A teaspoonful of spirits of ammonia added to the rinse-water will make rusty black goods look as good as new. THE LAUNDRY. 295 The use of soda or lime in washing clothes is dangerous. They are certain to rot them in time. Borax is the only safe article. White Cashmeres may be washed to look like new in cold water with white soap; rinse in cold water, with a little bluing in the water; iron damp, and use a moderately warm but not hot iron. Silk neckties can be washed in rain-water, to one pint of which add a teaspoonful of white honey and one of hartshorn. Do not squeeze but let them drip, and when nearly dry press between folds of cloth. A FAMOUS washing fluid is made by boiling one pound of sal-soda with half a pound of unslaked lime in a gallon of water twenty min- utes. Drain off when cool, and put the liquid in a stone jar. Put a teacupful in the water in which soiled white clothes arc soaked ; well rinse in warm water, and soap all the seams and solid parts thoroughly ; then put the clothes in a boiler of cold water, with which a second cup of the fluid has been incorporated. Let them boil for a few minutes, and rinse in tepid water. By this method clothes are made beautifully white with little labor and no detriment, unless they are very delicate and trimmed with fine lace. For washing black or navy blue linens, the following receipt is an excellent one : Take two potatoes, grated into tepid soft water (after having them washed and peeled), into which a teaspoonful of ammonia has been put. Wash the linens in this, and rinse them in cold, blue water. Dry in the shade. They will need no starch, and should be dried and ironed on the wrong side. It is said that an in- fusion of hay will preserve the natural color in buff linens, and an infusion of bran will do the same for brown linens and prints. Linen can be washed beautifully by using refined borax instead of soda as a washing-powder. One large handful of borax is used to every ten gallons of water, and the saving of soap is about one-half For laces and cambrics an extra quantity is used. Borax softens the hardest water and does not injure the linen. To Wash Silk Stockings. — The best way to wash all silk stock- ings is to make a good lather of curd soap and rain-water ; use it 296 THE HEARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME. nearly cold, and then wash each stocking separately, rubbing as little as possible. Rinse in clear, soft water ; squeeze out the wet as much as possible in a soft cloth ; do not wring the stockings ; wrap each one in a dry cloth, and when almost dry rub them with a piece of flannel always the same way. A small quantity of liquid ammonia should be added to the lather when black stockings are to be washed. Another way to Wash Silk Stockings, — Make a strong lather with boiling water and curd soap. Leave it to get almost cold, then divide it into two parts. Wash the stockings well in one of the lathers, pressing them up and down, but avoid rubbing as much as possible. Squeeze out the wet, and then wash them in the second lather, in which a few drops of gin may be poured. Do not rinse in fresh water, but squeeze out the wet very carefully without wringing. Lay them out flat on a piece of fine linen, and roll them up tightly until almost dry, then rub with a roll of flannel. Black stockings should be washed in a cool lather of plain white soap and rain water, with a little ammonia mixed in it. Keep from the air while drying by rolling in a cloth ; do not wring, but press the moisture well out. Borax and water form a good rinse. How TO DO UP Lace Curtains. — First take them down and give them a good shaking, then rub them through two waters or pound and rub them ; put in a pillow-case to boil, which prevents their being torn ; suds and rinse in bluing water and dry. Choose a warm, sunshiny day to starch them. Take quilting-frames out in the sun, place them upon four chairs (the same as for a quilt) and pin a sheet on them ; use silver gloss starch and make a cooked starch, bluing it a little ; starch two pieces and pin on the sheet together stretching them lengthwise as far as possible ; then pin the edges as near as two inches before the edges are quite dry (the middle dries first) ; take them on the ironing-sheet and smooth them nicely. When washing fine laces, do not use starch at all in the last water in which they are rinsed ; put in a little fine white sugar ; dis- solve it thoroughly, and the result will be pleasing. THE LAUNDRY. 297 Salt should never be used in starch. Although it gives the linen a good appearance and makes it iron smoothly, it surely destroys the fabric. Hard or hot water should never be used in washing or rinsing any woollen goods. Moderately warm suds — never using any soap directly on the goods if possible — with several rinsings in lukewarm water, will cleanse sufficiently. Press and squeeze woollen goods, but do not wring them. When squeezed dry, shake them out so as to avoid wrinkles. The Virtues of Borax. — The washerwomen of Holland and Bel- gium, so proverbially clean, and who get up their linen so beautifully white, use refined borax as washing-powder, instead of soda, in the proportion of one large handful of borax powder to about ten gal- lons of boiling water; they save in soap nearly half All of the large washing establishments adopt the same mode. For laces, cambrics, etc., an extra quantity of the powder is used, and for crinolines (re- quiring to be made stiff) a strong solution is necessary. Borax, being a neutral salt, does not in the slightest degree injure the texture of the linen. Its effect is to soften the hardest water. Old boot-tops lined make excellent iron-holders. Use wire rope for clothes-line. It saves annoyance, is cheaper in the long run, and much more convenient. In putting tubs away set them so that no two handles will come together, and keep them in a damp place, or you will find only a pile of staves when you go to use them in the Monday's wash. To Remove Mildew. — Soak the parts of the cloth that are mil- dewed in two parts of chloride of lime to four parts of water for about two hours, or till the mildew has disappeared ; then thoroughly rinse it in clear water. Sour milk removes iron rust from white goods. To make silk which has been wrinkled appear exactly like new, sponge it on the surface with a weak solution of gum-arabic or white glue, and iron on the wrong side. To DO up Black Silk. — Boil an old kid glove, cut up in small 298 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. shreds, in a pint of water, till the water is reduced to a half-pint, then sponge the silk with it ; fold it down tight, and, ten minutes after, iron it on the wrong side, while wet. The silk will retain its soft- ness and lustre, and yet at the same time have the " body " of new silk. To Keep Silk. — Silk goods should not be folded in white paper, as the chloride of lime used in bleaching the paper will impair the color of the silk. Brown or blue paper is better. White satin dresses should be pinned up in blue paper, with coarse brown paper on the outside, sewed together on the edge. Silk intended for dresses should not be kept in the piece long, as lying in folds causes it to crack or split, particularly if thickened with gum. To Renovate Silks. — Sponge faded silks with warm water and soap ; then rub them with a dry cloth on a flat board ; afterward iron them on the inside with a smoothing-iron. Old black silks may be improved by sponging them with spirits. In this case the ironing may be done on the right side, thin paper being spread over to pre- vent glazing. Try pure benzine to remove stains from hair-cloth furniture. To take out Scorch. — If any article has been scorched in iron- ing, lay it where bright sunshine will fall directly upon it. It will take it out entirely. Putting away Clothes. — Before putting away summer or winter clothes, mend, clean, bruaii, shake well, fold smoothly, sprinkle gum- camphor on every fold and on the bottom of trunks or closets. Fine dresses, cloaks, etc., should be wrapped in sheets or towels separately, and, as far as possible, be laid away lightly. To Remove Stains from Linen. — Tartaric acid or salts of lemon will quickly remove stains from linen. Put less than a half-teaspoon- ful of salts or acid in a tablespoonful of water, wet the stain with it, and lay it in the sun for at least an hour ; wet it once or twice in the time with cold water. If not entirely out after the first trial, repeat, and lay it again in the sun. To Remove Grease from Silk, Cotton, Linen, or Worsted THE LAUNDRY. 299 Goods. — Rub magnesia freely on both sides of silk or worsted goods, and hang away. Benzine, ether, or soap will take out spots from silk, but the goods must not be rubbed. A towel folded several times should be laid under the silk, so as to absorb the grease. Oil of turpentine or benzine will remove spots of paint, varnish or pitch from white or colored cotton or woollen goods. After using, it shoul'd be washed in soap-suds. Cream of Tartar rubbed upon soiled white kid gloves cleanses them well. Hartshorn, rubbed on silk or woollen garments, will restore the color without injuring them. Fly-spots can be removed with a camel's-hair brush dipped into spirits of wine, and then applied to the spot. Crape can be stiffened by holding it over potatoes or rice while boiling, and then let it dry by the fire. Gin is an excellent thing to restore rusty crape (and it is perhaps the best use that gin can be put to). Dip the crape in it, and let it get well saturated, then clap it till dry, and smooth it out with a moderately hot iron. . Water-spots may be removed from black crape by clapping it until dry. If dried before the spot was noticed, it will need to be dampened and then clapped in the hands. Sand-paper is the best polisher for smoothing-irons. It removes all roughness and starch. Bar-soap should be kept in a dry place several weeks before using. It will last much longer. Spirits of Turpentine is good to take grease or drops of paint out of cloth. Apply it till the grease can be scraped off Feathers may be cleaned by dipping them into hot water. Dry by shaking. Feathers may be bleached by exposure to the vapor of burning sulphur — sulphurous acid — in a moist atmosphere, but it is necessary to remove the oily matters from them before they can be satisfactorily so bleached. This may be accomplished by immersing them for a 300 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. short time in good naphtha or benzine, rinsing in a second vessel of the same, and thoroughly drying by exposure to the air. This treat- ment does not injure the feathers. To take out tar, paint, or resin, from either linen or woollen, pour a little alcohol on the place and let it soak half an hour, and rub gently. To Bleach Hose. — Strong chlorine water applied only to the stains on white hose, and well rinsed afterward, will bleach them nicely. Grease-spots may be removed from either silk or woollen fabrics by making a paste of calcined magnesia or carbonate of magnesia and water, and putting it on with a brush. Let it dry in a warm place, and remove the dried mass carefully with a knife and dry, clean brush ; if necessary, repeat the operation till the spot has disappeared. The use of a hot iron on the dried mass hastens the operation ; but it is dangerous, as it colors the grease spot brown. Cloth garments can be cleaned by wetting a sponge in warm water, and after squeezing it until nearly diy, sponge one place after another until the garment has been cleansed. All dust and soil will be absorbed by the sponge, and unless there is very much, soil pure water is better than anything else. By repeating the operation of sponging several times, and each time wrapping it in a piece of black alpaca, the cleansing will be entirely effected, and the goods will look fresher than if any kind of liquids had been added to the water. To Remove Fruit-stains. — In the season of fruits the napkins used at table, and often the handkerchiefs and other articles, will be- come stained. Those who have access to a good drug store can pro- cure a bottle of Javelle water. If the stains are wet with this before the articles are put into the wash they will be completely removed. Those who cannot get Javelle water can make a solution of chloride of lime. Four ounces of the chloride of lime are to be put into a quart of water in a bottle, and after thorough shaking allow the dregs to settle. The clear liquid will remove the stains as readily as Javelle water, but in using this one precaution must be observed. Be care- THE LAUNDRY. 3OI ful to thoroughly rinse the article to which this solution has been applied in clear water before bringing it in contact with soap, When Javelle water is used this precaution is not necessary, but with the chloride of lime liquid it is or the articles will be harsh and stiff. To Color Brown (i). — Take a peck of hemlock bark steeped in brass and a little alum to set the color; after the goods are taken out dip in lime-water; this makes a dark tan color. If something darker is wished, dip the goods in a weak black dye, then put in the brown dye. To Color Brown (2). — i lb. catechu, i oz. of blue vitriol, 2 ozs. of bichromate potash ; dissolve the catechu and vitriol together, boil a few moments and then add the rags, and boil twenty minutes, wring out and put in a kettle with the potash-water, and dye fifteen minutes, then rinse in clear, cold water. For starched fringe of tidies, etc., instead of straightening the fringe after ironing, fold the article, so that all the fringe will be to- gether in a line, dip fringe in hot water, shake well, fold in the ironed creases and place on smooth surface to finish drying. Brush silk with a piece of cotton velvet rolled up tight. For washing, pour a pint of boiling water on a tablespoonful of alcohol. Let it stand till tepid, and sponge the goods with it. To Bleach Cotton. — A very good way to bleach cotton-cloth is to soak it in buttermilk for a few days. Another way is to make a good suds ; put from one to two tablespoonfuls of turpentine into it before putting the clothes in. Wash as usual, wringing from the boil and drying without rinsing. By using one tablespoonful of turpen- tine in the first suds on washing-days, it will save half the labor of rubbing, and the clothes will never become yellow, but will remain a pure white. ScouRiNG-BALLS TO Remove Grease FROM Cloth. — Soft-soap and Fuller's earth, of each half a pound ; beat them well together in a mortar, and form into cakes. The spot, first moistened with water, is rubbed with a cake and allowed to dry, when it is well rubbed with a little warm water, and afterward rinsed or rubbed off clean. 302 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. To Take Wax or Grease Out of Cloth. — Hold a red-hot iron — a poker will do — within an inch of the cloth, and in a few minutes the wax will evaporate, leaving a dark spot. Then fold heavy brown paper and put it on both sides of the spot, and press with an iron. If any stain remains, wipe it over with a piece of woollen cloth saturated in benzine or alcohol. To color drab, take willow-bark and a little copperas. To color gray, put in some blue vitriol with the drab dye. The glossy stiffness of a black hat is made with " milliner's glue." It can be had at the drug stores. Cotton rags can be colored a fast brown with a dye of butternut bark, adding ^ pound of madder to a kettleful of dye. They will not fade. To Revive Old Kid Gloves, make a thick mucilage by boiling a handful of flaxseed ; add a little dissolved soap ; then, when the mixture cools, with a piece of white flannel wipe the gloves, previously fitted to the hand ; use only enough to take off the dirt, without wetting through the glove. Bleaching Process. — Two pounds of sal-soda and half a pound of chloride of lime. Put half a gallon of water to the lime and let it stand all night. In the morning dissolve the soda in three and a half gallons of water; add to the lime-water and strain. Immerse the cloth in boiling suds ; then take out and put directly into the mix- ture ; leave it in for half an hour, then rinse the muslin thoroughly and lay upon the grass or snow, or hang upon a line in the sun. To make it very white, dampen occasionally and leave it out for two or three days. Starch (very fine). — Two tablespoonfuls of starch wet in cold water ; add one teaspoonful each of gum arabic, white wax and fine salt; pour on one quart of boiling water; boil ten minutes, then strain ; add two more tablespoonfuls of starch wet in cold water to the strained starch. If any is left over it can be kept for next time ; it will be good though thin as water. If a polishing iron is used after the usual ironing the clothes will look like new. THE LAUNDRY. 303 The Care of Towels. — Never put a new towel in the wash until you have overcas': the fringed edge. The use of this is obvious the moment one is told of it, though a dozen towels might be worn out before one would discover it. If, when towels are washed, the fringe is shaken well before they are hung up to dry, che fresh appearance will be preserved for a long time. If vigorously shaken, that is all that is necessary ; otherwise it is best to have the laundress whip the fringe over the clean back of a kitchen chair. This is much better than any combing process. Besides, it does not wear the fringe so much. Towels with handsome, bright borders should never be boiled, or allowed to lie in very hot water ; they should not be used till they are so much soiled that they need vigorous rubbing to make them clean. A gentle rubbing in two suds and then conscientious rinsing, m warm water and then in cold, ought to be all that is required. Boiling Water will remove tea-stains and many fruit-stains ; pour the water through the stain, and thus prevent it from spreading (hrough the fabric. Ripe tomatoes will remove ink and other stains from white cloth ; also from the hands. THE TOILET. "A thing of beauty is a joy forever; its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness." ^HE old and trite saying that beauty is but skin-deep and ugly is to the bone is not true of the higher types of beauty. It may be of that ephemeral type that lives ^k through the flush of youth and passes away before the sunrise of life is passed. But beauty worthy of the name is found in the perfect outline of contour, in expression, in shapely lips and handsome eyes ; and these do not pass away with the first years of life but live on, if their possessor wills it so, even until old age. The complexion is the one tell-tale feature that must needs be watched to keep it young, but with good health it can be kept attractive. Its deadly enemy is ill-health, and the standard of health is so far below par that women seldom have handsome com- plexions after their youthful days. Abundance of out-door exercise and frequent baths will be the best cosmetic that can be used for it, and these, with an even temper and plenty of occupation, will tend to keep it young. There are external remedies that will assist nature, and some of the best are here siven. Madame Recamier was a woman so renowned for her beauty that its fame has made her historic. Her strongest point was her blooming complexion, and this she kept fresh by constant attention to it, never washing her face in cold water, and using none other than rain-water. It will repay any one who desires a good complexion to use buttermilk, the best bleacher ever known. It is not always possible to get it, but when it can be had, it is the first of cosmetics. Next after it is recommended a com- position made of the following ingredients: Three ounces of ground (304) THE TOILET. 305 barley, one ounce of honey and the white of one egg, mixed to a paste and spread thickly on the cheeks, nose and forehead before going to bed. This must be allowed to dry on the face as far as it will, and then cover the cheeks with soft linen rags to protect the pillows, over which, however, a towel should be spread. Any woman who will persevere in the use of this paste a month will find her complexion so greatly improved that she will not regret the time and labor be- stowed upon it. Nothing can be accomplished without effort, and women, even the most persistent, neglect to follow up any attempts they make in this direction. It is well to say, however, that un- less the system is kept in good order and the bath a frequent luxury, there is little benefit to be derived from cosmetics. They only improve the texture of the surface skin, and unless the blood is in healthy condition their full benefit is not obtained. Women owe it to themselves to be attractive, and they should seek by every means in their power to be healthy. This is the foundation of good looks. No face can be handsome that is not animated, and unhealthy people are rarely bright or sparkling in appearance. Therefore to be handsome the establishment of good health is the first step, and then the use of judicious cosmetics is recommended. To those who are unselfish enough to desire to be pleasing to others in looks, as they should be in manner and behavior, these few directions are offered, and if they awaken an interest in the matter, the reader can study the subject in works devoted especially to the art of beautifying, an art that will become more and more familiar to us as the interest now being manifested in aesthetics develops and expands. To Remove Wrinkles. — Put pieces of court-plaster on the face where the wrinkles are inclined to come, just before going to bed, and remove in the morning. The plaster contracts the skin and prevents its sinking into creases and lines. It also protects and softens the skin. Warm water should always be used to wash the face in, as it keeps off wrinkles. To Remove Wrinkles (2). — To one fluid ounce of tincture of gum 20 3o6 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. benzoin and seven fluid ounces (distilled rose-water, add one-half ounce glycerine. Bathe face, neck, and hands with it at night, let* ting it dry on. Wash off in the morning with a very little pure white Castile soap and soft water. If the water is hard, add a little dis- solved borax. This is a famous cosmetic, and has been sold under various names. It is an excellent remedy for tan, sunburn, and freckles also. Wrinkles are painted out of faces by a process now coming into use. The coloring, whether white or pink, is moistened with fine, thin shellac varnish. Then the wrinkled parts of the skin are col- ored and held at a sufficient tension to smooth out the wrinkles. The varnish penetrates and stiffens the skin in drying, and a smooth surface is left. A bottle of shellac is among the toilet articles of many New York women, it is claimed, and some of them have ac- quired a wonderful degree of skill in using it. The drawback is that it soon cracks, roughens, and is hard to remove. A renewal is needed every day, and the result must be permanently injurious t*i the skin. Pure Glycerine hurts the skin and reddens it. Rose-water should be mixed with it to be efficacious. The nicest preparation for chapped hands is composed of quince seed and whiskey. There is no rule as to proportion. Put the seeds in a bottle, and pour in enough whiskey to cover them. As this thickens, add more whis- key until it is of the right consistency. This preparation dries off quickly, and leaves a most agreeable odor. Lavender Scent Bags. — Half a pound of lavender flowers free from stalk, half an ounce of dried thyme and mint, a quarter of an ounce of ground cloves and carraways, one ounce of dried common salt ; mix them well together, and put them into silk or cambric bags. A PERFECTLY harmless cosmetic is as follows : four ounces of al- cohol, one ounce of gum benzoin; mix, bottle and shake well ; let stand in a warm place three days, shaking occasionally ; strain, and to one pint of rain water put a teaspoonful of the mixture. Using THE TOILET. 3O7 this in the water you wash in will render the skin smooth and white. The Turkish Bath is the best medicine women can take who lead sedentary lives. It is like sleep, a sweet restorer and tonic for both mind and body. Harmless Face-Powders. — Rice powder, though expensive, is warranted perfectly harmless. Refined chalk is the safest thing to use, and costs far less than if put up under some other name and sold in boxes. Cascarilla powder is much used by Cuban ladies, and is considered harmless. Wash the face with thick suds from gly- cerine soap, and, when dry, dust on the powder with a puff or piece . of chamois skin. To Keep the Hands from Chapping. — Use white Castile soap ; and always, after washing, dry and rub thoroughly with a coarse towel. Sometimes the use of a little pulverized corn-starch will absorb the moisture and prove beneficial. For thoroughly Cleansing the Hair. — In a pint bottle put a spoonful of olive oil, and add two ounces of best spirits of ammonia or hartshorn ; shake ; then mix with three ounces of alcohol, and when thoroughly mixed fill the bottle with soft water. Remember to put in the order named, or you will have " stuff," and no chemical union at all. To apply, take a spoonful or two of this with a little warm water ; dip a sponge or rag in and wet the scalp thoroughly ; now rinse off in plenty of warm water, and you will be surprised at the amount of dirt, though you may have thought your head per- fectly clean. For the heads of young infants it is just the thing, as it instantly removes the dirty scurf without pain or trouble. It should be rather weaker for a babe than for an adult. Another Way of Cleaning the Scalp. — A teaspoonful of pow- dered borax, and a teaspoonful of spirits of hartshorn, dissolved in a quart of soft water and applied to the head with a soft sponge, and then rubbed dry with a towel, is an excellent wash for cleaning the scalp. Once a week is often enough to use it. A good wash for the head, which will remove dandruff and prevent 3o8 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. the hair from falling off, is made as follows : Put two tablespoonfuls of sulphur into a quart of warm rain water. As it will not readily dissolve it must be shaken several times daily for a week or so, when it will settle to the bottom. Pour off this liquid from the sulphur and add to it three tablespoonfuls of glycerine, when it is ready to use. Apply to the scglp at least once a day. To Disperse Freckles. — Take one ounfce of lemon juice, quarter of a drachm of sugar ; mix and let them stand a few days in a glass bottle till the liquor is fit for use, then rub it on the hands and face occasionally. To Disperse Freckles (2). — Mix a pint of sour milk and a small quantity of horse-radish ; let the mixture stand over-night, and use as a wash three times a day until the freckles disappear. Nervous, excitable women can never have good complexions. The skin is affected by the emotions, as it is by cold or heat, and the first effort a nervous woman should make is to control herself. Plenty of sleep is the first requisite and sure panacea. Pure white Castile soap is the best for toilet purposes. It is odor- less, and is therefore best suited for bathing pui-poses. A VERY pleasant perfume may be made of the following ingredi- ents : Take of cloves, carra way-seed, nutmeg, mace, cinnamon and Tonquin beans, of each one ounce ; then add as much Florentine orris-root as will equal the other ingredients put together. Grind the whole well to powder, and then put it in little bags among clothing. Buttermilk as a Cosmetic. — Bathe the face in buttermilk, sour, of course. Take a soft rag, dip into a cup of buttermilk and wash every part of the face, neck and hands. If there has been a greater exposure to the sun than usual, after washing the face well squeeze out the cloth and just wipe the skin off, and let it remain on without washing till morning. You will be astonished to see how soon the freckles and tan will disappear. For keeping the hands white and the skin soft, there is nothing equal to buttermilk. When one gets •burned with the hot sun. one or two bathincrs in buttermilk will THE TOILET. 3O9 cause the smarting to cease, take out the inflammation, and render it comfortable quicker than any other remedy ever tried. There is something in the acid contained in the buttermilk that does the work. When one has stained fingers, with either berries, apples or nuts, it will remove the stains almost immediately. It is particularly cooling to the skin. Oatmeal and buttermilk together possess beautifying qualities which render them desirable on every toilet-table. Toilet Soap. — Drippings, which accumulate in almost every household, can be used for the grease. They should first be boiled in water, and then left to cool ; afterward they should be removed from the water and boiled alone until the water is expelled. The whiter the grease can be made the better the soap will be. The in- gredients of the soap are six pounds of sal-soda, seven pounds of grease, three pounds of unslacked lime, four gallons of soft water, and one-half pound of borax. Boil the soda and lime in the water until they are dissolved ; let the mixture stand over-night to settle ; pour off the clear lye, to which add the grease and pulverized borax, and boil to the consistency of honey. Take the mixture from the stove, stir in one ounce of oil of sassafras or lavender, and pour it into a tub, or, what is still better, a tight, shallow box, to cool, and when cold cut into bars and put on boards to dry. CouRTi-PLASTER is made of thin silk, first dipped in dissolved isin- glass and dried, then dipped several times in the white of an egg and dried. A GOOD method for removing superfluous hair is as follows : Take a match and let it burn half down so as to get all the sulphur off; then pass it quickly over the lip, and it will remove every particle of hair. Do this about once in every two weeks and the lip will be as smooth as you could wish. To Remove Flesh-worms. — Wash with warm water and rub hard with a coarse towel, and then apply a little of the following preparation : Liquor of potassa, i oz. ; cologne, 2 ozs. ; white brandy, 4 ozs. 310 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Crimping Hair. — To make the hair stay in crimp, take two penny- worth of gum-arabic, and add to it just enough boiling water to dis- solve it. When dissolved, add enough alcohol to make it rather thin. Let this stand all night, and then bottle it to prevent the alcohol from evaporating. This put on the hair at night, after it is done up in paper or pins, will make it stay in crimp the hottest day, and is per- fectly harmless. To persons troubled with an unpleasant breath the following mouth-washes will be found useful and harmless to the teeth : Tinc- ture of myrrh, about ten drops in a glass of water, is a pleasant mouth-wash, as is also a few drops of eau-de-cologne put into the water. Camphorated water is another remedy, although not so pleasant to some persons. A small piece of licorice placed in the mouth and kept there until it melts is often found effective when other methods fail. Preservation of the Teeth. — The importance of paying proper attention to the teeth cannot be overestimated. One great cause of the decay of the teeth is the presence of bits of food which stick be- tween the teeth, and then soften and ferment in the heat and moisture of the mouth and become acrid and injure the enamel. The enamel is at first slightly discolored at one point, then it gets soft, and event- ually a little hole forms in it, which goes on enlarging and increasing until the deeper structures are involved and the pulp is exposed. Very often the secretions of the mouth mixed with the food dry on the teeth and between them, and form the so-called tartar, which is a powerful agent in the production of decay. The only way to guard against these dangers is to keep the teeth perfectly clean. They should never on any account be brushed less than twice a day. Brushing the teeth in the morning, and in the morning only, is not enough. When possible, they should be brushed after every meal, especially when animal food has been taken. The avocations of many people, which take them from their homes, may not allow them to brush their teeth after every meal, but they can at all events thoroughly wash out the mouth with cold water, and thus remove most of the food which would otherwise adhere. THE TOILET. 3H The idea that frequently brushing the teeth tends to lacerate the gums and separate them from the roots is erroneous. The oftener they are brushed the better, provided always that a moderately soft brush be used. The teeth should, of course, be cleaned inside and out ; many people seem to think that as long as they clean those teeth which are seen they have done all that is necessary. The use of simple tooth-powder is to be commended. When there is a tendency to decay, tincture of myrrh often proves of much value. The habit of taking very hot substances into the mouth should be avoided, as the heat may crack the enamel. On the other hand, the practice of sucking ice and subjecting them to the other extreme of temperature is equally to be deprecated. No one who has the slightest respect for his teeth would use them as nut-crackers. Smoking, but more especially chewing, tobacco is bad for the teeth. It should be remembered that the preservation of the teeth is in a great measure dependent on the condition of the health, and this should accordingly be maintained in the highest possible state of integrity by the use of plain, nourishing food, cold bathing or spong- ing, and early or regular hours. A FINE comb loosens the dead skin of the scalp, just as friction rubs off the scarf-skin of the body. In washing hair-brushes do not use soap or hot water. Dissolve a teaspoonful of saleratus in tepid water, and dip the brush up and down in it till it is white and clean. Place it in the warm air to dry with the bristles down, and it will be as firm as a new brush. Harts- horn in tepid water is quite as efficacious, but not as convenient. A handful of dry meal rubbed on brushes is also excellent for cleaning them. It removes all grease and dust, and can be shaken out of the bristles easily. Lemon-juice and glycerine will cleanse and soften the hands. To Remove Pimples. — Sulphur water, i oz. ; acetated liquor of ammonia, ^ oz. ; liquor of potassa, i gr. ; white wine vinegar, 2 ozs. ; distilled water, 2 ozs. Apply twice a day. 312 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Care of the Hands. — A naturally fine hand is made more beauti- ful by care, and a hand not so greatly favored is much improved, without doubt, by extra attention. A visit to the manicure results in a treatment merely preparatory. The hands are placed for about ten minutes in a lukewarm solution. The flesh about the nails is thus softened, and is then skilfully raised from the nail and cut close with a pair of circular flesh-cutters. The nails are. then covered with a deep rose-tinted pomade, which, though washed gently off in a minute or two, leaves its blush behind. This is succeeded by a grayish powder, which, in turn, is rubbed off lightly and swiftly by a buffer or wash leather pad, giving a fine polish to the nail. Lastly, the nail tips are filed into the pointed or round shape, according to individual fancy. The principal errors to be avoided, says the mani- cure, in the care of the nails is the use of the knife or scissors in either cleaning or cutting. The nails should never be cut, but always filed, and never cleaned except with something hard and smooth, like ivory, which cannot erase the protective lining of the nail. Of course, the nails should not be bitten — scarcely any one addicted to this nervous and vulgar habit needs to be told this. They should also be guarded against bruises, which are the cause of the unsightly white spots ; neither should the flesh about the nails be cut by one's self, as very sore fingers may be caused by carelessness in this par- ticular. The nails in prime condition should be curved and not flat; long and narrow, with the delicate white crescent outline at the base, rosy in hue and glistening like a mirror. Here then is the standard which the regular patrons of the manicure uphold, and more or less of the points constituting which may be achieved by each individual herself at the expense of some care and not a little time. If Garters are worn, it is important to know how to apply them with the least risk of harm. At the bend of the knee the super- ficial veins of the leg unite, and go deeply into the under part of the thigh, beneath the ham-string tendons. Thus a ligature below the knee obstructs all the superficial veins ; but, if the constriction is above, the ham-string tendons keep the pressure off the veins which THE TOILET, 313 return the blood from the legs. Unfortunately, most people, in ignorance of the above facts, apply the garter below the knee. To CLEAR the complexion, take a teaspoonful of charcoal well mixed in water or honey for three nights, then use a simple purga- tive to remove it from the system. It acts like calomel, with no bad effects, purifying the blood more effectually than anything else. But some simple aperient must not be omitted, or the charcoal will remain in the system, a mass of festering poison, with all the impuri- ties it absorbs. After this course of purification tonics may be used. People inclined to embonpoint will be glad to know that a strong decoction of sassafras drank frequently will reduce the flesh as rapidly as any remedy known. Take it either iced or hot, as fancied, with a little sugar if preferred. A strong infusion is made at the rate of an ounce of sassafras to a quart of water. Boil it half an hour very slowly, and let it stand till cold, heating again if desired, and keeping it from the air. It is said that the vi^ater in which potatoes have been boiled with the skins on forms a speedy and harmless dye for the hair and eye- brows. The parings of potatoes before cooking may be boiled by themselves and the water strained off for use. Apply it with a fine comb dipped in the water drawn through the hair, wetting it at each stroke, till the head is thoroughly soaked. If the result is not satis- factory the first time, repeat the wetting with a sponge, taking care not to discolor the skin of the brow and neck. COMP/NY IN THE HOME. " Blest be that spot, where cheerful guests retire, To pause from toil, and trim their evening fire; Blest that abode, where want and pain repair, And every stranger finds a ready chair." ?HE choice of friends and acquaintances is one of the most important processes of the human will. I call it a process rather than an act because it is a gradual and often an unconscious growth of feeling. Acquaint- ance ripens into friendship when there is that harmony of feeling and tastes in which friendship has its basis. But some persons are very well as acquaintances who are very undesirable as friends. Care, but not suspicion, should guide us in our friendships. But acquaintanceship easily passes into that familiarity which counts for friendship. Yet in inward truth people are often very intimate with one another and speak of and to each other as friends, old friends, intimate friends, and dear friends, who are not friends at all, because the unanimity which true friendship requires is wanting. Such friendships are soon broken by a hasty word or an inconsiderate act, and this shows their hollowness, for if the friendship be real, accidents and little misunderstandings could not snap it. There are two proverbs which pass current in the world, but which will scarcely bear a strict examination. One is, that ".No man is a hero to his valet de chambre;" the other is, that "Familiarity breeds contempt." But if a man be really a hero he will be one in his night- cap as well as in his wig. We may laugh at another person without despising him or feeling any contempt for him. When the old- fashioned camphine lamps first came into fashion, husband and wife (314) COMPANV IN THE HOME. 315 would sometimes look into each other's face and each exclaim to the other : " Why, my dear, your face is all covered with black soot," and the answer would be: " Why, so is yours!" Each would have a ridiculous appearance to the other, but it would be a mistake to say that at such a comical situation they loved each other less, or had less respect for one another. So the valet who swaddles up his old master's feet and head when he has a bad influenza, and administers his hot gruel and spirits of nitre, does not lose his respect for him just because in that predicament he presents a woebegone and un- heroic aspect. He is still the dear, kind master that he was when he set forth equipped into the battle of life, and his valet followed him with sword and baggage. The late Charles Kingsley used to say that " Don Quixote " was the most pathetic book he ever read. He must have meant that the true heroism and nobleness of the old book- worm, crazed with stories of knight-errantry, had a pathos in them which more than counterbalanced his ridiculous appearance and mis- takes. To Sancho Panza, at any rate, he seemed the greatest hero in the world, and to be his body-servant and follow him on a donkey through all his exploits seemed a position both of dignity and glory. If the proverb that " No man is a hero to his valet " were wholly true — for, of course, there are times when a hero is not heroic, as when he is battling with mosquitoes instead of the enemy — then we should be brought to the melancholy conclusion that heroism is not in the man, but in the accidents of the man, and that no character is so noble as to bear knowing with its robes of office taken off This is happily the very contrary of the truth. So with that other proverb, " Familiarity breeds contempt," it is only true when the person one becomes familiar with is really con- temptible, and when intimate knowledge reveals the worthlessness of his character. But intimate knowledge does not always make this revelation, for constant familiarity and intimacy with others too often blind us to their faults instead of opening our eyes to them. It is with men and women of the baser sort as Pope has said of vice : 3i6 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. " Vice is a monster of so frightful mien As to lie hated needs but to be seen; But seen too oft, familiar with its face. We first endure, then pity, then embrace." Familiarity certainly does not breed contempt for the good. It may show us their weak points and reveal our weak points to them ; but those weaknesses rather endear friends to each other than create con- tempt on either side. " With all thy faults I love thee still," is a trite quotation, but it truly describes what intimacy does when there is real friendship. It is not desirable, however, to begin an intimacy with persons of weaker character than ourselves. They will oftener pull us down to their level than we succeed in raising them to ours. Some men and women seem to delight in a feeling of calm superiority to their friends, and they choose persons of less virtue or intelligence than themselves in order to enjoy the tranquil egotism of looking down on them. The conceited student says to himself, " Dr. Johnson had his Bos- well to take notes of admiration of him and ask his judgment and advice upon all occasions ; therefore all superior minds should have an inferior for their bosom friend. I am a superior mind, and poor, dear So-and-so is very simple and thinks a deal of me. I will be Johnson and he shall be my Boswell." But the patronized, snubbed and paraded follower, who in his simple heart loves his grand friend and feels honored by his friendship, is sometimes a better if not a wiser man than his conceited, condescending friend. What a strange volume of reminiscences could every man and woman compose in their own silent hours of reflection and introspec- tion, if they recalled all the friendships they had formed through life and analyzed the causes that had led to them ! They would think of one, perhaps, who had really not much in common with them in thoughts and aspirations, but with whom familiarity had bred friend- ship, not contempt. They were school-girls or school-boys together, and some accident, perhaps a quarrel over lessons or play, made them warm friends for life. They met, perhaps, on a steamboat or a ^ COMPANY IN THE HOME. 317 Street car, and some trifling occurrence made them first bowing ac- quaintances, then visitors at each other's homes, then hand-shaking and hearty friends. Sometimes taking another person's hat or um- brella by mistake — though umbrellas, as a rule, arc not taken by mistake — led to apologies and explanations, and these to acquaint- anceship, and that to intimacy. How hard it is to avoid being either friends or foes to one who lives next door to us, or has rooms in the same house, or lives directly opposite, and whom we find ourselves unconsciously sur- veying through our window when he or she is contemplating us in the same way and time ! How hard it is to escape having some feel- ing toward every one we are brought in contact with, the butcher, baker or grocer who supplies our physical needs, the partner with whom we dance at a ball, the person who lends us a hymn-book at church, or shows us the place we are looking for! The footman ■ becomes familiar by bringing us letters frequently, and the car-driver by taking up our fare so often. A French exile once wrote to the third Napoleon asking pardon and permission to return to France, on the ground that he had been the first to lay his hand upon him and arrest him when he was made prisoner and shut up in the fortress of Ham. The emperor could not resist the plea of such familiarity as this, and at once made out his pardon, which he sent him with an autograph letter. Every day that dawns upon us may bring us a new acquaintance or end an old friendship. We jostle each other and tread upon each other's feet in the hurly-burly of life. All our friends were once strangers to us, and any stranger may become our friend. The solitary are " set in families;" households are composed of individuals, and communities of households. " Man is a gregarious animal," said the old logician, and abhors isolation as much as sheep do. The household is a shecpfold, and in the fields of life the hu- man sheep must graze together and hold the pasturage in common. But scabby sheep are avoided by the healthy ones, and morally un- wholesome persons should be avoided by families and individuals % 3i8 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. from an instinct of self-preservation and for the protection of the young. "Avoid bad company," is a precept which needs to be fol- lowed as much inside as outside of the home. Be courteous, there- fore, to every one with whom you have to do, but do not be weak enough to allow any one to thrust their company upon you against your own inclinations. As soon as you settle in a neighborhood, the gossip of the place is sure to pounce upon you, and will gain an entrance into your house by strategy in order to add to her stock in trade of tittle-tattle. That mischief-making person must be kept out if you would live in peace with your neighbors. You must let her severely alone, and make her understand, once for all, that she must let you and yours alone. " But how can I do it?" you ask. "She visits everywhere; she will keep on calling ; how can I shut my door in her face ? " Hundreds of "home rulers," the wives and mothers whose voice is absolute as to who shall be welcome guests and who shall be ex- cluded, and against whose wishes neither husband nor son would bring home a friend, deceive themselves when they ask this question.' The fact is that the difficulty is not so much in keeping the tale- bearer out as in the unacknowledged truth that they rather like her to " drop in," though they pretend the contrary, and will not own it even to themselves. Curiosity about other people is in their minds as well as on her tongue. They are " afraid of hurting her feel- ings," when the fact is she has no feelings worth speaking about. It has been said by more than one philosopher who has made human nature his study that, however much they may conceal the truth from themselves and others, people generally are pleased to hear of the misfortunes of their neighbors. This does not arise from malevolence or ill-nature, but the domestic or business mishaps of others give them something to talk about, reflect upon, turn over and over in their minds with all the causes and effects connected with it. " I always said so; " "Just as I predicted;" " It is the old story of pride going before destruction," etc., etc. — these expressions are a relief to the speaker's feelings, and show that the bad news is quite COMPANV IN THE HOME. 319 exciting and breaks the humdrum monotony of every-day thought and Hfe. As people in large cities take up the newspaper the first thing in the morning to read of wars and rumors of wars, murders, burglaries, failures in business, railway accidents, shipwrecks, fires, scandals in high life, broken heads and drunkenness in low life, balls, plays, new fashions, and what the comet has been doing with its tail since it was last visible, so in the smaller village circles neighbors run into each other's cottages to tell the wondrous news of an assault committed by Huggins on Muggins, a proposal made by the bashful dry-goods young man for the hand of Miss Sophronia Mineral, the school- teacher, or the awful fact that a husband who kept late hours had been locked out by his judicious spouse, and had been found with his nose frost-bitten and no hat on his head sleeping on a tombstone in the village churchyard. All these tragic or melodramatic inci- dents pass from tongue to tongue, and such remarks as, " Who'd have thought it!" "Bless me, you make my blood run cold ! " "Just as I expected ; so it has come at last ! " "I always said so ! " and the like, prove beyond a doubt that the new^s is a nervine, a tonic, an eye-opener, an ear-tickler, and a tongue-loosener to everybody in the place, except the unfortunate subjeet of their conversation. The tell- tale who carries the story from house to house, and touches it up with the paint-brush of her imagination as she goes along, is a wel- come guest wherever she goes. People may not like her for her- self, but they make much of her for the news she brings. It is no use reasoning with them, for they always have the excuse at hand that they are not free agents in the matter and cannot refuse to listen to her stories. The only cure for these itching ears is in being them- selves made victims of the gossip's tongue, instead of lofty and com- miserating critics ot other people and their affairs. They learn to shut their door against scandal only when it has assailed the happi- ness of their own fireside. Then they begin to see that talebearers and scandal-mongers are not good company for a peaceful, bright and contented home. 320 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. But these busybodies and talebearers, concerning whom every one who receives their visits ought to bear in mind that they will carry away fresh material for gossip from what they see and hear during their visit, are not the only unprofitable and untimely visitors who disturb the order and harmony of home. Good-natured and harm- less persons may sometimes be great bores to others without know- ing it. That which distinguishes one's own home from hotel and boarding-house life is its privacy, and freedom from the restraint which the presence of those who are not members of the family neces- sitates. Before guests, who are as familiar with our next-door neigh- bors as with ourselves, we have to be on our guard against an incautious word, which repeated elsewhere might do mischief, how- ever innocently meant. Many amiable but talkative persons never think of this. They repeat at one house what they have heard at another about the private affairs of individuals and families. How often do we wonder at the distant greeting and changed manner of a neighbor, and worry our minds in asking ourselves what possible offense we can have given ! Sometimes friends who were once intimate grow colder and colder to each other, until at last they pass each other in the street without recognition. One of the two parties may remain in ignorance all the time as to how the estrange- ment began. All that he or she knows is that their greeting did not meet with the same warm-hearted response as formerly; that the friend only bowed instead of stopping to shake hands as heretofore, and that by degrees the recognition became more and more distant until it ceased altogether. Little matters are often far more difficult to explain and set right than great ones. It is neither easy nor pleas- ant to ask for an explanation of another person's manner. One is never quite sure at first that the coldness may not have been acci- dental, or that we imagined another's manner changed to us when it really was not so. It makes a man or woman look foolish to ask for an explanation of an imaginary slight. The mere question places us at a disadvantage, and if the other party is conceited we run the risk of gratifying their self-respect at the expense of our own. If COMPANY IN THE HOME. 32 I they are sly as well as conceited, they may now make a case against us, which may be just what they want to do. They may say of us to others that really we are so ridiculously sensitive that if they don't go into ecstasies on meeting us we fancy they want to cut our ac- quaintance. This makes us feel more annoyed than beforis, and then, if they are malevolent and like to wound our feelings, as well as superior to us in cunning, they may not only say to others that wc are always fancying ourselves slighted, but they may say to us, point blank, when we ask why they are not as cordial as formerly: " Really, indeed, upon my word, you surprise me by the question. Upon my word, deeply, of course, as I esteem you and all that, and admire your family and all that, I have something else to do than to be always thinking about you. I cannot always have the exact warmth that you require. I am so extremely sorry that my manner should have made you unhappy. Positively, just tell me what degree of the thermometer of greeting you wish me to keep up," and so on, until we go home ready to burst with humiliation and annoyance, which is just what our cunning acquaintance desired. We have put ourselves in their power by asking the reason of a slight which was, no doubt, both intentional and malicious, but which it is the easiest thing in the world for them to pretend unconsciousness about. Now, of course, we are compelled to vindicate our own independence and self-respect by being cold to them, but this only puts us still further in the wrong if they are craftier than we are. They can make us ridiculous to the neighborhood by pretending that we are so sensi- tive that we must be treated with the greatest care and punctilio for fear we should take offense. Many kind-hearted, unselfish persons are put upon a rack of social torture by just such accidents as these. And how did it begin ? Why, the chances are that at our own fire- side we unguardedly said something about the other party's mind or manners, forgetting that Miss Tattle or Mr. Teller, who happened to be calling upon us at the time, would be sure to repeat it until it reached the ears of the person spoken of, even if it were not carried direct. 21 322 THE hearthstone; OR, LIFE AT HOME. In civilized places, where men don't carry loaded revolvers at noonday and shoot each other for an idle word, a downright, hearty- quarrel is better than this underground misunderstanding. A true lady or gentleman is always ready to apologize when they are in the wrong, and, to take back an offensive speech inadvertently made. Thackeray went the right way to work on his visit to this country when he was told that a Dr. Griswold, a writer, had spoken of him as a snob. Meeting him at dinner and being introduced to him he extended his hand frankly, and said : " I understand, Dr. Griswold, that you have called me a snob. Now, sir," — drawing himself up to his full height, which was over six feet — " look at me and tell me, do I look like a snob ? " There is nothing like having it out with an adversary before the wound has time to mortify or the injury — real or supposed — to fester or grow inwards. A harmless visitor to our home may do a deal of harm to us and ours, as well as to others whom we think well of and are glad to know. It is not that Miss Tattle and Mr. Teller really wished to make mischief If they did they should be labelled talebearer and mischief-maker and kept out of our house at any cost — even to the point of telling them that their visits are not desired — but they do it without malice, just for want of something better to talk about, and because they see it gratifies the natural curiosity of the idle. "The idle!" That is just the class who love scandal, for those who have their hands full of work have no time to be busy with other people's affairs. Industry, however un remunerative, is never unproductive of good if it only keeps us out of mischief And what social mischief can at all compare, in the unhappiness it causes, with the talebearing of small communities ! This industry is the only and the effectiv^e safeguard against hav- ing the privacy of your home invaded by callers who, having nothing to do themselves, make frequent visits to all their neighbors, whom they are likely to find at leisure, to talk and listen to them. Professional persons have their reception hours ; private families should have them also. Let the gossip and the mere vacant idler COMPANY IN THE HOME. 323 understand that life is to you more valuable than that you should fritter away its morning and evening hours. If they think that their vital machinery is going to last forever, let them know that you are alive to the truth that you are mortal, and must do with regularity and industry the work you find to do. How many weak-minded housewives are always saying, " I was just going to do this or that important piece of work, when Mrs. Fuss or Miss Feathers came in and stayed so long chatting that I had to give it up ! " Better sweep good Mrs. Fuss away with your broom and blow the airy Miss Feathers up the chimney than"*allow them to prevent you doing your day's proper work. Better be " talked to death," if talk would only be kind enough to make an end of the listener when it will not make an end of itself, than be talked out of one's works and ways. Don't hurt anybody else's feelings if you can help it, but be firm and screw your courage to the sticking point of saying : " You will really have to excuse me, but this is my hour for work, and I must postpone the pleasure of a chat until I am off diity!' Be off duty, my sisters, as little as you can. Make your life as full of duties as you can. Utilize all the hours you can, so will you neither give nor t£ikc offense ; you will compel the respect of your neighbors and shut the gossip's mouth. Your sleep will be healthy and sound, undisturbed by. the self-accusing thoughts of the idler and the horrid nightmares of the social scandal-monger. When once it becomes known to your neighbors that you reg;:rd life as intended for something more than a gossips' paradise, and tha;; you devote the morning and evening hours to duties and culture, and the afternoons to out-door exercise, the regular critics of every- body but themselves will, after some fierce assaults upon your privac)-, let you severely alone. Of course, they will avenge their slighted conversation by pitying comments on you to each other. They will say you have no spirit in you and are content to let the world take its own course, so long as you can keep your own home tidy and manage your own affairs smoothl}-. They will call you a drudge. and say you have no soul. But the very best people in this world 324 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. are those who keep their souls to themselves and work as regularly as if they hadn't any. It is really a great compliment to be pro- nounced wanting in public interest and spirit by the village gossips. All you care for is to be let alone by them, and the only way to accomplish this happy result is to keep them at a respectful distance with the pins and needles, the bodkins and darning-needles, and the domestic duties that are a woman's best protection, as they are her truest happiness. But having established order in your home by keeping yourself and your children free from intrusion during hours of duty and study, let there be times when you receive and return visits. Be glad to see those who are glad to see you. Be chatty and agreeable, but let your tongue be eloquent in speaking good of others and silent as to their faults. Above ajl, never meddle with the private affairs of others in your conversation, unless you are prepared that they should make free with yours. Let your talk be such as leaves a pleasant, not a sour, taste in the mouth, and cultivate the company of those who leave behind them pleasant and kindly impressions. Not only is the human voice the most tremendous of all social in- fluences in the world, so that the spoken word really never dies, but spreads in ever-widening circles of effect, but the influences of con- versation for good or ill upon the minds of a whole family, children or full grown, is most important in the conduct and happiness of life. The conversation must depend upon the company. It is useless to cast pearls before swine, or talk of literature and art, the beauties of scenery or the delights of reading to those who have no taste for them. Choose for your friends those in whose presence you feel cheered and improved, not those with whom every interchange of sentences is a labor and a weariness. Be mistress of your own house, and let no one use your home as they would a tavern or a club ; but be hospitable to the right sort of people, who know that there is a time to call and a time to stay away, a time for condolence or congratulation, and a time for silence and solitude. Sometimes all company is oppressive ; for not only does the heart know its own sor- COMPANY IN THE HOME. 325 rows but its own joys, and one's own kith and kin, still more a stranger, cannot share our inmost feelings. When the work of the day is over and the family are all assembled together for a pleasant evening, the intrusion of a bore spoils every- thing, but the pleasant face of an agreeable friend, full of information and kindly sentiment, is an addition to the diffused happiness of the home circle. Perhaps one member of the circle is more skilled in some dual game, like chess, than the others, and it is a great pleasure when the friend drops in who is fairly a match for the chess-player. Or one member of the family is wrapped up in an amateur's enthu- siasm for painting or music or some other art, and a friend from the outside comes in to exchange feelings, criticisms and hopes with him or her about the mutual study and pursuit. Musical evenings are especially delightful, because music does not disturb but agreeably relieves the sameness of conversation and revives it by a rest when it begins to flag. The old proverb is a very true one and should never be forgotten, that a person is known by the company he or she keeps. So of a home, it is the highest praise to say that one is sure of meeting pleasant company in it, and it is a signboard bidding us beware and not seek admission when a household becomes known as a central depot of unpleasant rumors and a factory for social whisper- ings. HOME MEMORIES, •• I remember, I remember, The house where I was born, The little window where the sun Came peeping in at morn. He never came a wink too soon, Nor brought too long a day ; But now I often wish the night Had borne my l.>rL-alh away!" SHE sunrise after the night of darkness makes everything on land and sea appear wonderfully bright and vivid, but as the hours steal on the feelings of delight and surprise pass away, and we look upon the scenes around K^^^C'T"— us as matters of course without being strongly affected by them. So it is with life. The earliest scenes' form the latest memories, and the mind's first impressions are the most deep and lasting. There are some people who read the beginning and the end of a book, but skip heedlessly over the chapters that lie between them. So is it often with the book of life. The years that lie between our childhood and old age seem commonplace and we forget a good many of their occurrences and experiences, but no one ever forgets the home where the eyes first opened on the novel scene of life, the iiuman faces, the nursery, the earliest objects and associations. Men and women have lived to a hundred years of age and more, and when we come to talk to them we find their recollections of v/hole decades and epochs of their lives often very hazy and inac- curate. They confuse the persons and events that thronged the busy stage of middle life, and attribute words or actions to one per- son at one time that really were spoken or done by another person at another time. But, as we push their memory back, the nearer they (326) HOME MEMORIES. 327 get to the fountain-hjad the clearer their recollections become. Ten thousand times ten thousand faces may have passed before their vision, and in the dim corridors of age they seem only like phantoms in a dream, but the clouds break, the sun of memory shines, and out of the past and turning it into the present there shines upon the old man or woman's vision a mother's face, blessed among women, radiant with tender grace beyond all others, and upon whose angel aspect time writes no wrinkles. Beautifully has Cowper expressed this feel- ing and vivid recollection of the heart's first love in his lines upon his mother's picture : "O that those lips had language ! Life has passed With me but roughly since I heard thee last. Those lips are thine, — thy own sweet smile I see, The same that oft in childhood solaced me ; Voice only fail^, else how distinct they say, ♦ Grieve not, my child ; chase all thy fears away ! ' The raeek intelligence of those dear eyes (Blest be the art that can immcrtali/.e, — The art that baffles time's tyrannic claim To quench it !) here shines on me still the same." It needs no canvas to recall to us a mother's face. Dust and decay may dim and spoil a picture, but a dear mother's image is en- graven on the heart, and passes from it, or rather with it, only when it dies. As the eye recalls her looks of love, warning and consolation, so does the ear catch the sweet accents of her voice wafted on the intervening air as though it were .still speaking to us. The pictures and figures which we see evervwhere in Roman Catholic countries of the Madonna and child may symboliz.e to us, independently of their religious associations, the relation of the mother to the child-man or woman. Her arms are the everlasting arms that bear us up and on over the rough roads and through the blinding storms of life. Her eyes are alwa\-s looking down upon us with a love which no one else can feel. It is to her tender bosom that we nestle from the pitiless winds of life, and in the folds of her vesture that we bur}' our tired heads and sink to rest. 328 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. But beside the mother, who is dearest of all the memories of home, and whose sad, pleading face has often stayed the hand from violence and wrong and the feet from erring from the paths "of right, and the mind from utter atheism and disdain of life, and the heart from be- coming hard and dead to kindly feelings and affections, there are other faces that shine on us in the memories of home. Perhaps it is the aged grandfather, who in quavering tones called us his dear boy or girl, and told us wondrous stories of the days when he was young; or it is grandmother, who inspires us with awe of the reverence and duty which children showed to parents when she was a girl; or it is an aunt, who gave us pocket-money when we went to see her during the Christmas holidays; or the kind uncle, perhaps, who, having no children of his own, treated us as kindly and took as great interest in our welfare as though he had been our father. Now and then a strange face rises up before us, as that of one who had travelled over many lands and seas since he was our father's school- fellow, and whose weathen-beaten face shone with the light of happy reminiscences as he called our father by his Christian name, and talked of the old days with the books and scenes and studies familiar to them both. Shine out of the past, dear, kindly faces ! Break upon our ice-bound life with the sunshine of those hours in which sorrow was not, nor want and hardship, nor bereavement and the vacant chair. One face can never be forgotten by most of us. It is as necessary a face as though it belonged to the family in a multitude of homes. Shakespeare speaks of the infant in the nurse's arms. The nurse's face, not less than her arms, is part of our home memories. The good creature loved and cared for us, as we grew out of utter helpless- ness to the use of our limbs and the exercise of our mimic strength, as dearly as if she had been our mother instead of our mother's help and substitute. We hear much about the mothers of great men and the influence they have exercised over the mind and character, nor can this influence be overrated. But a volume might be written upon the nurses of great men and women whose names are unknown to HOME MEMORIES. 329 fame and who are never heard of; for, except the ubiquitous, sempi- ternal and mythical nurses of George Washington, domestic history is silent upon the influence which the faithful domestic servant has often had upon the disposition, the imagination and the future con- duct of heroes and heroines. Brothers and sisters fill the private box in memory's theatre to many of us. Some are remembered with pain and grief too deep for words, and others with a swelling sense of grateful pride at the noble fulfilment they have made of early promise. It is as though we had fought a brother's battles when we look back upon his scars of honorable warfare. His success is a bright flower-bed bathed in sun- shine in the story of our humble lives. How proud the mother was of him, her daring, generous, patient, self-sacrificing boy ! If there is a weak brother in most large families there is generally a strong one also, who preserves the balance of family qualities and the honor of its record. Objects as well as persons, though not so vividly, once seen and loved in childhood, and from having been associated with the dawn of life's perceptions, become unfading furniture in the memories of home. Who does not sometimes seem to handle again the old fishing-rod, the antique box, the massive walking-stick, the heredi- tary punch-bowl, that were heirlooms in the family ! Even an old bunch of keys may be remembered because of the rooms that it un- locked, some seldom visited and oppressing the spirits with an inde- finable gloom ; others light, cheerful, bright in color, cosy to sit in, from whose walls the old heroic sires and matrons of our lineage, or the grand persons of the world's history, looked down on us with placid condescension. One key, perhaps, unlocked a store-closet full of dainty dishes and rich preserves, and when we heard it turn in the housekeeper's hand we knew that company was coming to dinner, and sighed the sigh of joyful anticipation at the remnants of jam or jelly that would certainly find their way at last to our appreciative and prematurely smacking lips. For surely the smacking of the lips is one of the luxurious memories of home. 330 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. The garden and the garden gate are often prominent objects in the picture of home memories, not for the Mauds who have met their lovers there and phghted their juvenile affections to each other, but because some of the sweetest home memories are associated with flowers and fields and shady trees and green velvet lawns. The first paradise of mankind was a garden, and the " sweet garden toil " the earliest business and pleasure of our first parents in primeval Eden. From that day to this, the flowers of the home garden make perfume and beauty for us. Home memories bring back the withered roses and violets, lilacs and lilies. Perhaps, when a child, we had a flower- bed of our own, and a happy rivalry to keep it in better order than our brothers and sisters did theirs may have been one of our earliest and highest ambitions. Was the«re a horse that bent his head to our caresses and looked with faithful, solemn eyes at us as we spoke to it by. name? was there a dog and did we hope, like the poor Indian, that when " Transplanted to that equal sky Our faithful dog would bear us company ? " They have their place in the retrospective picture. They are not for- gotten. Carlo's bark and Dobbin's trot echo down the road of our remembrance. And if we " had a grandmother who had a donkey," that donkey will assert its place in our collection, remembered, per- haps, because it threw us gently off its back or philosophically ate turnips from our hand. But in the winter days and evenings when the snow was falling, about which such strange accounts were given us in the nursery, when out-door amusements were impossible to our little frames, and neither dog nor horse, donkey nor goat could share our pastimes, what object rises to our memories as most sacred to early musings and imaginings ? Surely, it is the open fire, in whose red coals or dying embers we beheld chariots and horsemen, and saw in mimic and flickering splendor domes, terraces and spires, faces with eyes of fiery brilliancy, handSj^armSj trees^ houses, crowns of glory and of HOME MEMORIES. 331 burning gold. Those who visit our country from more temperate chmes, where winter's reign is not so long and stern, wonder that we have stoves, that are not ornaments but iron lumber in our houses, instead of the cheery open fires of European households. They for- get, or have not learned, that our North American winter has com- pelled this change ; but as a matter of aesthetic appearance and asso- ciation the stove is undoubtedly an abomination, destructive of poetic reverie and suggestive only of the bare metallic hardness of human life, not of the fringe of glory and beauty that should surround it. The dear old grate with its red, glowing coals seemed to record "the story of our lives from day to day ; " the gigantic stove records nothing but the ironmonger's prosaic trade. No poet ever yet drew inspira- tion from a stove. It may be a fine self-feeder, but it is no soul- feeder. It is of the earth earthy, and its range of suggestiveness has no horizon except pots and pans. But in the fires of the old nursery of childhood's home, what solemn processions, what grand illuminations have we seen ! In the twilight hour, before the candles or the lamps were lit, the child-philosopher and poet has read in the clear trembling of the red live coals many an allegory and parable, many a history and prophecy of life. Its warmth, so gradual in its comfort, has soothed each nerve and limb. Its bright aspect, re- flected by the flickering lights and shadows on the walls, now bath- ing a window-pane with " dim, religious light," now lighting up some far corner which had lain in shadow, is full of teaching. It is just mysterious and checkered enough to give a cosy, grateful sense of peace at home in contrast with the wind and storm without. It touches with a sudden gleam the heart of the solitary gazer, and re- minds it of the wanderers and outcasts who arc shivering with the winter's cold and have no fires in their bare garrets. Upward and onward the mind soars into the mysteries of the fire, an element so grand that the Persians worshipped it as God, and Christianity has borrowed from it the most vivid descriptions of divine justice and the purification of the world. The lambent flame, the red, fierce coal, suggest the conflagration of worlds in which the works of man and. 332 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. nature shall be alike consumed. It bears the imagination to those eternal fires which men call stars, that burn and shine in the blue ether like lamps around the throne of the Eternal. All science, all history, all poetry, are glowing in the nursery fire which keeps alive the memories of home. The " Dies Irae " is written in the burning coals, and so is the warmth and heat of that divine beneficence which can melt the heart of stone and unbind the icy fetters of worlds and men. It is in the open fire that the word " home " is written. Take away the warm, bright fire on the winter's day and the heart is chilled and all tender memories are banished. It is the live coal or the Yule log that makes the altar upon which unselfish sacrifices are offered and domestic affections are kept warm and glowing. The furniture may be scanty, the dwelling humble, but while the fire burns brightly on the hearthstone we feel at home.. When the fire of home gops out we sink into ourselves and scarcely feel that we are members of a family, in the chill sense of desolation and penury. When husband, son, or father has been on some journey exposed to the rough, cold wind and storm, no word of welcome is so cheering as that which bids them come near the fire. The sense of warmth and comfort steals over the shivering limbs ; their faces glow in the kindly warmth and light; smiles and words of cheer take the place of complaints about the weather. Then the wet boots are taken off, and the slippers that have been warming for them by the fire give rest and ease to the tired, cold feet. " This is bad weather to be out in. O how glad I am to get home ! " is the traveller's ex- clamation ; and, "O I'm so glad you're home!" that of each heart that cares for him. Then memories are quickened and tongues are loosened, and one after another around the fireside recalls some story of the past, when, on a night like this, a dear one was caught in a snow-storm and almost perished in the cold. One remembers the stormy night when the sailor of the family set out to join his ship, and another the midnight knocking at the door which awoke and frightened them, but which heralded the unexpected return of the absent one from some long voyage. Some rough experience of the HOME MEMORIES. 333 days of war is told, when the pelting storm was more pitiless than the iron hail of the artillery. What stories, too, can grandma tell of the stately offers she re- ceived in the old days of propriety, when every lad in the village took off his cap and shuffled out of her way with due respect as she went to church. Like Madame Blaize, she can affirm that "the king himself has followed her when she has walked before;" that the village doctor had to take his own medicines when her rejection of him brought on a nervous cough, and that when one of Washington's regiments was quartered in the town the colonel, with many bows, asked the honor of dancing a minuet with her. Burn brightly, winter fire, and weave romances of the past as your smoke curls up the chimney of the happy home! No novelist can write such stories as those which your bright light recalls of child- hood's days and those of early man or womanhood, and plighted love and marriage bells, and the advent of the infant stranger, and the voices that made such tender music in our hearts, and the partings to meet again and the partings to meet hereafter in a home where tears and partings are no more. " Home, Sweet Home ! " Unbidden the simple melody, more sung with heart and voice through the wide world than any hymn of praise or national anthem, comes into the mind and flows from the fingers to the page: "'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home ! A charm from the sky seems to hallow us there. Which, seek through the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere 1 Home, home, sweet, sweet home! There's no place like home ! There's no place like home ! *'An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain! O, give me my lowly thatched cottage again ! The birds singing gayly, that came at my call- Give me them ! — and the peace of mind, dearer than alli Home, home, sweet, sweet home ! There's no place like home! There's no place like home I " 334 THE H^EARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME, Such are the h'nes as John Howard Payne wrote them, and as they were punctuated by himself. A glance in retrospect at his own wan- dering and changeful life gives them a stronger force and deeper meaning. The beautiful frontispiece to this volume shows us Payne's own fireside, but for manj'' years of his eventful career he had no home. It is a sad comment on his world-famous song that scarce one of his biographers has recorded even the time and place of his birth correctly. All sorts of fables have been written about him and his poem. Some have said that he was starving in London when, on a bitter night beneath a street lamp, he wrote in anguish his plain- tive melody. But it was not so. He himself has left us the true story. The poem was written as an interlude in his " Clari, the Maid of Milan," an opera in three acts. In 1835, while at New Orleans, when questioned as to the music of the song, he told his friend, Mr. James Rees, of Philadelphia, that the air to which he had written ihe words was not wholly original with Henry R. Bishop, its composer, and director of the orchestra at Covent Garden Theatre, where " Clari " was first performed on Thursday, May 8, 1823. " I first heard the air," said Payne, " in Italy. One beautiful morning, as I was strolling alone amid some delightful scenery, my attention was arrested by the sweet voice of a peasant girl who was carrying a basket laden with flowers and vegetables. This plaintive air she trilled out with so much sweetness and simplicity that the melody at once caught my fancy. I accosted her, and after a few moments' conversation, I asked for the name of the song, which she could not give me, but having a slight knowledge of music myself, barely enough for the purpose, I requested her to repeat the air, which she did, while I dotted down the notes as best I could. It was this air that suggested the words of ' Home, Sweet Home,' both of which I sent to Bishop at the time I was preparing the opera of ' Clari ' for Mr. Kemble. Bishop happened to know the air perfectly well, and adapted the music to the words." The poem was written while Mr. Payne was staying in Paris, not in London. Upon Payne's monument in Tunis, where he was American con- HOME MEMORIES. 335 sul, and where he died at six in the morning of the 9th of April, 1852, it is stated that he died on April ist, and that he was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was born in New York, and, in touch- ing terms, thus spoke at a banquet given him, December i, 1832. when he had just returned to America, viz. : " I beheld again the fair city of my birth enthroned upon her beautiful waters, and I rejoiced in belonging to such a mother, and that my weary pilgrimage had closed at such a home ! But this succession of emotions wao but symbolical of deeper ones to which I yet was destined ; for, when my steps sought the spots to which in earlier life they were accus- tomed, I found a severer darkness (than the storm he had encoun- tered) frowning over them in the pestilence, and houses untenanted, or most of those which had inhabitants in tears and mourning. When I asked for many a friend of years gone by, I was pointed to the tomb. But presently the streets began to brighten into what they were; many a warm hand renewed the earnest grasp so long ago remembered ; the welcome of many a departed parent smiled on me in their children : until at length I beheld the memories of a former day gathering the lovely and the gallant, and the intellectual, and the affluent, in one splendid circle, where I could almost fancy the spirits of some of the long-buried dead — who would have united at that moment with the living — hovering o'er a scene which made me forget the humbleness of my own desert in exultation for the glorious privilege of once again exclaiming, as I gazed before me : ' The wan- derer has a home, and it is here ! ' " From the age of thirteen, when his mother died, John Howard Payne was without a settled home. He spent some early days at Boston, and some years at an humble cottage in East Hampton, Long Island, the regretful memory of whose attractions of sea and land and simple pastimes, without the later care and conflict, may have touched his thoughts when he wrote " Home, Sweet Home." These corrections seemed proper to the mention of his name, and the simple verses which touched millions of hearts and were printed and sold by the hundred thousand in a year. 336 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Payne was an author — what would now be called a Bohemian — as well as an actor in his youth. Of all professions which a youth can choose for his career, those of literary work and the stage are the most precarious and the most homeless. The breath of popular applause is fickle as to both. Two stanzas, suggested by a Sicilian air and introduced into his opera, did what long years of labor failed to do : gave him "a name to live " while homes and languages exist on earth. His remains are to be brought to Washington, where a statue is to be erected to him, as has already been done in Brooklyn, Long Island, where it stands in Prospect Park. Many stories that have good authority, but yet want certainty, are told about the man in connection with the song. On one occasion, it is said by those who should be well informed, that he was about to sell his mule, but that the purchaser made him a present of it when he found he was the author of " Home, Sweet Home." On another occasion, when he was taken prisoner by the militia in Georgia, where he was occupying with his friend, John Ross, Chief of the Cherokees, a miserable hut, at midnight on their journey, Payne heard one of their captors singing his own " Sweet Home." Payne claimed the authorship, and sang it himself with such true feeling that the soldier swore he should never go to prison if he could help it, and on telling who his prisoner was at Milledgeville, he was released. The Bohemian's song to the Sicilian air is, indeed, like the magic " sesame " to open all doors and hearts. Its simple pathos, its suggestion of dearest, holiest memories of Home, which are beyond all words, has made it from pole to pole the song of songs. PETS IN THE HOUSEHOLD. " 'Tis sweet to hear the watch-doj^'s honest bark Bay deep-mouth'd welcome as we draw near home." iHE ideal home has generally a pet in it, one of those "poor relations" that are not of the human species but resemble it in some instincts or qualities, such as affection and teachableness, so that to a greater or less degree, according to their intelligence, they become ^" one of the family." The dog and the horse become playmates and fellow-workers, and seem to understand by tacit sympathy the hon- orable and responsible position they hold in the family circle. They become the confidants and familiar friends of the kind master and mistress and their children, and the more gifted of them possess to a wonderful extent the art of mind-reading. Sometimes their family and ours have been long together and have kept pace through many changes in mutual service. The old mare dies, but the colt that kept so close to her in the meadow grows to the age of equine reason and physical strength and beauty, and our children gallop on its back as we did on its mother's. The characteristics of the dog are heredi- tary, like those of the horse. In pace, build and disposition old Char- ley's sons and daughters resemble himself, and still more remarkably do dogs transmit their virtues, and, alas, their faults. The tracing of these family resemblances is a study of which the wisest philosopher need not be ashamed. There are dogs whose incorruptible fidelilv and honesty, and what in human beings would be called strong moral and religious principle, were conspicuous in their parents and won for them the affection and regard of those they lived with. Sc me dogs display strategic and ingenious talents — a slyness and artrulnL;s 22 (337} 338 THE HEARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME, not always unamiable and often very useful to their human protectors and allies — which have puzzled those who maintain that there is a definite line between human reason and the cunning and instinct of the brute. There are thousands of instances on record in which neither cunning nor instinct completely expresses the dog's mind. He reasons sometimes on strictly logical principles, and is not so entirely a stranger as his slower human competitors in the arts of ratiocination deem him to the inductive philosophy. He more fre- quently than his human schoolmates suppresses the major premiss in his syllogisms, and prefers to reason from the particular to the uni- versal rather than, as man does, from the universal to the particular. He infers laws from phenomena, and looks for the accustomed dinner- bell with as much punctuality as if he carried a watch. The unerring instinct of dogs renders them of priceless value to lost wanderers, and a case illustrating this point is that of the unfortunate survivors of the wrecked "Jeannette." So long as Lieutenant DeLong and his party kept their dogs they had a chance of saving their lives through these faithful friends, but when the dogs were killed and eaten their last hope was gone. They had no means of finding their way to food through the power of scent, which the dogs possessed. But the analogy must not be pursued too far. Sometimes what is called instinct in a brute resembles rather a supernatural revelation than any consecutive process like reasoning. One summer's morn- ing it was decided in a family that out of seven little kittens one only should be kept. At the breakfast-table the awful question upon which the fate of the six innocents depended was discussed by the . Christian and kind-hearted family. The paterfamilias said : " My dear, we cannot keep so many. Drowning is not torture — " but, "O papa, papa, you would not drown the pretty creatures : it would be so cruel ! " cried eagerly one after another of the domestic jury of little ones. The crest-fallen judge, astonished to find himself voted a monster of cruelty by his own brood, said : " Well, well, children, settle it among yourselves," and mamma was elected judge by them in place of the stern parent who thought drowning no torture. Now, PETS IN THE HOUSEHOLD. 339 these kittens who were thus, unknown to themselves, being tried for their lives, had never yet meandered outside the garden gate. The extent of their geographical knowledge was the grass-plat, and of a world beyond the kitchen fire they had never speculated. Mamma decided that as this was the morning upon which a travelling wagon would call on its way to the next station ten miles off, the six little kittens should be tied together in a bag and carried some miles away when they should be turned loose, like little Ishmaels without a Hagar, feline Arabs to find a home in the desert, in an open plain. The driver did precisely as he was bidden. The kittens left " the warm precincts of the genial day," and, securely tied in a bag which was placed at the bottom of the wagon, were driven away into the wide, wide world. The driver duly reported the turning the kittens loose upon the common, some eight miles away. A week passed and the tears of sorrow had been wiped from the children's eyes and apprehension for the fate of the six homeless kittens had been effaced by newer incidents, when one of them, standing on the stoop that looked on the long garden at the back of the house, beheld a spec- tacle that made her scream with terror. Haggard, famished, with eyes of piteous appeal and awful suffering, coming almost in a line, with "fainting steps and slow," a ghastly and spectral regiment, came up the avenue toward the child, not the six, but three out of the six kittens. The one that had been kept was purring and playing in a child-nurse's arms, its fur glossy, its eyes full of delighted mischief, — what should it know, in the lap of luxury, of pain, exposure, star- vation and death ? — while the three of its brothers and sisters, who seemed to have returned from another world, were the most woe- begone of living skeletons. What had become of the other three? Doubtless, they had fainted on the long journey and died forlornly. Better for them had it been if the jury of children had followed their papa's suggestion of the pail of water. But the voice of nature for- bade all further ostracism of the three poor wanderers, one of whom died within an hour in spite of warmth and milk. They were ad- mitted once more to the family circle, and their untold adventures 340 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. during their week of absence were the mysterious talk of the nursery on many a winter's evening. This anecdote, which I have told in tragic style, is simply true, and the question to be asked, not answered, is : By what mysterious intui- tion, since the way had never been seen or known by them, had these three kittens walked back eight miles from a country plain during that week of misery ? Experience could not have helped them, for they had been tied up in a bag at the bottom of the wagon, and taken a road they had never travelled before. Reason could no more have helped them than experience, if reason implies knowledge as a start- ing point. Induction and deduction alike fail to bring those kittens home. Instinct must have done it, that instinct which, as Antigone declared of natural love, is beyond all law; that instinct which brings back the carrier dove with messages on its wings and makes the bloodhound's nostrils a surer guide than all the deep-laid schemes of the detective in tracking the fugitive from justice. In the home circle, the cat and kitten are much esteemed, yet, like many noble families among ourselves, it is not easy to see any great intellectual, moral, or physical superiority in them. Catching mice is scarcely ground enough for placing the cat among the aristocracy of animals. They are sometimes affectionate and seem to take a kindly intt*rest in the family, but their affection is not so disinterested as that of dogs. They are not forgiving. A dog's affection will sur- vive the harshest treatment, but a cat never forgets a punishment and rarely in its heart forgives it. One has only to witness a per- sonal encounter between cat and dog to be impressed with the superior cunning of the former and the greater courage of the latter. The cat's main purpose in her strategy seems to be to " scratch his eyes out," but the dog is content if he leave his war prints on her tail. Nothing magnanimous has been recorded in feline history; whereas the biography of dogs is full of heroism, self-sacrifice and philanthropy. We must seek further then than the heroic virtues to account for the privileges allowed to cats in the economy of home. Their fur is sometimes very glossy and beautiful and this pleases the PETS IN THE HOUSEHOLD. 341 eye. Their purr is suggestive of repose beside a cosy fire and of the singing of the tea-kettle and of that social meal. The more reserved and quiet manners of the cat as compared with the dog^ have operated in her favor with the female mind. The cat has more of Jacob's, the supplanter's, nature ; the dog more of Esau's good- hearted impulsiveness. Hence she often gets his birthright by stratagem as well as her own, and the juicy bone which by divine right is Tray's is given to Tabitha, The dog is like Tom Jones, alv/ays getting into scrapes; the cat is like Joseph Blifil, a purring hypocrite. This characterization, however, is general. There are dogs who are as deficient in honesty as cats, and there may be here and there a cat of almost canine fidelity. We should not judge others severely because they belong to a different race from ourselves. But the exuberant affection with which the domestic cat is regarded in some households has always astonished me. These remarks do not apply to kittens, for, before, the development of cunning and hypocrisy in the feline disposition, the happy alternations of play and sleep, the innocent naivete of the kitten's movements, its evident enjoyment of the mere fact of existence and the innocency of its sportive conduct, are very endearing and commendable. Parrots are sometimes made great pets of, although a natural diffi- dence and aversion to having one's face or fingers bitten prevents most of us from cultivating too close an acquaintance with them. Their table-talk is amusing and occasionally instructive — sometimes, perhaps, a little too personal. The small canary bird, whose bright eye inspects the busy scene and whose solos are cheering in the morning sunshine, is a safer pet, and less given to mischievous vocal- ism than the parrot. All pets, whatever their kinds and degrees of beauty, talent and amiability, having been once adopted, have claims upon our protection and good will which few arc mean and hard enough to repudiate. The raven, the mouse, the rabbit, the guinea-pig, and even the tame rat, when once admitted to intimacy, should never be forsaken so , 342 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. long as they justify the confidence we have reposed in them. The mutual affection existing between the wholesale keepers of such domestic live-stock and their dependents is a sight worth seeing. They know well the hand that feeds them from the hand reached out in simulated kindness to annoy and teaze them. But it is not advis- able for private families to keep a menagerie ; one or at most two pets in the household are enough. When the claims of all the varied species of such pets are fairly considered, there will appear no reason for displacing the dog from his supremacy as the only creature who will of his own free will leave his own kindred for the sake of man. For the credit of humanity it is pleasant to believe that man has not been wholly ungrateful to him, and that it is not only the poor Indian who can feel affection for the faithful companion of his fortunes. The dog never forsakes his master because of any change of worldly circumstances or a re- duced scale of living. In the homes, or too often the no-homes, of the very poor, the dog is one of the inseparable family and accom- panies them when they seek brighter fortunes in the far West. How- ever scanty may be the stock of food, the faithful creature has his . necessary share. In many Southern States, as Virginia and North Carolina, one may often see two or three big dogs belonging to one poor family and counted as so many " hands " in the domestic pro- gramme. When the human family migrates the dogs go with it, and should accident or death befall a dog the family, especially the children, are filled with inconsolable grief. The vacant kennel is sometimes as much an emblem of bereavement and sorrow as the vacant chair. But all the kindness we human beings have ever shown to dogs does not equal their benevolent services to us. Rightly have they been deemed worthy of the greatest friendship by the greatest minds. Sir Isaac Newton might not so calmly have forgiven the destruction of his manuscript had it been done by a careless human domestic. But the playful spaniel had small respect for the binomial theorem. Education, of which dogs, as the ancient Athenians well knew, are PETS IN THE HOUSEHOLD. 343 peculiarly susceptible, soon teaches a dog of gentle breeding never to lay paws or apply teeth to matter which he does not know to be valueless, — like a flunky's leg. And even if they sometimes err through inadvertence and injure furniture or books, these are foibles to be lost sight of in their grander virtues. When thieves are trying to break through and steal, who so vigilant as the faithful watch-dog? When sickness is in the household, who notes the doctor's visits and long face more anxiously than the silent, thoughtful, sorrowing dog ? When the kind voice of the master or mistress, or the little play- fellow of the nursery, calls to him so cheerily no more, who sickens and dies out of the truth and depth of his affection for us except the faithful dog? Very touching is the not unfrequent sight of the dog refusing to be comforted and visiting — to return no more to the home now desolate to him — the new-made grave of his master. Often in their death they are not divided. And some of us may have witnessed the counterpart to this picture, that of a dog's funeral, in which a whole family have followed the be- loved one to his garden-grave with no mere hypocrisy of grief Many a strong man unused to weep or " play the woman " has shed tears of real grief at the death of his dog. I have always thought that meaner even than to shoot an enemy from behind a hedge is to poison his dog in order to afflict him with an irreparable loss. For the dog once loved and become " one of us " is not to be replaced. Others can be had in plenty, but dogs have a biography which is personal to each one of them when they are of high intelligence and nobility of character. Even strangers miss them and ask, "Why, where's your dog?" The Christmas guests miss the friendly bark that wel- comed them, for dogs are often the masters of the ceremonies and guardians of the hearth who seemed to call the names and bid us enter the hospitable doors as they " Wagged all their tails and seemed to say The master knows you — you're expected." Indeed, the humane and humanizing quality of a noble dog is his 3-^ THE hearthstone; or, life at home. most homely and pleasant characteristic. He can often put us in good humor when we feel " out of sorts." He can inspire us with kindlier feelings toward our fellow-men and women. He can plead .-.s an eloquent but mute advocate for our truant boys when they have been out of bounds with him on what he knows as well as they was ail illicit gambol. When he has not a perfect consciousness of his own rectitude he shows it, and if he has gained a dinner by unfair and sneaking artifice, he feels dyspepsia of the heart, his food does him no good, he laments his lapse from the straight path of virtue and keeps out of our sight, not so much because he dreads the rod as because he feels that our confidence in his integrity is broken. In the training or education of pets the same method should be fol- lowed which I have suggested in another chapter in the case of chil- dren. Far better than the rule of " Never too late to mend " is " Never too soon to begin." The lower animals, like ourselves, are the creatures of habit, and it is as true of the dog as of the child that if you train him up in the way that he should go, when he is old he will not de- part from it. The gravest defect in the education of household pets is that too much pains are taken in teaching them the fine arts, such as standing on their hind legs and holding skeins of silk for their mistress — they generally accompany a piano with vocal music of their own accord — while too little attention is paid to moral and social philosophy. A conscientious perception of the rights of persons and the difference between " meum " and " tuum" is of more importance than mere accomplishments. The first point in a dog's education is religious rather than secular : it is to keep the commandments and do as he would be done by. Greediness and selfishness are easily eradicated in the dog, for he is naturally the most generous and un- selfish of creatures. But care for number one is latent in him as in children, and if encouraged will vitiate and demoralize his whole character. Socratic temperance should be taught him in the use of meats. The canine gourmand is as unlovely as the human. He should not be encouraged to desire the chief seat at feasts, and the eleemosynary spirit taward poorer and less favored dogs should be PETS IN THE HOUSEHOLD. 345 developed in his breast. Aoove all, let us remember that a sense of justice and a love of virtue are native to him, and that it is only the dog who has had evil surroundings and never enjoyed the blessings of a Christian home and a refined education who becomes a social pirate and the terror of his neighborhood. He is strongly imitative and soon learns mercy from the merciful, order from the orderly, manners from the mannerly, and tyranny from the tyrannical. " The merciful man regardeth the life of his beast," and the beast knows when he is well treated and has a merciful man for his master. If we are good to him, he will be good to us. CARE OF CANARY BIRDS, PARROTS, ETC. Canary Birds. — Almost all diseases to which canaries are sub- ject are occasioned by colds, which generally are contracted by their being placed in a draught or in a hot room. As a general rule, a bird cannot be given too much fresh air. Even in winter time, .although it is never quite safe to hang the cage in the window, it is advisable to throw open the window once or twice a day to let in the air. Canaries are tender creatures ; but they will stand a low tem- perature — as low as fifty degrees — providing you keep them out of draughts. A temperature not lower than sixty degrees is about right, and this should be maintained day and night, if possible. More birds sicken and die from diseases contracted by exposure to night chilli- ness than from any other known cause. Again, the air of a room should not be over-heated or suffused with gas. The philosophy of management of canaries may be summed up thus : Proper light, proper air, and proper food. A bird should never be removed sud- denly from a dark to a light room, or 7h'cc versa. All day it should be allowed the broad sunlight, but never exposed to the sun's direct rays. Unless colds are relieved promptly they often turn to asthma, and birds so diseased frequently sit for hours at a time with their feathers puffed out, wheezing as though every breath gave them intense pain. 346 THE hearthstone; or, Life at home. This can be benefited by giving, in addition to their regular food, small particles of salt pork covered over thickly with cayenne pepper. A cracker soaked in water and sprinkled with cayenne pepper is equally good. When birds seem to have lost their voices, which they often do, the most effectual remedy is to place pure rock candy in their drinking water and let it dissolve. If birds are provided with nice clean sand or gravel, their perches kept scrupulously clean, and always supplied with ficsh water, they will not suffer from sore feet. Cages should be scoured clean in hot water frequently in order to keep insects off birds. If, however, they are troubled with them, put the least bit of kerosene oil under each wing — say as much as re- mains on your little finger after you have let the drop fall. Do this every ten days until all are removed. Every morning a canary should have a daily allowance of summer rape seed, canary seed and millet seed, in equal proportions — alto- gether a dessertspoonful per day. Most birds will eat more than this amount if it is allowed them. As early in the spring as pos- sible, they should have every day a small quantity of chickweed, lettuce or water-cress, well washed and fresh. In the winter a thin slice of sweet apple may be put in the cage daily. Once a week in winter half a wine-cracker may be put into the cage. During the moulting season, in July or August — months which are about as fatal to canary birds as to infants — the food should be carefully chosen and proportioned. The mixed seed should be put into the cage as usual ; and, once a week at least, a small quantity of raw beef, of the tenderest sort, scraped and moistened with cold water, should be put into the cage. Once a week hard-boiled yolk of egg and grated cracker should be mixed and put into the cage. Many authorities on the treatment of birds object to sponge-cake, lumps of sugar and hemp seed as unsuitable. The latter is thought to be too rich and fattening ever to give to a canary. A canary should never be left in a room alone constantly. It will droop and die. The best singers are those surrounded by the voices of children, the sound of a piano or the hum of a sewing-machine occasionallv. Birds, PETS IN THE HOUSEHOLD, 347 like human beings, want companionship, and particularly these little pets. And what is true of canaries in this respect is true of all birds kept in the house. The best canaries are the German, known as Andreasberg, a species raised in the Hartz Mountains. They arc the lono-est lived and most docile. Teaching a canary bird to whistle or warble a tune requires patience and persistence, as do most things that are worth the doing. It should be placed in as small a cage as possible ; cover the top and three sides of same so that it cannot see you or anything about the room to attract its attention ; then set the cage in front of a looking- glass (open side to glass) so that he can see himself, imagining it to be another bird. This done, commence as you wish, either to whistle or play on some musical instrument. Four or five lessons will be sufficient if the bird proves an apt scholar. Parrots. — The larger species of parrots are known as maccaws and cockatoos. The smaller species are the parroquets. The gray parrot is a native of Africa. These, of all parrots, make the best talkers, are the aptest scholars, and possess the most retentive mem- ory. The gray parrot will learn to talk, whistle, sing, cry, laugh, mew like a cat, bark like a dog, bray like a donkey, and crow like a game-cock. They will learn until about their tenth year, and have been known to live in a cage for neacly a century. In selecting one you wish to educate yourself, never take one that is wild. He should be tame enough so that when you approach him he will in no way act shy or frightened. A wild parrot can rarely be tamed ; conse- quently, he can rarely be taught. The most common food given to parrots is hempsecd, corn and crackers, of which they are extremely fond. Some parrots are brought up on black coffee instead of water, while others never drink, but simply eat bread or cracker soaked in water, the moisture of which is sufficient to satisfy their thirst. Canary seed is the chief food for • parroquets, though some will eat hempseed and unhulled rice (Paddy) in addition to canary seed. Mocking-birds. — In purchasing a mocking-bird a nestling is pre- 348 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. ferable to one trapped, from the fact of its being the tamest of the two. It feels also more contented in its cage, and soon becomes very docile and greatly attached to mankind. The prepared food sold by bird dealers is the best, and, by way of a change, a small quantity of ants' eggs soaked in water. About one meal-worm a day will greatly promote the song of a bird. Grasshoppers and spiders should only be given to such birds as the mocker, thrush, starling or black- bird, or to birds of that size. Small birds not being able always to digest them, they are apt to bring on disease. Fine gravel mixed with beach sand for the bottom of the cage is preferable to gravel alone. All soft-billed birds require spacious cages, as they are generally more active and swifter than seed-eatincf birds. ■ THE MOTHER IN THE HOME. " I know thou art gone where thy forehead is starred With the beauty that dwelt in thy soul, Where the hght of thy loveliness cannot be marred. Nor thy spirit flung back from its goal." ^HE bravest woman I ever knew, and by brave I mean that steady courage that could not be stampeded — that led its possessor to make the long pull and the steady pull and to be as unflinching at the last as at the first of a trial — was the mother of several children and the wife of a man too unlike her to know her character any betteir at the end of her life than he did when he married her. She was a type of woman rare it is true, but not so rare that the generality of my readers will not find in her portrait a likeness to some friend or acquaintance. At the time of which I write her hus- band had been unfortunate, and the family had been compelled to remove from the city where they had lived to a small farm they owned several miles away. Not one of the children but felt they would be exiled from all the delights of life, and so expressed them- selves. The mother met the change quietly, saying it would benefit the children to be in the country for a while, and that she saw good in what was considered an evil. And, indeed, she saw good in every- thing; it was one of her characteristics. She pictured the beauties of hillside and of dale, and recounted the pleasures she had known as a child in the country. To the sons she talked of the fishing, the horses and the dogs they would have, and to the daughters she promised flowers, picnics and the companionship of their friends when the place was all fixed up. " Fixing-up " was a work that no (349) 350 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. one understood so well as herself would require a great deal of hard labor with small means. But she won by her sweet persuasiveness the hearty interest of all the children, even to the eldest daughter, the least willing of all to go to the country, betause she was just approaching the age when girls like to be with companions of their own age and to go where they are most apt to meet the brothers of their friends. A long talk with her quite alone one morning settled outward opposition from that quarter, and she kept the promise then made so well that the others called her " mother's champion." The tact and sweetness of the mother had won the victory, and the new home was occupied by as rebellious yet outwardly calm children as ever felt resentment toward fate or paid homage to a mother's beautiful love. Somehow they felt that their father had not dealt fairly with their mother, and that he was the author and source of all their troubles. This feeling helped them to hold fast to themselves when they faced the actual realities of their changed condition and saw how ordinary, compared to what they had known, was the place they were to call their home. It seemed to them that it would have been unbearable but for " mother," and it would have been had she failed them ; but she was so bright a presence in the house, so pleasant and agreeable to her sons and daughters, that, young though they were, they felt that in her they had more than other people had who never had misfortune, and who owned the best of everything. She smiled upon their serious faces, and they felt constrained to go up to her and embrace her, or to lean against her and have their hair stroked by her magnetic hands. She knew the way to each of their hearts, and kept watch over their faults as Cerberus did the way to the infernal regions. They in their turn knew her every expression, and if she looked pale or seemed weary there was a protest at once against her going out into the sunshine or doing any more work that day. This spirit she indulged in her children, and when she saw that they wanted her to be controlled by them she would yield, taking the opportunity to talk with them familiarly about their plans and the work they were to help her to do when she got strong again. If it rained she MOTHER'S KNEE. THE MOTHER IN THE HOME. 35 I would show her fine management by pleading weariness and dividing her duties between her children. The eldest brother and sister were given the dining-room to make look "better than it ever did before," and the two younger boys and their little sisters were put at light tasks in her presence, which they performed all too fast for the mother, who had to tax her resources to devise further employment for them. When actual duties were exhausted, she would gather them about her and ask their advice about improvements she desired to make. Such counsel as she got, though it was diametrically opposite often and again, she would accept with a thoughtful look and a quiet assent that made her young advisers feel thoroughly comfortable all day, believing that they had helped her out of a dilemma. They were not interested in their new home or truly content until, in one of these family meetings, she told them the farm was her own, and that her father had given it to her long ago, after her only brother, who was to have had it, died just as he left college. That if she could make it more attractive and valuable, by-and-by they could rent it for enough to pay for a home in town, and with their help she thought she could make it so. Then six eager, expectant faces were about her, and six tongues were talking at once. She heard all they had to say, and wisely diverted them when their enthusiasm was expended and they verged on sadness or repining. Their father went into the city every day and they saw little of him. That was no privation to them, because they had their mother all to them- selves all the day long. Beautiful days those were to that band of children, and the world was in after years all the brighter to them for the experiences they knew then. The true beauty and unselfishness of that mother's character was not understood wholly at the time, but it was afterward, and it strengthened them for the changes that came in after years to each and all. The house was surrounded by what had been a pretty paling fence, but it had been neglected until it needed careful repairing from one 352 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. end to the other. This was one of the first pieces of work the mother desired to do, but she had not decided how to go about it, until the daughter complained of its appearance. Then there was a visit made to it, and every paling was examined. The son was carelessly told to bring the hammer and nails along, and by dint of encourage- ment and coaxing, the loose boards were fastened as far as there was time that day and the whole subject of the fence was discussed earn- estly. It was decided that the nailing could all be done by the oldest boy, and that the hired man should be called upon to get substitutes for the missing palings. When the fence, that had appeared as if it was getting tired and seemed only not to fall, in places, had been straightened and made whole (and it required a great deal of labor to make it so, and mother had often gone out to where her boy was working with flushed face and aching hands, sustained only by the thought that he was improving her place, with the lemonade and cake she had thoughtfully put aside for him) it was a day of rejoicing. Very wisely this sagacious woman had interested her daughters in flowers, and the eldest was not slow to see that plenty of blossoms in that large bare yard would make it a different place. So there were trips made to the woods, and vines and wild plants were transplanted, and the few rose bushes on the place were trimmed and the earth about them enriched. No work was kept up until the children were tired, ^nd no undertaking was pursued until they became restless. The fence was painted twice over though there was but one brush to go over fully a mile, when both sides were completed, and the ruses of the sister and brother to get off to do this work, when mother was helping the one maid-of-all-work, commanded her respect. They showed themselves such apt scholars in the art of unselfish dissimulation that she was proud of them and let them work until they had done enough. Then the delighted surprise of mother when she went out to lend a helping hand, and found how much was accomplished, was sufficient stimulant for several days to come. When this task was accomplished and pronounced by both father and mother a perfect success, the children were aroused to a sense THE MOTHER IN THE HOME. 353 of pride in the place, and the adornment of the lawn was made their one thought. They searched the woods for wild roses and brought from the fields every plant that gave promise of pretty blossoms. Seeds were bought and carefully planted, and when the spring was fairly upon them the promise of a pretty yard was soon fulfilled. Dead limbs had been cut, the whitewash brush had been used on the trunks of the trees, and the ground was as clean " as a velvet carpet," to quote one of the industrious brood. Honeysuckles that had gone to waste over the ground were fastened to supports, and the shrubbery pruned until it all looked good as new. Walks were straightened, borders made, and the garden was reclaimed. To do all this required a great deal of toil, and no end of utility, ingenuity and good management. The mother had all these qualities, and when she taught her children how to cover unsightly stumps with graceful vines and showy plants, and where to put out shrubs that they had secured after long effort, she was inspired in her lessons by the assurance of her conscience that she was helping them to over- come obstacles and meet misfortune with quiet courage. The spirit of improvement once thoroughly aroused there was no suppressing the plans formed to " get the place in order." It became a by-word in the family, and the two eldest were accused of talking at night in their sleep and planning the most unheard-of things, all for the purpose of getting things to rights. The time came when the house was in thorough order, and only required to be painted out- side to have it " a beauty," and the yard was ready for the warm days that would bring up the flowers from the ground and cause the young trees and shrubs to grow. There had been much quiet talk about what should be done with the ugly old fence around the barn. It must remain because a new one was an expense not to be thought of, and it could not be improved by novices. This the chil- dren thought, and so said father when he heard the matter discussed by them. Mother listened quietly until he had finished his remarks and then discreetly broke up the consulting party and waited for a more convenient season to think and act. 23 354 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Not many days after that the father was surprised to see, instead of the dingy old fence, a perfectly white one gleaming in the sun- shine and making the whole place look cleaner. It had been white- washed, and in each corner had been planted, far enough back to keep the cattle from destroying them, hollyhocks, sunflowers and dahlias alternately. The feat was performed under great difficulties, be- cause a rail fence is not an easy article to treat to a coat of white- wash, and these workers were only amateurs. But they had discov- ered that white fences added immensely to the effect of the place, and they proposed to whiten everything they possibly could. Un- sightly stones were gathered together in one heap, and left until enough could be secured to make a rockery. Mother knew exactly how to make a rockery, and the eagerness with which even the youngest of the children gathered stones, and the hard struggles the older chil- dren had with the large rocks, was a pleasant recompense to the mother. The rockery was made, the vines were tangled over it, and in the shaded situation in which it had been placed the water- plants flourished ; and it was the chief ornament of the yard before the summer was ended. Of course trees do not grow in a day, nor flowers in a week, but long before the strawberries were ripe in the garden, the improvements made had astonished friends and neighbors who had watched the work going on, never dreaming it was being accomplished by a mother and her children. It was amusing to see the interest these young people came to take in a place they had dreaded to see, and how indifferent they were to holidays so long as the improvements were going on. A view of the homely interior of the poultry yard was seen from the dining-room window, and this eye-sore had been the theme at many a rainy day chat. Finally it was agreed to ask father to con- sult with them, and hear how he would screen the view. Mother had a plan all her own which she had not broached to them, knowing they were unequal to the task, and she it was who suggested that their father might like to help them. When he heard of the project he seemed not surprised, and when their mother gave them her THE MOTHER IN THE HOME. 355 idea, which was to plant two rows of young maples half around the yard, with a summer-house formed of two rows of trees closely planted at the lower side of it, they surmised that she had pre- viously prepared him, as she had done, for the plan she offered. This would make a delightful walk, she said, and seats could be arranged in the summer-house, which should be quite around the corner, so that it would not be seen until one was almost in it, and be a great ornament to the place. The idea was a splendid one, and the father could not set up any opposition to the plan. Who to get to dig the trees, and do the laying out and planting was the next question. The wife quietly eyed her husband and said that she should vote that he either stayed at home and do the work or hire a man in his stead. He laughed at the ideas, but was prevailed upon by his impulsive children to promise to look into the matter and do one or the other. The point was carried, and the walk was made by him and the hired man. Only young saplings were planted, and these were*not expected to grow up in a season, but the work was done, and the children thought it the finest improvement yet made. It proved in a few years to be the most notable feature on the place, which was acknowledged to be the handsomest in the neighborhood. The children worked so much on it that they learned to love it, and they acquired more practical knowledge in the year that they devoted themselves to its beautifying, than they would have gained in a theoretical study of rural life in thrice that time. When the new school term began, and they returned to their books, it was with the comfortable feeling that they had the prettiest home in all the coun- try round about, and were all the more proud of its fame, because they had helped to make it attractive. They were proud as well of the fact that their mother was making the place self-supporting by the admirable way in which she managed the farm. It became in the course of a few years renowned for its fruit and marketable stuff, and the sale of its surplus crops gave to the mother what she had craved as only a mother can — pecuniary independence for the sake of her children. It was not the life she preferred, nor the one she was best 356 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. • fitted for or entitled to, by right of her talents; but it was the best under the circumstances, and the feeling that she had been able to lead it was a gratifying one. That mother was the ideal one, because she was great-hearted, gifted, and above all things she was wise. She was a woman whose native qualities of mind and heart, whose rectitude and bravery would have fitted her to adorn the highest stations in life ; but it was her lot to be an unpretending wife and mother ; to live a retired domestic career, finding no great reward in doing her daily duty, but doing it well nevertheless. In all her life she was not compensated for the effort she had made, the sufferings inflicted by others that she had endured so patiently. But she respected herself, and was true to the highest impulses of her being. So beautiful a character could not live in vain, did not. Her influence was far reaching and powerful. Those who came under it were the better ever afterward. Her husband's nature was transformed under it, and her children, inheriting much of his indifference and irascibility of temper, were moulded into better beings than they could have been under any less noble hand than guided them. They grew to be men and women, and, separated widely by circumstance, were nevertheless forever bound together by the memory of her love. To have been her child was a gracious boon deeply appreciated in after years, when her true superiority was fully understood through acquaintance with the world. Taught and trained by so good and intelligent a woman, how easy to face and conquer temptation and sin, and to travel along the dusty highway of life, soiled perhaps for the time being by the dust or mire met with, but not stained ineffaceably. Such was the mother whose image is ever present to many when the word Home is named. Like a benediction, women like this one grace homes and make them altars about which twine the heart- strings of their children ; make them temples filled with the sweet perfume of love, innocence and peace; and the heritage of such a home is the rarest blessing a man or woman ever possesses, or can ever Imagine on earth. DUTY OF PAl\Et(rS TO mM^\ "To thine own self be true, and it shall follow as the night the day thou canst not then be false to any man." [O the fifth commandment, it has always seemed to ine, there should have been a codicil, reading: "Parents, be just to your children in the least as in the greatest thing." Were those who are parents rightly fitted for their duty, it would be needless to present the claims of children, but in a country where parentage is assumed with an in- difference that can only be the result of ignorance, no subject requires so much consideration as this. Children oftentimes spend their early years in the endurance of wrongs that increase as they grow older, and which intensify their feelings against life, and their future in it. The reason that there is so much hope among children is because there is so little present satisfaction. They are martyrs to a greater variety of disappointed hopes than any class of the community, and their sufferings are as real to them as are the troubles of older people, and are as often of as much consequence. I never saw a child put off with unjust threats and told only half truths, if not absolute falsehoods, for the trivial reason, perhaps, that its parents might be rid of its presence, that I did not say in my inmost soul, "I wonder that men and women are as decent as they are, considering their bringing up." Fathers and mothers tyrannize over their children in ways they scarcely realize, because they are absolute rulers. There is no appeal from their judgments, and the child is compelled to abide by decisions that may be absolutely unjust. The cruelty of injustice is not its present suffering, but the sting it leaves behind, the scar that (357) 358 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. certainly time does not efface, and perhaps not even eternity. There is no feehng so absolutely perennial, so wholly unforgetable as that of injustice from a father or mother. The wrongs of others may be forgiven and forgotten, but the memory of a wrong received at the hands of parents is not wiped out in any child's breast until old age dulls memory and oblivion sets recollection free. The manifold sins that injustice begets in the young should be earnestly considered by parents. First of all is deceit, for a child quickly resorts to it, and relies upon it if a defence against its supe- riors is required. The shame of telling a falsehood is less keenly felt, because the truth would not make the same impression, and so the little being who should be jealously guarded is thrown off and put on the defensive, and the spirit of evil is fostered where the chastity of truth should be inculcated. Who has not seen an enraged father shake a helpless infant because it cried, and a nervous mother strike her child because its restless- ness irritated her? The poor little squirming victim could only realize its added pain, and perhaps know from whence it came, but it could not possibly understand the association between its cries and its parents' ill temper. As time passed and its mind expanded, it did, however, and with the knowledge there came added pain. The child-life of the Saviour has never been written, and there is but little said of it in the New Testament. It has often occurred to me that the fact was due to the inability of any man to rightly fathom it. What a theme it would have been under his mother's hand ! But in those days, as in these, though to a lesser degree now than then, the rights of children were ignored, and the earthly father of Jesus as little knew his character as he anticipated his future career. The story of his childhood if told would doubtless be a revelation of parental gentleness and justice, of right dealing and high spiritual and moral teachings from his mother certainly, and most likely from his father. He inspired and taught the commandment, " Honor thy father and thy mother," and we have attained to that position where the man or DUTY OF PARENTS TO CHILDREN. 359 woman who neglects his parents in their old age, or under reverses of fortune, is held in contempt ; but we have not ascended to that plane where love and filial reverence are invariably the motives that actuate such recognition of this commandment. The average man or woman will treat with kindness the old father or mother who has survived his or her days of usefulness, but it by no means follows that they are honored. On this, as on many another subject, we indulge in endless cant, but the truth remains that children do not love their parents simply by reason of relationship any more than they respect old age because it is merely old age. Men and women are foolish to expect more of a harvest than they have sown. Ingratitude is ranked as a deadly sin, and is one of the most repellent of human attributes; but has it not often been true that children have been unjustly accused of possessing it? The self- ishness of parents is as obnoxious a vice, but it is far more leniently dealt with by the world. The exceptional maltreatment of parents by children is much commented upon, and loudly condemned ; but who among us sees blasphemy in the way a coarse father addresses his child, or thinks it an insult that children receive, when they are repelled heedlessly? We have one law for age and another for youth, and it is cruel. The child who is deceived will be deceitful; the child who is swindled will be tempted to steal ; the child who is defrauded of his birthright will not forgive the wrong in all human life. The saddest of earthly retrospects is that of an unworthy parent. What can equal the misery of a human soul awakened to a knowl- edge of the lasting injury done another soul that owes to it its earthly existence? Surely the judgment day is forever with such, and time offers no opportunity for reparation. We know so little about the laws of procreation, and are so in- different to such knowledge, that little children have a hard time from their earliest existence until they are grown. With many almost all childiiood is a time hurriedly passed by, and as quickly ignored as possible, because it represents dependence, subjection, and chafing 3O0 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. restraints. How often is this season wholly neglected ! how rarely fully perfected ! Who is to blame ? Certainly not children. Who then? The fathers and mothers, whose ignorance or indifference, or both, blind them to their own responsibility, and whose selfishness torments children until they escape from it. Perhaps if men and women were better fitted to be parents, the terrible miseries inflicted upon their offspring would be averted. It is a knowledge for which the world stands more in need to-day than of any other. It is a knovv^ledge that those who possess it ought to teach with earnestness, in all seasons and places. It will not avail that fathers regret the unfortunate heritage of their sons, and that mothers shed rivers of tears over the waywardness of their daughters. It is not enough that they wish they had never given birth to such children. It is their business to anticipate the characters of their children, and to give life only under such circum- stances as will with certainty make it a blessing and nothing else. Prudes and tyrants shut their eyes to this subject, and apply the epithet of coarseness to those who urge its consideration, but this does not avail. The child who is outraged in its conception will bring its Nemesis with it, and there will be no escape from it. " The sins of the parents are visited upon the children," and most frequently the retaliation of children upon parents is in proportion to the brand that is put upon them. If parents could always foresee the natures of their children, as it is their high privilege to do, and not only foresee them, but mould them nobly or otherwise, with absolute certainty, the evil results of irresponsible parentage would be at an end forever, and this Biblical saying would cease to have the terrible meaning to us that it now possesses. When will we become reasoning beings and increase the glory of God by elevating the standard of man ? When the tyranny and oppression of the weak over the strong is lessened, then children will not come into the world with hatred and revenge deeply instilled in their beings. Then will not fathers be humbled to the dust in after years by the misdeeds of their children, whom they have begotten in DUTY OF PARENTS TO CHILDREN. 36 1 ignorance, and then expect them to be possessed of reason and righteousness. Until they are thus fairly treated will the family life be wanting in beauty, in harmony and in true happiness, and the world be full of distress and discord. The right to a good organization, to a happy temperament, should not be denied a child, but should be earnestly striven for by parents — not mothers only, but fathers and mothers. And when children are born into homes they should be made welcome and treated with justice as well as affection ; with respect rather than indulgence. The world is working in the direction of justice to children, but as yet only the elementary steps have been taken. Only the rankest brutality is punished ; the most glaring inhumanity repressed. Many forms of injustice to children cannot be reached by organizations of a philanthropic kind ; the education of men and women in the direc- tion of marriage and parentage is the preliminary work. Societies may ameliorate the condition of the child of a drunken brute by tak- ing it from his control, but they cannot reach the incompetent and selfish father who fills the sacred office of parent unworthily. The births of unhealthy, disorganized children cannot be prevented by law; moral elevation alone will make men and women refuse to assume the responsibilities of parentage until they can rightly train and develop their offspring. People marry too young, as a rule, and women are mothers frequently before their own girlhood is over. This is not as it should be, and until the evil of heedless marriages is corrected the characters and health of children will not improve. The pathetic picture of young mothers, scarcely more than girls themselves, bearing the burdens of motherhood, hampered by ignor- ance and poor health, is one all too familiar. The sight is one pitiable and discouraging. Life is saddened to the wise by the repetition of such examples, and the enthusiasts who in the quiet of their own studies see the dawn of the day when a healthier and nobler race of men will come upon the scene of action, put aside their bright hopes when they look upon such mothers as these, engaged in the rearing and training of the young. As a matter of fact, the children 362 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. of such mothers get no training and very Httle of the right kind of care. They are dragged through the different stages of their growth and arrive at the age of ten or twelve years without having had other attention than pertained to their bodies, and that inadequately. The middle class in tlie United States comprehends a large society. In it are some of the best people the nation has produced, and again very many who are the natural products of ill-advised marriages. These are the ordinary common-place, and, generally speaking, the morbid and unhealthy men and women who see no beauty in life, and whose minds are wholly shut to the higher truths of philosophy. Their children are not improvements upon themselves, and the world is hardly benefited by their existence. The home that is without children is lonely and wanting in the love element, but such a home is preferable to those in which is apparent the injustice of parents to the children they have brought into the world under discordant or ignorant circumstances, and who are maimed before the battle in which they are to enter upon is begun. The injustice done children by the selfishness of fathers who smoke cigars or pipes, for instance, is one that injures the health of children permanently. Yet men scarcely permit this habit to be criticised, but the nervous wives and mothers of this land are its victims, and every honest physician, admits this truth. Every child is entitled to nature's first food, pure air; yet this most essential of all rights is often denied them. Ev^ery child is entitled to a clean body, and yet how few of the children in the world to-day are kept neat and clean any portion of the time ! Every child born into this world is entitled to decent rearing. Only cowards and moral delinquents shirk so grave a subject. The heathen nations cared for, and do now care for, their young more reasonably than do the people of Christian countries. As a rule, men, even those of the most extensive culture, are wholly un- educated on the physiological questions relating to parentage. They are the authors of the existence of children utterly unfit to live often- times. One of the most celebrated divines of his denomination in the United States has an idiot child, and has been heard repeatedly DUTY OF PARENTS TO CHILDREN. 363 to allude to it as proof of God's love to him, since " God loveth whom he chasteneth." Strange to say, no one has ever rebuked him pub- licly for such blasphemy. A man who knows no more than he of the laws governing procreation should be driven from his post of public teacher. He is makijig God responsible for his own errors, and then strengthening his position with Scriptural quotations. Children who grow up to adult years only to turn and rend the hearts of their parents are unanimously condemned, yet the real cause of their course may be found to be due to conditions under which they were conceived and brought into the world. If children are un- welcome arrivals in their parents' house, if the expense of their main- tenance is a cross, and their presence a drawback to the comfort and well-being of others there, is it not to be anticipated that they will have inbred in the fibres of their being the murder, revenge, hatred and contempt which, while lying dormant for years, may break out at an unexpected moment ? It is a well-nigh hopeless task to plead for justice to children while motherhood is treated in the unholy manner it is. The question of justice to children comprehends justice to mothers, and until the latter is secured, the first need not be an- ticipated ; it is out of the question. There is much said about women having the training and moulding of children in their own hands. It is not the truth so long as they have not yet as individuals nor as a sex learned the first and inalienable right of maternity. Truly, the inhumanity of man to man makes countless thousands mourn. One of the most unhappy and discordant men who ever lived, and who devoted the larger part of his time to writing unchari- tably of women and reviling their claims for larger liberty, was the son of an insane mother. He imbibed his father's contempt and scorn for the mother who, unconscious of her surroundings, gave birth to children. His memoir is to be found in all libraries, and yet there is no word of condemnation for that father who was simply not more, not less, than a brute. Had his son become an Ishmaelite instead of a misanthrope the fact should not have occasioned surprise. The crime of infanticide is denounced as inhuman in mothers, yet 364 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. fathers are equally responsible for it. Women are driven to it in many cases through fear of bitter suffering. Children are begotten not unfrequently when there is grim want to be faced, and the dread of burdens too heavy to bear leads to this awful crime. Justice to children demands that life should not be given where there is not the means to support it ; and a time will come when governments will deal directly with the question of parentage, but it will not be in this age. We are rioting in what we call liberty, but what is really license. There is nothing men so quickly resent as admonition regarding a too numerous progeny, or of becoming the fathers of imbeciles and idiots or depraved offspring. Time will be when the nation will hold itself directly responsible for such a popu- lation as fills our charitable institutions. The State will directly con- cern itself about the children of irresponsible and unworthy parents, and then, and not till then, will the injustice now visited upon helpless innocents be at an end. DEATH IN THE HOME. " The living are the only dead ; The dead live, — nevermore to die; And often, when we mourn them fled, They never were so nigh ! " ,EREMY TAYLOR, "the Shakespeare of divines," has said that human beings probably suffer as much in the process of being born as in that of dying. It may ^^ well be so, for death itself is seldom painful, and even the most painful illnesses, when they terminate fatally, are generally marked by a cessation of pain some time before the close. Death is generally a tranquil falling asleep, and if it were not for the materialism of the human mind, which regards the stopping of the physical machinery as the extinction of the spiritual principle, it would be very difficult to account for the superstitions with which death has in all ages been associated. To a higher philosophy and a more spiritual insight death is really not so much to be lamented as pain, yet parents and relatives would rather see a sufferer linger than sink into the placid sleep of death. There is surely some selfish- ness in this, although its cause is the natural affection which hangs upon the well-known voice and lives in the sunshine of the loved one's face. Yet it is certainly paradoxical, if not unaccountable, that the old heathens should have had the fortitude to bear the parting better than Christians who have a stronger hope than they of being reunited in another world. How gloomy is the home which death has entered ! The only calm face is often that of the dead wife or husband, parent or child. People speak to one another in a constrained and unnatural whisper, (365) 366 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. as though afraid of disturbing a repose which can never more be broken by disturbance. Then there is the shutting out of the sun- light, the Hghting of candles in the dark chambers, the stealthy tread of the undertaker, and in some countries of the mutes who are to put on the paid hypocrisy of grief Nothing can well be imagined more utterly desolate and gloomy than the time-honored Christian funeral. In former times, at funerals in England, the widow, daughters, wife, sisters and other near relatives of the dead, sat in awful silence, clothed in black, except the white cap or cravat, and with two mute%at the door of the house. Then the hearse bearing the corpse, and the car- riages, or mourning coaches, as they were called, carrying the clergy- men and male relatives and mourners only, wended their melancholy way to the church-yard, where, after a brief, solemn service, the funeral was over and the solemn guests departed. For the conventional twelvemonth the family abstained from all the social gayeties of life, and even from its most innocent pleasures, and went about to church or business clothed in the deepest mourning. There has lately been a relaxation of these rigid ceremonies, but it is still the case that first, last and all the time everything that is connected symbolically with death is gloomy and depressing. Yet what does religion, and especially a religion so sublime as Christianity, amount to if it cannot shed the light of hope and resig- nation upon the inevitable lot of all ! It is hard to lose the child upon whom a mother's love has been so lavishly expended, and the wrench to nature is indeed a terrible one. But if the mother really has faith that death is but the gateway of a happier life, in which pain and sickness and disappointment cannot enter, she ought surely not to be sorry for her little one as though some dreadful evil had befallen it. So also of the husband or wife, the father or mother. Death is no unusual accident or catastrophe, but the common lot. A few years more is all that could have been added to the life that stops. If the joys of this brief existence are laid down, so also are its sor- rows, and surely the latter are quite as real as the former. We need DEATH IN THE HOME, 367 not say with Lord Byron that whatever life has been to any one " 'tis something better not to be," but we may surely feel, as many of the great and good, even before gospel times, have felt, that if death be not a good, it is certainly not an evil. Very comforting, within rational limits, is the belief that the dead are only separated from us for a brief interval, by a thin veil, th^jough which we may, in happy moments, catch glimpses of them, and in hours of gloom and solitude feel their cheering presence. Some per- sons of strong spiritual perception feel this nearness and communion as their greatest solace. With others it may sometimes become a superstition, as indeed every other consolatory belief may. It is a blessed and triumphant victory over human weakness when even a mother can see and handle the toys and garments of her departed little one, and feel grateful to God for having taken it into his safer keeping to grow up among the angels and reach the fulness of its immortal being by less painful processes than that of earth. It is a grand sight that of a venerable father bearing patiently and hopefully the death of a son whose talents and virtues were the praise of the neighborhood or the country. And how often does this happen, that one whose mathematical, scientific, artistic or literary genius gives promise of a long career of honor to himself and happiness to all con- nected with him is suddenly and mysteriously stricken down by fatal illness, which surprises the physician not less than the patient himself and those around him ! O what a calm and happy thing it is to feel, as one looks again at the face now still and calm in death, that the closed eyes of affection will open tenderly upon us when our own journey is over and that we shall meet again " some summer morning!" Such a hope is possible to all of us, because it is rational and in unison with the best feelings and yearnings of our nature. It does not require any dogma or logical process of proof It is a feeling so deep in our nature that death is not omnipotent and that the material body cannot extinguish the bright and beautiful intelligence, that it is found a much harder task than they bargained for when the Infidel 3(^^ THE hearthstone; or, life at home. annihilationist tries to convert commonplace folks into the belief that human affections are only animal weaknesses, and that the love of parent to child is only that of the tiger or bear for its cubs. The divine light within us, no matter whether we be of this church or of that, or of U'O church at all, burns up at this dark and desolate ma- terialism, and answers calmly that if there be any immaterial principle in man at all, his best affections are not thus absolutely in the despotic power of matter. Many a lonely traveller on the road of life has gone through thirty or forty years, singing and making melody in the heart all the time, in the full faith and happy consciousness that the child or parent, the brother or sister they lost long years ago is still walk- ing silently beside them and holding them by the hand. A faith so pure and beautiful cannot be false. The ceremonies and all the attendant memories of death should symbolize this faith. Instead of the "dark vault, there should be the green glades and the bright sunshine for the dead. Instead of a dark and narrow house, there should be the happy valley, the spreading landscape, the groves and trees, the smooth-flowing river, the merry peals of bells floating over hill and dale, and the melody of birds carolling their praises of life, not death. Instead of a year's mourn- ing, there should be some little mark of bereavement as a social token to one's neighborhood that we have a vacant chair in the household, and then the trappings of grief should give place to the ordinary work-day costume, the memento being still worn, as a forget-me-not for the absent one and a reminder to the wearer that a dear one who has gone up higher is now looking with the deepest interest and sympathy upon our life-work. Each anniversary of the beloved one's death should be kept as the birthday of his true life. Instead of selfishly repining that he has not shared our sufferings and sick- nesses, we ought rather to thank Heaven that the one we cherished more than our own life has been spared the bitter winds and raging tempest, and has been sleeping in the quiet haven of the heavenly rest while our raft of life has tossed and staggered on the stormy seas. As the world grows better, and we do not believe, in spite of all DEATH IX THE HOME. 369 the pessimists and moral dyspeptics, that it is growing worse, one of the signs of a noble and true manhood and womanhood will be the victory over the superstition about death and the calm acquiescence in it as a note in the divine harmony and a beneficent release from a service of labor and suffering too heavy for the invalid to bear. In the garden of the Lord, as the old divines are fond of calling the scene where spiritual flowers are grown and tended, there are works of hard toil, digging, uprooting and planting; but on the higher bank to which death carries us there is a sweeter gardening toil, which is indeed no toil at all, but a perpetual happiness. There are stray flowers of human thought and aspiration, scattered prayers and hopes which have been blown from the tree of life, which must be gathered up by hands etherealized by death and woven into immortal garlands that shall distil fragrance in the presence of God through the eternal Present of Eternity. May not dear baby's tiny fingers be twined about those scattered flowers, and the sweet lips that here could scarcely lisp " mamma " or " papa " have learned in that bright home the spirit of adoption, whereby it cries with full melodious note, "Abba, Father!" May not the gifted brother, of whom we were so proud, have graduated there in higher studies, painted grander scenes, or composed sublimer symphonies ? The patient wife, who toiled and sometimes wept in silent suffering during her brief companion- ship with a coarser though an honest mind, may be inspiring softer thoughts and holier feelings into the husband who walks with head bowed down and weary feet without her. The home of which I have written in this book would be, indeed, imperfect if with its nursery and parlors, its library and kitchen, it had not a minaret or observator>' touching the blue sky, from which we could take hold sometimes of the hands reached down to us from heaven. Let us be sure that however great a mystery death is, the pure love of the heart can never die, and that though the stars may fade with weari- ness from too long a vigil in the sky, the heart of the child will still turn to its mother and nestle to her breast, and that in heaven's nursery it will sit waiting patiently until "mamma" comes home. 24 HOME ARCHITECTUl^E. iHE desire to build a house for our own home and that of our family is a noble and humane ambition. It needs capital to do it, and capital is what the vast majority of human beings do not possess. The plan of gaining a freehold of property, little by little, as Israel of old gained possession of Canaan, is, however, becoming general everywhere, and is one of the progressive social aspects of the age and country in which we live. So much is this the case that both the United States government, the legislatures of single States, and many wealthy corporations formed by capitalists are either giv- ing grants of land in sections of the country that need population and industry, or are selling them on the terms of easy periodical payments. The great question, however, and one which is not sufficiently con- sidered by the prospective settler and house builder, is whether the plot of land is worth building upon, and whether its sanitary condi- tions make it desirable for. a habitation. Many have built a tomb when they thought they were building a house. Instead of a home to live in, they have made a miniature hospital for themselves and their children to fall sick and die in. Bad drainage, stagnant water, whose poisonous exhalations and moisture have saturated the soil upon which the pretty house is built, have caused typhus and typhoid and the other forms of hydra-headed fever, chills and shiverings, malaria and ague, rheumatism, sick headaches and faintness, loss of appetite and strength, diphtheria and pneumonia, throat troubles and consumption. Whole families have died off, one by one, though the sky above them has been clear and the landscape around them beauti- (370) HOME ARCHITECTURE, 37 1 ful, because they have built their dwelling on malarial soil and pesti- lential marsh land. Beneath the ground on which man walks there is sometimes hidden wealth in veins of minerals, and there is some- times also the damp and poison that will turn the little paradise into a graveyard. The first thing, therefore, is to dig before you plant; to know thoroughly the nature of the soil ; to remedy all defects of drainage if you can, and if you can't, to pitch your tent elsewhere, although land agents tell you it is the finest and healthiest spot in creation and that your home would be a very palace of Aladdin. Having surveyed your land and explored what is beneath it, and made sure that it will be an abode of life, not death, consider next its nearness to the necessary centres of social life. Unless you are a farmer you cannot make your house a depot of all the necessaries of life, although there is immense pleasure in amateur farming, in making one's own butter and cheese, keeping poultry, and eating home-made eggs and chickens as well as bread. Country life is very delight- ful when the family is large and visits to and from relatit)ns and friends are among the occasional sensations, but if Sydney Smith, when lo- cated upon Salisbury Plain, bewailed his isolation from the centres of civilization in being " four miles from a lemon," you must take care that you do not find yourself ten miles from a post-office, a church or a library. In other chapters of this volume I have given all the useful advice that occurred to my own " prospecting," as to the best plans for making home as complete and as independent of external sources of supply as possible, but, unhappily, the cases are too frequent all over the country of persons expending a great deal of pains and money in building houses only to vacate them after a year's disappointment and ennui in them, to make it superfluous to advise every one to think well before he settles in a spot " remote from towns." " Distance lends enchantment to the view " when one is thinking of some beautiful villa, " far from the madding crowd," and where only " the tinkling sheep bells lull the distant folds," but when the cupboard is empty and there is neither butcher nor baker within reach, and the coal has given out, and the rain descends 3/2 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. and the winds blow, and the postman with his budget of newspapers is buried three feet deep in snow, and no " last new novel " is beside us to keep our facial muscles in exercise by its insipidity, then, be- lieve me, the "gentle hermit of the dale" and his wife and daughters are apt to wish themselves back again at the old number of the old town square or street. But you have considered all these antagonistic possibilities and you are about to build a house, either amid the mountains and lakes, the tall trees and green glades of nature or in the suburbs of a town, as the choice may be. And now you must thoroughly settle in your own mind precisely the kind of house you want, what the style of its architecture, what its internal arrangements, what its height, length and breadth, the number and size of the rooms, their " exits and their entrances," the equipment with everything needed for their special purpose, what that special purpose is to be, whether sewing- room, dining-room, drawing-room, nursery, kitchen or store-room. If you have a fkie view and " every prospect pleases," and your house is to be high enough, by all means have a room above all others forming a tower or roof rather than a spire, which shall be in sum- mer an observatory of the starry heavens by night and of the familiar fields, the glades and valleys, the winding river, the everlasting hills, and perhaps the far-spreading and resounding sea by day. Perhaps, one reason why St. Simeon Stylites lived on the top of a pillar was to be nearer the sky. Certainly no one who has looked out on an exhilarating summer morning upon the sun-bathed landscape from the top of a high house can have failed to feel that the delicious air and the soul-inspiring vision made him feel nearer heaven, if heaven be perfect peace and hope and love. But you cannot always be enjoying the outspread splendors of the seas and mountains, the dales and rivulets, nor can you live among the heavenly bodies. There are earthly bodies to be thought of as well as heavenly, and there is a science of gastronomy as well as of astronomy. Now, a great many house builders spend a great deal of taste and art and money upon a drawing-room which they seldom HOME ARCHITECTURE. 373 enter, whose doors are locked and whose furniture is covered, while they think that any odd corner, so it be near the water supply and the fence, will do for a kitchen. A vast deal of discomfort in the house arises from this foolish estimate of the relative uses of rooms and the spurious preference of show and ornament for real utility. Better do without your show drawing-room altogether, if your house is to be a small one, and be content with a real good dining-room, and a " thorough " kitchen with everything needed for physical com- fort and health in the apparatus of cooking, washing, churning, bread and pie making, so that whether your family and guests be few or many, and your meals simple or elaborate, you may have everything in comfort, and your cook may feel the kitchen a home for her skill, not a box in which she can do nothing properly and have notliing in order. For want of just such foresight and thorough prearrange- ment and predestination of every part, many villas and fine houses have been built by wealthy persons which have afterward been called their " folly," for the want of prudence and good sense displayed in them. Sometimes they have thought that so long as the building covered a big area, it would be "just the thing." So they have con- structed what looks like a row of rooms opening into each other by interminable doors, the appearance of which outside is like a row of toy cottages strung together, and the feeling of which inside is that one is occupying no room in particular, but is passing through a suite, as a conductor passes through a line of steam-cars when he takes the tickets. It is really extraordinary the way in which some house builders rejoice in innumerable doors, while they seem to think that closets are altogether superfluous. Their idea seems to be that the proper feeling on entering a house should be that it is a good house to get out of, and therefore they supply the facilities for "going in at one door and out at the other." The subject of doors, closets, and staircases is of very great im- portance in the building of a house. Many houses have doors and staircases made like traps in the old feudal castles in which, through a trap-door, an undesirable guest went down impromptu into the 374 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. moat below and was swept away on the seething waters of a " lock." How often do we meet with persons who have been lamed or had concussion of the brain through stepping out through some inviting side-door either into mid-air or down the back stairs " head foremost ! " Sometimes the doors are so promiscuous and plentiful that you can- not open one door without its coming in collision with another, and then you have to keep your mind in a continual anxiety lest the other door should not be shut at the time you want to open your door. Perhaps, the other door is a closet or pantry in the wrong place and the children or the servants are always leaving it half open, and when the door of the room is half opened the two strike each other, and it is a question of knobs and hinges which will gracefully recede and allow the other to open fully, or whether they shall remain " locked in each other's embrace," while the party inside one door and the party outside the other door exchange compliments with each other. There are many things pertaining to house building which are proper to the limited understanding of man, but there are many more things in which the mind of women should have architectural and mechanical jurisdiction. The matter of closets is one for feminine arbitration. A man's imagination in this department of domestic science does not extend further than the hat-rack upon which he hangs his ulster, beaver or wide-awake, and the umbrella- stand in which he deposits his gingham or walking-stick. But a woman knows that life without closet-room is life without order, and that home without plenty of storage room and pegs and shelves is chaos, confusion, and endless loss of time and goods. "A place for everything and everything in its place," is only a proverb expressive of the need of closet-room. A bright and happy future for the horrfe will one day undoubtedly be given us by science, art and human perseverance, which shall make every house fireproof, and enable every one to sleep soundly without dread of being burned alive. As it is, if the desire of most house builders had been to provide an easy road for fire to travel upward and downward and sideways and all around, they could not HOME ARCHITECTURE. 375 have accomplished it more successfully. Already the minds of our first architects are occupied with the grand life-saving problem of how to check a fire when it has been started by non-conducting de- vices between rooms, ceilings, floors and stairways. When that is once accomplished, as it will be, there will be no need of fire insur- ance companies. Moreover, the whole subject of house heating will be exhaustively considered and made the subject of prize essays and practical experiments until the evils of the stove, the range, the grate, the steam-pipes, the dry heat from furnaces, are all modified and cured and an equal temperature, without the infliction of gas from coal, or smoke, or excess and defect of warmth in one part of the house and another, will be diffused in dwelling-houses. To the present in- equality of temperature in houses one-half of the throat and lung complaints so prevalent among Americans are traceable. Our climate is not like that of the West Indies, where one lives with open doors all the year round, or even some parts of the United States, as Southern California, Florida and the Southern States, where nature does the greater part of the warming process for her human children. In the North, persons pass from the cold of a sharp winter's day out of doors to rooms in which the air is often "parched" with dry heat, or "steamed" like a Russian bath, or close with gas and smoke, and then there is wonder at the dry cough that becomes chronic with them. It is bad to sleep in a hot room, but it is worse still to sleep in an in- tensely cold bed-room without any means of heating, when we are flushed and the pores of our skin are open by the heat of an over- warm sitting-room. All these questions belong to the building of a house, and should be well considered before the building of it is commenced. Health before ease, utility before ornament, comfort before luxury', arc the fundamental principles which should guide the house builder. Let him look to these and secure perfect interior comfort and convenience, and ornament and decoration will come afterward. Some people be- gin all their enterprises at the wrong end and waste half their lives in trying to get perfection out of a bad design. No supplemental 376 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. building of extra rooms ever compensates for blunders in the main edifice. For the benefit of those who are intending to build houses of their own, the following designs and descriptions have been specially prepared and are offered to readers of " The Hearthstone : " This design (No. i) is a good illustration of the effect possible to be attained by the use of a few bold lines and projections with but very little conventional detail. The roof of the original front building was destroyed by fire, leaving the walls intact. The problem was, to restore the essential loss, to make a bolder picture than the old one, and, if possible, at the same time to avoid an extraordinary expense. This was attempted without altering the ground lines or the old wall openings. An entirely new roof treatment was adopted ; one result is, excellent rooms in the third story, and another an external effect which was a surprise as well as a pleasure to all interested. The roof covering is of red and black slates, and the walls were painted to harmonize, so that the color emphasizes the effect of light and shade. It is scarcely possible to do full justice, in an engraving in black and white, to this combination of light, shade, color and outline. Cost, ^0,000. The design of the house illustrated by this drawing (No. 2) was pre- pared at the instance of a capitalist in the western part of Pennsylva- nia, who wishes to improve an eligible tract of land near a large city. It is his hope to build a number of such houses to rent to families of moderate income, whose business will permit them to pay ^400 or ^500 rental per annum. The location is such as to require the entrance to face to the northwest, which accounts for the somewhat peculiar arrangement of the kitchen wing. The suggestion to build the first story of brick or stone comes from the prevailing feeling in every architect's mind which leads him to avoid the use of wood near the ground. It must be admitted that wood is the cheaper. DESIGN No. I. iiiii DESIGN No. 3. w 1/3 C o o G HOME ARCHITECTURE. 389 The bricks should be laid with red mortar. The sides of second story and gables are to be covered with wooden shingles and the roofs with slate, and the whole of the wood-wook painted in deep but quiet colors. The interior should be simply finished with white pine, very neatly wrought and fitted, and then coated with shellac so as to display the natural color and grain of the wood. A bit of tinted glass in the stair-windows, the hall floor smoothed and wax-varnished for a rug, two pretty little fireplaces with wood mantels, some neat little wooden cornice mouldings, some quiet tints on the walls, and then we must leave the rest to the good lady who comes along after us to put the soul of home into the somewhat chilly shell that the architect leaves. No. 3 is a brick residence with stone dressings. The tower over the front entrance, the balcony over front bay-window, with round, coupled columns supporting the eave, the portico over front door with coupled round columns and broken curved pediment, are a beautiful combination and are entirely new. The novel feature of the interior is the arrangement of the parlor and dining-room. It will be noticed that the doors are at the corner, while in the corners opposite are two fireplaces. By this arrange- ment a proper space is afforded for a piano in the parlor, and a buffet in the dining-room opposite the bay-window. The pantry is between the dining-room and kitchen, serving in a measure to exclude the smells of cooking. On the opposite side of the hall arc the dining-room and library. This arrangement was designed to accommodate a clergyman. A much better arrangement would be to use the entire space for a drawing-room, and moving the bay-window to the centre of the long side. The servants' hall connects by a door with the front hall ; it also has an outside door. In the second story are four large and one small room and a ser- vants' room, all with large presses. (390) PLAN OF DESIGN No. i. HOME ARCHITECTURE. 39I The bath is arranged at the end of the servants' hall. By making the house a little higher, four very good rooms can be made in the attic with windows, as shown in the gables, only larger. Dormer windows would add both to comfort and appearance. The laundry and furnace rooms are in the basement. The sides of this house are more commanding than the front. A slate roof in variegated colors would improve the appearance. This house, with slight alterations, can be built of wood. It is to be erected in southern Texas. No. 4 is a small cottage built at Ogden, Utah. It has, in addition, a kitchen ; the room marked kitchen on this plan being transformed into a dining-room. This addition and a front piazza can be added whenever the circumstances of the owner will admit of it. The projecting windows can be made of a single plank at the sides; they will add to the room as well as appearance. A good way to build this is to make a balloon frame, cover with rough hemlock boards, sheathing paper and clapboards. The roof to be treated in this way and shingled ; the shingles to be painted in two colors ; the natural colors of slates are the most suitable for shingle roofs. There being four sleeping-rooms, the house has a good deal of accommodation for one that can be built for a less sum than two thousand dollars, including cellar. No. 5 is a small cottage built at Orangeburgh, South Carolina. It contains no culinary department, that being in a separate building, a custom prevalent at the South. The building stands on posts and is enclosed at the outer line of the piazza with close open-work, screening the unsightly posts and affording ample ventilation. The gables of main roof arc carried out to form porticos at cither end, and the caves arc projected to form a piazza on cither side. Both arc cut away at each angle, but the floors are carried around full width. There is no other arrangement in architecture that will afford an equal amount of convenience in as good style at the same cost. FIRST STORy PLAN. (392) PLAN OF DESIGN No. a. HOME ARCHITECTURE. 393 Balconies can be added to second sotry windows with good effect. The interior is finished throughout with the natural pine of that lati- tude. The blinds are inside ; the roof of shingles. The exterior and roof should be painted sage green, with light, olive dressing, and black and vermilion chamfers. Do not undertake the latter unless some one of educated taste directs it; better leave them off entirely. With slight alterations this can be arranged for a family cottage in the North. The same style can be adopted in larger houses, dor- mers can be added, and a very commodious and pretentious house built for a comparatively small sum of money. No. 6 is the front elevation of a frame church and parsonage, which has been built at a cost of ;^ 15,000 on Long Island. The style of the buildings is such as to give a marked ecclesiastical effect, although the treatment is very free to suit the location and the material. The outlines are picturesque, but much of the pleasing effect of the building as actually erected is due to the painter's art in coloring in deep but quiet tones. Such a design could be totally ruined in the painting. It is therefore of the highest importance in wooden buildings that the best taste should be consulted in this part of the work. We have thus given six designs, which will fully illustrate all that is essential or necessary to those who may contemplate either build- ing or improving their homes, and it may be that some one of these designs will answer the wishes and tastes of a large number of our readers. The designs cannot fail to be of great interest to any who will care- fully examine them, and be highly appreciated as showing what can be done in the line of utility, beauty and attractiveness without in- volving the builders in that heavy burden which so many, so many American homes carry — mortgages and liens. We are very much indebted to two well-known architects who have kindly made these designs and written the description in such a manner as to be free from the ambiguity which usually belongs to 394 ' THE HEARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME. plans of buildings. Those who can only build "air-castles" and have dreams of what a home should be, will find in these practical designs pleasing suggestions for thought; while to the families re- quiring and preparing to build houses, they can but be of value and interest. Plans No. i and 2 are by Mr. Addison Hutton, of Philadelphia, and No. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are by Mr. J. A. Wood, of New York city. THE KITCHEN IN THE HOME, y'J HAT food is to the body the kitchen should be to the home. Indeed, as Brillat-Savarin has said, "Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are;" so one may say, Show me the kitchen, and I can form a good idea of the home. As the comfort and happi- ness of home do not depend upon vast room and costly furniture, and there is often far more peace and pleasure in a cottage than a palace, so the kitchen need not be a vast apartment in which many cooks are preparing many dishes, such as the wealthy Roman houses of two thousand years ago were famous for. But as every human life depends for its support upon food, so every human home must have a kitchen in which that food is prepared. The person who neglects food soon gets sick, and the home in which the kitchen is neglected is not a healthy or a happy home. It is strange how careless some housewives are in this matter. They are ever so particular that the room they sit in, and in which they receive their friends on state occasions, shall be spotlessly neat and comfortable, but they treat their kitchen as if it were a mere lumber room upon which dusting and cleaning and taste would be thrown away. Yet the kitchen ought to be as neat and clean as any room in the house, and when it is not so, it is a sign of bad manage- ment and carelessness about meals. Yet meals are the best evidences of a well or ill kept home. As one who comes to the table with un - washed hands is very likely to have also a dirty face, so a slovenly cloth, ill-cooked food, broken cups and saucers, greasy plates, and all things huddled together anyhow so as to get the meal over, as if it (395) 396 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. were not meant to afford any pleasure — these are sure tokens that the home is not what it ought to be. The kitchen fire is the centre of warmth to the home, just as food renews Hfe and warmth to the body. To be healthy in mind and body one must eat wholesome food. Too much food or too little ; food that is indigestible and innutritions in itself or becomes so through bad cooking ; eating when one is not hungry because it is the usual hour for eating, and not eating when one is really hungry because it is not the regular hour, are all causes of dyspepsia, an ail- ment that destroys sleep, good temper and pleasant thinking. An immense number of persons in all civilized countries suffer from this frightful nightmare of the stomach, and we Americans suffer more than any other people. The cause of this is not in any difference of constitution and the organs of digestion. It is caused by bad cook- ing, hasty eating, without using our teeth sufficiently upon what we eat, thus leaving to the unfortunate stomach the work meant for the •teeth and jaws as well as its own. American business men will eat too much at one time, and then go too long a time without eating at all. They plead that they have been too busy to think about lunch or dinner ; that they were occupied with a big sale or a big purchase. Then, perhaps, late at night, when the stomach, like the brain, should not be called upon to do hard work, they cram down hunches of new bread and slices of cheese and butter, with perhaps a glass of milk and some pickles with vinegar to turn the whole sour, and then they get up in the night and rave and tear their hair and wonder what is the matter with them, and why they cannot get a wink of sleep. Next morning they feel bad and drink mineral waters before breakfast, thus further injuring the coats of the stomach, and they go through the day feeling that they are very badly used, and accus- ing every smiling face they meet of mocking at their misery, and wishing some one would only quarrel with them so as to give them an opportunity of speaking their mind and relieving their ill humor. The druggist tells them that they are utterly out of sorts, recommends a tonic, a nervine, a foot-bath of water as hot as they can bear it to THE KITCHEN IN THE HOME. 397 draw the fever from the head ; a mustard-plaster for the pit of the stomach, six cathartic liver pills to be taken at night and a horrid black draught to be drunk in the morning, and the poor man fancies he must be better and eats a pocketful of hard nuts, several unripe peaches, a clam-chowder or a dish of pork and beans, and then says the druggist is a fraud and medicine a humbug, and that life is not worth living, and wishes he were dead. Women vary this programme by pots of green tea, candies and heavy cake, or hot bread, with ice- cream and lemonade and any other irrecohcilables they can get hold of Their children follow their example, and then wonder why their teeth decay and they feel so cross and uncomfortable and grow so sallow in complexion. Meanwhile, the pastry cook, confectioner, fruiterer, druggist and undertaker make a good profit out of the bodies they thus abuse ; and when the family doctor is called in and writes his prescription he knows very well that it will bs of no service until they change their mode of living, which is just what they will not do. It is the kitchen in the home, not the doctor, that can remedy these ills. Plain, wholesome, nourishing food, made pleasant to the appetite by good cooking, will do more than drugs and doctors to set these groaning dyspeptics right. But the good food is too often spoiled by the bad cooking, and some cooks seem almost to take pains to cook badly. It is just as easy and just as difficult to do a thing the right way as to do it the wrong way, yet to hear some' people talk about cooking one would think it required a lifetime to learn how to cook a steak or boil a potato. Of course, there is some art required even in the simplest piece of work. To boil an egg so that it be neither a lukewarm fluid nor a hard and flavorless ball is difficult, because it is difficult to keep one's attention fixed for four min- utes upon a given process, but it is easy if one fi.xes one's mind upon the clock and the boiling water. The number of those, however, who can really be trusted to boil an egg is surprisingly f:w. Most people are like King Alfred the Great who promised to mind the cakes on the fire, but forgot all about them, and very justly got his ears boxed 25 39S THE hearthstone; or, life at home. by the housewife for letting her food spoil. To watch any object with undivided attention, even for a few minutes, is with the majority of persons a feat as difficult as the fabulous apple-shooting of William Tell. The mere consciousness that one has to do a thing prevents one's doing it. Those who doubt this have only to try to look into another person's eyes without moving a muscle, or laughing, wink- ing or wavering for five minutes. Nine persons out of ten will fail, and they will fail because of the double process of attention and con- sciousness of attention. The conscious effort makes the failure. They could do the same thing for a much longer time if they were not trying to do it. So with cooking: it is an easy thing to cook well, but it needs attention and pains, which few busy housewives or servants are will- ing to take. The joint may be only the ancient leg of mutton or rib of beef, but it needa frequent turning of position toward the fire that it may get equally roasted, and it needs frequent basting so that it may be brown and juicy. So, also, with making and baking a loaf of bread. It costs as much time and trouble to do it wrong and make it like a leaden lump, or to make it that most delicious of all bread food, far surpassing the richest cake, a perfect home-made cottage loaf with a " kissing crust," as children call it in some parts of the country. If one is a thoroughly bad cook, as so many who profess to cook are, he or she should never attempt a perfectly simple dish, such as a roast joint or a broiled steak. These are too easily spoiled to bear any trifling. But let the bad cook confine him or herself to " made dishes," as they are called, in which the cook's hand is a hidden hand, and all sorts of flavorings disguise the maltreated meat. The Frenchman can serve you a dish of roast beef from the loins of a Paris cab-horse " retired from business," and "a donkey what wouldn't go" made into a curry will pass for venison. Many of my readers have heard the story of the Englishman who was travelling in China and who entered a restaurant to allay his hunger. Unfortunately the attendant, John Chinaman, knew no English, nor THE KITCHEN IN THE HOME. 399 did the Englishman talk Chinese. He signified by raps upon his gastronomic region and a movement of the jaws which conveyed the idea of eating and being hungry that he wanted some dinner. When it was set before him he " fell to " with an appetite and thought it the most delicious dish he had ever partaken of. Eager to know what he was eating, but not knowing how to make himself under- stood, he said to the Chinaman : " Quack, quacrk," meaning, " Is this duck ? " for it tasted so to him. The Chinaman gravely shook his head and replied : " Bow, wow," thus conveying to his hungry cus- tomer the fact that it was dog. Such is the disguising power of made gravy and sauces. The old philosopher of Athens who had the very cross wife used to make a rule when he went out to dinner — for it is very doubtful if he ever got any dinner at home — of never eating of more than one dish, and never taking sauce with it. He used to say, that to need sauce with one's meat implied that the cook did not know his busi- ness, and that it was better to confine one's self to one dish, and not use one's self to luxuries, so that if the day of poverty came and one could not procure them he would not feel the want of them. Many wise men beside Socrates have preferred simple fare. It is said of old King George the Third that he always dined in the middle of the day, and that often in his walks about Windsor he would step into some cottage and partake of an apple-dumpling, and enjoy it far more than anything the cooks of castle and palace prepared for him. That poor old king was happier in this respect than his son George the Fourth, who, when he was Prince-Regent, was accosted by a beggar who said he was famished with hunger. "Then I envy you," said the prince, " for hunger is a luxury I have never enjoyed." One who gorged himself constantly as he did might well say so, for he could have no real appetite or enjoyment of his surfeits. It is said that at the wedding of Charles the Sixth, of France, a skilful cook covered the great marble table of the royal palace with a hundred dishes prepared in a hundred different ways. Who would wish to have been there any more than at a banquet of Vitcllius or 400 THE hearthstone; or, LIFE AT HOME. Apicius ? Yet there is an extreme the other way. An old vege- tarian once declared that he desired nothing for his eating except the garbage of the market-place. One might as well be Nebuchadnezzar at once and go grazing among the beasts of the field. But too much animal food dulls the mind and clogs the blood and is not healthy, especially for the young. There is a medium between the diet of Friar Tuck sAid that of Edwin, the " gentle hermit of the dale," who tells his long-lost Angelina: " No flocks that range the valley free To slaughter I condemn ; Taught by that Power that pities me, I learn to pity them : But from the mountain's grassy side A guiltless feast I bring ; A scrip with herbs and fruits supplied, And water from the spring." " What is one man's meat is another man's poison," is a true proverb. People differ in their food according to their health and appetite, as well as the climate they live in. In cold climates oil and fat are used in quantities which would be revolting in other latitudes. In Russia they pour train-oil over pies to make them more palatable and nutritious. It is related that Sir John Franklin when in the northern seas was horrified at seeing an Esquimau lad consume fourteen pounds of tallow candles for his dinner, and he would have eaten more if Sir John had not appeased his appetite with a huge lump of fat pork. Even in the same climate, however, men differ widely in their eat- ing and drinking. Milk, the simplest and most nourishing of all food, does not agree with persons of a bilious habit. Some persons, for the same reason, cannot eat eggs with impunity. While many in our own country are very fond of fried and greasy meat, others require it to be broiled over a clear fire and free from grease. The frying-pan certainly fries the grease into and the flavor and juice out of the meat. Fried oysters, which are a favorite dish with many, produce great discomfort and indigestion with others. THE KITCHEN IN THE HOME. 4OI Cooking utensils were generally much the same in ancient times and nations as in our own. The remains of an ancient cooking-stove at Pompeii contained a strainer, a stock-pot, a brazier by which, with a tripod placed upon it, food could be boiled, stewed, or fried. There was also a frying-pan with four circular holes in it which were prob- ably for cooking eggs. In choosing one's food, every one ought to bear in mind the kind of labor, physical and mental, which he has to perform. The Chinese, who live chiefly upon rice, are very industrious, but their physical strength gives way under labor which is easily performed by Americans and Europeans who eat meat. There are so many excellent manuals on the chemistry of food that any one can readily learn the relative amount of nutriment contained in every kind of food. While rice affords very little nourishment, oatmeal is an excellent " stand by," especially for brain workers. Let the kitchen be a central attraction of your home by its cleanli- ness and the excellence of your cooking. Nature intended man to enjoy his food as well as to keep himself alive by it. The simplest fare daintily spread before one is far more appetizing than a feast of all sorts of mixtures, just as a plain suit of clothes, perfectly neat and tidy, looks better than costly raiment bespattered with dirt. A good, wholesome table inspires the mind with a grateful sense of order and domestic art and leads to pleasant conversation, personal neatness and social enjoyment. When Talleyrand gave a grand dinner a fat French bishop sat next to him who was notorious for his gluttony, and al- ways carried his own man-servant along with him when he dined out, so that he might hand him what he knew to be his favorite dishes. After eating very largely on this occasion his eye caught sight of some dainty side-dish which he was not familiar with, and he desired his servant to get him some of it. He had his mouth open to swallow the last mouthful when he fell back dead in his chair, and the horri- fied guests all got up from the dinner-table. Who would prefer to fare sumptuously all one's life, as he had done, and then die of over- 402 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. eating, to living moderately upon natural and healthy food, with a clean palate, a sound liver, a good digestion, and an unclouded brain ? Some housewives display admirable skill in preparing tempting dishes at very little cost. This has not as yet been a frequent accom- plishment among American women. There is, however, no reason why it should not be. They have excelled in needlework and many other kinds of domestic art. Why should not the American kitchen be as famous for the skill and delicacy displayed in it as the French, which is the best, taking its variety and economy into consideration? The English kitchen is good, but is too solid for our climate and has very little variety. But in their deep dish fruit pies they are cer- tainly ahead of our American pies, which are masses of paste with just a little fruit from which all the juice has escaped. The German kitchen is even more solid than the English, and is too greasy for Americans. The Italians excel in some dishes, but their roast meats are oily and flavorless. Cookery books are too often like guide- books, which take you by a round-about way to where you did not want to go. The best teacher in the kitchen is experience, and ex- perience is learned by experiment. If one begins right, " practice makes perfect " in the kitchen as everywhere else. COOKERY I|ECIPES. SOUPS. HERE is no more fruitful source of family discontent than poor cooking, and progress has not marked the department of the cook as it has other branches of home life. Cookery-books are numerous ; they multi- ply continually, yet practical recipes are scarce, and true and tried ones are a commodity much in demand. Whatever may have been said on the subject to the contrary, it is a fact that women desire to cook well, and they are ever on the look- out for reliable information on the subject. Housekeepers cannot rely upon servants, and the inevitable result is, and has been, that they are compelled to inform themselves regarding the duties of a cook. The accompanying recipes are intended for the women of the land who appreciate the importance of a practical knowledge of cookery and desire to master it. Why we Commence Dinner with Soup. — A clear soup disappears almost immediately after entering the stomach, and in no way inter- feres with the gastric juice, which is stored in its appropriate cells ready for action. The habit of commencing dinner with soup has, without doubt, the origin in the fact that aliment in this fluid form, in fact ready digested, soon enters the blood and rapidly refreshes the hungry man, who, after a considerable fast and much activity, sits down with a sense of exhaustion to commence his principal meal. In two or three minutes after he has taken a plate of good warm soup the feeling of exhaustion disappears, and irritability gives way to the gradually rising sense of good fellowship with the circle. Some (403) 404 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. persons have the custom of allaying exhaustion with a glass of sherry before food — a gastronomic no less than a physiological blunder, in- juring the stomach and destroying the palate. The soup introduces at once into the system a small instalment of ready-digested food, and saves the short period of time which must be spent by the stomach in deriving some nutriment from solid aliment, as well as indirectly strengthening the organ of digestion itself for its forth- coming duties. Stock — General Remarks. — Stock being the basis of all meat- soups, and also of all the principal sauces, it is essential to the suc- cess of these culinary operations to know the most complete and economical method of extracting from a certain quantity of meat the best possible stock of broth. Beef makes the best stock ; veal stock has less color and taste, whilst mutton sometimes gives it a tallowy smell, far from agreeable, unless the meat has been previously roasted or broiled. Fowls add' very little to the flavor of stock, unless they be old and fat. Bones ought always to form a component part of the stock-pot. Brown meats contain more than white, and make the stock more fragrant. By roasting meat, the osmazome appears to acquire higher proper- ties; so, by putting the remains of roast meats into your stock-pots, you obtain a better flavor. When the stock is well skimmed and begins to boil, put in salt and vegetables, which may be two or three carrots, two turnips, one parsnip, a bunch of leeks and celery tied together. You can add, according to taste, a piece of cabbage, two or three cloves stuck in an onion, and a tomato. The latter gives a very agreeable flavor to the stock. If fried onion be added, it ought, according to the advice of a famous French chef, to be tied in a little bag ; without this precaution, the color of the stock is liable to be clouded. Soups will, in general, take from three to six hours' doing, and are much better prepared the day before they are wanted. COOKERY RECIPES. 4O5 When soups and gravies are kept from day to day in hot weather, they should be warmed up every day, and put into fresh-scalded pans •or tureens, and placed in a cool cellar. In temperate weather, every other day may be sufficient. Soups which are intended to constitute the principal part of a meal certainly ought not to be flavored like sauces, which are only designed to give a relish to some particular dish. Really good soup can never be made but in a well-closed vessel, although, perhaps, greater wholesomeness is obtained by an occasional exposure to the air. Soft water should always be used for making soup, unless it be of green peas, in which case hard water better preserves its color ; and it is a good general rule to apportion a quart of water to a pound of meat — that is to say, flesh without bone ; but rich soups may have a smaller quantity of water. Meat for soup should never be drowned at first with water, but put into the kettle with a very small quantity and a piece of butter, merely to keep it from burning until the juices are extracted, by which means of stewing the gravy will be drawn from it before the remainder of the water is added. A single pound will thus afford better and richer soup than treble the quantity saturated with cold water ; but it will take six or eight hours to extract the essence from a few pounds of raw beef Bouilli beef is rendered very rich and palatable, though a considerable quantity of soup may be made from it, by being stewed at first in a little butter and some of its own gravy. To thicken and give body to soups and gravies, potato-mucilage, corn-starch, bread-raspings, isinglass, flour and butter, barley, rice or oatmeal in a little water, rubbed well together, are used. A piece of boiled beef, pounded to a pulp, with a bit of butter and flour, and rubbed through a sieve, and gradually incorporated with the soup, will be found an excellent addition. "V^^hen the soup appears to be too thin or too weak, the cover of the boiler should be taken off, and the contents allowed to boil till 4o6 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. some of the watery parts have evaporated, or some of the thickening materials above mentioned should be added. Never wash meat, as it deprives its surface of all its juices ; sep- arate it from the bones, and tie it round with tape, so that its shape may be preserved ; then put it into the stock-pot, and for each pound of meat let there be one pint of water ; press it down with the hand, to allow the air which it contains to escape, and which often raises it to the top of the water. Economical Stock. — Take the liquor in which a joint of meat has been boiled, say four quarts; trimmings of fresh meat or poultry, shank-bones, etc., roast-beef bones, any pieces the larder may furnish; two ounces of butter, two large onions, each stuck with cloves ; one turnip, three carrots, one head of celery, three lumps of sugar, two ounces of salt, half a teaspoonful of whole pepper, one large blade of mace, one bunch of savory herbs, four quarts and one-half pint of cold water. Let all the ingredients simmer gently for six hours, taking care to skim carefully at first. Strain it off, and put by for use. White Stock [to be used in the preparation of white soups). — Four pounds of knuckle of veal, any poultry trimmings, four slices of lean ham, three carrots, two onions, one head of celery, twelve white pep- percorns, two ounces of salt, one blade of mace, a bunch of herbs, one ounce of butter, four quarts of water. White or Medium Stock. — Four pounds of shin of beef, or four pounds of knuckle of veal, or two pounds of each ; any bones, trim- mings of poultry, or fresh meat, one-fourth pound of lean bacon or ham, two ounces of butter, two large onions, each stuck with cloves; one turnip, three carrots, one head of celery, three lumps of sugar, two ounces of salt, one-half teaspoonful of whole pepper, one large blade of mace, one bunch of savory herbs, four quarts and one-half pint of cold water. Cut up the meat and bacon, or ham, into pieces of about three inches square; rub the butter on the bottom of the stewpan; put in one-half pint of water, the meat, and all the other ingredients. COOKERY RECIPES. 40; Cover the stewpan, and place it on a sharp fire, occasionally stirring its contents. When the bottom of the pan becomes covered with a pale, jelly-like substance, add the four quarts of cold water, and sim- mer very gently for five hours. As before said, do not let it boil quickly. Remove every particle of scum whilst it is doing, and strain it through a fine hair-sieve. This stock is the basis of many of the soups afterward mentioned, and will be found quite strong enough for ordinary purposes. Cook five and one-half hours. Mock-turtle Soup {Mrs. Reynolds' recipe). — Take a calf's head and feet; boil them until the meat separates from the bones. Pick the bones out and cut the meat in pieces, about an inch in size ; put it back, and boil it two hours more. Chop the brains fine ; add eight or nine onions and a little parsley ; mix the spice with this (mace, cloves, pepper and salt), and put it in the soup an hour or more be- fore it is done. Roll six or eight crackers with one-half pound of butter, and when nearly done drop it in. Brown a little flour and put in. Make force-meat balls of veal ; fry them, and put in the bottom of the tureen. Tomato Soup. — Take six large tomatoes ; boil in one pint of water until done ; then take them off the stove and stir in one teaspoonful of saleratus ; then add one quart of milk, and season with plenty of butter, pepper and salt. Let it all come to a boil, when it is ready for use. Lobster Soup. — Three large lobsters or six small ones ; the crumb of a French roll, two anchovies, one onion, one small bunch of sweet herbs, one strip of lemon-peel, two ounces of butter, a little nutmeg, one teaspoonful of flour, one pint of cream, one pint of milk ; force- meat balls, mace, salt and pepper to taste, bread-crumbs, one ^^z, two quarts of water. Pick the meat from the lobsters, and beat the fins, chine, and small claws in a mortar, previously taking away the brown fin and the bag in the head. Put it in a stewpan, with the crumb of the roll, anchovies, onions, herbs, Icmon-pecl, 'and the water ; simmer gently till all the goodness is extracted, and strain it 408 THE hearthstone; or, life at home, off. Pound the spawn in a mortar, with the butter, nutmeg and flour, and mix with it the cream and milk. Give one boil up, at the same time adding the tails cut in pieces. Make the force-meat balls with the remainder of the lobster, seasoned with mace, pepper and salt, adding a little flour and a few bread-crumbs ; moisten them with the egg, heat them in the soup, and serve. Cook it two hours, or rather more. Vegetable Soup {^ood and cheap, made without meat). — Six pota- toes, four turnips, or two if very large ; two carrots, two onions ; if obtainable, two mushrooms ; one head of celery, one large slice of bread, one small saltspoonful of salt, one-quarter saltspoonful of ground black pepper, two teaspoonfuls of Harvey's sauce, six quarts of water. Peel the vegetables, and cut them up into small pieces ; toast the bread rather brown, and put all 'into a stewpan with the water and seasoning. Simmer gently for three hours, or until all is reduced to a pulp, and pass it through a sieve in the same way as pea soup, which it should resemble in consistence; but it should be a dark -brown color. Warm it up again when required ; put in Harvey's sauce, and, if necessary, add to the flavoring. It should be cooked three hours, or rather more. Vegetable Soup (2). — Scrape clean and slice three carrots and three turnips ; peel three onions ; fry the whole with a little butter till it turns rather yellow ; then add two heads of celery cut in pieces, three or four leeks, also cut in pieces ; stir and fry the whole for about six minutes ; when fried, add also one clove of garlic, salt, pepper, two cloves, and two stalks of parsley ; cover with three quarts of water; keep on rather a slow fire, skim off the scum carefully, and simmer for about three hours, then strain and use. Vegetable Soup (3). — Seven ounces of carrot, ten ounces of par- snip, ten ounces of potatoes cut in thin slices ; one and one-quarter ounce of butter, five teaspoonfuls of flour, a teaspoonful of made mustard, salt and pepper to taste ; the yolks of two eggs ; rather more than two quarts of water. Boil the vegetables in the water two and one-half hours ; stir them often, and if the water boils away too quickly COOKERY RECIPES. 4O9 add more, as there should be two quarts of soup when done. Mix up in a basin the butter and flour, mustard, salt and pepper, with a teacupful of cold water; stir in the soup and boil ten minutes. Have ready the yolks of the eggs in the tureen ; pour on, stir well, and serve. Time, three hours ; sufficient for eight persons. Potato Soup. — An excellent winter soup is made by taking four pounds of mealy potatoes, boiled or steamed very dry ; pepper and salt to taste ; two quarts of stock. When the potatoes are boiled, mash them smoothly that no lumps remain, and gradually add them to the boiling stock ; pass it through a sieve, season, and simmer for five minutes. Skim well, and serve with fried bread. Half an hour for cooking. Rice Soup. — Four ounces of rice, salt, cayenne and mace, two quarts of white stock. Mode: Throw the rice into boiling water, and let it remain five minutes ; then pour it into a sieve, and allow it to drain well. Now add it to the stock boiling, and allow it to stew till it is quite tender ; season to taste. Serve quickly. Cook one hour. Turnip Soup. — Three ounces of butter, nine good-sized turnips, four onions, two quarts of stock, seasoning to taste. Melt the butter in the stewpan, but do not let it boil ; wash, drain and slice the tur- nips and onions very thin ; put them in the butter, with a teacupful of stock, and stew very gently for an hour. Then add the remainder of the stock, and simmer another hour. Rub it through a taminy, put it back into the stewpan, but do not let it boil. Serve very hot. It will require two hours and a half to cook this soup. Cabbage Soup. — Take one large cabbage, three carrots, two onions, four or five slices of lean bacon, salt and pepper to taste, two quarts of medium stock. Scald the cabbage, cut it up and drain it. Line the stewpan with the bacon, put in the cabbage, carrots and onions; moisten with skimmings from the stock, and simmer very softly till the cabbage is tender; add the stock, stew softly for half an hour, and carefully skim off every particle of fat. Season and serve. Time, one hour and a half; seasonable in winter; sufficient for eight persons. 410 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Carrot Soup. — Use four quarts of liquor in which a leg of mutton or beef has been boiled, a few beef-bones, six large carrots, two large onions, one turnip; seasoning of salt and pepper to taste; cayenne. Put the liquor, bones, onions, turnip, pepper and salt, into a stew- pan, and simmer for three hours. Scrape and cut the carrots thin, strain the soup on them, and stew them till soft enough to pulp through a hair-sieve or coarse cloth ; then boil the pulp with the soup, which should be of the consistency of pea soup. Add cayenne. Pulp only the red part of the carrot, and make this soup the day before it is wanted. Time, four hours and a half. This quantity is sufficient for ten persons. Queen Victoria's Favorite Soup. — The soup which Queen Vic- toria prefers above all others, and is known as " Potage a la Reine," is made as follows : Three fat chickens are to be drawn and washed in warm water, and then stewed down in strong veal broth and a bunch of parsley for an hour; take out the fowls and soak two French brioches or rolls in the liquor ; then the flesh of the chickens being taken off the bones, and cut up fine, discarding the skin, gristle, sinews, etc. ; now put this meat and the soaked rolls, together with the yolks of four hard-boiled eggs, into a stone mortar and pound them to a smooth paste ; replace this paste in the soup ; stir well together, and force it through a coarse sieve into a tureen ; add to this one quart of boiled cream ; make all very hot, and send to table. Beef Soup {economical). — Take the bone left from the steak, boil it two hours ; skim off the fat, add half a tablespoonful of shred gelatine, one onion, pepper, salt, parsley, summer-savory, a table- spoonful of tomato catsup, and a teacupful of washed rice ; then peel three potatoes, cut in halves, or, if very large, cut in quarters ; throw them in the soup, with crusts of bread or biscuit. If the bone is large the gelatine can be omitted ; it adds richness to the soup. This recipe is calculated to make three quarts with the vegetables. Beef Soup {Mrs. Reynolds' recipe). — To a shin-bone, put three onions, one large white turnip, a large handful of potatoes, after they are sliced; salt and pepper. Put the meat in cold water, and boil it COOKERY RECIPES. 41 1 slowly until tender; add the vegetables and boil them about one hour; then stand it away until the next day, then skim off the fat ; chop up a head of celery ; put a little brown flour in ; strain the vegetables out if you want it nice. Chop up the meat and put in if desired. Green Corn and Tomato Soup {Mrs. Pattersons recipe). — Six cars of good, sweet corn, cut off fine. One dozen tomatoes skinned and sliced. Put corn and tomatoes into the vessel for cooking, and pour in half a gallon of boiling water, and let it cook slowly for an hour. When ready to serve, add half a gallon of sweet milk (to have it very nice), and use no water but what it is cooked in. Two ounces of butter, teaspoonful of black pepper, salt to taste. As soon as it boils, now, it is ready to serve. Those who prefer to have the flavor of onion in it, can cut up a small one very fine and put it into the tureen and pour the soup over it. Irish potatoes may be substituted for corn. Oyster Soup. — Six dozen oysters, two quarts of white stock, one- half pint of cream, two ounces of butter, and one and a half ounce of flour ; salt and pepper to taste. Scald the oysters in their own liquor ; take them out, beard them, and put them in a tureen. Take a pint of the stock, put in the beards and the liquor, which must be carefully strained, and simmer for half an hour. Take it off the fire, strain it again, and add the remainder of the stock with the season- ing. Bring it to a boil, add the thickening of butter and flour, sim- mer for five minutes, stir in the boiling cream, pour it over the oysters, and serve. This quantity of oysters will make soup for eight persons, or more if the oysters are large. This soup can be made less rich by using milk instead of cream. Oyster Soup (2). — Two quarts of good mutton broth, six dozen oysters, two ounces butter, one ounce flour. Beard the oysters, and scald them in their own liquor; then add it, well strained, to the broth ; thicken with the butter and flour, and simmer for quarter of an hour. Put in the oysters, stir well, but do not let it boil, and serve very hot. Macaroni Soup. — Three ounces of macaroni, a piece of butter the 412 THE hearthstone; or, life at home, size of a walnut, salt to taste, two quarts of clear stock. Throw the macaroni and butter into boiling water with a pinch of salt, and sim- mer for half an hour. When it is tender, drain and cut it into thin rings or lengths, and drop it into the boiling stock. Stew gently for fifteen minutes, and serve grated Parmesan cheese with it. Three- quarters of an hour is sufficient time to cook it. Pea Soup with Celery. — One-quarter pound each of onions and carrots, two ounces of celery, three-quarters of a pound of split peas, a little mint shred fine, one tablespoonful of coarse brown sugar, salt and pepper to taste, four quarts of water, or liquor in which a joint of meat has been boiled. Fry the vegetables for ten minutes in a little butter or dripping, previously cutting them up in small pieces ; pour the water on them, and when boiling add the peas. Let them simmer for nearly three hours, or until the peas are thoroughly done. Add the sugar, seasoning, and mint; boil for quarter of an hour, and serve. Pea Soup. — Boil split peas till they are in a thorough mash ; melt a little finely chopped suet well in a pan, frizzle in it a finely chopped onion; mix this with the peas; add more warm water to make the soup ; then pepper, salt, and powdered sage ; let it simmer well for twenty minutes. Vermicelli Soup. — One and one-half pound of bacon, stuck with cloves; one-half ounce of butter worked up in flour; one small fowl, trussed for boiling ; two ounces of vermicelli, two quarts of white stock. Put the stock, bacon, butter and fowl into the stewpan, and stew for three-quarters of an hour. Take the vermicelli, add it to a little of the stock, and set it on the fire till it is quite tender. It should be cooked'two hours. When the soup is ready, take out the fowl and bacon, and put the bacon on a dish. Skim the soup as clean as possible ; pour it, with the vermicelli, over the fowl. Cut some bread thin, put in the soup, and serve. Stew Soup. — Half a pound of beef, mutton, or pork ; half a pint of split peas, four turnips, eight potatoes, two onions, two ounces of oatmeal or three ounces of rice, two quarts of water. Cut the COOKERY RECIPES. 4I3 meat into small pieces, as also the vegetables, and add them, with the peas, to the water. Boil gently for three hours ; thicken with the oatmeal, boil for another quarter of an hour, stirring all the time, and season with pepper and salt. It is a good winter soup. This soup may be made of the liquor in which tripe has been boiled, by adding vegetables, seasoning, rice, etc. Turkey Soup [a seasonable dish at Christmas). — Two quarts of medium stock, the remains of a cold roast turkey, two ounces of rice-flour or arrowroot, salt and pepper to taste, one tablespoonful of Harvey's sauce or mushroom catsup. Cut up the turkey in small pieces and put thetn in the stock ; let it simmer slowly until the bones are quite clean, which will be in about four hours. Take the bones out, and work the soup through a sieve ; when cold, skim well. Mi.x the rice-flour or arrowroot to a batter with a little of the soup; add it with the seasoning and sauce or catsup. Give one boil and serve. Seasonable at Christmas. Instead of thickening this soup, vermicelli or macaroni may be served in it. Cucumber Soup [FrcncJi recipe). — Pare one cucumber, quarter it, and take out the seeds; cut it in thin slices; put these on a plate with a little .salt to draw the water from them ; drain, and put them in your stewpan, with a piece of butter the size of a walnut. When they are warmed through, without being browned, pour the stock on them. Add sorrel, cut in large pieces, a little chervil, and seasoning, com- posed of salt and pepper to taste, the yolks of two eggs, one gill of cream, one quart of medium stock, and boil for forty minutes. Mix the well-beaten yolks of the eggs with the cream, which add at the moment of serving. Hodge-podge. — Two pounds of shin of beef, three quarts of water, one pint of table-beer, two onions, two carrots, two turnips, one head of celery; pepper and salt to taste; thickening of butter and flour. Put the meat, beer and water in a stewpan, simmer for a few minutes, and skim carefully. Add the vegetables and seasoning ; stew gently till the meat is tender. Thicken with butter and flour, and serve with turnips and carrots, or spinach and celery. 26 414 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Asparagus Soup. — One and one-half pint of split peas, a teacupful of gravy, four young onions, one lettuce cut small, one-half head of celery, one-half pint of asparagus cut small, one-half pint of cream, three quarts of water; color the soup with spinach juice. Boil the peas, and rub them through a sieve ; add the gravy, and then stew by themselves the celery, onions, lettuce and asparagus with the water. After this, stew all together, and add the coloring and serve. Time: Peas two and one-half hours; vegetables one hour; altogether, four hours. Mutton Soup. — A neck of mutton, about five or six pounds, three carrots, three turnips, two onions, a large bunch of sweet herbs, in- cluding parsley ; salt and pepper to taste ; a little sherry, if liked ; three quarts of water. Lay the ingredients in a covered pan before the fire, and let them remain there the whole 'day, stirring occasionally. The next day put the whole into a stewpan, and place it on a brisk fire. When it commences to boil, take the pan off the fire, and put it one side to simmer until the meat is done. When ready for use, take out the meat, dish it up with carrots and turnips, and send it to table ; strain the soup, let it cool, strain off all the fat, season and thicken it with a tablespoonful, or rather more, of arrowroot ; flavor with a little sherry, simmer for five minutes, and serve. Force-meats. — For force-meats special attention is necessary. The points which cooks should, in this branch of cookery, more par- ticularly observe, are the thorough chopping of the suet, the com- plete mincing of the herbs, the careful grating of the bread-crumbs, and the perfect mixing of the whole. These are the three principal ingredients of force-meats, and they can scarcely be cut too small, as nothing like a lump or fibre should be anywhere perceptible. To conclude, the flavor of no one spice or herb should be permitted to predominate. Force-meat for Pike, Carp, Haddock and various kinds of Fish. — Ingredients : One ounce of fresh butter, one ounce of suet^ one ounce of fat bacon, one small teaspoonful of minced savory herbs, including parsley; a little onion, when liked, shred very fine ; salt. COOKERY RECIPES. 4IS nutmeg and cayenne to taste ; four ounces of bread-crumbs, one egg. Mix all the ingredients well together, carefully mincing them very fine ; beat up the egg, moisten with it, and work the whole very smoothly together. Oysters or anchovies may be added to this force- meat, and will be found a great improvement. Force-meat for Veal, Turkeys, Fowls, Hare, etc. — Two ounces of ham or lean bacon, one-quarter pound of suet, the rind of half a lemon, one teaspoonful of minced parsley, one teaspoonful of minced sweet herbs ; salt, cayenne and pounded mace to taste ; six ounces of bread-crumbs, two eggs. Shred the ham or bacon, chop the suet, lemon-peel and herbs, taking particular care that all be very finely mixed ; add a seasoning to taste of salt, cayenne and mace, and blend all thoroughly together with the bread-crumbs before wetting. Now beat and strain the eggs, work these up with the other ingredients, and the force-meat will be ready for use. When it is made into balls, fry of a nice brown in boiling lard, or put them on a tin and bake for half an hour in a moderate oven. As we have stated before, no one flavor should predominate greatly, and the force-meat should be of sufficient body to cut with a knife, and yet not dry and heavy. For very delicate force-meat, it is advisable to pound the ingredients to- gether before binding with the eggs ; but, for ordinary cooking, mincing very fine answers the purpose. Sufficient for a turkey or a hare. FISH. General Directions for Dressing. — Great care and punctuality are necessary in cooking fish. If not done sufficiently, or if done too much, it is not good. It should be eaten as soon as cooked. Salmon, mackerel, herrings and trout soon spoil or decompose after they are killed ; therefore, to be in perfection, they should be prepared for the table on the day they are caught. With flatfish this is not of such consequence, as they will keep longer. The turbot, for example, is improved by being kept a day or two. 4i6 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. « In dressing fish of any kind, the first point to be attended to is to see that it be perfectly clean. It is a common error to wash it too much, as by doing so the flavor is diminished. If the fish is to be boiled, a little salt and vinegar should be put into the water to give it firmness, after it is cleaned. Codfish, whiting and haddock are none the worse for being a little salted and kept a day ; and, if the weather be not very hot, they will be good for two days. When fish is cheap and plentiful, and a larger quantity is purchased than is immediately wanted, the overplus of such as will bear it should be potted, or pickled, or salted, or hung up ; or it may be refried, that it may serve for stewing the next day. Fresh water fish, having frequently' a muddy smell and taste, should be soaked in strong salt and water, after it has been well cleaned. If of a sufficient size, it may be scalded in salt and water, and afterward dried and dressed. Fish should be put into cold water, and set on the fire to do very gently, or the outside will break before the inner part is done. Un- less the fish is small, it should never be put into warm water; nor should water, either hot or cold, be poured on to the fish, as it is liable to break the skin — if it is necessary to add a little water whilst the fish is cooking, it ought to be poured in gently .it the side of the vessel. The fish-plate may be drawn up to see if the fish be ready, which may be known by its easily separating from the bone. It should then be immediately taken out of the water, or it will become woolly. The fish-plate should be set crossways over the kettle, to keep hot for serving, and a cloth laid over the fish to prevent its losing its color. In garnishing fish, great nicety is required, and plenty of parsley, horseradish and lemon, or eggs boiled hard and cut in slices, should be used. If fried parsley be used, it must be washed and picked, and thrown into fresh water. When the lard or dripping boils, throw the parsley into it immediately from the water, and instantly it will be green and COOKERY RECIPES. 417 crisp, and must be taken up with a slice. Well dressed, and with very good sauce, fish is more appreciated than almost any other dish. The liver and roe, in some instances, should be placed on the dish, in order that they may be distributed in the course of serving; but to each recipe is appended the proper mode of serving and garnishing. If fish is to be fried or broiled, it must be dried in a nice, soft cloth after it is well cleaned and washed. If for frying, brush it over with egg, and sprinkle it with some fine crumbs of bread. If done a second time with the egg and bread, the fish will look so nmch the better. If required to be very nice, a sheet of white blotting-paper must be placed to receive it, that it may be free from all grease. It must also be of a beautiful color, and all the crumbs appear distinct. Butter gives a bad color; lard and clarified dripping are nx)st frequently used ; but oil is the best, if the expense be no objection. The fish should be put into the lard when boiling, and there should be a sufficiency of this to cover it. When fish is broiled, it must be seasoned, floured and laid on a very clean gridiron, which, when hot, should be rubbed with a bit of suet to prevent the fish from sticking. It must be broiled over a very clear fire, that it may not taste smoky; and not too near, that it may not be scorched. Trout Cooking. — The trout is a peculiar fish ; it requires great nicety in cooking or its flavor is lost. The flavor of the brook trout is exceedingly delicate and mu.st be dealt with in a gentle manner. Brook trout should never be placed in boiling water but over steam ; boiling it in water soddens it and takes away its flavor. When steaming it put into the water some peppercorns and a very little salt. A sauce for trout may be made of melted butter and parsley, or capers or tomatoes, or even mushrooms. Trout deserves a delicate flavoring. 4i8 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. A second way of cooking trout is to melt a piece of fresh butter, stir into it some water, and place the trout into it, adding pepper- corns and a little salt. Place round several slices of lemon and cover up very close. Stew like this twenty minutes. Take out and strain the gravy over the trout. If you wish the gravy thickened, one teaspoonful of flour stirred into the butter will be sufficient. Cover the trout with a piece of greasy paper and let it gently frizzle in the pan, or put pieces of bacon under it and over it and let it frizzle. Make a fine salad to this dish. Steam a trout, and when cold pour over it some oil mixed with vinegar, pepper and salt, and a little tomato catsup. A brook trout must have no elaborate cooking, but just enough flavoring to enhance its native aroma. To Broil a Shad. — Shad should be well washed and dried. It may be cut in half and broiled, or you may split it open and lay a small quantity of salt over it, and lay it upon a gridiron, well buttered. It will broil in about twenty minutes, and should be thoroughly done. Melted butter may be served in a sauce-boat with it. Shad is even more palatable when baked than broiled. To Bake Shad. — It should be stuffed with mashed potatoes and chopped parsley. Lay it in the oven on a pan which is well covered with butter chopped in pieces ; baste the fish with butter, and add fresh quantities as fast as it is absorbed. Half or three-quarters of a pound of butter should be used for a large-sized shad. To Dress Shad. — Scale, empty, and wash the fish carefully, and make two or three incisions across the back. Season it with pepper and salt and lay it in oil for a few minutes. Broil on both sides over a clear fire and serve with caper-sauce. Baked Fish. — Take blue-fish, bass or shad for this purpose; make a dressing of bread as for poultry, only adding a little salt pork chopped fine, and no herbs ; fill the fish with the dressing, and stew or tie it up; then put a few slices of salt pork in a pan, and very little water; lay the fish in the pan, and put a few slices of salt pork COOKERY RECIPES. 4I9 over it ; bake it, according to its size, from one-half an hour to an hour. Pharisee Clams. — Boil the clams until they are open, or a little longer; then chop fine, mix them with bread-crumbs, pepper and butter; put them in the shell or oyster-shells, and brown them in the oven. Clams. — The very best way of cooking clams is to chop them up "very fine first, no matter whether large or small. In this way clam soups and chowders give repose afterwards, and not melancholy. Boiled Shoulder of Cod. — Take the upper half of a fresh, cod, well dressed, put in a napkin, place in boiling water with salt, and let it boil thirty or forty minutes, according to its size. Turn out upon a hot platter, and serve only the fish without skin or bone. Salt-fish Chowder. — Cover the bottom of a kettle with slices of salt pork ; fry to a light brown. Remove the kettle from the fire. Put in first a layer of pared and sliced potatoes, then bits of codfish (not too nuich), then a layer of potatpes, and so on. Sprinkle pepper ■on each layer. Add water sufficient to cover. Stew slowly until the potatoes are well cooked ; then add crackers, half a pint of milk, and a thicken of flour and water. Let it simmer five minutes. , Nantucket Chowder. — Have five pounds of codfish cut into steaks; take a medium-sized onion, cut in slices or chopped ; a quarter of a pound of fat, salt pork — a little more would do no liarm ; chop the pork and put it with the onions in the bottom of a large sauce- pan or kettle ; let them fry together until the onions are brown ; then have four medium-sized potatoes also chopped; put a layer of fish, seasoning with salt and pepper, on top of the pork and onions, then a layer of potatoes, and so on, until all is in the kettle ; pour over it three quarts of water, and let it boil half an hour; soak half a dozen crackers in a pint of milk, and the chowder is almost done; turn the crackers and milk into it. How TO Cook Codfish. — Wash, pick up a little, and soak it for a long time — say four or five hours in summer, or all night in winter — in warm v/ater; change the water and drain ; pick out the bones, and 420 THE HEARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME. heat it scalding hot, but do not boil ; make some good milk-gravy, adding cream, if you have it, and butter (a small piece), with a dash of pepper; let this boil a little, then add the fish in about the propor- tion of a pint of soaked fish to a quart of gravy. Never let the codfish boil; it hardens it. To Dress Lobster, Cold. — Take the fish out of the shell, divide it into small pieces, mash up the scarlet meat of the lobster, prepare a salad mixture of cayenne pepper, salt, sweet oil, vinegar and mustard; mix the lobster and the mixture well together, and serve them in the dish in which they were mixed. Lobster is usually dressed at table. Lobster Patties. — Minced lobster, four tablespoonfuls of bechamel, six drops of anchovy sauce, lemon juice, cayenne to taste. Line the patty-pans with puff-paste, and put into each a small piece of bread ; cover with paste, brush over with egg, and bake to a light color. Take as much lobster as is required, mince the meat very fine, and add the above ingredients; stii; it over tlic fire for five minutes; re- move the lids of the patty-cases, take out the bread, fill with the mixture, and replace the covers. Time : About five minutes after the patty-cases are made. Lobster Salad. — One hen lobster; lettuces, endive, small salad (whatever is in season), a little chopped beet-root, two hard-boiled eggs, a few slices of cucumber. For dressing, four tablespoonfuls of oil, and two of vinegar, one teaspoonful of made-mustard, the yolks of two eggs; cayenne and salt to taste; one-quarter teaspoonful of an- chovy sauce. These ingredients should be mixed perfectly smooth and form a creamy-looking sauce. Wash the salad, and thoroughly dry it by shaking it in a cloth. Cut up the lettuces and endive, pour the dressing on them, and lightly throw in the small salad. Mix all well together with the pickings from the body of the lobster; pick the meat from the shell, cut it up into nice, square pieces, put half in the salad, the other half reserve for garnishing. Separate the yolks from the whites of two hard-boiled eggs ; chop the whites very fine and rub the yolks through a sieve, and afterward the coral from the COOKERY RECIPES. 421 inside. Arrange the salad lightly on a glass dish and garnish, first with a row of sliced cucumber, then with the pieces of lobster, the yolks and whites of the eggs, coral and beet-root placed alternately, and arranged in small, separate bunches, so that the colors contrast nicely. To Boil Lobsters. — One-quarter pound of salt to each gallon of water. Buy the lobsters alive, and choose those that are heavy and full of motion, which is an indication of their freshness. When the shell is incrusted it is a sign they are old ; medium-sized lobsters are the best. Have ready a stewpan of boiling water, salted in the above proportion, put in the lobster, and keep it boiling quickly from twenty minutes to three-quarters of an hour, according to its size, and do not forget to skim w^ell. If it boils too long the meat becomes thready, and if not done enough the spawn is not red; this must be obviated by great attention. Rub the shell over witli a little butter or sweet- oil, which wipe off again. Time : Small lobsters, twenty minutes to half an hour ; large ones, one-half to three-quarters of an hour. Stewed Eels. — Two pounds of middling-sized eels, one pint of medium stock, one-quarter pint of port wine, salt, cayenne and mace to taste; one teaspoonful of essence of anchovy, the juice of half a lemon. Skin, wash and clean the eels thoroughly; cut them into pieces three inches long, and put them into strong salt and water for one hour, dry them well with a cloth, and fry them brown. Put the stock on with the heads and tails of the eels, and simmer for half an hour; strain it, and add all the other ingredients. Put in the eels, stew gently for half an hour, when serve. Cook two hours. Boiled Salmon. — Six ounces of salt to each gallon of water; suf- ficient water to cover the fish. Scale and clean the fish, and be par- ticular that no blood is left inside ; lay it in the fish-kettle with sufficient cold water to cover it, adding salt in the above proportion. Bring it quickly to a boil, take off all the scum, and let it simmer gently till the fish is done, which will be when the meat separates easily from the bone. Experience alone can teach the cook to fix the time for boiling fish ; but it is especially to be remembered that it should never 422 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. be under-dressed, as then nothing is more unwholesome. Neither let it remain in the kettle after it is sufficiently cooked, as that would render it insipid, watery and colorless. Drain it, and if not wanted for a few minutes, keep it warm by means of warm cloths laid over it. Serve on a hot napkin, garnish with cut lemon and parsley, and send lobster or shrimp sauce, and plain, melted butter to table with it. A dish of dressed cucumber usually accompanies this dish. It will 'require eight minutes' time to cook each pound, for large, thick salmon, and six minutes for thin fish. Cut lemon should be put on the table with this fish, and a little of the juice squeezed over it is considered by many persons a most agreeable addition. Salmon and Caper-sauce. — Two slices of salmon, one-quarter pound of butter, one-half teaspoonful of chopped parsley, one shallot, salt, pepper and grated nutmeg to taste. Lay the salmon in a bak- ing-dish, place pieces of butter over it, and add the other ingredients, rubbing a little of the seasoning into the fish ; when done, take it out and drain for a minute or two, lay it in a dish, pour caper-sauce over it and serve. Salmon dressed in this way, with tomato sauce, is very delicious. Cook about three-quarters of an hour. Pickled Salmon. — Salmon, one-half ounce of whole pepper, one- half ounce of whole allspice, one teaspoonful of salt, two bay leaves, equal quantities of vinegar and the liquor in which the fish was boiled. After the fish comes from the table, lay it in a nice dish with a cover to it, as it should be excluded from the air, and take away the bone; boil the liquor and vinegar with the other ingredients for ten min- utes, and let it stand to get cold ; pour it over the salmon, and in twelve hours this will be fit for the table. Stuffed and Baked Fish. — Soak bread in cold water until soft ; drain off the water, mash the bread fine ; mix it with a tablespoonful of melted butter, a little pepper and salt. Cut, smother, add spices if preferred. A couple of raw eggs make the dressing. Sew up the fish after putting in the dressing, and lay the fish in a baking- pan, where a teacup of water and a small piece of butter had been pre- viously put. Bake it from forty to fifty minutes. Fresh cod, bass and shad are suitable fish for baking. COOKERY RECIPES. 423 To Fry Fish. — The secret of frying fish well consists in having enough put in the spider. Let them fry slowly over a moderate and steady heat. All fish should be fried in the purest oil. This can be used over and over again by clarification ; and, all things considered, oil is quite as economical as lard or drippings. Clean your pan, put therein sufficient oil to thoroughly and deeply immerse the fish. Permit this to boil, and it will attain so high a temperature that when a finger of bread is dipped into it and instantly drawn out, the bread has acquired a brown surface, or a piece of white paper dipped into it comes out dry, then — and not until then — your fish, already egged and bread-crumbed, is launched lightly on the surface of the oil, the boiling power of which will keep it afloat, and then, according to the thickness of the fish, from two to three minutes should be given to it; then turn it gently with flat tongs. Fried Smelts. — The smelt is a very nice little fish, which has a peculiarly sweet and delicate flavor of its own, that requires, to be tasted in perfection, no other cooking than plain broiling or frying in fresh lard. Do not wash them, but wipe them dry in a clean cloth ; having opened and drawn them, and cut off the heads and tails, dredge them with flour. The frying-pan must be more than two-thirds full of boiling lard ; boiling hard when the smelts are put in, so as to float them on the surface. Cook ten or fifteen minutes, according to size. Sardines. — Sardines are not only delicious relishes for warm days, just as they are taken from their boxes, with no other sauce save the oil they arc preserved in, but they are susceptible of a number of ways of dressing and serving. They may be " grilled " in the fol- lowing manner: Open a box containing one dozen sardines, remove the skins and place the sardines on a tin plate in the oven till they are heated through. Meanwhile pour the oil from the sardines into a small saucepan, set it on the fire, and when it boils put in an even tablespoonful of flour; stir well ; then add gradually two gills of weak -Stock or water. Boil till it is as thick as rich cream, then add one teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce with salt and plenty of cayenne pepper; beat together the yolk of one egg, one teaspoonful of French 424 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. mustard and one teaspoonful of vinegar. Pour the sauce boiling" hot on the egg and other ingredients, stir a moment, then pour it over the sardines, which have been previously placed upon slices of toast. Serve at once upon hot plates. Curried sardines are also very fine. They must be prepared as above and put on toast, but a different sauce is poured over them. Put the oil from the sardines in a small saucepan, add a very small onion or clove of garlic. When the oil boils add one tablespoonful of flour and one teaspoonful of curry powder, then add two gills of stock and boil until a good consistency is reached ; then pour it upon the yolk of an egg beaten with a half teaspoonful of lemon juice ; add cayenne pepper and salt ; pour it ov^er the sardines and serve hot. Another method is to remove the skin and dress them cold, with salt and pepper, and serve them with lettuce or cold-slaw and thin slices of bread and butter before other dishes. OYSTERS. Oyster Soup. — Make your stock of liquor to the quantity of two quarts with any sort of fish the place affords ; put one pint of oysters into a saucepan, strain the liquor, stew them five minutes in their own liquor; then pound the hard parts of the oysters in a mortar with the yolks of three hard eggs ; mix them with some of the soup, then lay them with the remainder of the oysters and liquor in a saucepan, with nutmeg, pepper and salt. Let them boil a quarter of an hour, when they will be done. Broiled Oysters. — Oysters are nice broiled in their shells or lair' in shells for the purpose ; they must be cooked over a bed of hot coals, and butter and pepper added in the shell. Serve hot. To Stew Oysters. — To stew oysters, open them and strain the liquor. Put to them some grated stale bread, and a little pepper and nutmeg. Throw them into the liquor, and add a glass of white wine. Let them stew but a short time, or they will be hard. Have ready some slices of buttered toast with the crust off. When the oysters are done, dip the toast in the liquor and lay the pieces around the COOKERY RECIPES. 425 sides and in the bottom of a deep dish. Pour the oysters and Hquor upon tht; toast, and send them to the table hot Another Way. — Strain the oyster hquor ; rinse the bits of sheUs off the oysters ; then turn the hquor back on the oysters, and put them in a stewpan. Set them to boil up, then turn them on to but- tered toast. Salt, pepper and butter to suit the taste. To Fry Oysters. — Make a batter, then, having washed your oysters and wipad them dry, dip them into the batter, and roll them in some crupbs of bread or crackers finely beaten. Fry them as any other fish. A simpler way to fry oysters is to drain them off the liquor; roll each oyster in finely grated crackers, and fry in a hot pan with sufficient fat. Salt and pepper before taking them up, and then upon the dish add a little butter. Oysters or Cl.-^m Fritters. — One and a half pints of milk ; one and a quarter pounds of flour ; four eggs — whites and yolks beaten separately — whites stirred in lightly at first. Clams must be chopped small ; oysters used whole. Scolloped Oysters. — Three pmts of oysters will make two dishes. First a layer of oysters ; then cover them with crackers rolled fine with a little butter, pepper, salt, and with the liquor of the oysters. Then another layer of oysters covered in the same way with crackers, and put in the oven and bake. Have them nicely browned on the top. MEATS. Broiling. — The utensils used for broiling need but little descrip- tion. The common gridiron used in all our kitchens is the same as it has been for ages past, although some little variety has been intro- duced into its manufacture by the addition of grooves to the bars, by means of which the liquid fat is carried into a small trough. One point it is well to bear in mind, viz., that the gridiron should be kept in a direction slanting toward the cook, so that as little fat as possible may fall into the fire. It has been observed that broiling is the most difficult manual office the general cook has to perform, and one that requires the most unremitting attention ; for she may turn 426 THE HEARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME. her back upon the stewpan or the spit, but the gridiron can never be left with impunity. • Frying. — This very favorite mode of cooking may be accurately described as boiling in fat or oil. Substances dressed in this way are generally well received, for they introduce an agreeable variety, possessing as they do a peculiar flavor. By means of frying, cooks can soon satisfy many requisitions made on them, it being a very expeditious mode of preparing dishes for the table, and one which can be employed when the fire is not suffi- ciently large for the purposes of roasting and boiling. The great point to be borne in mind in frying is that the liquid must be hot enough to act instantaneously, as all the merit of this culinary operation lies in the invasion of the boiling liquid, which carbonizes or burns at the very instant of the immersion of the body placed in it. It may be ascertained if the fat is heated to the proper degree by cutting a piece of bread and dipping it into the frying-pan for five or six seconds; and if it be firm and of a dark brown when taken out, put in immediately what you wish to prepare ; if it be not, let the fat be heated until of the right temperature. This having been effected, moderate the fire, so that the action may not be too hurried, and that by a continuous heat the juices of the substance may be preserved and its flavor enhanced. •It is to be especially remembered, in connection with frying, that all dishes fried in fat should be placed before the fire on a piece of blotting-paper, or sieve reversed, and there left for a few minutes, so that any superfluous greasy moisture may be removed. Boiling, or the preparation of meat by hot water, though one of the easiest processes in cookery, requires skilful management. Boiled meat should be tender, savory, and full of its own juice, or natural gravy ; but, through the carelessness and ignorance of cooks, it is too often sent to table hard, tasteless and innutritions. To insure a successful result in boiling flesh, the heat of the fire must be judi- COOKERY RECIPES. 427 ciously regulated, the proper quantity of water must be kept up in the pot, and the scum which rises to the surface must be carefully re- moved. Many writers on cookery assert that the meat to be boiled should be put into cold zvatcr, and that the pot should be heated gradually ; but Liebig, the highest authority on all matters connected with the chemistry of food, has shown that meat so treated loses some of its most nutritious constituents. " If the flesh," says the great chemist, " be introduced into the boiler when the water is in a state of brisk ebullition, and if the boiling be kept up for a few min- utes and the pot then placed in a warm place, so that the tempera- ture of the water is kept at 158° to 165°, we have the united conditions for giving to the flesh the qualities which best fit it for being eaten." When a piece of meat is plunged into boiling water, the albumen which is near the surface immediately coagulates, form.- ing an envelop which prevents the escape of the internal juice, and most effectually excludes the water, which, by mixing with tins juice, would render the meat insipid. The time allowed for the operation of boiling must be regulated according to the size and quality of the meat. As a general rule, twenty minutes, reckoning from the mo- ment when the boiling commences, may be allowed for every pound of meat. All the best authorities, however, agree in this, that the longer the boiling the more perfect the operation. The vessels used for boiling should be made of cast-iron, well tinned within, and provided with closely-fitting lids. They must be kept scrupulously clean, otherwise they will render the meat cooked in them unsightly and unwholesome. Copper pans, if used at all, should be reserved for operations that are performed with rapidity, as, by long contact with copper, food may become dangerously contaminated. The kettle in which a joint is dressed should be large enough to allow room for a good supply of water ; if the meat be cramped and be sur- rounded with but little water, it will be stewed, not boiled. In stew- ing it is not requisite to have so great a heat as in boiling. A gentle simmering in a small quantity of water, so that the meat is stewed almost in its own juices, is all that is necessary. 428 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Stewing is the cheapest mode of cooking meats. It should be done slowly, the pan partly uncovered, and frequently skimmed. Stewed Tripe. — Five pounds of tripe cut in small pieces. Two onions cut in slices and fried in half-pound of lard ; put in the tripe and let it cook a little, then add a cup of vinegar, a bowl of beef- broth, salt, pepper, and three tablespoonfuls of flour ; mix the whole, and let it stew about fifteen minutes. Boiled Round of Beef. — As a whole round of beef, generally speaking, is too large for small families, and very seldom required, we here give the recipe for dressing a portion of the best side of the round. Take from twelve to sixteen pounds, after it has been in salt about ten days ; just wash off the salt, skewer it up in a nice, round-looking form, and bind it with tape, to keep the skewers in their places. Put it in a saucepan of boiling water, set it upon a good fire, and when it begins to boil, carefully remove all scum from the surface, as, if this is not attended to, it sinks on to the meat, and when brought to table presents a very unsightly appearance. When it is well skimmed, draw the pot to the corner of the fire and let it simmer very gently until done. Remove the tape and skewers, which should be replaced by a silver one ; pour over it a little of the pot- liquor and garnish with carrots. Carrots, turnips, parsnips, and some- times suet dumplings, accompany this dish ; and these may all be boiled with the beef. The pot-liquor should be saved and converted into pea soup ; and the outside slices, which are generally hard and of an uninviting appearance, may be cut off before being sent to table, and potted. These make an excellent relish for the breakfast or lunch- eon-table. Time: Twelve pounds, three hours after the water boils. Roasted Meats. — Roasted meats are really baked meats; but ovens are now so well made and ventilated that there is little difference of flavor in the two processes. Allow ten minutes to the pound if the meat is liked rare, and from twelve to fifteen if well done. It is alivays better to place the meat on a stand made to fit easily in the roasting-pan, so that it may not become sodden in the water used for gravy. Put into a hot oven, that the surface may soon sear over and COOKERY RECIPES. 429 hold in the juices, enough of which will escape for the gravy. All rough bits should have been'trimmed off, and a joint of eight or ten pounds rubbed with a tablespoonful of salt. Dredge thickly with flour, and let it brown on the meat before basting it, which must be done as often as once in fifteen minutes. Pepper lightly. If the water in the pan dries away, add enough to have a pint for gravy in the end. Dredge with flour at least twice, as this makes a crisp and relishable outer crust. Take up the meat, when done, on a hot platter. Make the gravy in the roasting-pan, by setting it on top of the stove, and first scraping up all the browning from the corners and bottom. If there is much fat, pour it carefully off. If the dredging has been well managed while roasting, the gravy will be thick enough. If not, stir a tablespoonful of browned flour smooth in cold water, and add. Should the gravy be too light, color with a tablespoonful of caramel, and taste to see that the seasoning is right. Broiled Beefsteaks or Rumpsteaks. — Select steaks and have ready a piece of butter the size of a walnut; salt to taste, one table- spoonful of good mushroom catsup, or Worcestershire sauce. As the success of a good broil depends on the state of the fire, see that it is bright and clear, and perfectly free from smoke, and do not add any fresh fuel just before you require to use the gridiron. Sprinkle a little salt over the fire, put on the gridiron for a few minutes to get thoroughly hot through ; rub it with a piece of fresh suet to prevent the meat from sticking, and lay on the steaks, which should be cut of an equal thickness, about three-quarters of an inch, or rather thin- ner, and level them by beating as little as possible with a rolling-pin. Turn them frequently with stcak-tongs ; if these are not at hand, stick a fork in the edge of the fat, so that no gravy escapes, and in from eight to ten minutes they will be done. Have ready a very hot dish, into which put the catsup, and, when liked, a little minced shallot ; dish up the steaks, rub them over with butter, and season with pepper and salt. The exact time for broiling steaks must be determined by taste, whether they arc liked underdone or well done ; more than 27 430 THE hearthstone; or, life at HOiME. from eight to ten minutes for a steak three-quarters of an inch in thickness, we think, would spoil and" dry up the juices of the meat. Great expedition is necessary in sending broiled steaks to table; and to have them in perfection, they should not be cooked till everything else prepared for dinner has been dished up, as their excellence en- tirely depends on their being served very hot. Garnish with scraped horse-radish or slices of cucumber. Oyster, tomato, onion, and many other sauces are frequent accompaniments to rumpstcak, but true lovers of this English dish reject all additions but pepper and salt. Seasonable all the year, but not good in the height of summer, as the meat cannot hang long enough to be tender. Broiled Beef-bones. — Separate the bones of ribs or sirloin, taking care that the meat on them is not too thick in any part ; sprinkle them well with salt and pepper, and broil over a very clear fire. When nicely browned they are done, but do not allow them to blacken. To Clarify Beef-dripping. — Good and fresh dripping answers very well for basting everything except game and poultry, and, when well clarified, serves for frying nearly as well as lard. It should be kept in a cool place, and will remain good some time. To clarify it, put the dripping into a basin, pour over it boiling water, and keep stirring the whole to wash away the impurities. Let it stand to cool, when the water and dirty sediment will settle at the bottom of the basin. Remove the dripping, and put it away in jars or basins for use. Beef a la Mode. — Six or seven pounds of the thick flank of beef, a few slices of fat bacon, one teacupful of vinegar, black pepper, all- spice, two cloves, well mixed and finely pounded, making altogether one heaped teaspoonful ; salt to taste ; one bunch of savory herbs, including parsley, all finely minced and well mixed ; two onions, two large carrots, one turnip, one head of celery, one and one-half pint of water, one glass of port wine. Slice and fry the onions of a pale brown, and cut up the other vegetables in small pieces, and prepare the beef for stewing in the following manner: Choose a fine piece of COOKERY RECIPES. 43 1 beef, cut the bacon in long slices, about an inch in thickness, dip them into vinegar, and then into a little of the above seasoning of spices, etc., mixed with the same quantity of minced herbs. With a sharp knife make holes deep enough to let in the bacon ; then rub the beef over with the remainder of the seasoning and herbs, and bind it up in a nice shape with tape. Have ready a well-tinned stewpan (it should not be much larger than the piece of meat you are cooking), into which put the beef, with the vegetables, vinegar and water. Let it simmer very gently for five hours, or rather longer should the meat not be extremely tender, and turn it once or twice. When ready to serve, take out the beef, remove the tape, and put it on a hot dish. Skim off every particle of fat from th^gravy, add the port wine, just let it boil, pour it over the beef, and it is ready to serve. Great care must be taken that this does not boil fast, or the meat will be tough and tasteless ; it should only just bubble. When convenient, all kinds of stews, etc., should be cooked on a hot plate, as the process is so much more gradual than on an open fire. This will be a suffi- cient quantity for seven or eight persons. Beef a la Mode {Virginia fashion). — Use the round of beef and remove the bone ; and for eight pounds allow half a pint of good vinegar, one large onion minced fine ; half a teaspoonful each of mustard, black pepper, cloves and allspice ; and two teaspoonfuls of brown sugar. Cut half a pound of fat salt pork into lardons, or strips, two or three inches long and about half an inch square. Boil the vinegar with the onion and seasoning, and pour over the strips of pork, and let them stand till cold. Then pour off the liquor, and thicken it with bread or cracker crumbs. Make incisions in the beef at regular intervals — a carving steel being very good for this pur- pose — and push in the strips of pork. Fill the hole from which the bone was taken, with the rest of the pork and the dressing, and tie the beef firmly into shape. Put two tablespoons of dripping or lard in a frying-pan, and brown the meat on all sides. This will take about half an hour. Now put the meat on a trivet in the kettle; half cover with boiling water ; and add a tablespoon of salt, a tea- 432 THE HEARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME. spoonful of pepper, an onion and a small carrot cut fine, and two or three sprigs of parsley. Cook very slowly, allowing half an hour to a pound, and make gravy by the directions given for it in the pre- ceding receipt. Braised beef is prepared by either method given here for a la mode beef, but cooked in a covered iron pan, which comes for the purpose, and which is good also for beef a la mode, or for any tough meat which requires long cooking, and is made ten- derer by keeping in all the steam. Beefsteak Pie. — Three pounds of rump-steak, seasoning to taste of salt, cayenne and black pepper, crust water, the yolk of an ^-g^. Have the steaks cut from a rump that has hung a few days, that they may be tender, and be particular that every portion is perfectly sweet. Cut the steaks into pieces about three inches long and two wide, allowing a small piece of fat to each piece of lean, and arrange the meat in layers in a pie-dish. Between each layer sprinkle a season- ing of salt, pepper, and, when liked, a few grains of cayenne. Fill the dish sufficiently with meat to support the crust, and to give it a nice raised appearance when baked, and not to look flat and hollow. Pour in sufficient water to half fill the dish, and border it with paste. Brush it over with a little water, and put on the cover; slightly press down the edges with the thunib, and trim off close to the dish. Ornament the pie with pieces of paste cilt in any shape that fancy may direct, brush it over with the beaten yolk of an &%'g, make a hole in the top of the crust, and bake in a hot oven for about one hour and a half Beefsteak pies may be flavored in various ways, with oysters and their liquor, mushrooms, minced onions, etc. For family pies suet may be used instead of butter or lard for the crust, and clarified beef-dripping answers very well where economy is an object. Pieces of underdone roast or boiled meat may be used in pies very advantageously, but always remove the bone from pie-meat unless it be chicken or game. Baked Beefsteak Pudding. — One and a half pounds of rump- steak, one kidney, six ounces of flour, two eggs, not quite one pint of milk, salt to taste, pepper and salt. Cut the steak into nice square COOKERY RECIPES. 433 pieces with a small quantity of fat, and divide the kidney into small pieces ; make a batter of flour, eggs and milk in the above propor- tion ; lay a little of it at the bottom of the pie-dish ; then put in the steak and kidney, which should be well seasoned with pepper and salt, and pour over the remainder of the batter. Bake for one and a half hours in a brisk but not fierce oven. To Pickle Beef for Winter Use and for Drying. — Cut the beef into suitable pieces, sprinkle a little salt on the bottom of the barrel, pack the beef without adding salt, and when nicely packed, pour over it a brine made by dissolving six pounds of salt for each one hundred pounds of beef, in sufficient cold water to cover it. In three weeks such pieces as are designed for drying will be ready to hang up by soaking them over night to remove the salt from the outside. To Keep dried beef and hams away from flies, pack them in dry salt. This is better than ashes, oats, sawdust, or anything of the kind. Italian Beefsteak. — Score a steak transversely with a sharp knife, cutting it through ; lay it in a stew-pan, with a small piece of butter ; season with pepper and salt, and an onion chopped fine. Let it cook three-quarters of an hour in its own gravy, and serve hot. Beefsteak. — The tenderloin is the best for broiline. If the beef is not very tender it should be laid on a board and pounded before broiling or frying it. Wash it in cold water, then lay it on a grid- iron, place it on a hot bed of coals, and broil it as quick as possible without burning it. Beef-toast is prepared by chopping fine the remnants of beefsteak or cold roast-beef It should be warmed up with a little water, and seasoned with butter, salt and pepper. Slices of bread should be toasted and laid on a platter, on which the meat is to be turned when hot. Boiled Tongue. — In choosing a tongue, ascertain how long it has been dried or pickled, and select one with a smooth skin, which denotes its being young and tender. If'a dried one, and rather hard, soak it at least for twelve hours previous to cooking it : if, however, it is fresh from the pickle, two or three hours arc sufficient for it to 434 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. remain in soak. Put the tongue into a stew-pan with plenty of cold water and a bunch of savory herbs; let it gradually come to a boil, skim well and simmer very gently until tender. Peel off the skin, garnish with tufts of cauliflowers or Brussels sprouts, and serve. Boiled tongue is frequently sent to table with boiled poultry instead of ham, and is, by many persons', preferred. If to serve cold, peel it, fasten it down to a piece of board by sticking a fork through the root, and another through the top to straighten it. When cold, glaze it, and put a paper ruche round the root, and garnish with tufts of parsley. Cook a large smoked tongue from four to four and a half hours ; a small one two and a half to three hours. A large unsoaked tongue three to three and a half hours ; a small one two to two and a half hours. Seasonable at any time. Boiled Breast of Mutton and Caper-sauce. — Breast of mut- ton, bread crumbs, two tablespoonfuls of minced savory herbs (put a large proportion of parsley), pepper and salt to taste. Cut off the superfluous fat ; bone it ; sprinkle over a layer of bread crumbs, minced herbs and seasoning, roll and bind it up firmly. Boil gently for two hours. Remove the tape, and serve with caper-sauce, a little of which should be poured over the meat. Cook two hours. Warmed-over Meats. — Boiled or roasted veal makes a nice dish, chopped fine and warmed up, with just sufficient water to moisten it, and a little butter, salt and pepper added. A little nutmeg and the grated rind of a lemon improve it — none of the white part of the lemon should be used. When well heated through, take it up on a platter, and garnish it with a couple of lemons cut in slices. Fresh or corned beef is good minced fine, with boiled potatoes, and warmed up with salt, pepper, and a little water — add butter just before you take it up. Some people use the gravy that they have Jsft the day before for the meat, but it is not as good when warmed over, and there is no need of its being wasted, as it can be clarified, and used for other purposes. ' Boiled onions or turnips are good mixed with minced meat instead of potatoes. Veal, lamb and mutton are good cut into small strips, and warmed COOKERY RECIPES. 435 with boiled potatoes cut in slices, pepper, salt, a little water — add butter just before you take it up. Roast beef and mutton, if not previously cooked too much, are nice cut in slices, and just scorched on a gridiron. Meat, when warmed over, should be on the fire just long enough to get well heated through ; if on too long, most of the juices of the meat will be extracted, and rendered very indigestible. Cold fowls are nice jointed and warmed with a little water, then taken up and fried in butter till brown. A little flour should be sprinkled on them before frying. Thicken the water that* the fowls were warmed in, add a little salt, pepper and butter, and turn it over the fowls. Sausages. — Chop fresh pork very fine, the lean and fat together (there should be rather more of the lean than the fat) ; season it highly with salt, pepper, sage and other sweet herbs. If you like them, a little saltpetre tends to preserve them. To tell whether they are seasoned enough, do up a little in a cake and fry it. If not seasoned enough, add more seasoning, and fill your skins, which should be previously cleaned thoroughly. A little flour mixed in with the meat tends to prevent the fat from running out when cooked. Sausage-meat is good done up in small cakes and fried. In summer, when fresh pork cannot be procured, very good sausage cakes may be made of raw beef, chopped fine with salt pork, and seasoned with pepper and sage. When sausages are fried they should not be pricked, and they will cook nicer to have a little fat put in the frying-pan with them. They should be cooked slowly. If you do not like them very fat, take them out of the pan when nearly done, and finish cooking them on a gridiron. Bologna-sausages are made of equal weight each of ham, veal and pork, chopped very fine, seasoned high, and boiled in casings till tender, then dried. Roast H.\unch of Venison. — Choose a haunch with clear, briglit, and thick fat, and the cleft of the hoof smooth and close — the greater quantity of fat there is the better quality will the meat be. As many people object to venison when it has too much haul gout, ascertain 436 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. how long it has been kept by running a sharp skewer into the meat close to the bone. When this is withdrawn, its sweetness can be judged of. With care and attention it will keep good for a long time during the winter, unless the weather is very mild. Keep it per- fectly dry by wiping it with clean cloths till not the least damp re- mains. When required for use, wash it in warm water, and dry it well with a cloth. Butter a sheet of white paper, put it over the fat; lay a coarse paste, about half an inch in thickness, over this, and then a sheet or two of strong paper. Tie the whole firmly on to the haunch with twine, and put the joint down to a strong, close fire ; baste the venison immediately, to prevent the paper and string from burning, and continue this operation, without intermission, the whole of the time it is cooking. About twenty minutes before it is done, carefully remove the paste and paper, dredge the joint with flour, and baste with butter until it is nicely frothed, and of a nice pale-brown color ; garnish the knuckle-bone with a frill of white paper, and serve with a good, strong, but unflavored, gravy in a tureen, and currant- jelly ; or melt the jelly with a little port wine, atid serve that also in a tureen. As the principal object in roasting venison is to preserve the fat, the above is the best mode of doing so where expense is not objected to ; but, in ordinary cases, the paste may be dispensed with, and a double paper placed over the roast instead. It will not require so long cooking without the paste. Do not omit to send very hot plates to table, as the venison fat soon freezes. To be thoroughly enjoyed by epicures, it should be eaten on hot water plates. The neck and shoulder may be roasted in the same manner. A large haunch of buck-venison, with the paste, should be cooked from three and a quarter to three and three-quarters of an hour. Allow less time without paste. This is a large amount, and would be sufficient for a party of eighteen persons. Boiled Leg of Mutton. — A leg of mutton for boiling should not hang too long, as it will not look a good color when dressed. Cut off the shank-bone, trim the knuckle, and wash and wipe it very COOKERY RECIPES. 437 clean ; plunge it into sufficient boiling water to cover it, let it boil up. Then draw the saucepan to the side of the fire, where it should remain till the finger can be borne in the water. Then place it sufficiently near the fire, that the water may gently simmer, and be very careful that it does not boil fast, or the meat will be hard. Skim well, add a little salt, and in about two and a quarter hours after the water begins to simmer, a moderate-sized leg of mutton will be done. Serve with carrots and mashed turnips, which may be boiled with the meat, and send caper-sauce to the table with it. To cook a moderate-sized leg of mutton of nine pounds it will take two and a quarter hours after the water boils ; one of twelve pounds, three hours. The liquor this joint was boiled in should be converted into soup. An Excellent Way to Cook a Breast of Mutton. — Cut the breast of mutton into pieces about two inches square, and let it be tolerably lean ; put it into a stewpan, with a little fat or butter, and fry it of a nice brown. Then dredge in a little flour, slice two onions, and put them with the herbs in the stewpan ; pour in sufficient water just to cover the meat, and simmer the whole gently until the mutton is tender. Take out the meat, strain, and skim off all the fat from the gravy, and put both the meat and the gravy back into the stewpan ; add about a quart of young green peas, and let them boil gently until done ; two or three slices of bacon added and stewed with the mutton give additional flavor ; and, to insure the peas being a beautiful green color, they may be boiled in water separately, and added to the stew at the moment of serving. Broiled Mutton and Tomato Sauce. — Cut some nice slices from a cold leg or shoulder of mutton ; season them with pepper and salt, and broil over a clear fire. Make some tomato sauce, pour it over the mutton, and serve. This makes an excellent dish, and must be served very hot. Mutton Chop. — Broil over a quick fire, sprinkle a little salt on it while cooking; turn often, and, when done, season well with butter, salt and pepper. A Plain Stew, — Take finely-chopped beef suet or other fat, and 438 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. warm through, slice in a good many onions right across in rings, let them just change color in the fat; sprinkle over some flour, and add warm water. Place into this gravy small pieces of steak, cut thick ; add pepper and salt, and cover up close, to stew for twenty minutes. Place then over the stew as many potatoes as will be required for dinner, pretty well of one size, and close up again, allowing the whole to simmer gently till done. Do not stir at all, so that the potatoes remain whole. Add, the last ten minutes, two spoonfuls of sauce or mushroom catsup, and let simmer for that time. Turn out carefully, placing the potatoes, which will be whole, round the dish. This stew has been very successful. A good and cheap mutton stew is made with a piece of breast or neck of mutton by placing it in a saucepan Avith the usual gravy or warm water, and slicing over it turnips and carrots, also a parsnip and onion if desired. Cover this w^ith a suet crust made of flour, finely chopped beef suet and warm water. Put the crust right over the stew, and now let simmer till done. It will make an excellent meal for a large family of small means. Irish Stew. — Take three pounds of the loin or neck of mutton, five pounds of potatoes, five large onions, pepper and salt to taste, rather more than one pint of water. Trim off some of the fat of the above quantity of loin or neck of mutton, and cut it into chops of a moderate thickness ; pare and halve the potatoes, and cut the onions into thick slices; put a layer of potatoes at the bottom of a stewpan, then a layer of mutton and onions, and season Vv^ith pepper and salt; proceed in this manner until the stewpan is full, taking care to have plenty of vegteables at the top ; pour in the water, and let it stew very gently for two and a half hours, keeping the lid of the stewpan closely shut the whole time, and occasionally shaking the prepara- tion to prevent its burning. A Nice Stew. — A pound of beef, with the addition of two or three potatoes, and the gravy of the last roast thickened with crum.bs of stale bread, makes an ample stew for an ordinary-sized family. Potted Meats. — Cooked meats that are left over and remain on hand should be potted. Cut the meat from the bone, chop fine, and COOKERY RECIPES. 439 season high with salt, pepper, cloves and cinnamon ; moisten with vinegar, wine, brandy, cider, or sauce or melted butter, according to the kind of meat or to suit your own taste. Then pack it tight into a stone jar and cover over the top with about quarter of an inch of melted butter. It will keep months, and always afford a ready and excellent dish for the breakfast or tea-table. Roast Leg of Lamb. — Let the fire be moderate, and roast the joint slowly, basting it frequently till done, when it should be sprinkled with salt, and the gravy freed from all fat before serving. Beef Patties. — Chop fine rare roast beef, season with pepper, salt and a little onion. Make a plain paste, cut into shape hke an apple puff, fill with the mince, and bake quickly. Spiced Veal. — Chop three pounds of veal-steak and one thick slice of salt pork as fine as sausage meat ; add to it three Boston crackers rolled fine, half a teacup of tomato catsup, three well-beaten eggs, one and one-half teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of pepper, and one grated lemon. Mould it in the form of a loaf of bread, in a small dripping-pan ; cover with one rolled cracker, and baste with a teacupful of hot water and two tablespoonfuls of butter. Bake three hours, basting very often. This is an excellent dish for tea. Veal and Ham Sandwiches. — Sandwiches are good made of veal and knuckle of ham simmered a long time in a very little water, until perfectly tender, then freed from the bones and chopped to- gether. Spread the mixture like butter, add mustard, and cover with another piece of bread, lightly buttered, as for ordinary sandwiches. Ve.\l Pie (i). — Five pounds of good veal ; cut it in small pieces; put in a kettle with water to cover it ; cov^er close, and boil two hours. P^or crust, one and one-half cup of sour milk, one-half cup of sweet suet or butter ; one teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of soda. But- ter a five-quart pan, and put in the crust. Do not roll it too thin. Put in your veal ; pepper and salt to taste ; pour in the water the veal was boiled* in ; a piece of butter the size of an egg ; dredge in a spoon- ful of flour, roll a litde lard in the top crust, wet the edge of your under crust before putting the top on ; bake a nice brown. 440 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Veal Pie (2). — The following is a good recipe for English ham and veal pie, which was a favorite with many of Dickens' characters : " Fry- two large veal cutlets from a leg of veal ; take half pound of ham ; cut the veal and ham in pieces about two inches square and place them in a saucepan with a quart of broth ; when nearly done pour in a dish and let cool ; thicken the gravy with butter and flour ; slice one large onion, three hard-boiled eggs ; add a little sage and chopped parsley, pepper and salt ; arrange meat and eggs in a dish, and pour gravy over; cover pie with puff paste and ornament with fancy cut pieces of paste ; make a hole on top. Pickled Tongue. — Take a corned beef's tongue and boil until tender ; take off the skin ; put it in a stone basin or jar, and cover it with good cider-vinegar ; add a few allspice, whole peppers and cloves — not more than a dozen of each. Broiled Ham and Eggs. — Cut the ham in thin slices, take off the rind, wash the slices in cold water, and lay them on the gridiron over quick coals. Turn frequently, and they will soon be broiled. Take them up on a platter (previously warmed), butter and pepper the ham. Have ready on the fire a pan of boiling water from the tea-kettle; break into it as many eggs as you require for the meal, and, when the " white " is done, dip out each egg carefully with a spoon, so as to keep it whole, and set it on one of the slices of ham. After all are arranged, sprinkle pepper over each egg and serve. To Boil a Ham. — Take a ham weighing about eight or ten pounds, soak it for twelve or twenty-four hours in cold water, then cover with boiling water ; add one pint of vinegar, two or three bay leaves, a little bunch of thyme and parsley. The dried and sifted will do, or even the seed of parsley may be used if the fresh cannot be procured. Boil very slowly two hours and a half; skim it ; remove all the fat except a layer about half an inch thick ; cut off with a sharp knife all the black-looking outside ; put the ham into your dripping- pan, fat side uppermost, grate bread-crust over it, and sprinkle a teaspoonful of powdered sugar over it; put it in the oven for half an hour until it is brown. Eat cold. Cut the nicest portions into slices, COOKERY RECIPES. 44I and the ragged and little odds and ends can be chopped fine and used for sandwiches. Small hams are better in flavor and quality than large ones. A brush should be kept to scrub them with, as it is impossible to get them clean without it. The fat that is taken off is useless, save for soap-grease. In carving, cut down in thin slices through the middle. Pigs' Feet. — Wrap each pig's foot in a cotton bandage wound two or three times around it, and well corded with twine. Then boil for four hours. Let them remain in the bandages till needed to fry, boil or pickle. The skin will hold it together while being cooked, and when ready for the table they will be found tender and deli- cate. Souse. — Boil the pigs' feet until the bones come out easily ; put them in a stone pot with pepper and salt, and a few allspice, and cover them with good cider vinegar; they may be eaten cold, or dipped in flour and fried. Another way is to pick out all the bones, season the meat with pepper, salt and sage, and warm it up as you want to use it. Pigs' feet, after being boiled, are very nice cut up in small pieces and stewed ; make the gravy with butter, a little flour and water. Pork and Beans. — Look over the beans, and put them in soak the evening previous to cooking, in soft water. Parboil, and throw off the water twice; prepare a piece of pork, and put it in the beans with the third water. Let the water boil up, skim, and boil five min- utes, and drain both pork and beans thoroughly. Have ready boiling water, put Ihe beans and pork into the pot, with as little water as will cover them, simmer gently until tender. The water should all be evaporated when done, leaving the beans nearly dry. Taste, and if not sufficiently salted by the pork, season with more, but be careful not to get too much salt. Spread the beans evenly in a baking-dish ; slash the pork, and put it on a pan by itself to bake ; it should be handsomely browned. Stir the beans often, until within twenty min- utes of dinner-time, then spread them evenly, and let them brown. If they do not look sufficiently brown, wet them over with egg, and 442 THE HEARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME. brown with hot-iron, or any other manner convenient. Lay the pork in the middle, without the fat which dripped from it in roasting. POULTRY AND GAME. Roast Turkey. — A good-sized turkey should be roasted two hours and a half, or three hours, very slowly at first. If you wish to make plain stuffing, pound a cracker, or crumble some bread very fine ; chop some raw salt pork very fine, sift some sage, savory, and mould them all together, seasoned with a little pepper; an cg^ worked in makes the stuffing cut better. Another Way to Roast a Turkey. — Unless it is badly soiled, never soak, or wash a turkey, as many do. Indeed, washing in- jures any kind of meat and fish, except those kept in salt brine. Carefully draw the turkey and wipe thoroughly inside and out witl'^ a dry towel. It will thus keep longer uncooked, and be better flavored. If it chances to be a tough one, steam it an hour or two, as needed, before baking. If one has not a steamer large enough, as few have, it may be done in a wash-boiler, supporting the bird above the water on a couple of inverted basins, or suspending it by strings from the handles. Use stale bread chopped fine, just moistened with scalding water, not to a " mush," and add a little butter, salt, pepper, and, if desired, a small pinch of sweet marjoram or thyme. After stuffing and sewing, fasten the wings and legs down closely with skevv^ers, or by tying with strings. Roast in the dripping-pan witliout ivaia\ To keep the skin from scorching, baste now and then with a little water seasoned with butter and salt. Bake through uniformly to a light brown, avoiding burning or hardening any part. A good oyster stuff- ing, when easily obtainable, is liked by many, as follows : Drain off most of the liquor from the oysters, season with sufficient butter and pepper, and roll them in cracker or bread crumbs. Fill the cavity of the turkey entirely with these. Boiled Turkey. — Hen-turkeys are preferable for boiling on ac- count of their whiteness and tenderness, and one of itioderate size should be selected, as a large one is not suitable for boiling. After COOKERY RECIPES. 443 having dressed, trussed and stuffed the bird, put into sufficient boiling water to cover it ; let it come to a boil, then carefully remove all the scum. Let it simmer very gently from one and a half to two hours, according to size. Serve with melted-butter sauce, or with oysters. To B.4KE A Turkey. — Let the turkey be picked, singed, and washed and wiped dry, inside and out. Joint only to the first joints in the legs, and cut some of the neck off if it is all bloody; then cut one dozen small gashes in the fleshy parts of the turkey, on the outside and in different parts, and press one whole oyster in each gash ; then close the skin and flesh over each oyster as tightly as possible ; then stuff your turkey, leaving a little room for the stuffing to swell. When stuffed, sew it up with a stout cord, rub over lightly with flour, sprinkle a little salt and pepper on it, and put some in your dripping- pan. Put in your turkey; baste it often with its own drippings ; bake to a nice brown ; thicken your gravy with a little flour and water. Be sure and keep the bottom of the dripping-pan covered with water, or it will burn the gravy and make it bitter. Stewed Turkey. — An old turkey is more tender if .stewed than cooked in any other way ; put in a large stew-kettle half a pound of bacon cut in slices, four ounces of knuckle of veal, three .sprigs of parsley, two of thyme, a bayleaf, six small onions, one carrot cut in four pieces, three cloves, one clove of garlic, salt, pepper, and then the turkey ; add one quart of broth ; cover as nearly air-tight as pos- sible ; place over a moderate fire, and let it simmer — not boil — about two hours and a half; after this, dish the turkey; strain the sauce and put it back on the fire to reduce it to jelly, which spread on the turkey and serve; if to be used cold, the turkey can be prepared one or two days in advance, and the jelly may be cut in squares and' laid over and about the turkey. Chicken Pie (i). — Line the sides of a baking-dish with a good crust. Have your chickens cooked as for a fricassee, seasoned with salt, pepper and butter; before they are quite done lay them in a baking- dish, and pour on part of the gravy which you have thickened with a little flour. Cover it then with puff-paste ; in the centre of this 444 THE HEARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME. cover cut a small hole the size of a silver dollar, and spread a piece of dough twice its size over it. When baked remove this piece and examine the interior; if it is getting dry, pour in more of the re- maining gravy ; cover it again and serve. It should be baked in a quick oven. Pigeon and veal pies are made after the above recipe. Chicken Pie (2). — Joint the chickens, which should be young and tender ; boil them in just sufficient water to cover them. When nearly tender take them out of the liquor and lay them in a deep pud- ding-dish, lined with pie-crust. To each layer of chicken put three or four slices of pork, add a little of the liquor in which they were boiled, and a couple of ounces of butter cut into small pieces ; sprinkle a little flour over the whole; cover it with nice pie-crust, and ornament the top with some of the pastry. Bake it in a quick oven one hour. Chickens. — For roasting or boiling, chickens should have a dress- ing prepared like that for turkeys. Half a teacup of rice boiled with them makes them look white. Smothered Chicken {Southern method'). — Dress young chickens; wash and let them stand in water half an hour to make them wdiite ; put into a baking-pan (first cutting them open at the back); sprinkle salt and pepper over them, and put a lump of butter here and there; then cover tightly with another pan the same size, and bake one hour; baste often with butter. A delicious dish. Chicken or Fowl Patties. — Take the remains of cold roast chicken or fowl ; to every quarter of a pound of meat allow two ounces of ham, three tablespoonfuls of cream, two tablespoonfuls of veal gravy, one-half tablespoonful of minced lemon-peel ; cayenne, .salt and pepper to taste ; one tablespoonful of lemon-juice, one ounce of butter rolled in flour; puff-paste. Mince very small the white meat from a cold roast fowl, after removing all the skin ; weigh it, and to every quarter of a pound of meat allow the above proportion of minced ham. Put these into a stewpan with the remaining ingre- dients, stir over the fire for ten or fifteen minutes, taking care that the mixture does not burn. Roll out some puff-paste about one-quarter COOKERY RECIPES. 445 of an inch in thickness ; line the patty-pans with this, put upon each a small piece of bread, and cover with another layer of paste ; brush over with the yolk of an egg, and bake in a brisk oven for about one-quarter of an hour. When done, cut a round piece out of the top, and with a small spoon take out the bread (be particular in not breaking the outside border of the crust), and fill the patties with the mixture. It will require one-quarter of an hour to prepare the meat; not quite fifteen minutes to bake the crust. Fried Chicken. — Cut up the chicken and parboil it; then season each piece with salt and pepper, rub with flour, and fry in hot lard. After the chicken is fried, make gravy in the pan, using the broth in which the chicken was cooked. Roast Goose. — If the goose be an old one, put it in a pot with cold water, and let it remain until the water becomes boiling hot; then take it out, put an onion inside of it, but no other dressing. Roast it then, watching it that it does not get too much browned. If the gravy be too fat, as is generally the case, take off the top, sprinkle in a little flour, and, if you like, add a few oysters ; let it boil up, and serve. Onions and apple-sauce or jelly are the peculiar accompaniments of a goose. Partridge Pie. — Take three partridges, pepper and salt to taste; one teaspoonful of minced parsley, three-quarters of a pound of veal cutlet, a slice of ham, half-pint of stock, puff-paste. Line a pie-dish with a veal cutlet; over that place a slice of ham and a seasoning of pepper and salt. Pluck, draw and wipe the partridges ; cut off the legs at the first joint, and season them inside with pepper, salt, minced parsley, and a small piece of butter ; place them in the dish, and pour over the stock ; line the edges of the dish with puff-paste, cover with the same ; brush it over with the yolk of an egg, and bake from three- quarters to one hour. Note. — Should the partridges be very large, split them in half; they will then lie in the dish more compactly. Some cooks carve the partridges into joints before placing them in the dish. This plan is commendable on account of the ease with which the pie can be helped. 20 446 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Pigeons on Toast. — Split some young pigeons down the^back, wipe them, season with pepper and salt, rub with butter, sprinkle lightly with flour, and broil over a clear fire. Toast some neat, thin slices of bread, butter them quickly, and put a pigeon on each slice, arranging about them some sprigs of fine watercress. Boiled Rabbit. — For boiling, choose rabbits with smooth and sharp claws, as that denotes they are young ; should these be blunt and rugged, the ears dry and tough, the animal is old. After empty- ing and skinning it, wash it well in cold water, and let it soak for about one-quarter of an hour in warm water to draw out the blood. Bring the head round to the side, and fasten it there by means of a skewer run through that and the body. Put the rabbit into sufficient hot water to cover it ; let it boil very gently until tender, which will be in from one-half to three-quarters of an hour, according to its size and age. Dish it, and smother it either with onions or liver- sauce, or parsley and butter ; the former is, however, generally pre- ferred to any of the last-named sauces. When liver-sauce is preferred, the liver should be boiled for a few minutes and minced very finely, or rubbed through a sieve before it is added to the sauce. A very young rabbit will require to be cooked one-half hour ; a large one three-quarters of an hour; an old one one hour or longer. Stewed Rabbit. — Cut a rabbit into small joints ; put them into a stewpan; add two large onions, sliced, six cloves, and one small tea- spoonful of chopped lemon-peel. Pour in sufficient water to cover the meat, and, when the rabbit is nearly done, drop in a few force- meat balls, to which has been added the liver, finely chopped. Thicken the gravy with flour and butter, put in a large tablespoonful of tomato or any preferred catsup; give one boil and serve. A Delicious Stuffing for any fowl, but especially for the delicately flavored chicken, or any of the small fowls, is made by taking about two dozen oysters ; chop them very fine, and mix them with two cups of fine bread crumbs, or powdered crackers. A full ounce of butter is required. A tablespoonful of chopped parsley, a little grated lemon peel, plenty of salt and black pepper, and a suspicion of cayenne pep- COOKERY RECIPES. 44/ per; mix these thoroughly; that is half the secret of success in cooking, to have the ingredients which compose a dish so blended that it is impossible to tell precisely of what it is composed. This stuffing should be moistened with a little of the oyster liquor, and the beaten yolk of one egg. SAUCES AND GRAVIES. The preparation and appearances of sauces and gravies are of the highest consequence, and in nothing does the talent and taste of the cook more display itself. Their special adaptability to the various viands they are to accompany cannot be too much studied in order that they may harmonize and blend with them as perfectly, so to speak, as does a pianoforte accompaniment with the voice of the singer. Brown sauces, generally speaking, should scarcely be so thick as white sauces; and it is well to bear in mind that all those which are intended to mask the various dishes of poultry or meat should be of a sufficient consistency to slightly adhere to the fowls or joints over which they are poured. For browning and thickening sauces, etc., browned flour may be properly employed. Sauces should possess a decided character, and whether sharp or sweet, savory or plain, they should carry out their names in a distinct manner, although, of course, not so much flavored as to make them too piquant on the one hand, or too mawkish on the other. Gravies and sauces should be sent to table very hot, and there is all the more necessity for the cook to see to this point, as, from their being usually served in small quantities, they are more liable to cool quickly than if they were in a larger body. Those sauces of which cream or eggs form a component part should be well stirred as soon as these ingredients are added to them, and must never be allowed to boil, as in that case they would instantly curdle. Brown Apple Sauce. — Use six good-sized apples, one-half pint of brown gravy, cayenne to taste. Put the gravy in a stewpan, and add the apples, after having pared, cored and quartered them. Let 448 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. them simmer gently till tender ; beat them to a pulp, and season with cayenne. Bread Sauce (to seme zvith roast turkey, fowl, game, etc) — Gib- lets of poultry, three-quarters of a pound of the crumbs of a stale loaf, one onion, twelve whole peppers, one blade of mace, salt to taste, two tablespoonfuls of cream or melted butter, one pint of water. Put the giblets, with the head, neck, legs, etc., into a saucepan ; add the onion, pepper, mace, salt, and rather more than one pint of water. Let this simmer for an hour; then strain the liquor over the bread, which should be previously grated or broken into small pieces. Cover up the saucepan, and leave it for an hour by the side of the fire; then beat the sauce up with a fork until no lumps remain and the whoU is nice and smooth. Let it boil for three or four minutes; keep stirring it until it is rather thick, then add three tablespoonfuls of good melted butter or cream, and serve very hot. Time — Two hours and a quarter. Browning for Gravies and Sauces. — The browning for soups answers equally well for sauces and gravies, when it is absolutel)'' necessary to color them in this manner ; but where they can be made to look brown by using catsup, wine, browned flour, tomatoes, or any color sauce, it is far preferable. As, however, in cooking, so much depends upon appearance, perhaps it would be as well for the inexperienced cook to use the artificial means. When no browning is at hand, and you wish to heighten the color of your gravy, dis- solve a lump of sugar in an iron spoon over a sharp fire ; when it is in a liquid state, drop it in the sauce or gravy quite hot. Care, how- ever, must be taken not to put in too much, as it would impart a disagreeable flavor. * Clarified Butter. — Put the butter in a basin before the fire, and when it melts stir it round once or twice, and let it settle. Do not strain it unless absolutely necessary, as it causes so much waste. Pour it gently off into a clean, dry jar, carefully leaving all sediment behind. Let it cool, and carefully exclude the air by means of a bladder, or wash-leather, tied over. If the butter is salt, it may be washed before melting, when it is to be used for sweet dishes. COOKERY RECIPES. 449 Melted Buiter {economical). — Two ounces of butter, one dessert- spoonful of flour, salt to taste, half-pint of water. Mix the flour and water to a smooth batter, which put into a saucepan. Add the butter and a seasoning of salt; keep stirring one way till all the ingredients are melted and perfectly smooth ; let the whole boil for a minute or two, and serve. Simmer two minutes. Caper Sauce for Fish. — Half-pint of melted butter, three dessert- spoonfuls of capers, one dessertspoonful of their liquor, a small piece of glaze, if at hand (this may be dispensed with), one-quarter teaspoonful of salt, ditto of pepper, one tablespoonful of anchovy essence. Cut the capers across once or twice, but do not chop them fine ; put them in a saucepan with a half-pint of good melted butter, and add all the other ingredients. Keep stirring the whole until it just simmers, when it is ready to serve. Gravy for Roast Beef. — Melt a little salt in a gill of water ; pour it over a roast when put in the oven ; place under it an earthen dish to catch the drippings. Baste often for half an hour, then set it to cool. When cool remove all fat, heat the gravy and pour it over the roast. Gravy for Steak. — Put in a platter for two slices of steak a piece of butter the size of an Q^%, cut in small pieces. Add a little salt, a dust of pepper, and two tablespoonfuls of hot water. Do not let it boil, but just melt and keep warm. Cheap Gravy for Minced Meat. — Bones and trimmings of cold roast or boiled veal, one pint and a half of water, one onion, quarter of a teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel, quarter of a teaspoonful of salt, one blade of pounded mace, the juice of quarter of a lemon, thickening of butter and flour. Put all the ingredients into a stew- pan, except the thickening and lemon-juice, and let them simmer very gently for an hour. Gravy for Venison. — Trimmings of venison, three or four mutton shank-bones, salt to taste, one pint of water, two teaspoonfuls of walnut-catsup. Brown the trimmings over a nice, clear fire, and put them in the stewpan with the shank-bones and water; simmer gently •J 450 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. for two hours, strain and skim, and add the walnut-catsup and a seasoning of salt. Let it just boil, when it is ready to serve. Cook two hours. Substitute for Caper Sauce. — Half a pint of melted butter, two tablespoonfuls of cut parsley, half a teaspoonful of salt, one table- spoonful of vinegar. Boil the parsley slowly to let it become a good color; cut, but do not chop it fine. Add to it a half-pint of smoothly- made melted butter, with salt and vinegar in the above proportions. Let it simmer two minutes, and then serve. Celery Sauce {for boiled turkey, poultry, etc.) — Six heads of celery, one pint of white stock, two blades of mace, one small bunch of savory herbs ; thickening of butter and flour, or arrowroot, half a pint of cream, lemon-juice. Boil the celery in salt and water till ten- der, and cut into pieces two inches long. Put the stock into a stew- pan with the mace and herbs, and let it simmer for one-half hour to extract their flavor. Then strain the liquor, add the celery and a thickening of butter kneaded with flour, or, what is still better, with arrowroot; just before serving, put in the cream, boil it up and squeeze in a little lemon-juice. If necessary, add a seasoning of salt and white pepper. Celery Sauce. — Take four heads of celery, wash and boil it in salt and water till tender, and cut into pieces two inches long ; use half a pint of melted butter made with a little milk, and put in the celery, pounded mace and seasoning. Simmer for three minutes, when the sauce will be ready to serve. It will require twenty-five minutes to boil the celery. Tomato Sauce for Keeping. — To every quart of tomato pulp allow one pint of cayenne vinegar, three-quarters of an ounce of shallots, three-quarters of an ounce of garlic, peeled and cut in slices; »salt to taste. To every six quarts of liquor, one pint of soy, one pint •of anchovy sauce. Gather the tomatoes quite ripe ; bake them in a slow oven till tender ; rub them through a sieve, and to every quart of pulp add cayenne vinegar, garlic, shallots and salt, in the above proportion. Boil the whole together till the garlic and shallots are COOKERY RECIPES. 451 quite soft ; then rub it through a sieve, put it again into a saucepan, and to every six quarts of the liquor add one pint of soy, and the same quantity of anchovy sauce, and boil all together for about twenty minutes ; bottle off for use, and carefully seal or resin the corks. This will keep good for two or three years, but will be fit for use in a week. A useful and less expensive sauce may be made by omitting the anchovy and soy. Time, altogether, one hour. Pepper Sauce. — One head of cabbage, twenty-five green peppers and a small measure of onions. Chop fine. Add one-half pound of mustard-seed and a handful of salt ; put it in a stone pot, with vinegar enough to wet it thoroughly. Chow-chow. — Four quarts chopped tomatoes, one quart chopped onions, one pint chopped peppers, half-cup white mustard-seed, half- cup salt. Mix and cover with cold vinegar, then add sugar and curry powder to taste. To Preserve Parsley through the Winter. — Use freshly- gathered parsley for keeping, and wash it perfectly free from grit and dirt; put it into boiling water which has been slightly salted and well skimmed, and then let it boil for two or three minutes ; take it out, let it drain and lay it on a sieve in front of the fire, when it should be dried as expeditiously as possible. Store it away in a very dry place in bottles, and when wanted for use, pour over it a little warm water, and let it stand for about five minutes. Keeping Sweet Cider. — Heat the cider until it boils, pour into bottles, which have been previously heated to prevent cracking. Cork tight, and seal immediately, as in canning fruit. The cider will keep unchanged for years. Home-made Vinegar. — To one pint of strained honey add two gallons of soft water. Let it stand in a moderately warm place ; in three weeks it will be excellent vinegar. Cheap Vinegar. — Take a quantity of common Irish potatoes, wash them until they are thoroughly clean, place them in a large vessel, and boil until done. Drain off carefully the water they were cooked in, straining it, if necessary, in order to remove every particle 452 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. of the potato. Then put this potato-water in a jug or keg, which set near the stove, or in some place where it will be kept warm, and add one pound of sugar to about two gallons and a half of the water, some hop yeast, or a small portion of whiskey. Let it stand three or four weeks and you will have excellent vinegar, at the cost of six or seven cents per gallon. Spiced Tomatoes. — One peck of tomatoes, three pounds of brown sugar; boil four or five hours. One hour before taking from the fire, add one pint of vinegar and a handful of spices, consisting of un- ground cinnamon, cloves and mace. Spiced Sweetmeats. — Ten pounds of fruit, six pounds of brown sugar, one ounce of ground cloves, one ounce of allspice, one ounce of cinnamon, a little mace. Hot Spice {a delicious adjujict to chops, steaks, gravies, etc) — Three drams each of ginger, black pepper and cinnamon, seven cloves, half an ounce of mace, quarter of an ounce of cayenne, one ounce of grated nutmeg, an ounce and a half of white pepper. Pound the ingredients and mix them thoroughly together, taking care that everything is well blended. Put the spice in a very dry glass bottle for use. The quantity of cayenne may be increased should the above not be enough to suit the palate. Crab Sauce for Fish [equal to Lobster Sauce). — Choose a nice fresh crab, pick all the meat away from the shell, and cut it into small square pieces. Make half a pint of melted butter, and put it in the fish and seasoning ; let it gradually warm through, and sim- mer for two minutes. It should not boil. Cucumber Vinegar [a very nice addition to salads). — Use ten large cucumbers or twelve small ones, one quart of vinegar, two onions, two shallots, one tablespoonful of salt, two tablespoonfuls of pepper, one-quarter of a teaspoonful of cayenne. Pare and slice the cucumbers, put them in a stone jar or open-mouthed bottle with the vinegar ; slice the onions and shallots, and add them, with all the other ingredients, to the cucumbers. Let it stand four or five days, boil it all up, and when cold strain the liquor through a COOKERY RECIPES. 453 piece of muslin, and store it away in small bottles well sealed. This vinegar is a very nice addition to gravies, hashes, etc., as well as a great improvement to salads, or to eat with cold meat. Caramel for Coloring. — Haifa pound of brown sugar, one table- spoonful of water put into a frying-pan, and stir steadily over the fire till it becomes a deep, dark brown in color; then add one cup of boiling water and one teaspoonful of salt ; boil a minute longer, bottle and keep corked. One tablespoonful will color a clear soup, and it can be used for jellies, gravies and sauces. VEGETABLES. Miss Corson's Rules for Vegetables. — There is no better authority than Miss Corson on cooking, and her method for pre- paring vegetables is as follows : Spinach is an excellent dish when well cooked ; take two quarts, wash, boil for two minutes in salted boiling water, drain, chop and heat in a frying-pan for two minutes with an ounce each of butter and flour ; half a pint of meat broth is added, the compound is stirred and heated for five minutes, and served with small pieces of fried bread. Second only to spinach are beet- sprouts, which will soon put forth their tender claims for considera- tion ; we all know them boiled, but after they are boiled they gain in flavor by being fried for two or three minutes in butter. New cab- bage scalded five minutes in fast-boiling water, coarsely chopped, sprinkled with flour, salt and pepper, and gently stewed for five min- utes with milk or cream enough to cover it, is good. So, too, is red cabbage sliced, thrown for fifteen minutes into scalding salted water and vinegar, then drained, and fried five minutes with butter, and served with a little hot meat gravy. Lettuce, which seems devoted to "salad days," is excellent stuffed; it is well. washed in salted cold water, the roots trimmed off, two tablespoonfuls of cooked force-meat of any kind, or chopped cold meat highly seasoned, inclosed within the leaves which are bound together with tape or strips of cloth ; several heads thus prepared are placed in a saucepan, covered with broth or cold gravy well seasoned, and set over the fire to simmer 454 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. about five minutes; the tapes are then removed and the lettuce heads and sauce are served hot. A hnk between cabbage and lettuce are Brussels sprouts, those tender, baby cabbages, which, stewed in cream, or quickly fried in butter, almost incline one's thoughts to vegetarianism. Beets are familiar enough boiled and sliced, either served hot with butter, pepper and salt, or pickled, but a novelty is a beet pudding, made by mixing a pint of cooked sugar-beets, chopped, with four eggs, a quart of milk, a little salt and pepper, a tablespoonful of butter, and baking them about half an hour ; cold boiled beets sliced and fried with butter are palatable ; to cook them so that none of their color shall be lost, carefully wash them without breaking the skin or cutting off the roots or stalks, and boil them until tender, about an hour, in boiling salted water. Turnips, either white or yellow, stewed in gravy, are excellent. Choose a quart of small, even size ; peel them ; boil them fifteen min- utes in well-salted boiling water; drain them; put them into a frying- pan with sufficient butter to prevent burning ; brown them ; stir in a tablespoonful of flour ; cover them with hot water ; add a palatable seasoning of salt and pepper, and stew them gently until tender. Or peel and cut them in small, regular pieces ; brown them over the fire with a little butter and a slight sprinkling of sugar; add salt and pepper, and boiling water enough to cover them, and gently stew them until tender; serve them hot. Parsnips are not sufficiently appreciated, perhaps because of their too sweet taste ; but this can be overcome to a palatable extent by judicious cookery ; they are excellent when sliced, after boiling and warmed in a sauce made by mixing flour, butter and milk over the fire and seasoning it with salt and pepper ; as soon as warm they are served with a little chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon-juice. For parsnips fried brown in an old-fashioned iron pot with slices of salt pork and a seasoning of salt and pepper, several good words might be said. Carrots boiled and mashed and warmed with butter, pepper and COOKERY RECIPES. 455 salt deserve to be known ; or sliced and quickly browned in butter ; or tossed for five minutes over the fire with chopped onion, parsley, butter, seasonings and sufficient gravy to moisten them ; or boiled, quartered, heated with cream, seasoned, and, at the moment of serv- ing, thickened with the yolk of eggs. • Onions are capital when sliced and quickly fried in plenty of smok- ing hot fat, or roasted whole until tender, and served with butter, pepper and salt ; or chosen while still small, carefully peeled without breaking, browned in butter, and then simmered tender with just boil- ing water enough to cover them ; or boiled tender in broth and then heated five minutes in nicely-seasoned cream. Oyster-plant, scraped under cold water, boiled tender in salted water containing a trace of vinegar, and then heated with a little ♦ highly-seasoned melted butter, is excellent ; the tender leaves which it often bears make a nice salad. Somewhat like oyster-plant are Jerusalem artichokes and like oyster-plant, they must be peeled under water, boiled tender, and then served with melted butter, or quickly browned in butter, either plain or with chopped herbs, or served with an acid sauce of any kind. Celery we know best in its uncooked state, but it is very good stewed in any brown or white gravy or sauce, or rolled in fritter batter and fried brown. . Squash and pumpkin are very good either boiled, sliced, and broiled or fried, or made into fritters like oyster-plant. Potatoes, most important of all hardy vegetables, must close the list. Lives there a cook with soul so dead as not to be willing to expend all the powers of fire, water and salt to produce mealy pota- toes? If so, the writing of her epitaph Avould be a cheerful task. And if cold ones are left they can rehabilitate themselves in favor by appearing chopped, moistened with white sauce or cream, and either fried in butter or baked quickly, with a covering of bread-crumbs. Steam-fried, that is sliced raw, put into a covered pan over the fire, with butter and seasoning, and kept covered until tender, with only enough stirring to prevent burning, they are capital. To fry them 456 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Lyonnaise style, they are cooled in their jackets to keep them whole, sliced about a quarter of an inch thick, browned in butter with a little sliced onion, sprinkled with chopped parsley, pepper and salt, and served hot. Larded, they have bits of fat ham or bacon inserted in them, and ere baked tender. Note well that the more expeditiously a baked potato is cooked and eaten the better it will be. Time-Table for Boiling. — The time for boiling green vegetables depends much upon the age and time they have been gathered. The younger and more freshly gathered, the more quickly they are cooked. Below is a very good time-table for amateur cooks. Potatoes boiled, thirty minutes. Potatoes baked, forty-five minutes. Sweet potatoes boiled, fifty minutes. • Sweet potatoes baked, sixty minutes. Squash boiled, twenty-five minutes. Green peas boiled, twenty to forty minutes. Shelled beans boiled, sixty minutes. String-beans boiled, one to two hours. Green corn, thirty to sixty minutes. Asparagus, fifteen to thirty minutes. Spinach, one to two hours. Tomatoes, fresh, one hour. Tomatoes, canned, thirty minutes. Cabbage, forty-five minutes to two hours. Cauliflower, one or two hours. Dandelions, two or three hours. Vegetables judiciously used are healthful. Beans and peas are preferable to potatoes, as they contain four times as much nutritive matter. Potatoes that are pared before they are boiled are nearly all starch, and produce fat. Tomatoes. — The tomato is so valuable a vegetable that it is well worth knowing how to keep them. If they are picked when just ripe and with a portion of the stems retained, and at once covered with a COOKERY RECIPES. 457 brine composed of k teacup of salt dissolved in a gallon of water, they can be kept nearly all the year without noticeable loss of their freshness of taste. Tomatoes, if very ripe, will skin easily; if not, pour scalding water on them and let them remain in it four or five minutes. Peel and put them in a stewpan, with a tablespoonful of water, if not very juicy; if so, no water will be required. Put in a little salt and stew them for half an hour; then turn them into a deep dish with buttered toast. Another way of cooking them, which is considered very nice by epicures, is to put them in a deep dish with fine bread-crumbs, crackers pounded fine, a layer of each alternately ; put small bits of butter, a little salt and pepper on each layer ; some cooks add a little nutmeg and sugar. Have a layer of bread-crumbs on the top. Bake it three-quarters of an hour. To Broil Tomatoes. — Cut off the green part of the stem and place the tomatoes on a gridiron over hot coals, and cover with a pan or lid. They are to be cooked slowly. When done, take up, dress very liberally with butter, salt, and pepper. To Can Tomatoes. — Wash clean, drain dry, or wipe; place them in a colander, pour boiling water over them ; peel, cut off all the green part and stew until they are perfectly heated through. If you use tin cans make thin, long rolls of putty; fill the cans, put on the lids, lay the rolls of putty in the grooves and smooth them with a knife. Canned fruit should always be kept in a cool, dry place — not in a cellar. To Boil Green Corn. — Trim off all the husks, and put the ears into boiling water, with a tablespoonful of salt to a dozen ears. If the fire is brisk, tender corn will be done in fifteen minutes, other- wise in half an hour. Lay a napkin on a large dish, and after drain- ing off the water from the corn, lay it on, turning the corners of the napkin over it to keep it warm. Sweet Corn. — Corn is much sweeter to be boiled on the cob. If made into succotash, cut it from the cobs, and boil it with Lima beans and a few slices of salt pork. It requires boiling from fifteen to thirty minutes, according to its age. 458 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. To Cook Egg-plant [Mrs. Taylor's recipe). — Peel it, cut it in slices about half an inch thick; spread salt over each slice, putting one slice on top of each other; let it lie two hours, then wash the salt off of it in cold water, dry it with a towel. Beat two or three eggs, dip the egg-plant in the &^^, then dip each slice in rolled cracker ; have a round pot with boiling hot lard in it, and drop in the slices of egg-plant — just as you would fry doughnuts. Egg-plant. — Cut the egg-plant in slices an inch thick, and let it lie for several hours in salted water to remove the bitter taste. To fry it, put the slices in the frying-pan with a small quantity of butter, and turn them when one side is done. Be sure that they are thoroughly cooked. Stuffed egg-plant is sometimes preferred to fried. Peel the plant whole, cut it in two, and let it lie in salted water. Then scoop out the inside of the plant, chop it up fine, mixing crumbs of bread, salt and butter with it ; fry it, return it to the hol- low egg-plant, join the cut pieces together, and let them bake a while in the oven. Baked Egg-plant. — Boil them whole ten minutes ; then cut them in half, and take out the seed. Make a stuffing of bread, butter, pep- per, salt and one c^'g ; close them, tie them with a string, put water in the pan, let them cook slowly half an hour, basting them with butter; thicken the gravy, and put it over them on the dish. Succotash. — Take small white beans, soak them twelve hours, and then put them on to boil. When half done, add the corn, and let them boil until soft, when add butter, salt and pepper. Corn Fritters. — One teacup of milk, three eggs, one pint of green corn grated, a little salt, and as much flour as will form a batter ; beat the eggs, yolks and whites separately; to the yolks of the eggs add the corn, flour and milk, and add enough to make the batter of the right stiffness; if the first quantity is not sufficient, beat the whole hard, and then stir in the whites ; a teaspoonful of baking powder will improve it ; drop the batter, a spoonful at a time, into hot lard, and fry on both sides a light brown. They can be fried as griddle- cakes with less lard or grease. They can be eaten warm or hot, COOKERY RECIPES. 459 with butter for sauce ; a less number of eggs can be used if they are scarce. Asparagus (i). — Great attention is necessary to boil asparagus; it must be carefully washed and cleaned, the horny part must be cut away, leaving only enough to take it up with the fingers. After the white horny part has been well scraped, cut the mall off at one length, and tie them up in separate bundles ; lay them in boiling water, with a little salt. Boil them briskly, and they are done enough when tender. Dip a round of toasted bread in the liquor, and lay it in the dish ; then pour some melted butter over the toast, and lay the asparagus on the toast entirely round the dish. Serve with melted butter in a sauce-tureen. Asparagus (2). — Wash the asparagus, tie the stalks of the same size together, and put them on to boil in hot water, in which a little salt has been sprinkled. They will cook in about fifteen minutes. When soft, take them up carefully into the dish in which they will be served ; cut the strings, and draw them out so as not to break the asparagus. Butter, salt and pepper it. Macaroni. — Boil the macaroni in water enough to cover it until it is tender, then drain off the water. Put a layer of macaroni in a dish, then a layer of grated cheese, three layers of macaroni and two of cheese ; for the top beat the yolks of two eggs with a little milk, and pour over the macaroni; bake until nicely browned. There are many ways of cooking macaroni besides the above way of boiling it in water and baking it afterward with grated cheese, bread-crumbs, butter and seasoning of salt and pepper. This is very nice, but if the cheese chosen was always Parmesan it vvould be much more palatable. The Italians cook macaroni and serve it with a tomato sauce which is very excellent, and is sold now in Italian groceries in cans, already prepared to pour over the boiled macaroni. Macaroni stewed in milk is a good and wholesome dish for children, especially in summer. An excellent way to serve macaroni is the following : Fill a china 460 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. baking-dish with alternate layers of oysters and boiled macaroni ; season each layer with salt, pepper and butter. When the dish is full cover with cracker-crumbs. Pour over all a cup of oyster juice, and bake in a quick oven till brown. Macaroni and kidneys are thus prepared : Scald two veal kidneys which have been skinned and freed from fat ; cut them in slices and fry brown ; then place them in a baking-dish, season with salt and pepper, cover them with macaroni and cracker-crumbs, and pour over the whole a gravy made with tomatoes. Bake in a quick oven till brown. Vermicelli and Italian paste should always be boiled separately, and added to the soup just before it is served. How to Peel Onions. — In peeling onions put a large needle in the mouth, half in and half out. The needle attracts the juice of the bulb, and any number may be peeled without affecting the eyes. Cauliflower should be wrapped in cloth when boiled ; serve with melted butter. Fried Oyster-plant. — Scrape the roots as you would parsnips ; boil them tender; then mash them, and add an egg and some rolled soda-cracker. Make into cakes and fry in butter. Serve hot. To Cook Hominy. — Corn hulled by machinery, leaving the grain nearly whole, makes the best hominy, and in the Southern States it is as much the standard breakfast and dinner dish as potatoes are in the North, and it is far more nutritive and wholesome. It is cooked as follows : Put your hominy in soak over-night in tepid water. Boil it gently in a porcelain or tinned kettle at least two hours, in the same water, adding more if necessary, and taking care not to let it scorch, and that the water is absorbed when taken off Keep it in the same vessel, warming it over from time to time until consumed. Neither salt nor butter should be added while cooking. Parsnips. — Wash the parsnips, scrape them thoroughly, and, with the point of the knife, remove any black specks about them; and, should they be very large, cut the thick part into quarters. Put them into a saucepan of boiling water, salted in the proportion of one tea- spoonful of salt to half a gallon of water. Boil them rapidly until COOKERY RECIPES. 46I tender, which may be ascertained by thrusting a fork into them; take them up, drain them, and serve in a vegetable dish. This vegetable is usually served with salt fish, boiled pork, or boiled beef; when sent to table with the latter, a few should be placed alternately with carrots round the dish as a garnish. Cook large parsnips, one to one hour and a half; small ones, one-half to one hour. Boiled Green Peas. — To each half-gallon of water allow one small teaspoonful of moist sugar, one heaped tablespoonful of salt. This delicious vegetable, to be eaten in perfection, should be young, and not gathered or shelled long before it is dressed. Shell the peas, wash them well in cold water, and drain them ; then put them into a saucepan with plenty of fast-boiling water, to which salt and moist sugar have been added in the above proportion ; let them boil quickly over a brisk fire, with the lid of the saucepan uncovered, and be care- ful that the smoke does not draw in. When tender, pour them into a colander; put them into a hot vegetable-dish, and quite in the centre of the peas place a piece of butter the size of a walnut. Many cooks boil a small bunch of mint with the peas, or garnish them with it, by boiling a few sprigs in a saucepan by themselves. Should the peas be very old, and difficult to boil a good color, a very tiny piece of soda may be thrown in the water previous to putting them in ; but this must be very sparingly used, as it causes the peas, when boiled, to have a mashed and broken appearance. With young peas there is not the slightest occasion to use it. Cook young peas ten to fifteen minutes ; the large sorts, such as marrowfats, etc., eighteen to twenty- four minutes; old peas, half an hour. To Dress Salsify. — To each half-gallon of water allow one heaped tablespoonful of salt, one ounce of butter, two tablespoonfuls of lemon-juice. Scrape the roots gently, so as to strip them only of their outside peel ; cut them into pieces about four inches long, and, as they are peeled, throw them into water with which has been mixed a little lemon-juice, to prevent their discoloring. Then put them into boiling water, with salt, butter and lemon-juice in the above pro- portion, and let them boil rapidly until tender ; try them with a fork, 29 462 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. and when it penetrates easily they are done. Drain the salsify, and serve with good white sauce, or French melted butter. Cook thirty to fifty minutes. Note. — This vegetable may be also boiled, sliced, and fried in a batter of nice brown. When crisp and a good color, it should be served with fried parsley in the centre of the dish, and a little fine salt sprinkled over the salsify. Boiled Cabbage. — To each half-gallon of water allow one heaped tablespoonful of salt, a very small piece of soda. Pick off all the dead outside leaves, cut off as much of the stalk as possible, and cut the cabbages twice across the stalk end ; if they should be very large, quarter them. Wash them well in cold water, place them in a colander, and drain ; then put them into plenty of fast-boiling water, to which have been added salt and soda in the above proportions. Stir them down once or twice in the water, keep the pan uncovered, and let them boil quickly until tender. The instant they are done take them up into a colander, place a plate over them, let them thoroughly drain, dish and serve. Cook large cabbages, or Savoys, one-half to three-quarters of an hour; young summer cabbage, ten to twelve minutes, after the water boils. Boiled Carrots. — To each half-gallon of water allow one heaped tablespoonful of salt. Cut off the green tops, wash and scrape the carrots, and, should there be any black specks, remove them. If very large, cut them in halves, divide them lengthwise into four pieces, and put them into boiling water, salted in the above proportion ; let them boil until tender, which may be ascertained by thrusting a fork into them ; dish, and serve very hot. This vegetable is an indispen- sable accompaniment to boiled beef When thus served it is usually boiled with the beef A few carrots are placed round the dish as a garnish, and the remainder sent to table in a vegetable-dish. Young carrots do not require nearly so much boiling, nor should they be divided. These make a nice addition to stewed veal, etc. Large carrots should cook one hour and three-quarters to two hours and •a quarter; young ones, about half an hour. COOKERY RECIPES. 463 White Beans. — Beans are deliciously prepared, without grease of any kind, as follows : Boil slowly in soft water, in a covered vessel, two or three hours, or until the beans begin to fall to pieces, and the water (which should barely fill the beans when done, and not stand above them) is viscid and jelly-like. Add a very little salt, and nothing else, unless you have chosen at the proper time to put in a few pared potatoes to eat with them. Lima Beans. — They should be gathered young. Shell them, lay them in a pan of cold water, and then boil them about two hours, till they are quite soft. Drain them well, and add to them some butter. Note. — Never use strong or rancid butter in seasoning vegetables. Chartreuse of Vegetables. — Line a plain mould or a two-quart tin basin with very thin slices of raw bacon; have prepared some half-boiled string-beans, carrots and turnips. Cut the latter into small slices, and scatter them all around the edges and bottom of the pan, about an inch thick; fill up the middle with some chopped veal, or with mixed chopped potatoes and cabbage, or cauliflower. Put a plate over the top of the mould, tie a cloth over that, and put it into a steamer for an hour and a half Turn out upon a platter, and serv^e with cream or white sauce. To Cook. Greens. — This is the simplest of dishes, and yet it is not always a well-served one. Greens should be properly boiled ; the water should be soft, and a tablespoonful of salt added to a large- sized pot of it, which should be boiling hot when the greens are thrown in. It should be kept boiling until they are done, which can be told by their sinking to the bottom of the pot, and then they should be skimmed out as quickly as possible into a colander, so that all the water will run out. Press them with a small plate, then turn upon a platter; add a large piece of butter, and cut up fine. Serve smoking hot. To Boil Potatoes. — Ten or twelve potatoes; to each half-gallon of water allow one heaped tablespoonful of salt. Choose potatoes of an equal size, pare them, take out all the eyes and specks, and, as 464 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. they are peeled, throw them into cold water. Put them into a sauce- pan, with sufficient cold water to cover them, with salt in the above proportion, and let them boil gently until tender. Ascertain when they are done by thrusting a fork in them, and take them up the moment they feel soft through ; for if they are left in the water after- ward, they become waxy or watery. Drain away the water ; put the saucepan by the side of the fire with the lid partially uncovered, to allow the steam to escape, and let the potatoes get thoroughly dry, and do not allow them to get burnt. Their superfluous moisture will evaporate, and the potatoes, if a good sort, should be perfectly mealy and dry. Potatoes vary so much in quality and size that it is difficult to give the exact time for boiling; they should be attentively watched, and probed with a fork to ascertain when they are cooked. Send them to table quickly, and very hot, with an opening in the cover of the dish, that a portion of the steam may evaporate, and not fall back on the potatoes. Moderate-sized old potatoes will cook in fifteen to twenty minutes after the water boils; large ones, half an hour to thirty-five minutes. Note. — To keep potatoes hot after draining the water from them, put a folded cloth or flannel (kept for the purpose) on the top of them, keeping the saucepan-lid partially uncovered. This will absorb the moisture, and keep them hot some time without spoiling. How to use Cold Potatoes. — To every pound of cold potatoes allow two tablespoonfuls of flour, two ditto of minced onions, one ounce of butter, milk. Mash the potatoes with a fork until perfectly free from lumps ; stir in the other ingredients, and add sufficient milk to moisten them well; press the potatoes in a mould, and bake in a moderate oven until nicely browned, which will be in from twenty minutes to half an hour. Turn them out of the mould, and serve. Cook twenty minutes to half an hour. Fried Potatoes {French fashion). — Potatoes, hot butter or clarified dripping, salt. Peel and cut the potatoes into thin slices, as nearly the same size as possible ; make some butter or dripping quite hot in a frying-pan ; put in the potatoes and fry them on both sides of a nice COOKERY RECIPES, 465 brown. When they are crisp and done, take them up, place them on a cloth before the fire to drain the grease from them, and serve very hot, after sprinkling them with salt. These are delicious with rumpsteak, and, in France, are frequently served thus as a breakfast dish. The remains of cold potatoes may also be sliced and fried by the above recipe, but the slices must be cut a little thicker. Sliced raw potatoes should fry five minutes. Baked Potatoes. — Choose large potatoes, as much of a size as possible ; wash them in lukewarm water, and scrub them well, for the browned skin of a baked potato is by many persons considered the better part of it. Put them into a moderate oven, and bake them for about two hours, turning them three or four times whilst they are cooking. Serve them in a napkin immediately they are done, as if kept a long time in the oven they have a shrivelled ap- pearance. Do not forget to send to table with them a piece of cold butter. Large potatoes will require to be cooked in a hot oven one and a half hour to two hours ; in a cool oven, two to two and one-half hours. Rice. — For a side-dish with roast meats, put a cup of rice into cold water with a spoonful of salt; keep it covered while boiling that the grains may swell, and do not stir it much after it is cooked, as it looks better when the grains are whole. Add a cup of milk and a lump of butter just before serving. Canning Corn. — Shave the corn from the cob, fill the cans as full as you can with corn, then pour in cold water until even full ; make a small hole in the cover and solder on it. Place the cans in a boiler with cold water about half the height of the cans. Place the boiler on the stove, and boil four hours ; then remove them from the boiler and drop a little solder on the hole in the cover. To Dry Green Corn. — On a warm, bright day take a shallow box, set slanting, where the sun will shine full upon it. Spread clean cloths in your box. Prepare your corn as you like, and spread it evenly over the bottom of the box ; then cover very closely with a 466 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. window-sash. The heat will be so great no fly can live. Your corn will dry in one day and be perfectly clean. HiGDUM. — Four quarts of cucumbers chopped fine with skins on ; add two quarts of chopped onions; mix in a handful of salt, and let it drain six hours. Then add one gill of sweet oil, one pint of Madeira wine, a tablespoonful of black pepper, one of cayenne, one of mustard- seed, one of flour of mustard. Put it in a stone jar, and cover with strong vinegar. Fried Celery. — Boil the celery entire until tender; drain it, divide into small pieces and fry in dripping until lightly browned. Boiled Onions, to be free of strong odor, should be boiled in salted water for ten minutes, and then put in cold fresh water for half an hour; after that they should be put into a stewpan with just enough cold fresh water to cover them, and boiled gently till tender. Drain and serve with melted butter. EGGS, OMELETS, ETC. Egg-baskets (a nice breakfast dish). — Make them the day after having roast turkey or chicken for dinner. Boil six eggs hard, re- move the shells, cut neatly in halves, and extract the yolks. Rub them to a paste, with some melted butter, pepper and salt, and set aside. Pound the minced meat of the cold fowl finely, and mix with the egg-paste, moistening with a little melted butter or gravy left from the roast. Cut off a slice from the bottom of the hollowed white, to make them stand ; fill with the paste, arrange close together on a flat dish, and pour over the rest of the gravy left from the roast, heated boiling hot and enriched by a few spoonfuls of cream. To keep Eggs Fresh. — One of the best means of preserving eggs is the following : Select good fresh eggs and pack endwise in a mix- ture of equal parts of fine dry charcoal and salt (cold). Keep in a cool, dry place until required for use. A thin coating of gum or a trace of oil will prevent loss of moisture through the shell. The best time for preserving eggs is from July to September. For Testing the Age of Eggs. — Dissolve 120 grammes of com- COOKERY RECIPES. 467 men salt in a liter of water. An egg put in this solution on the day- it is laid will sink to the bottom ; one a day old will not reach quite to the bottom of the vessel; an egg three days old will swim in the liquid; while one more than three days old will swim on the surface. Omelet. — Five or six eggs will make a good-sized omelet ; break them into a basin, and beat them well with a fork, and add a saltspoon- ful of salt ; have some parsley ready chopped ; beat it well up with the eggs ; then take four ounces of fresh butter, and break half of it into large bits, and put it into the omelet, and the other half into a very- clean frying-pan ; when it is melted, pour in the omelet, and stir it with a spoon till it begins to set, then turn it up all round the edges, and when it is of a nice brown it is done. The safest wav to take it out is to put a plate on the omelet, and turn the pan upside-down ; serve it on a hot dish ; it should never be done till just wanted. Tomato Omelet (i). — Tomatoes, thickened with bread-crumbs, seasoned with salt, pepper, chopped parsley and sugar ; add one egg to every pint of this mixture. Sprinkle bread-crumbs over the top, and bake forty minutes; a nice dinner vegetable. Tomato Omelet (2). — Beat up six eggs, mix two tablespoon- fuls of flour with a little milk, and add pepper and salt to taste. Peel and chop very fine four tomatoes, stir all together, and fry in butter. Oyster Omelet is made in the same way, using oysters instead of tomatoes. Washington Omelet. — Make four omelets of three eggs each, adding to one two chopped, tart apples ; to another, chopped, cold boiled ham ; to another, an assortment of fine herbs — a small pinch of each — and the fourth omelet plain, or with asparagus or cauli- flower, in their season. Serve on the same dish, one lapping over another, and very hot. Rum Omelet. — Make a plain omelet, with a little sugar added, and when on the table pour a gill or so of rum over it, set fire to it, let it burn as long as it can, taking slowly, but constantly, with a silver spoon, the rum from the sides, and pouring it on the middle while it i.s burning, and until it dies out by itself; then serve immediately. 468 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Made with oysters or sweetmeats of any kind omelets are a very popular entree or side-dish for dinner. With ham, kidneys or any kind of meat they are proper only for breakfast dishes. Asparagus Omelet. — Steam and cut up fine the asparagus, in quantity about a pint, then beat the yolks of five and the whites of three eggs lightly; add two spoonfuls of cream, mix all, fry in omelets and serve hot. Cauliflowers may be served in the same way. Buttered Eggs. — Four new-laid eggs, two ounces of butter. Pro- cure the eggs new-laid, if possible; break them into a basin and beat them well ; put the butter into another basin, which place in boiling w^ater, and stir till the butter is melted. Pour that and the eggs into a lined saucepan ; hold it over a gentle fire, and, as the mixture begins to warm, pour it two or three times into the basin and back again, that the two ingredients may be well incorporated. Keep stirring the eggs and butter one way until they are hot, without boiling, and serve on hot buttered toast. If the mixture is allowed to boil, it will curdle, and so be entirely spoiled. Stuffed Eggs. — Boil your eggs hard and carefully remove the shells. Cut off the small end of each egg, and pick out the yolks. Put these latter in a pan, into which put grated crackers, celery seeds, butter, pepper and salt. Rub well together. Carefully stuff the eggs again, and replace the small ends previously removed. Stand them in a soup-plate or pan, and grate crackers over and around them, and add any of the yolks that may have been left of the stuffing. They make a delicious and rich dish. Pickled Eggs. — Boil one dozen fresh eggs fifteen minutes ; put them in cold water to cool ; take off the shells and place them in a jar; cover them with good vinegar; these are good in spring, with fish or cold meat. Poached Eggs. — Eggs for poaching should be perfectly fresh, but not quite new-laid ; those that are about thirty-six hours old are the best for the purpose. If quite new-laid, the white is so milky it is almost impossible to set it ; and, on the other hand, if the COOKERY RECIPES. 469 egg be at all stale, it is equally difficult to poach it nicely. Strain some boiling water into a deep, clean frying-pan ; break the egg into a cup without damaging the yolk, and when the water boils remove the pan to the side of the fire, and gently slip the egg into it. Place the pan over a gentle fire and keep the water simmering until the white looks nicely set, when the egg is ready. Take it up gently with a slice, cut away the ragged edges of the white, and serve either on toasted bread or on slices of ham or bacon, or on spinach, etc. A poached egg should not be overdone, as its appearance and taste will be quite spoiled if the yolk be allowed to harden. When the egg is slipped into the water, the white should be gathered together to keep it a little in form, or the cup should be turned over it for one- half minute. To poach an egg to perfection is rather a difficult operation ; so, for inexperienced cooks, a tin egg-poacher may be purchased, which greatly facilitates the manner of dressing eggs. It consists of a tin plate with a handle, with a space for three perforated cups. An egg should be broken into each cup, and the machine then placed in a stewpan of boiling water, which has been previously strained. When the whites of the eggs appear set they are done, and should then be carefully slipped on to the toast or spinach, or with whatever they are served. In poaching eggs in a frying-pan never do more than four at a time ; and when a little vinegar is liked mixed with the water in which the eggs are done, use one table- spoonful to every pint of water. To Boil Eggs for Breakfast, Salads, etc. — Eggs for boiling cannot be too fresh, or boiled too soon after they are laid ; but rather a longer time should be allowed for boiling a new-laid egg than for one that is three or four days old. Have ready a saucepan of boil- ing water; put the eggs into it gently with a spoon, letting the spoon touch the bottom of the saucepan before it is withdrawn, that the egg may not fall, and consequently crack. For those who like eggs lightly boiled, three minutes will be found sufficient; three and three- quarters to four minutes will be ample time to set the white nicely; and if liked hard, six to seven minutes will not be found too long. 470 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Should the eggs be unusually large, as those of black Spanish fowl sometimes are, allow an extra one-half minute for them. Eggs for salad should be boiled from ten minutes to one-quarter hour, and should be placed in a basin of cold water for a few minutes; they should then be rolled on the table with the hand, and the shell will peel off easily. To boil eggs lightly, for invalids or children, keep them on three minutes ; to boil eggs to suit the generality of tastes, three and three-quarters to four minutes; to boil eggs hard, six to seven minutes; for salads, ten to fifteen minutes. Scrambled Eggs. — Have a spider hot and buttered ; break the eggs into a dish, being careful not to break the yolks ; slip them into the spider, add a very little salt, with butter the size of a nutmeg for a half dozen of eggs, or three tablespoonfuls of rich cream. When the eggs begin to whiten, stir carefully from the bottom until cooked to suit. Fried Eggs. — Four eggs, a quarter pound of lard, butter or clari- fied dripping. Place a delicately clean frying-pan over a gentle fire ; put in the fat, and allow it to come to the boiling-point. Break the eggs into cups, slip them into the boiling fat, and let them remain until the whites are delicately set, and, whilst they are frying, ladle a little of the fat over them. Take them up with a slice, drain them a minute from their greasy moisture, trim them neatly, and serve on slices of fried bacon or ham, or the eggs may be placed in the middle of the dish, with the bacon put round as a garnish. Poached Eggs with Cream. — One pint of water, one teaspoonful of salt, four teaspoonfuls of vinegar, four fresh eggs, half a gill of cream, salt, pepper and pounded sugar to taste, one ounce of butter. Put the water, vinegar and salt into a frying-pan, and break each egg into a separate cup; bring the water, etc., to boil, and slip the eggs gently into it without breaking the yolks. Simmer them from three to four minutes, but not longer, and with a slice lift them out on to a hot dish, and trim the edges. Empty the pan of its contents, put in the cream, add a seasoning to taste, of pepper, salt and pounded sugar; bring the whole to the boiling-point; then add the butter^ COOKERY RECIPES. 47 1 broken into small pieces ; toss the pan round and round till the butter is melted ; pour it over the eggs and serve. To insure the eggs not being spoiled whilst the cream, etc., is preparing, it is a good plan to warm the cream with the butter, etc., before the eggs are poached, so that it may be poured over them immediately after they are dished. Toast and Eggs. — Break three eggs into a small stevvpan ; add a saltspoonful of salt, a quarter of that quantity of pepper, and two ounces of fresh butter (the fresher the better); set the stewpan over a moderate fire, and stir the eggs round with a wooden spoon, being careful to keep every particle in motion, until the whole has be- come a smooth and delicately thick substance ; have ready a con- venient-sized crisp piece of toast, pour the eggs upon it, and serve immediately. Eggs in Italian Style. — Moisten two spoonfuls of flour with four ounces of butter in a saucepan, stirring constantly. When of the consistency of thick cream, thin with a little boiling milk, and add salt and pepper. Add three ounces more of butter and a little chopped parsley, worked well together. Have ready eight hard- boiled eggs, sliced, and add to the same and serve. SALADS. Mustard Salad. — The following is an excellent dressing : Take the yolk of one fresh egg and mix it with two tablespoonfuls of olive oil, very slowly. Add one and one-half spoonfuls of mustard, three spoonfuls of salt, a little pepper, and, last of all, two spoon- fuls of vinegar. Beat the white of the egg to a stiff froth, and stir lightly in. Cabbage Dressing. — One egg, one tablespoonful of mustard, and one teaspoonful of butter, mixed together. Haifa teacup of vinegar. Put it on the stove, and stir until thickened, but do not let it boil. Salad Dressing {excelloit). — Take the yolk of a hard-boiled egg, a little salt, red pepper, and the yolk of a raw egg. Add oil slowly as you mix it with the back of a fork, stirring it all the time one 472 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. way. One tablespoonful of cream or condensed milk, and the juice of a lemon. Salad Sauce. — Boil one egg hard ; when cold, remove the yolk, bruise it to a pulp with a spoon, then add a raw yolk and a teaspoon- ful of flour, a small teaspoonful of salt and a trifle of pepper ; to this add half a spoonful of vinegar ; stir it ; pour over it a teaspoon- ful of oil by degrees ; keep stirring, then a little more vinegar and more of oil, until eight teaspoonfuls of oil and three of vinegar are used. Chicken Salad. — Take the white meat of a cold boiled or roasted chicken or turkey. Cut three-fourths the same quantity of celery into small bits, mix thoroughly with the well-minced meat and set in a cool place while preparing the dressing. Rub the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs to a powder, to which add one teaspoonful of salt, one of pepper, two of white sugar, and three teaspoonfuls of salad oil, adding it drop by drop, then add half a teaspoonful of mus- tard. Whip one egg to a froth and beat it into the dressing, and over the whole pour one-half cup of vinegar, one teaspoonful at a time, whipping constantly. Sprinkle a little salt over the meat and celery, and pour the prepared dressing over it, tossing with a large silver fork until thoroughly mixed. Turn into the salad-bowl and garnish tastefully with whites of eggs and sprigs of bleached celery- tops. Among the many receipts for chicken salad, this is unsurpassed for deliciousness. Dressing for Chicken Salad. — Two teaspoonfuls of mustard and salt stirred in a thick paste; next the oil; then the cayenne and the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs mashed very fine. Then two raw eggs, and lastly the vinegar. This is for one chicken only. Cabbage Salad (i). — Shave a hard, white cabbage into small strips; take the yolks of three well-beaten eggs, a cup and a half of good cider-vinegar, two teaspoonfuls of thick cream, one teaspoonful of mustard mixed in a little boiling water; salt and pepper to suit the taste. Mix all but the eggs together, and let it boil ; then stir in the eggs, rapidly turn the cabbage into the mixture, and stir well. Make COOKERY RECIPES. 4/3 enough for two days at once ; it keeps perfectly, and is an excellent relish for all kinds of meat. Cabbage Salad (2). — One quart of very finely-chopped cabbage, two-thirds of a cup of sour cream, two well-beaten eggs; season to taste with sugar, salt, pepper and mustard. If you have no celery to chop with your cabbage, put in a tablespoonful of celery-seed. Add a little vinegar. This is very fine, will keep well several days and is excellent for picnics. Carrot Salad. — Select very tender, rich-colored carrots, and scrape and boil them in fast-boiling water till tender; cut into very thin slices, put them into a glass salad-bowl, and sprinkle with sifted loaf-sugar; add the juice of a large, fresh lemon, and a wineglassful of olive oil. By way of garnish, place round the margin of the dish an onion cut in exceedingly thin slices, and small bunches of any fresh, green salad- leaves. Shrlmp Salad. — Dress some lettuce with a mayonnaise sauce and arrange plenty of canned shrimps or fresh-boiled ones around it. Cold Slaw. — Yolks of two eggs, a tablespoonful of cream, a small teaspoonful of mustard, a little salt, two tablespoonfuls of vinegar. If cream is not used, put in a small lump of butter, rubbed in a little flour. Cut the cabbage as fine as possible. Heat the mixture, and pour it on hot. Hot Slaw. — Cut a good cabbage, and with a sharp knife slice it fine ; put it into a stewpan with a piece of butter, and salt and pepper to taste; pour in just hot water enough to prevent it sticking to the pan, cover it closely and let it stew ; stir it frequently, and when it is quite tender, add a little vinegar and serve it hot. Mayonnaise Dressing. — The following recipe for a mayonnaise dressing for salad is prepared in New York : One pint of olive oil, salt and cayenne pepper to taste, half a teaspoonful of French mus- tard, the juice of one lemon, and vinegar; take an earthen dish, rub a clove of garlic on the bottom of the dish, then place in it the yolks of two raw eggs, salt, pepper, and mustard ; take the bottle contain- ing the oil in the left hand and a wire whip in the right hand ; pour 474 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. the oil very slowly and keep stirring the yolks. Should it become stiff add a little vinegar. Keep adding oil and vinegar until you have used the pint of oil, but be careful not to add too much vinegar. Finish with the lemon-juice. The dressing should be of rather a stiff consistency, and will keep any length of time if it is covered so that the air will not reach it. PIES. The flour should be of the best quality, and perfectly dry, and sifted before being used ; if in the least damp, the paste made from it will certainly be heavy. It should be kept in a bin expressly made for the purpose. Butter, unless fresh is used, should be washed from the salt, and well squeezed and wrung in a cloth to get out. all the water and buttermilk, which, if left in, assists. to make the paste heavy. Lard should be perfectly sweet, which may be ascertained by cutting the bladder through, and, if the knife smells sweet, the lard is good. In mixing paste, add the water very gradually, work the whole together with a knife-blade, and knead it until perfectly smooth. Those who are inexperienced in pastry-making should work the butter in by breaking it in small pieces, and covering the paste rolled out. It should then be dredged with flour and the ends folded over, and rolled out very thin again ; this process must be repeated until all the butter is used. The art of making paste requires much practice, dexterity and skill. It should be touched as lightly as possible, made with cool hands, and in a cool place (a marble slab is better than a board for the purpose), and the coolest part of the house should be selected for the process during warm weather. To insure rich paste being light, great expedition must be used in making and baking ; for if it stands long before it is put.in the oven it becomes flat and heavy. Puff-paste requires a brisk oven, but not too hot, or it would COOKERY RECIPES. 475 blacken the crust; on the other hand, if the oven be too slack, the paste will be soddened and will not rise, nor will it have any- color. Tart-tins, cake-moulds, dishes for the baked puddings, patty-pans, etc., should all be buttered before the article intended to be baked is put in them ; things to be baked on sheets should be placed on buttered paper. Raised pie-paste should have a soaking heat, and paste glazed must have a rather slack oven, that the icing be not scorched. It is better to ice tarts, etc., when they are three parts baked. To ascertain when the oven is heated to the proper degree for puff- paste, put a small piece of the paste in previous to baking the whole, and the heat can thus be judged of. Pie-crust. — Allow half a pound of shortening to a pound of flour. If liked quite short, allow three-quarters of a pound of shortening to a pound of flour. Pie-crust looks the nicest made entirely of lard, but it does not taste so good as it does to have some butter used in making it. In winter, beef shortening, mixed with butter, makes good, plain pie-crust. Rub half of the shortening with two-thirds of the flour; to each pound of flour put a teaspoonful of salt. When the shortening is thoroughly mixed with the flour, add just sufficient cold water to render it moist enough to roll out easily. Divide the crust into two equal portions ; lay one of them one side for the upper crust; take the other, roll it out quite thin, flouring your rolling-pin and board, so that the crust will not stick to them, and line your pie- plates, which should be previously buttered. Fill your plates with your fruit, then roll out the upper crust as thin as possible. Spread on the reserved shortening, sprinkle over the flour, roll it up, and cut it into as many pieces as you have pies to cover it. Roll each one about half an inch thick, and cover the pies; trim the edges off neatly with a knife, and press the crust down round the edges of the plates with a jagging-iron, so that the juices of the fruit may not run out while baking. Pastry, to be nice, should be baked in a quick oven. In cold weather it is necessary to warm the shortening be- 4/6 THE hearthstone; or, life at home, fore using it for pie-crust, but it must not be melted, or the crust will not be flaky. Very good Puff-paste. — To every pound of flour allow one pound of butter, and not quite a half-pint of water. Carefully weigh the flour and butter, and have the exact proportion ; squeeze the butter well to extract the water from it, and afterward wring it in a clean cloth, that no moisture may remain. Sift the flour ; see that it is perfectly dry, and proceed in the following manner to make the paste, using a very clean paste-board and rolling-pin : Supposing the quan- tity to be one pound of flour, work the whole into a smooth paste, with not quite a half pint of water, using a knife to mix it with; the proportion of this latter ingredient must be regulated by the discretion of the cook ; if too much be added, the paste, when baked, will be tough. Roll it out until it is of an equal thickness of about an inch ; break four ounces of the butter into small pieces ; place these on the paste, sift over it a little flour, fold it over, roll out again, and put another four ounces of butter. Repeat the rolling and buttering until the paste has been rolled out four times, or equal quantities of flour and butter have been used. Do not omit, every time the paste is rolled out, to dredge a little flour over that and the rolling-pin to prevent both from sticking. Handle the paste as lightly as possible, and do not press heavily upon it with the rolling-pin. The next thing to be considered is the oven, as the baking of pastry requires particular attention. Do not put it into the oven until it is sufficiently hot to raise the paste ; for the best prepared paste, if not properly baked, will be good for nothing. Brushing the paste, as often as rolled out, and the pieces of butter placed thereon, with the white of an egg, assists it to rise in leaves or flakes. As this is the great beauty of puff-paste, it is as well to try this method. Pastry. — An excellent pastry, that never fails to be good, is made of one pound of flour and half a pound of butter. Leave a part of the flour out, and cut the butter into the flour with a knife. A very little salt, a small quantity of cold water, and mix it with a spoon. Then use the remaining flour for rolling it out. COOKERY RECIPES. 477 When pastry or baked puddings are not done through, and yet the outside is sufficiently brown, cover them over with a piece of white paper until thoroughly cooked ; this prevents them from getting burnt. Potato Pie. — Boil Carolina or mealy Irish potatoes until they are quite soft. When peeled, mash and strain them. To a quarter of a pound of potatoes, put a quart of milk, three tablespoonfuls of melted butter, four beaten eggs, a wine-glass of wine ; add sugar and nutmeg to the taste. Peach Pie. — Take mellow, juicy peaches, peel and slice and put them in a deep pie-plate lined with pie-crust ; sprinkle a thick layer of sugar on each layer of peaches; put in about a tablespoonful of water and sprinkle a little flour over the top ; cover it with a thick crust, and bake the pie from fifty to sixty minutes. Custard Pie. — Boil a quart of milk with half a dozen peach- leaves or the rind of a lemon. When they have flavored the milk strain it, and set it where it will boil. Mix a tablespoonful of flour, smoothly, with a couple gf tablespoonfuls of milk, and stir it in the boiling milk. Let it boil a minute, stirring it constantly; take it from the fire, and when cool, put in three beaten eggs ; sweeten to the taste ; turn it into deep pie-plates, and bake the pies directly in a quick oven. Cocoanut Pie. — To one grated cocoanut add three large boiled and mashed potatoes. Boil them fresh and pound them ; add a little butter, milk and salt. Then mix the cocoanut and potatoes, add the yolks of three eggs well beaten. Make a crust with one pound of flour and half a pound of butter. Put only an undercrust. When the pie is baked, beat the whites of the three eggs very light ; add a little white sugar, and put it on the top while it is hot. Then put it back in the oven for a few moments. Lemon Pie (i). — Two lemons, two cups of sugar, one cup of milk, two tablespoonfuls of flour and six eggs. Use the yolks only. After the pies are baked, beat the whites and add eight tablespoonfuls of sugar. Spread it over the pies ; put them in the oven till they be- come a light brown. 30 478 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Lemon Pie (2). — Seven eggs. Leave out the whites of three ; butter, the size of a small egg ; one cup and a half of sugar. These ingredients to be beaten to a cream. Juice of two lemons — grated rind of one. Milk enough to fill a de^p pie-plate. The three whites, after the pie is baked, must be beaten with a little powdered sugar, and put on the top of the pie. Bake with a pastry crust under it as with any other kind of pie. Lemon Custard Pie. — For two pies, mix together the yolks of six eggs (well beaten), four heaped t.iblespoonfuls of white coffee sugar, the grated rinds of three large lemons, and about one pint of milk. Bake in one crust ; put on a frosting made of the whites of four eggs, four tablespoonfuls of white sugar and the juice of three lemons ; bake till the frosting is a pale brown. Lemon Cream Pie. — One cup of sugar, one raw potato grated, one cup of water, one lemon grated and juice added, baked in pastry, top and bottom. This amount will make one pie. Tarlaton Pie. — One cup of cream ; one cup stewed apple — rubbed through a sieve; two eggs; flavor to the taste. Cherry Pie. — Lay the cherries in a deep baking-dish, with plenty of sugar and a tablespoonful of flour. Place an inverted cup in the middle of the dish, and cover the whole with a crust. The cup pre- vents the crust from soaking into the juice of the fruit. Pumpkin Pie. — Cut the pumpkin in halves and remove the seeds; then cut it into small pieces, and put the whole on to boil with a pint of water poured over them; this moistens it sufficiently at first, and if the pumpkin is stirred frequently it will not burn, as it softens by cooking if it has sufficient moisture of its own. Let it stew an hour or more after it becomes soft ; then strain it through a colander into a large pan ; to each quart of pumpkin add one quart of milk and four eggs; sweeten to suit taste with sugar, spice, cinnamon and ginger. After all is prepared, set the pan containing the mixture upon a kettle of warm water, that the whole may become warm while you prepare the crusts for the several pies. Bake the crusts a little before pour- ing the pumpkin into them. COOKERY RECIPES. 479 Mince Pie (i). — Two pounds of lean beef boiled and chopped fine; one pound of suet chopped fine; two pounds of raisins; one pound of Sultana raisins; two pounds of currants; three-quarters of a pound of citron ; two tablespoonfuls of cinnamon ; two tablespoonfuls of mace; one tablespoonful of cloves; one tablespoonful of allspice; one table- spoonful of salt; one nutmeg; two and a half pounds of brown sugar; five pounds of apples; one quart of cider; one pint of brandy; juice of three oranges and rind of two oranges. Mince Pie (2). — Two pounds of meat chopped fine and boiled; two pounds of sugar; two pounds of currants; two pounds of chopped apples; one pound of chopped suet; quarter of a pound of cloves; quarter of a pound of mace ; season with nutmeg, cinnamon and citron to taste ; one pint of wine ; one pint of brandy ; three pints of sweet cider. Cream Raspberry Tarts {^' cry fine). — Line a dish with paste, and fill with raspberries made very sweet with powdered sugar. Cover with paste, but do not pinch it down at the edges. When done, lift the top crust, which should be thicker than usual, and pour upon the fruit the following mixture : One small cup of milk — half cream, if it is to be had — heated to boiling ; whites of two eggs, beaten light, and stirred into the boiling milk ; one teaspoonful of white sugar, one- half teaspoonful of corn-starch, wet in cold milk; boil these ingredi- ents three minutes ; let them get perfectly cold before putting them into the tart. Replace the top crust, and set the tart aside to cool. Sprinkle sugar over the top before serving. Peach or strawberry tart can be made in the same way. PUDDINGS. The freshness of all pudding ingredients is of much importance, as one bad article will taint the whole mixture. When the freshness of eggs is doubtful, break each one separately in a cup before mixing them together. Should there be a bad one amongst them, it can be thrown away, whereas if mixed with the good ones, the entire quantity would be spoiled. The yolks and 480 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. whites beaten separately make the articles they are put into much lighter. Raisins and dried fruits for puddings should be carefully picked, and in many cases stoned. Currants should be well washed, pressed in a cloth, and placed on a dish before the fire to get thoroughly dry; they should be picked carefully over, and every piece of grit or stone removed from amongst them. To plump them, some cooks pour boiling water over them, and then dry them before the fire. Batter pudding should be smoothly mixed and free from lumps. To insure this, first mix the flour with a very small proportion of milk, and add the remainder by degrees. Should the pudding be very lumpy, it may be strained through a hair-sieve. All boiled puddings should be put on in boiling water, which must not be allowed to stop simmering, and the pudding must always be covered with the water ; if requisite, the saucepan should be kept filled up. For baked or boiled puddings, the moulds, cups or basins should be always buttered before the mixture is put into them, and they should be put into the saucepan directly they are filled. Scrupulous attention should be paid to the cleanliness of pudding- cloths, as from neglect in this particular the outsides of boiled pud- dings frequently taste very disagreeably. As soon as possible after it is taken off the pudding it should be soaked in water, and then well washed, without soap, unless it be very greasy. It should be dried out of doors, then folded up and kept in a dry place. When wanted for use, dip it in boiling water, and dredge it slightly with flour. The dry ingredients for puddings are better for being mixed some time before they are wanted; the liquid portion should only be added just before the pudding is put into the saucepan. A pinch of salt is an improvement to the generality of puddings ; but this ingredient should be added very sparingly, as the flavor should not be detected. Baked Puddings. — When, baked puddings are sufficiently soh"d, COOKERY RECIPES. 48 1 turn them out of the dish they were baked in, bottom uppermost, and strew over them finely sifted sugar. Baked R'ice Pudding. — One teacupful of rice, two tablespoonfuls of moist sugar, one quart of milk, half an ounce of butter, or two small tablespoonfuls of chopped suet, half a teaspoonful of grated nutmeg. Wash' the rice, put it into a pie-dish with the sugar, pour in the milk, and stir these ingredients well together ; then add the butter, cut up into very small pieces, or, instead of this, the above proportion of finely minced suet ; grate a little nutmeg over the top, and bake the pudding, in a moderate oven, from an hour and a half to two hours. As the rice is not previously cooked, care must be taken that the pudding be very slowly baked, to give plenty of time for the rice to swell, and for it to be very thoroughly done. Boiled Rice Pudding. — Quarter of a pound of rice, one pint and a-half of new milk, two ounces of butter, four eggs, half a saltspoonful of salt, four large tablespoonfuls of moist sugar; flavoring to taste. Stew the rice very gently in the above proportion of new milk, and when it is tender pour it into a basin ; stir in the butter, and let it stand to cool ; then beat the eggs, add these to the rice with the sugar, salt, and any flavoring that may be approved — such as nutmeg, powdered cinnamon, grated lemon-peel, essence of bitter almonds, or vanilla. When all is well stirred, put the pudding into a buttered basin, tie it down with a cloth, pkinge it into boiling water, and boil for an hour and a-quarter. Lemon Sauce. — Slice a lemon; take the seeds out, so as not to get the bitter; put it with a pint of sugar and a small quantity of water; let it boil, and add a piece of butter. Apple Sauce. — Pare your apples quickly, and pour on boiling water. Cook rapidly to avoid discoloration, and keep the fruit cov- ered while cooking. Sauce for Baked Pudding. — Take one pint of water, a large teacup of sugar, a piece of butter the size of a large egg, a little nut- meg and essence of lemon, and bring it to a boil. Now take a little flour or corn-starch (which is best), well beaten into a paste and 482 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. thinned, and stir gradually till of the consistency of cream, or as thick as you like; then add a large tablespoonful of vinegar or brandy. Pudding Sauce (i). — Stir half a cup of butter with half a cup of sugar; a little flour. Pour boiling water over the whole. Add wine just before going to the table. Pudding Sauce (2). — One cup of milk, one of sugar, one of butter, one tablespoonful of flour; rub the sugar, butter and flour together; bring the milk to a boil, and stir in the other, then boil a second time. Season to suit taste. Corn-starch Pudding. — One quart of milk, one teacup of starch, one teaspoon of salt, three eggs well beaten. Dissolve the starch in a little of the milk, putting the remainder on to boil. When boiling, take it off and stir in the starch first, then add the eggs. Turn it into forms and serve cold, or bake it, which is an improvement. For sauce, beat cream and loaf-sugar together, and flavor it to your taste. Home PuDDiNo.^One pint of milk, yolks of two egg^, three crackers rolled fine and bake. Use three-fourths of a cup of sugar, and the whites for frosting ; spread over the pudding, and return to the oven for a few minutes. To Make an Indian Pudding. — One quart sweet skimmed milk; let it come to a boil, then stir in one cup Indian meal and one hand- ful of flour ; pour it into a baking-pan and add two-thirds of a cup of molasses, teaspoonful of salt and one cup of cold milk. Bake four hours. Slice in two or three apples if convenient to do so. • Bread Pudding. — One pint of fine bread-crumbs, one quart of milk, one cup of sugar. The yolks of four eggs beaten. A piece of butter the size of an egg. Grated rind of a lemon. Bake until done, but not watery. Whip the whites of the eggs stiff, and beat in a cup of sugar in which has been stirred the juice of a lemon. Spread aver the pudding a layer of jelly ; pour the whites of the eggs over this and replace in the oven and bake lightly. English Plum Pudding. — One pound of flour, one pound of raisins, COOKERY RECIPES. 483 one pound of currants, one pound of suet, one pound of powdered crackers, eight eggs, a small quantity of salt ; spice to the taste with cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and citron, four ounces of candied lemon and orange peel, one wine-glass of brandy, one wine-glass of rum, one pound of sugar, one pint of milk and water. Boil it six or eight hours, and tie the bag loosely so as to allow the rum to swell. Plum Pudding. — Take a sixpenny loaf of stale baker's bread, cut in small pieces (except the under crust) ; lay it in a pan, and pour a quart and a pint of boiling milk over it; let it stand an hour or two, then mash it quite fine, and, when it is cold, stir in some flour — two or three handfuls — add seven eggs well beaten, three-quarters of a pound of beef suet chopped very fine, two pounds of stoned raisins, one pound of currants, a small quantity of cinnamon and cloves, quarter of a pound of citron, two nutmegs. Boil it three hours, and have the water boiling when it is put in; also have a tea-kettle of hot water to fill up the pot. Carrot Plum Pudding. — One-quarter pound of flour, one-quarter pound of suet, one-quarter pound of grated carrots (raw); one-quarter pound of potatoes, mashed free from lumps ; one-quarter pound of currants, one-quarter pound of raisins, one ounce of candied peel, a little nutmeg and other spices mixed together. No liquid is required to mix this pudding ; the carrots will give sufficient moisture ; and if they are fresh and fine, it is impossible to detect their presence in the pudding. Boil six hours and serve with good brandy sauce. PuFFETS. — Beat two heaping tablespoonfuls of cream tartar in three pints of well-sifted flour; beat three eggs well; one cup of sugar; one cup of soft butter ; add one pint of milk, into which dissolve one teaspoonful of soda, after which add the flour. Mix lightly, and bake thirty minutes in a quick oven ; pour it all in a dripping-pan, and * when done cut it in small square pieces. Steam Pudding {Good). — Half a cup of sugar; three tablespoon- fuls of butter ; two eggs well beaten ; two cups of sweet milk ; flour enough to make a stiff batter ; one teaspoonful of soda; two of cream tartar; one cup of currants, and one of raisins. Boil it two hours; eat it with cold sauce. 484 THE hearthstone; ok, life at home. Hasty Pudding. — Boil water, a quart, three pints, or two quarts, according to the size of family ; sift your meal, stir five or six spoon- fuls of it thoroughly into a bowl of water; when the water in the kettle boils, pour into it the contents of the bowl ; stir it well and let it boil up thick ; put in salt to suit your taste, then stand over the kettle and sprinkle in meal, handful after handful, stirring it very thoroughly all the time, and letting it boil between whiles. When it is so thick that you stir it with difficulty, it is about right. It takes about half an hour's cooking. Eat with milk or molasses. Either Indian meal or r)'e meal may be used. Green Corn Pudding. — Allow one long ear of sweet corn for each person; take half a pint of milk, one egg, a dessertspoonful of white sugar, one of sweet butter, and a teaspoonful of salt to every two ears; beat the egg and sugar well together, and add the milk and salt ; cut the corn off the cobs with a sharp knife, and chop the divided grains with a chopping-knife, but not too fine — or, better still, split each row of grains down the middle before cutting them off the cobs ; stir the chopped corn into the milk, and bake in a brisk oven in custard-cups or a tin pan until the top is nicely browned, but not hardened. Serve hot, without .sauce. Some prefer it cold. Tapioca Pudding (i). — Four tablespoonfuls of tapioca, one quart of milk, three eggs, one ounce of butter, one cup of sugar. Put the tapioca in the milk and boil in a kettle of water until it dissolves. Add the butter, sugar and c^^^ while the milk is hot, and bake it half an hour. Sauce of butter, sugar and nutmeg. Tapioca Pudding (2). — To two quarts of warm milk put eight tablespoonfuls of tapioca, four beaten eggs, a tablcspoonful of butter, and cinnamon or mace to the taste; mix four tablespoonfuls of white powdered sugar and a wine-glass of wine ; stir it into the rest of the ingredients. Turn the whole into a pudding-dish that has a lining of pastry, and bake immediately. Lemon Pudding (i). — Three-quarters of a pound of sugar, three- quarters of a pound of butter, yolks of twelve eggs ; the peel of three lemons and juice of two; paste in the bottom of the dish. COOKERY RECIPES. 485 Lemon Pudding (2). — One-quarter of a pound of butter, peel and juice of two lemons, two rolled crackers, six tablespoonfuls of wine, six eggs, one pint of cream or milk ; sugar to taste. Baked Flour Pudding. — One quart of milk, eight eggs well beaten, eight tablespoonfuls of sifted flour, a little salt; bake in a hot oven. It should be eaten with cold sauce. Batter Pudding. — One pint of sour milk, one teaspoonful of salt, flour enough to make it a stiff cake ; one teaspoonful of soda, or more, as it may require. Can be made with or without fruit. If made with fruit, one-half of the batter should be put in the pan, then the fruit, and the remaining portion of the batter. Steam one hour. CocoANUT Pudding (i). — Three-quarters of a pound of butter, three-quarters of a pound of sugar ; beat to a cream ; twelve whites of eggs, added by degrees ; three-quarters of a cocoanut, grated ; a glass of brandy and a little rose-water. A thin paste at the bottom. Cocoanut Pudding (2). — Two cocoanuts, one quart of milk or cream, the yolks of ten eggs, five whites; a lump of butter the size of an egg; sugar to your taste. Cottage Pudding. — One pint and a half of flour, two small tea- spoonfuls of cream-tartar, rubbed in the flour; five small tablespoon- fuls of melted butter, a little salt, one egg, well beaten ; one teacup of sugar, one tumbler of sweet milk; take out a little milk,, in which dissolve one small teaspoonful of soda, and add the last thing. Bake it three-quarters of an hour in a moderate oven. Apple Dumplings. — Pare and scoop out the core of six large baking apples ; put part of a clove and a little grated lemon-peel in- side of each, and enclose them in pieces of puff-paste; boil them in nets for the purpose, or bits of linen, for an hour. Before serving, cut off a small bit from the top of each, and put in a teaspoonful of sugar and a bit of fresh butter. Replace the bit of paste, and strew over them pounded loaf sugar. Suet Pudding. — One cup of chopped suet, one cup of chopped raisins, one cup of sweet milk, one cup of molasses, three cups of flour, or enough to make a stiff batter ; one teaspoonful of salt and 486 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. one teaspoonful of soda. Rub the butter and sugar together; beat the white of an egg to a froth, and stir with it. Grate nutmeg over it, and stand it in the refrigerator until ready to use, and then turn hot wine and water to it. Apple Pudding. — Two pounds of stewed . apples rubbed through a sieve, one pound of butter, one pound of sugar, ten eggs, ten table- spoonfuls of cream or milk, one wine-glass of brandy, a small quan- tity of orange peel — ground or cut fine ; baked in paste. CREAMS, JELLIES, CUSTARDS, ETC Jelly Moulded with Fresh Fruit, or Macedoine de Fruits. — Rather more than a pint and a half of jelly, a few nice strawberries, or red or white currants, or raspberries, or any fresh fruit that may be in season. Have ready the above proportion of jelly, which must be very clear and rather sweet, the raw fruit requiring an additional quantity of sugar. Select ripe, nice-looking fruit; pick off the stalks, unless currants are used, when they are laid in the jelly as they come from the tree. Begin by putting a little jelly at the bottom of the mould, which must harden ; then arrange the fruit round the sides of the mould, recollecting that it will be reversed when turned out; then pour in some more jelly to make the fruit adhere, and when that layer is set, put another row of fruit and jelly until the mould is full. If convenient, put it in ice until required for table ; then wring a cloth in boiling water, wrap it round the mould for a minute, and turn the jelly carefully out. Peaches, apricots, plums, apples, etc., are better for being boiled in a little clear syrup before they are laid in the jelly; strawberries, raspberries, grapes, cherries and currants are put in raw. In winter, when fresh fruits are not obtainable, a very pretty jelly may be made with preserved fruits or brandy cherries ; these, in a bright and clear jelly, have a very pretty effect ; of course, unless the jelly be very clear, the beauty of the dish will be spoiled. It may be garnished with the same fruit as is laid in the jelly; for instance, an open jelly with strav/berries might have, piled in the centre, a few of the same fruit prettily arranged, or a little whipped cream might be COOKERY RECIPES. 487 substituted for the fruit. One layer of jelly should remain two hours in a very cool place before anothe* layer is added. Tapioca Cream. — Put two tablespoonfuls of tapioca to soak in cold water ; set it on the stove, and, when thoroughly dissolved, pour in a quart of milk. When this begins to boil, stir in the yolks of two eggs well beaten, with a cup of sugar. When this boils stir in the whites, beaten to a stiff froth, and take it immediately from the fire. Flavor to taste. Lemon Cream. — One pint of cream, the yolks of two eggs, one quarter of a pound of white sugar, one large lemon, one ounce of isinglass ; put the cream into a lined saucepan, with the sugar, lemon- peel and isinglass, and simmer these over a gentle fire for about ten minutes, stirring them all the time; strain the cream into a jug, add the yolks of eggs, which should be well beaten, and put the jug into a saucepan of boiling water ; stir the mi.xture one way until it thickens, but do not allow it to boil ; take it off the fire, and keep stirring it until nearly cold; strain the lemon-juice into a basin, gradually pour on it the cream, and stir it well until the juice is well mixed with it; have ready a well-oiled mould; pour the cream into it, and let it re- main until perfectly set. When required for table, loosen the edges with a small blunt knife ; put a dish on the top of the mould, turn it over quickly, and the cream should easily slip away; it will require ten minutes to boil the cream ; about ten minutes to stir it over the fire in a jug. Economical Lemon Cream. — One quart of milk, eight bitter almonds, two ounces of gelatine, two large lemons, three-quarters of a pound of lump sugar, the yolks of six eggs; put the milk into a lined saucepan, with the almonds, which should be well pounded in a mortar, the gelatine, lemon-rind and lump-sugar, and boil these ingredients for about five minutes ; beat up the yolks of the eggs, strain the milk into a jug, add the eggs, and pour the mixture back- ward and forward a few times, until nearly cold ; then stir briskly to it the lemon-juice, which should be strained, and keep stirring until the cream is almost cold ; put it into an oiled mould and let it remain 488 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. until perlectly set. The lemon-juice must not be added to the cream when it is warm, and should be kept well stirred after it is put in. Whipped Cream. — Whips to be light must be quickly and lightly whisked, and as the froth rises, carefully skimmed off with a spoon and laid on a reversed sieve. Half a pint of cream, half a glass of sherry, the juice of half a lemon and a little sifted sugar — these, added by little at a time, make sufficient whip to cover an ordinary trifle dish. Orange Cream (i). — One ounce of isinglass, six large oranges, one lemon, sugar to taste, water, half a pint of good cream. Squeeze the juice from the oranges and lemon ; strain it and put it into a sauce- pan with the isinglass and sufficient water to make in all one pint and a half Rub the sugar on the orange and lemon-rind, add to it the other ingredients, and boil all together for about ten minutes. Strain through a muslin bag, and, when cold, beat up with it half a pint of thick cream. Wet a mould or soak it in cold water ; pour in the cream, and put it in a cool place to set. If the weather is very cold, one ounce of isinglass will be found sufficient for the above proportion of ingredients. Time : Ten minutes to boil the juice and water. Orange Cream (2). — One Seville orange, one tablespoonful of brandy, quarter of a pound of loaf-sugar, the yolks of four eggs, one pint of cream. Boil the rind of the Seville orange until tender, and beat it in a mortar to a pulp ; add to it the brandy, the strained juice of the orange and the sugar, and beat all together for about ten min- utes, adding the well-beaten yolks of eggs. Bring the cream to the boiling-point, and pour it very gradually to the othar ingredients, and beat the mixture till nearly cold ; put it into custard-cups, place the cups in a deep dish of boiling water, where let them remain till quite cold. Take the cups out of the water, wipe them, and garnish the tops of the cream with candied orange-peel or preserved chips. Ice-cream. — The best ice-cream is made simply of cream, sweet- ened, flavored with lemon-juice, or other extracts, if preferred, and frozen. Where cream cannot be procured, make a custard. One COOKERY RECIPES. 489 quart of milk, three eggs, beaten light, sweetened, heat scalding hot; care must be taken that it does not boil. Take it from the fire ; when cool, season it with vanilla or lemon, and freeze. Pineapple Ice-cream. — Half a pound of preserved pineapple, one pint of cream, the juice of a small lemon, one gill of new milk, quarter of a pound of sugar; cut the pineapple into small pieces; bruise it in a mortar; add the sugar, lemon-juice, cream and milk; mix well together ; press through a hair-sieve, and freeze. Raspberry Ice-cream. — Half a pound of raspberry jam, the juice of one lemon, one pint of cream, one gill of milk, a {ew drops of cochineal ; strain the lemon-juice over the jam; stir in the cochineal; add the milk and cream ; beat up in a basin and freeze. Strawberry Ice-cream. — Half a pound of fresh strawberries, half a pound of sugar, one pint of cream, half a pound of good strawberry- jam, the juice of one lemon, half a pint of milk; beat up the straw- berries, lemon-juice and sugar into a pulp; add the preserved cream and milk, and freeze. Coffee Ice-cream. — Six ounces of Turkey coffee-berries, well roasted, one pint of cream, half a pint of milk, one ounce of arrow- root, half a pound of sugar; place the berries on a tin in the oven for five minutes ; boil the cream and milk together, and put them into a can ; take the berries from the oven and throw them in the scalding cream ; cover till cold ; strain ; add the arrowroot and sugar; stir over the fire like custard: Bavarian Cream. — Boil a pint of rich milk with a teacupful of sugar, and add a teaspoonful of vanilla. Soak half a bo.x of Cox's gelatine for an hour in half a cup of warm water and add the milk. Add the yolks of four eggs beaten smooth, and take from the fire instantly. When cold, and just beginning to thicken, stir in one pint of cream, whipped to a stiff froth. Put in moulds and set in a cool place. For chocolate, add two tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate dissolved in half a cup of boiling water; for coffee, one teacup of clear, strong coffee. Chocolate Eclairs. — Take four ounces of flour, half a teaspoon- 490 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. ful of baking powder, and a very small pinch of salt, and sift them together; beat the yolks of four eggs light; beat into them six ounces of pulverized sugar; beat the whites of your four eggs light, and add the flour and whites of egg, a tablespoonful at a time, to the sugar and yolks ; put a sheet of well-buttered paper in a baking-pan, drop your cake into small oblong forms on it, and bake to a light-brown in a quick oven ; grate two ounces of chocolate, add to it four ounces of pulverized sugar, moisten it with cold water, mix smooth in a tin and set in a pot of hot water on the fire ; let it boil until it candies ; put it while hot on under part of the cakes, and put them two and two together ; then put the chocolate on top of each two, and put them for a few moments in the oven to dry. Cream for Filling. — One cup of sugar, juice and grated rind of two lemons, two eggs ; boil in a farina-kettle until it thickens. Jelly of Irish Moss. — Irish moss, half an ounce ; fresh milk, a pint and a half; boil down to a pint; remove any sediment by strain- ing, and add the proper quantity of sugar and lemon-juice or peach water to give it an agreeable flavor. To Clarify Sugar for Water-ices. — Use six pounds of sugar, six pints of water and the white of an egg ; melt the sugar in the water, and place over a gentle fire ; let it boil well ; beat the white of an egg, and add it to the water; boil ten minutes, strain and bottle for use. To Make Fruit Water-ices. — To every pint of fruit-juice allow one pint of syrup; select nice ripe fruit; pick off the stalks, and put it into a large earthen pan, with a little pounded sugar strewed over; stir it about with a wooden spoon until it is well broken, then rub it through a hair-sieve ; make the syrup, let it cool, add the fruit-juice, mix well together, and put the mixture into the freezing-pot; when the mixture is equally frozen, put it into small glasses. Raspberry, strawberry, cuarant and other fresh fruit water-ices are made in the same manner. Lemon Ice. — Six lemons, juice of all, and grated peel of three; one large sweet orange, juice and rind, one pint of water, one pint of COOKERY RECIPES. . 49 1 sugar; squeeze out every drop of juice and steep it in the rind of orange and lemons one hour; strain, squeezing the bag dry; mix in the sugar and then the water; stir until dissolved, and freeze by turning in a freezer, opening three times to beat all up together. Orange Ice. — Six oranges, juice of all, and grated peel of three; two lemons, the juice only ; one pint of sugar dissolved in one pint of water. Prepare and freeze as you would lemon ice. Pineapple Ice. — One juicy, ripe pineapple, peeled and cut small; juice and grated peel of one lemon, one pint of sugar, one pint of water, or less ; strew the sugar over the pineapple, and let it stand an hour; mash all up together, and strain out the syrup through a hair-sieve ; add the water and freeze. Lemon Water-ice. — To every pint of syrup allow one-third pint of lemon-juice; the rind of four lemons; rub the sugar on the rinds of the lemons, and with it make a syrup; strain the lemon-juice, add to it the other ingredients, stir well, and put the mixture into a freez- ing-pot. Freeze it, and when the mixture is thoroughly and equally frozen, put it into ice-glasses. Orange Jelly Moulded with Slices of Orange. — Use one pint and a half of orange jelly, four oranges, one-half pint of clarified syrup ; boil one-half pound of loaf-sugar with one-half pint of water until there is no scum left (which must be carefully removed as fast as it rises), and carefully peel the oranges ; divide them into thin slices without breaking the thin skin, and put these pieces of orange into the syrup, where let them remain for about five minutes; then take them out, and use the syrup for the jelly ; when the oranges are well drained, and the jelly is nearly cold, pour a little of the latter into the bottom of the mould ; then lay in a few pieces of orange ; over these pour a little jelly, and when this is set, place another layer of oranges, proceeding in this manner until the mould is full ; put it in ice, or in a cool place, and before turning it out, wrap a cloth round the mould for a minute or two, which has been wrung in boiling water. SufiFicient with the slices of orange to fill a quart mould. A Pretty Dish of Oranges. — Six large oranges, one-half pound 4^2 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. of loaf-sugar, one-quarter pint of water, one-half pint of cream, two tablespoonfuls of any kind of liquor ; sugar to taste. Put the sugar and water into a saucepan, and boil them until the sug^ar becomes brittle, which may be ascertained by taking up a small quantity in a spoon and dipping it into cold water; if the sugar is sufficiently boiled it will easily snap; peel the oranges; remove as much of the white pith as possible, and divide them into nice-sized slices without break- ing the thin white skin which surrounds the juicy pulp; place the pieces of orange on small skewers, dip them into hot sugar, and arrange them in layers round a plain mould, which should be well oiled with the purest salad oil. The sides of the mould only should be lined with the oranges, and the centre left open for the cream. Let the sugar become firm by cooling ; turn the oranges carefully out on a dish, and fill the centre with whipped cream, flavored with any kind of liquor, and sweetened with pounded sugar. This is an ex- ceedingly ornamental and nice dish for the supper-table. Apple Trifle. — Scald as many apples as, when pulped, will cover the dish you design to use to the depth of two or three inches. Be- fore you place them in the dish, add to them the rind of half a lemon, grated fine, and sugar to taste ; mix half a pint of milk, half a pint of cream, and the yolk of an egg ; scald it over the fire, keeping it stirring, and do not let it boil ; add a little sugar, and let it stand till cold, then lay it over the apples, and finish with the cream whip. Ambrosia. — Peel some sweet oranges, slice them, and lay them in a glass dish with alternate layers of grated cocoanut and sugar to taste, putting a layer of cocoanut on the top, and pouring over the whole a full wineglass of good sherry. Place on the ice till needed, and serve very cold. Meringues. — Use one-half a pound of pounded sugar and the whites of four eggs. Whisk the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and with a wooden spoon stir in quickly the pounded sugar; and have some boards put in the oven thick enough to prevent the bottom of the meringues from acquiring too much color. Cut some strips of paper about two inches wide ; place this paper on the board and COOKERY RECIPES. 493 drop a tablespoonful at a time of the mixture on the paper, taking care to let all the meringues be the same size. Tn dropping it from the spoon, give the mixture the form of an QQg, and keep the me- ringues about two inches apart from each other on the paper. Strew over thetn some sifted sugar, and bake in a moderate oven for one- half hour. As soon as they begin to color, remove them from the oven ; take each slip of paper by the two ends and turn it gently on the table, and, with a small spoon, take out the soft part of each meringue. Spread some clean paper on the board, turn the me- ringues upside down, and put them into the oven to harden and brown on the other side. When required for table, fill them with whipped cream, flavored with liqueur or vanilla, and sweeten with pounded sugar. Join two of the meringues together, and pile them high in the dish. To vary their appearance, finely-chopped almonds or cur- rants may be strewn over them before the sugar is sprinkled over ; and they may be garnished with any bright-colored preserve. Great expedition is necessary in making this sweet dish : as, if the me- ringues are not put into the oven as soon as the sugar and eggs are mixed, the former melts, and the mixture would run on the paper, instead of keeping its egg-shape. The sweeter the meringues are made, the crisper will they be ; but if there is not sufficient sugar mixed with them, they will most likely be tough. They are some- times colored with cochineal ; and, if kept well covered in a dry place, will remain good for a month or six weeks. Open Jelly, with Whipped Cream. — One and one-half pints of jelly, one-half pint of cream, one glass of sherry, sugar to taste. Make the above proportion of calf's-foot or isinglass jelly, coloring and flavoring it in any way that may be preferred ; soak a mould, open in the centre, for about one-half hour in cold water ; fill it with the jelly, and let it remain in a cool place until perfectly set ; then turn it out on a dish, fill the centre with whipped cream, flavored with sherry and sweetened with pounded sugar; pile this crea^i liig^i in the centre and serve. The jelly should be made of rather a dark color, to contrast nicely with the cream. Cook three-quarters of an hour. 3» 494 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Blanc-Mange. — A quarter of a pound of sugar, one quart of milk, one ounce and a-half of isinglass, the rind of half a lemon, four laurel leaves. Put all the ingredients into a lined saucepan, and boil gently until the isinglass is dissolved ; taste it occasionally to ascertain when it is sufficiently flavored with the laurel leaves. Take them*out, and keep stirring the mixture over the fire for about ten minutes. Strain it through a fine sieve into a jug, and, when nearly cold, pour it into a well-oiled mould, omitting the sediment at the bottom, Apple Charlotte. — Cut a sufficient number of thin slices of white bread to cover the bottom and line the sides of a baking dish, first rubbing it thickly with butter. Put thin slices of apples into the dish in layers till the dish is full, strewing sugar and bits of butter between. In the meantime, soak as many slices of bread as will cover the whole in warm milk, over which place a plate and a weight to keep the bread close upon the apples ; let it bake slowly for three hours. For a middling-sized dish, you should use half a pound of butter for the whole. Harlequin Jelly. — This pretty dish is produced in the following manner : Wash a jelly-mould with white of egg, melt a little currant jelly and pour into it ; let it cool ; when cold, melt some plum jelly and pour in ; let this cool ; melt crab-apple jelly, and so on, in layers of various colors till the mould is full. Care must be taken that the jellies aire only warm enough to run, as, if they are hot, they will mix, and so spoil the effect. High-colored jellies and cream blanc- mange, moulded in layers in the same way, make a beautiful harlequin. Turn out when cold and stiff. Baked Custard. — Beat seven eggs with three tablespoonfuls of rolled sugar; when beaten to a froth, mix them with a quart of milk; flavor it with nutmeg; turn it into cups, or else into deep pie- plates that have a lining and rim of pastry ; bake quickly in a hot oven. Custard. — One quart of milk, four eggs ; sweeten with white sugar, a little salt ; put a teaspoonful of vanilla on the grated rind of a lemon ; pour it in cups, and set these cups in a dripping-pan which COOKERY RECIPES. 495 has hot water enough in it to half cover the cups ; put it in a hot oven, and take it out as soon as the custard has thickened, Apple Custard. — Take half a dozen tart, mellow apples, pare and quarter them, and take out the cores ; put them in a pan, with half a teacup of water ; set them on a few coals ; when they begin to grow soft, turn them into a pudding-dish, and sprinkle sugar on them; beat eight eggs with rolled brown sugar; mix them with three pints of milk ; grate in half a nutmeg, and turn the whole over the apples; bake the custard between twenty and thirty minutes. Chocolate Custard. — One quart of milk and three ounces of choco- late, boiled together till thoroughly mixed; then take off the fire and add four eggs well beaten in ; season to taste. Rice Custard. — Take one quart of milk, and thicken it while boiling with one large tablespoonful of ground rice. Beat five eggs, and pour them gradually into the milk. Let the custard boil a few minutes, and then add a little lemon-juice. Charlotte Russe. — Take three pints of rich cream, and sweeten it to suit the taste, then whip it to a stiff froth ; beat the yolks of four eggs, with a quarter of a pound of powdered sugar ; boil a vanilla-bean in a quart of water, and an ounce of isinglass until the latter is dis- solved ; strain this, boiling hot, on the sugar and eggs ; simmer a few minutes over the fire, but do not let it boil ; stir it to prevent curdling; then set it away to cool ; when perfectly cool and it begins to stiffen, stir in the whips and put it in the moulds. Calf's-foot jelly can be used in place of the isinglass if desired. Floating Island. — Take a pint of thick cream, sweeten with fine sugar; grate in the peel of one lemon, and add a gill of sweet white wine; whisk it well till you have raised a good froth, then pour a pint of thick cream into a china dish ; take one French roll, slice it thin, and lay it over the cream as lightly as possible ; then a layer of clear calf's-foot jelly or currant jelly; then whip up your cream and lay on the froth as high as you can, and what remains pour into the bot- tom of the dish. Garnish the rim with sweetmeats. Cocoanut for Dessert. — Grate a cocoanut very nicely, add powdered sugar until very sweet ; serve with cream. 496 THE HEARTHSTONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME. A Dainty Dish. — The whites of six eggs well beaten ; add currant jelly, and beat it until well colored. To be eaten with sweetened cream. CocoANUT Macaroons. — To one grated cocoanut add its weight in sugar, and the white of one egg beaten to a froth ; stir it well, and cook it a little ; then wet your hands, and mould it into small cakes, laying them upon buttered paper. Bake in a moderate oven. Everton Candy. — To make this favorite and wholesome candy, take one and one-half pounds of moist sugar, a teacup and a-half of water and one lemon ; boil the sugar, butter and water together with half the rind of the lemon, and when done, which will be known by dropping into cold water, when it should be quite crisp, let it stand aside till the boiling has ceased, and then stir in the juice of the lemon ; butter a dish, and pour it in about one-quarter of an inch thick. The fire must be quick and the candy stirred all the time. Chocolate Kisses. — Three heaping tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate, one pound of granulated sugar, the whites of four eggs ; beat the eggs to a froth, not too stiff; add the sugar and chocolate, and stir well together; flavor with thirty drops of vanilla; drop on buttered paper with a teaspoon ; bake in a moderate oven for ten minutes. Caramel Candy. — Three pounds of sugar, half-pound of butter, one pint of cream, one pound of Baker's chocolate grated ; boil the cream, sugar and butter togetlier, and stir in the chocolate last. To tell when it is done, drop a little in cold water, and if it does not spread, but hardens quickly, take it off the fire ; pour out thin over dishes greased with butter ; the candy to be cut out in small pieces. Taffy Candy. — One cup of sugar, one-half cup of molasses, one- fourth cup of butter, and a tablespoonful of water. Boil all together until it will snap when dropped in cold water. Chocolate Caramels. — Take of grated chocolate, milk, molasses and sugar each one cupful, and a piece of butter the size of an egg. boil until it will harden when dropped into cold water; add vanilla; put in buttered pan, and before it cools mark off in square blocks. COOKERY RECIPES. 497 Currant Jelly (i). — Put the currants in a stone pot, and stand them in a kettle of hot water over the fire. As the juice makes, pour it out; put the juice in a kettle, boil and skim it, then put in the sugar (one pound of sugar to a pint of juice), stirring it all the while. As soon as it is dissolved it is done. Currant Jelly (2). — It should always be made during the first week in July, Pick the stems from the currants and put them in a kettle and heat them, mashing so as to express the juice ; then squeeze them through a huckaback towel. Add one pound of loaf-sugar to every pint of juice. Put it in a porcelain-lined kettle, and boil it thirty minutes after it begins to boil. Orange Jelly. — One pint of water, one and a half to two ounces of isinglass, half a pound of loaf-sugar, one Seville orange, one lemon, about nine China oranges. Put the water into a saucepan, with the isinglass, sugar and the rind of one orange, and the same of half a lemon, and stir these over the fire until the isinglass is dissolved, and remove the scum ; then add to this the juice of the Seville orange, the juice of the lemon, and sufficient juice of China oranges to make in all one pint ; from eight to ten oranges will yield the desired quan- tity. Stir all together over the fire until it is just on the point of boiling; skim well ; then strain the jelly through a fine sieve or jelly- bag, and, when nearly cold, put it into a mould previously wetted, and, when quite set, turn it out on a dish and garnish it to taste. To insure this jelly being clear, the orange and lemon-juice should be well strained and the isinglass clarified before they are added to the other ingredients, and, to heighten the color, a few drops of prepared cochineal may be added. How TO Mould Bottled Jellies. — Uncork the bottle ; place it in a saucepan of hot water until the jelly is reduced to a liquid state. Taste it to ascertain whether it is sufficiently flavored, and if not, add a little wine. Pour the jelly into moulds which have been soaked in water ; let it set, and turn it out by placing the mould in hot water for a minute ; then wipe the outside, put a dish on the top, and turn it over quickly. The jelly should then slip easily 498 THE HEARTH,STONE ; OR, LIFE AT HOME. away from the mould and be quite firm. It may be garnished as taste dictates. Apple Jelly. — To every pound of apples add a pint of water, boil till all the goodness is extracted ; then to every pint of juice add one pound of sugar; boil till reduced to half; then add a packet of gela- tine to each gallon, and the juice of four lemons. Jelly. — Two ounces of isinglass or gelatine, two quarts of water. one pound and a-half of sugar, whites of three eggs, beaten to a foam. Stir them all together cold; stand an hour; then put the juice of three lemons and peel of one ; lay in a short time. Boil fifteen minutes, and strain through a bag. A Very Simple and Easy Method of Making Very Superior Orange Wine. — Ninety Seville oranges, thirty-two pounds of lump- sugar, water. Break up the sugar into small pieces, and put it into a dry, sweet, nine-gallon cask, placed in a cellar or other storehouse, where it is intended to be kept. Have ready close to the cask two large pans or wooden keelers, into one of which put the peel of the oranges pared quite thin, and into the other the pulp after the juice has been squeezed from it. Strain the juice through a piece of double muslin, and put it in the cask with the sugar. Then pour about one and one-half gallons of cold spring-water on both the peels and pulp; let it stand for twenty-four hours, and then strain it into the cask ; add more water to the peels and pulp when this is done, and repeat the same process every day for a week ; it should take about a week to fill up the cask. Be careful to apportion the quantity as nearly as possible to the seven days, and to stir the contents of the cask each day. On the third day after the cask is full — that is, the tenth day after the commencement of making — the cask may be securely bunged down. This is a very simple and easy method, and the wine made according to it will be pronounced to be most excellent. There is no trouble- some boiling, and all fermentation takes place in the cask. When the above directions are attended to, the wine cannot fail to be good. It should be bottled in eight or nine months, and will be fit for use in a twelve-month after the time of making. Ginger wine may be COOKERY RECIPES. 499 made in precisely the same manner, only, with the nine-gallon cask for ginger wine, two pounds of the best whole ginger, bruised, must be put witli the sugar. It will be found convenient to tie the ginger looseiv in a muslin bag. Lemon Syrup. — Two pounds of loaf-sugar, two pints of water, one ounce of citric acid, one-half drachm of essence of lemon. Boil the sugar and water together for one-quarter hour, and put it into a basin, where let it remain till cold. Beat the citric acid to a powder, mix the essence of lemon with it, then add these two ingredients to the syrup ; mix well and bottle for use. Two tablespoonfuls of the syrup are sufficient for a tumbler of cold water, and will be found a very refreshing summer drink. For a Summer Draught. — The juice of one lemon, a tumblerful of cold water, pounded sugar to taste, one-half teaspoonful of car- bonate of soda. Squeeze the juice from the lemon ; strain and add it to the water, with sufficient pounded sugar to sweeten the whole nicely. When well mixed, put in the soda ; stir well, and drink while the mixture is in an effervescing state. Currant Wine. — To one gallon and a quart of juice add two gal- Ions of water and thirteen pounds of brown sugar. Mash and strain the currants through a sifter, and after mixing the preparations, put it in a vessel that is not too close for ten days, and then close it tightly until fall. After that time it can be drawn off and bottled. Recipe for Making Blackberry Wine. — To one gallon of ripe blackberries add one gallon of boiling water ; let it remain twenty- four hours ; then strain without pressure, and to every gallon of juice add two and a-half pounds of loaf-sugar. Put in a demijohn, with a thin muslin cloth tied over the mouth ; let it stand in a cool place for two months, then strain through flannel ; add one ounce of sugar to each gallon to clear it. Then bottle, and in three weeks it is ready for use. Elderberry Wine. — Take one quart of pure elderberry juice, two quarts water, three pounds sugar (the best sugar for this purpose is what we call molasses- sugar, viz. : sugar that settles from molasses 500 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. into the bottom of hogsheads) ; mix all together, and let it /erment until it works itself clear ; strain and bottle ; leave the bottles un- corked until it is done working, then cork and put away in a cellar, and in a few months you will have good wine, but age will improve it. PRESERVES, CANNED FRUITS, Etc. To Preserve Fruit. — Fruit may be preserved with honey by putting the fruit first in the can, then pour the honey over it, and seal air-tight. When the honey is poured from the fruit it will have the flavor and appearance of jell\', making a rich dessert. To Preserve Pears. — Take small, rich, fair fruit, as soon as the pips are black ; set it over the fire in a kettle, with water to cover them ; let them simmer until they yield to the pressure of the finger; then, with a skimmer, remove them to cold water ; pare them neatly, leaving on a little of the stem and the blossom end. Pierce them at the blossom end to the core; then make a syrup of a pound of sugar for each pound of fruit ; when it is boiling hot pour it over the pears, and let it stand until the next day. Then drain it off, making it boil- ing hot, and again pour it over. After a day or two put the fruit in the syrup over the fire, and boil gently until it is clear; put it in the jars or spread it on dishes ; boil the syrup thick, then put it and the fruit in jars. Stewed Pears. — If small and ripe, cut out the blossom end with- out paring or coring ; put into a sauce-pan, with water enough to cover them, and stew until tender; add one-half cup of sugar for every quart of pears, and stew all together ten minutes ; take out the pears and lay them in a covered bowl to keep warm; add to the syrup a little ginger or a few cloves ; boil fifteen minutes longer, and pour over the fruit hot. Watermelon Preserves. — Peel the shell or skin off; cutting in any sized pieces. Lay in alum-water over night, then take out and drain. Use a pound of rind to a pound of sugar in preserving, unless you can the fruit, then it does not require near as much sugar, and makes a very nice sauce to be eaten with cream. COOKERY RECIPES. 5OI Preserved Orange-Peel. — Weigh the oranges whole, and allow pound to pound ; peel the oranges neatly, and cut the rinds into narrow shreds ; boil till tender, changing the water twice, replenish- ing with hot from the tea-kettle; squeeze the strained juice of the oranges over the sugar ; let this heat to a boil. Put in the shreds, and boil twenty minutes. Lemon-peel can be preserved in the same way, only allowing more sugar. Preserved Strawberries. — Allow pound to pound sugar and fruit ; put in a preserving kettle together over a slow fire till the sugar melts ; boil twenty-five minutes fast. Take out the fruit in a perforated skimmer, and fill your jars three-fourths full. Boil and skim the syrup five minutes more, pour it over the fruit, filling the jars, and seal up while hot. Keep in a cool, dry place. To Preserve Grapes (i). — Procure some tin cases of any con- venient size, and put in a layer of dry sand or charcoal, and then a bunch of grapes until the case is full ; seal down the lid and make them air-tight, and bury them to any convenient depth in the ground. To Preserve Grapes (2). — First, pick off all unsound or unripe ones, and lay the clusters in an empty room on papers until dry, for in all packages some will be crushed and dampen others ; then in the crate place first a layer of grapes, then a thickness of paper, so as to exclude the air and keep them separate ; then grapes and then paper, and so on until you have three or four layers, and no more than four. If the box is to hold more, put in a partition to support the others that are to be packed. Preserved Grapes in Bunches. — Take out the stones from the bunches with a pin, breaking them as little as possible ; boil some clarified sugar to nearly candying point ; then put in sufficient grapes to cover the bottom of the preserving kettle, without laying them on each other, and boil for nearly five minutes, merely to extract all the juice; lay them in an earthen pan and pour the syrup over them; cover with paper, and the next day boil the syrup, skimming it well, for five minutes ; put in the grapes, let them boil a minute or two; put them in pots, and pour the syrup over them, after which tie down. 502 THE hearthstone; OR, LIFE AT HOME. Preserving Grapes with Honey. — Take seven pounds of sound grapes on the stems, have the branches as perfect as possible, and pack them snugly, without breaking, in a stout jar. Make a syrup of four pounds of honey and one pint of vinegar, with cloves and cinna- mon to suit, or about three ounces of each as a rule. Boil them well together for twenty minutes, and skim well, then turn while boiling hot over the grapes, and seal immediately. They will keep for years, and are exceedingly nice. Apples, peaches and plums may be preserved in the same way. Grapes Preserved in Pumpkins. — The Chinese have a method of preserving grapes so as to have them at hand during the entire year, by cutting a circular piece out of a ripe pumpkin, or gourd, making an aperture large enough to admit the hand. The interior is then completely cleaned out, the ripe grapes are then placed inside, and the cover replaced and pressed in firmly. The pumpkins are then kept in a cool place, and the grapes will be found to retain their fresh- ness for a very long time. Peaches Preserved in Brandy. — To every pound of fruit, weighed before being stoned, allow one-quarter pound of finely pounded loaf- sugar; brandy. Let the fruit be gathered in dry weather; wipe and weigh it, and remove the stones as carefully as possible, without in- juring the peaches much. Put them into a jar, sprinkle amongst them pounded loaf-sugar in the above proportion, and pour brandy over the fruit. Cover the jar down closely, place it in a saucepan of boiling water over the fire, and bring the brandy to the simrpering- point, but do not allow it to boil. Take the fruit out carefully with- out breaking it; put it into small jars, pour over it the brandy, and, when cold, exclude the air by covering the jars with bladders, or tissue-paper brushed over on both sisies with the white of an egg. Apricots may be done in the same manner, and, if properly prepared, will be found delicious. Time: From ten to twenty minutes to bring the brandy to the simmering-point. To Preserve Oranges. — Take those that are perfectly fresh, and wrap separately in soft papers ; put them in glass jars or very light COOKERY RECIPES. 5O3 boxes, with white sand ; let the sand be well dried ; put the sand in so that the fruit will not touch each other ; close the jar tight, and put it in a cool, dry place, but where the fruit will not freeze. Lemons may be preserved in the same way. Raspberry Lily. — Boil rice so that the kernels will be as distinct as possible ; spread a spoonful upon a dessert-plate ; cover it all but the edges with ripe raspberries ; pour over it two spoonfuls of sweet- ened strawberry or raspberry juice; sprinkle over the whole some white sugar, and serve cold. Drying Fruit. — Commence as soon as fully mature. If large quantities are to be preserved in this way, it will pay to get a fruit- drier of some kind, but as most private families only dry enough for home use, the common method is to employ the heat of the sun. Where there are hot-bed sashes, these may be used to great advan- tage. A frame raised a foot or so from the ground upon legs, and covered with sashes, will dry fruit and vegetables rapidly and cheaply. Make ventilating holes and cover with gauze. Dried Apples. — A bushel of fresh apples, weighing about fifty pounds, will furnish about seven pounds of good dried fruit; or, if the cores are not cut out or the skins removed, there will be nine dried pounds. There is, consequently, about eighty-two per cent, of water in the apples. Fruits generally have eighty-five per cent, of water. « A Nice Way to Bake Apples. — Take sour apples ; remove the cores ; place the apples in a deep dish or tin, fill the cavities where the cores came out with sugar, pour a cup of hot water in the tin ; bake in a quick oven. Apple Custard. — A pint of .stewed apples, a pint of milk, yolks of three eggs, juice and rind of half a lemon, juice of small orange; sugar to taste. Beat well together; bake, and, when done, whisk the whites with a little sugar, and spread over the top. Brown in a quick oven. Sealed Apples. — Pare and core your apples, and then place them in an earthen pipkin or stone jar; if juicy, they will need no water; 504 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. put a little bread-paste inside the rim of the jar, and crowd the cover down into it ; then put it into a very slow oven until thoroughly cooked, which will require two or three hours, according to the heat of the oven. Experience only can decide the requisite amount of cooking in this as in many other things. The reason for sealing them is, that the aroma of the fruit is thus ali preserved. Apples may be kept till June by taking sound ones, and, after wiping each apple perfectly dry and clean, pack them in tight barrels, with a layer of bran to each layer of apples ; envelop the barrel in a linen cloth to keep the frost out, and keep it in a cool place. Quinces. — To one pound of sugar and one pound of fruit put a pint of water, and put them all in the kettle together, and let them boil as fast as possible, without burning, and so that a constant foam will cover the fruit. In twenty minutes they are done. Canning Fruit. — The process is very simple. Place a clean and very wet towel in a pan, away from currents of air , set the can to be filled on the towel ; put a silver spoon in it; then set the fruit-funnel in and pour in the boiling fruit. Remove the funnel and spoon, fill the can to the very top, and seal tightly. Then, when nearly cold give the screw ring, if possible, another turn, or part of a turn. Stand the cans upside down to make sure that they are tight. If