That this is not best a little thought will show ; we who are so wonderfully made and so mysteriously influenced gain much by having about us every-day surroundings which are elevating and suggestive. So if there is only one picture in the house which is worth looking at or study- ing, let it hang where it will most frequently attract the attention of the family. To the thoughtful man who 96 HOUSEHOLD HINTS, wishes well to his kind, it is saddening to see people spend- ing their .money for that which is not bread. People who think they can not afford to buy so much as a photograph or heliotype of a good picture must have their parlor "set" and cheap lace in imitation of those who can well afford to have the real thing. They illustrate the woful facility we have in copying the failings of our neigh- bors instead of their virtues. This is not a plea for the utter extinction of the parlor : a tasteful reception-room, which may always be in order for guests and for any strangers whom you may not wish to introduce into your family life, is a great convenience, and in many houses almost a necessity ; but, if two pleas- ant, inviting rooms can not be afforded, it would be vastly better to invariably make the one cheerful, comfortably- furnished room, with the books and the good pictures, the room for the family to meet in and enjoy. The money, or a part of it, saved by not indulging in a parlor, might be spent to good advantage in buying books and objects of in- terest and instruction. It is interesting to notice the value placed upon books, by many who profess loudly to wish for them, by their always putting them after everything else. Such persons would hardly appreciate Charles Lamb's going about in his threadbare, plum-colored coat that he might buy a favorite folio. Nor would they be found wondering how much Oliver Wendell Holmes owes to the fact that he " staggered against books as a baby." Who that has ever attempted to trace back any of his own impressions to their source has not been surprised to find that deep and lasting ones have been made by some- thing in itself very slight ? TALKS UPON VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 97 ORDER. There is probably no failing which has contributed so largely toward making those family jars of which we fre- quently hear as the habits of carelessness sometimes indulged in by young housewives. That it is no new trouble pecu- liar to the American woman of the present, the following note, taken from Pepys's diary, assures us : " October 13, 1660 : Home, where I was angry with my wife for her things lying about, and in my passion I kicked the little line basket I bought her in Holland and broke it, which troubled me after I had done it." If this picture is not reproduced in some houses to-day, human nature has changed more since this was written than it usually does in the space of two hundred years. Perhaps some young woman will be tempted right here to say that she also is sometimes annoyed by other people's lack of care in regard to their things. Every woman doubt- less has been so annoyed, and is likely to be to the end of time ; and I sometimes think it would be the very best way for her to accept the fact cheerfully that she must look after her husband's wardrobe with the same diligence that she cares for her own ; that she must regard it as one of her duties as a good wife to keep track of his neckties, sleeve-buttons, and hat — ^for this reason, that it is extreme- ly probable that after a quarter of a century of instruction he will still be the same irresponsible being he was when she began his education.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

That this is not best a little thought will show ; we who are so wonderfully made and so mysteriously influenced gain much by having about us every-day surroundings which are elevating and suggestive. So if there is only one picture in the house which is worth looking at or studying, let it hang where it will most frequently attract the attention of the family. To the thoughtful man who wishes well to his kind, it is saddening to see people spending their .money for that which is not bread. People who think they can not afford to buy so much as a photograph or heliotype of a good picture must have their parlor "set" and cheap lace in imitation of those who can well afford to have the real thing. They illustrate the woful facility we have in copying the failings of our neighbors instead of their virtues. This is not a plea for the utter extinction of the parlor : a tasteful reception-room, which may always be in order for guests and for any strangers whom you may not wish to introduce into your family life, is a great convenience, and in many houses almost a necessity ; but, if two pleasant, inviting rooms can not be afforded, it would be vastly better to invariably make the one cheerful, comfortably furnished room, with the books and the good pictures, the room for the family to meet in and enjoy. The money, or a part of it, saved by not indulging in a parlor, might be spent to good advantage in buying books and objects of interest and instruction. It is interesting to notice the value placed upon books, by many who profess loudly to wish for them, by their always putting them after everything else. Such persons would hardly appreciate Charles Lamb's going about in his threadbare, plum-colored coat that he might buy a favorite folio. Nor would they be found wondering how much Oliver Wendell Holmes owes to the fact that he " staggered against books as a baby." Who that has ever attempted to trace back any of his own impressions to their source has not been surprised to find that deep and lasting ones have been made by something in itself very slight ? ORDER. There is probably no failing which has contributed so largely toward making those family jars of which we frequently hear as the habits of carelessness sometimes indulged in by young housewives. That it is no new trouble peculiar to the American woman of the present, the following note, taken from Pepys's diary, assures us : " October 13, 1660 : Home, where I was angry with my wife for her things lying about, and in my passion I kicked the little line basket I bought her in Holland and broke it, which troubled me after I had done it." If this picture is not reproduced in some houses to-day, human nature has changed more since this was written than it usually does in the space of two hundred years. Perhaps some young woman will be tempted right here to say that she also is sometimes annoyed by other people's lack of care in regard to their things. Every woman doubtless has been so annoyed, and is likely to be to the end of time ; and I sometimes think it would be the very best way for her to accept the fact cheerfully that she must look after her husband's wardrobe with the same diligence that she cares for her own ; that she must regard it as one of her duties as a good wife to keep track of his neckties, sleeve-buttons, and hat — ^for this reason, that it is extremely probable that after a quarter of a century of instruction he will still be the same irresponsible being he was when she began his education.

Household hints