This question of temper is not an unimportant one, and those who hold it a sin in the man, and an evidence of de- pravity in the child, to give indications of its possession, have forgotten that scene in the Temple when the house of God was no longer permitted to have the aspect of a house of merchandise. TALKING ABOUT CHILDREK IN THEIR PRESENCE. It is not an uncommon thing for well-bred and intelli- gent women to make the mistake of speaking of their chil- dren in their presence, as if having ears they heard not. Where is the man who can not look back to childhood and recall distinctly the delightful feeling of importance with which he thrilled as he became conscious that he was the subject of conversation ? How many times children's bright sayings are repeated before them in a way that tends toward undue self-esteem ! " Mamma, you haven't told cousin Libbie what I said the other day," a small boy said reproachfully to his mother ; and she, being reminded of it, told over some very wise re- marks he had made, but their charm was lost as one noted the avidity with which they were listened to by the youth himself. Sometimes the fond mother proceeds on the assumption that if she speaks in a lower tone than usual those two ever-open ears will not take in the force of her words. It is astonishing to see how many men and women ap- pear to have ^^ burned their ships behind them ;" they seem to possess no power over their past; they are unable to recall anything which will bring their own childhood near enough to be of service to them in their relations to their own children. A mother one day, sitting beside her sick child, told a TALKS UPON VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 133 neighbor that *^she had a very bad spell about two o'clock in the morning ; if we can get her past this hour without another such attaxjk we shall hope she will get well." I submit to every right-feeling person if this waa not down- right cruelty. The poor nervous child with excited imag- ination could hardly get past that hour without increased suffering. How watchful we need to be, and with what constant care we have to seek for higher wisdom to help us in the management of our children ! DO NOT WAIT FOR A CONVENIENT SEASON. "Girls," said grandmother to us one day when we had been having one of our what Aunt Dinah would call ''clarin' up times," "girls, my grandmother used to tell me that one keep clean is worth a dozen make cleans." This bit of wisdom handed down through many genera- tions, found true by each, is one of those universal truths over which race, country, and time have no power. No one can appreciate the value of this suggestion unless she has experienced, some of the discomforts produced by a habit of letting dust accumulate ;. letting little odd jobs go until chaos itself is represented in many parts of the house. It is doubly hard to do disagreeable things if we allow our- selves to dread them ; in this, as in other important mktters, it would be well to take the advice of Shakespeare, and "let the firstlings of our heart be the firstlings of our hand ; " in other words, the moment we see a thing ought to be done, do it. A little boy, who says wise things sometimes, wished to learn to play the violin before he learned to read, "because you see, papa," he said, "I would rather learn it first ; I always pull off the hardest boot first." So in liouse- work, if there is anything particularly distasteful that must be done, do it first and have it over. Some people do not need the command to do with might what their hands find to do ; their natures say it to them 131 HOUSEHOLD HINTS. with a force not to be resisted ; but most of us like to hear it repeated often, that we may be helped to keep on day after day doing the duties insignificant in themselves at the proper moment. WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH OLD CLOTHES ?

AI-modernized reading of the original text

This question of temper is not an unimportant one, and those who hold it a sin in the man, and an evidence of depravity in the child, to give indications of its possession, have forgotten that scene in the Temple when the house of God was no longer permitted to have the aspect of a house of merchandise. TALKING ABOUT CHILDREN IN THEIR PRESENCE. It is not an uncommon thing for well-bred and intelligent women to make the mistake of speaking of their children in their presence, as if having ears they heard not. Where is the man who can not look back to childhood and recall distinctly the delightful feeling of importance with which he thrilled as he became conscious that he was the subject of conversation ? How many times children's bright sayings are repeated before them in a way that tends toward undue self-esteem ! " Mamma, you haven't told cousin Libbie what I said the other day," a small boy said reproachfully to his mother ; and she, being reminded of it, told over some very wise remarks he had made, but their charm was lost as one noted the avidity with which they were listened to by the youth himself. Sometimes the fond mother proceeds on the assumption that if she speaks in a lower tone than usual those two ever-open ears will not take in the force of her words. It is astonishing to see how many men and women appear to have ^^ burned their ships behind them ;" they seem to possess no power over their past; they are unable to recall anything which will bring their own childhood near enough to be of service to them in their relations to their own children. A mother one day, sitting beside her sick child, told a neighbor that *^she had a very bad spell about two o'clock in the morning ; if we can get her past this hour without another such attack we shall hope she will get well." I submit to every right-feeling person if this was not downright cruelty. The poor nervous child with excited imagination could hardly get past that hour without increased suffering. How watchful we need to be, and with what constant care we have to seek for higher wisdom to help us in the management of our children ! DO NOT WAIT FOR A CONVENIENT SEASON. "Girls," said grandmother to us one day when we had been having one of our what Aunt Dinah would call ''clarin' up times," "girls, my grandmother used to tell me that one keep clean is worth a dozen make cleans." This bit of wisdom handed down through many generations, found true by each, is one of those universal truths over which race, country, and time have no power. No one can appreciate the value of this suggestion unless she has experienced some of the discomforts produced by a habit of letting dust accumulate;. letting little odd jobs go until chaos itself is represented in many parts of the house. It is doubly hard to do disagreeable things if we allow ourselves to dread them ; in this, as in other important mktters, it would be well to take the advice of Shakespeare, and "let the firstlings of our heart be the firstlings of our hand;" in other words, the moment we see a thing ought to be done, do it. A little boy, who says wise things sometimes, wished to learn to play the violin before he learned to read, "because you see, papa," he said, "I would rather learn it first ; I always pull off the hardest boot first." So in housework, if there is anything particularly distasteful that must be done, do it first and have it over. Some people do not need the command to do with might what their hands find to do ; their natures say it to them with a force not to be resisted ; but most of us like to hear it repeated often, that we may be helped to keep on day after day doing the duties insignificant in themselves at the proper moment. WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH OLD CLOTHES ?

Household hints