diff options
Diffstat (limited to '18501.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 18501.txt | 2727 |
1 files changed, 2727 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/18501.txt b/18501.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8eff540 --- /dev/null +++ b/18501.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2727 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. VIII, No. 357, +October 30, 1886, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. VIII, No. 357, October 30, 1886 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: June 4, 2006 [EBook #18501] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GIRL'S OWN PAPER *** + + + + +Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + +THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER. + +VOL. VIII.--NO. 357. + +OCTOBER 30, 1886. + +PRICE ONE PENNY. + + + + +THE SHEPHERD'S FAIRY + +A PASTORALE. + +BY DARLEY DALE, Author of "Fair Katherine," etc. + + +[Illustration: "THE POOR LITTLE BARONESS, WHO WAS ASLEEP, STARTED UP."] + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE CHATEAU AFTER THE LOSS OF THE BABY. + +As the baron had conjectured, the housemaid whom he had called out of +the nursery to look for Leon's cane, on finding her master had gone +without it, did not hurry back, but stopped talking to some of the other +servants for perhaps a quarter of an hour, when she returned to the +nursery, and to her amazement found the baby was gone. She was not +alarmed at first, except she supposed she should get a scolding from the +nurse, who she imagined had come in and taken the child to another room; +however, having the excellent excuse that her master had called her away +she went in search of the nurse, but now not finding her anywhere, and +hearing from the footman that she was not expected back till very late, +Marie became seriously alarmed. + +"Perhaps madame has taken it into her room; she might have heard it +crying, and fetched it," suggested the footman, and Marie, very much +against her will, felt she was in duty bound to go and see. + +So, knocking at her mistress's door, she called out, "Madame, has she +taken the baby?" + +The poor little baroness, who was asleep, started up, and called to the +servant to come in. + +"Madame, has she the baby?" repeated the girl. + +"The baby? No, what do you mean? Where is it, and where is nurse?" cried +the baroness, jumping up and slipping on a dressing-gown and slippers. + +Marie began to cry, and to pour forth such a volley of words, excuses, +fears, alarms, and wonders that the baroness could make out nothing, and +rushed to the nursery to see for herself what had happened. The empty +cradle did not, however, throw much light upon it, and the servants who +answered the bell, which the baroness clashed wildly, looked as scared +as the sobbing Marie to find the baby had disappeared. A search from +attic to basement was at once instituted, the men-servants were sent +into the grounds with lanterns, the whole house was turned topsy-turvy, +in the midst of which the nurse returned, and finding her baby was gone, +went into violent hysterics, while the young baroness, with flying hair +and dilated eyes, rushed about, wringing her hands, and looking, as she +felt, distracted with grief. + +The search was, of course, in vain, and they were just coming to the +conclusion that the baby had been stolen, when the baron returned from +seeing Leon off. + +The moment the baroness heard his voice in the hall she flew down the +wide oak staircase, crying, "Arnaud! Arnaud! My precious baby is gone, +it is stolen; find her, find her, or I shall go mad." And a glance at +her wild eyes almost testified she spoke the truth. + +"She is not stolen, she is safe enough," said the baron, sulkily. + +"Safe? Where? Where? Take me to her, my precious one; where is she?" +cried the baroness, with a loud burst of hysteric laughter on hearing +her child was safe. + +"Silence, Mathilde, don't behave in this ridiculous style. Come with +me," said the baron, in a tone his wife had never heard him use to her +before, and which had the effect of reducing her to tears; and, sobbing +wildly, she hung on her husband's arm as he half led, half carried her +upstairs, and laid her on a sofa in her own room. + +"Now, Mathilde, if you will try and compose yourself, I will tell you +what I have done with the baby. For some time I have felt sure that you +were ruining the child's health by the absurd way in which you coddle it +up, and, moreover, making yourself a perfect slave to it, neglecting all +your other duties," began the baron, as he seated himself on the edge of +the sofa by the side of his sobbing wife, who was, however, much too +anxious about her baby to be able to listen patiently to the marital +lecture to which the baron was about to treat her. + +"But Arnaud! Arnaud! where is the baby? Oh, do tell me; it is cruel to +keep me in this suspense," sobbed the baroness. + +Now, to be cruel to his wife was the very last thing the baron intended; +it was only out of the extremity of his jealous love for her that he had +sent the baby away. Thoughtless and selfish he might have been, but +surely no one could say he had been guilty of cruelty to this wife, whom +he loved so madly that even her love for her child had raised the demon +of jealousy within his breast. The word "cruel" stung him to the quick; +it was a new phase of his conduct, one that had never struck him before, +and as he glanced at the poor little baroness, who had half risen on the +sofa, and was looking at him with an agonised look on her pretty face, +he was seized with remorse, and felt it impossible to go on with the +_role_ he had attempted to play of the wise father and husband, who had +only acted for the good of his wife and child. Already he was beginning +to repent of his rash act, and if it had been possible to go after the +yacht the chances are the baron would have started at once, and brought +back the baby for the pleasure of seeing its mother smile again. As it +was impossible, the next best thing was to make the best of it, and if +Mathilde could not be comforted in any other way, why he must promise to +let her have it back again. He decided all this as he petted the +baroness, and tried to comfort her by whispering fond nothings into her +ear; but he soon found all his caresses were useless, unless he yielded +to her entreaties and told her where the baby was, and as all he knew +about it was that it was on board Leon's yacht, on which it was being +taken, he believed, to England, though he was by no means sure, this +did not tend to allay the poor mother's anxious fears. + +Her baby confided to the wild Leon's charge, tossed about in a yacht +with not a woman on board to take care of it, her fragile little +daughter, on whom the wind had never been allowed to blow, now at the +mercy of wind and waves for days, and then, supposing the child was +alive, which in her present mood the baroness declared to be impossible, +even if it were, not to know where it was till Leon came back, perhaps +for a week or more, for the baron dare not tell her it would probably be +a month before he returned--oh, it was unbearable! She was sure she +could neither eat nor sleep until she had her baby back. Life until then +would be a burden to her. What could she do without it? Already she was +sure it knew her; and oh, how happy she had been watching by its cradle! +If Arnaud only knew how she delighted in nursing and playing with it, +even to gaze on it while it slept was a joy to her! Oh, if he only +understood, he would never have been so cruel as to send it away. + +All the baron's arguments as to the advantages to the baby which were to +be derived from his scheme, and the wonderful health and strength it was +to derive from leading a less luxurious life, failed to reassure the +baroness, and she passed a sleepless night, and looked so ill and +miserable the next morning that the baron was angry with her for looking +ill, and with himself for being the cause. No one in the house but the +baroness had been told the night before what had become of the baby, the +general opinion being that it had been taken or sent to some woman in +the neighbourhood to look after; but when it became known that it was +sent away in Leon's charge no one knew where, the sympathy with the +baroness was universal, and the baron found himself looked upon as a +jealous tyrant, with no real love for either his wife or child. + +"A nice father you are," cried his brother Jacques. + +"The idea of trusting Leon with a baby. Why, he will pitch it overboard +if it cries," said little Louis, a remark which so annoyed the baron +that he promptly seized Louis by the collar and turned him out of the +room. + +"You really must have been mad, Arnaud, to dream of such a thing as +entrusting Leon, of all people in the world, with an infant," said the +old baroness, for once taking the part of her daughter-in-law against +her son. + +Pere Yvon said nothing just then; it would not have been wise to have +done so while the baron's temper was ruffled by the criticisms of his +family or in their presence, but when he was alone with Arnaud, Pere +Yvon spoke his mind pretty freely, and read the baron a severer lecture +than he had ever done all the years he was under his tuition. + +It was nothing but jealousy which had prompted such a mad, cruel act, +and jealousy of the most unreasonable--he might almost say +unpardonable--kind: a father to be jealous of his wife's love for his +own child! There was a German saying, excellent in the original, but +which lost the double play upon the words in the translation which Pere +Yvon quoted to the baron-- + + "Die Eifersucht ist eine Leidenschaft, + Der mit Eifer sucht muss Leiden schaffen," + +which means, freely translated, that jealousy is a passion which brings +misery to him who indulges in it; and Pere Yvon impressed upon Arnaud +that if any misfortune happened to the baby, he would have no one to +blame but himself, for though all sins bring their own punishment, +jealousy is undoubtedly one that can never be indulged in with impunity. +This, and much more to the same effect, Pere Yvon said, and the baron, +lying in an easy chair, listened patiently enough, partly because he was +very fond of the chaplain, and partly because he was so angry with +himself now for his folly that it was a relief to him to be blamed +roundly for it. + +All that day the baroness wandered about the house in a vague, restless +way, unable to settle to anything, and trying to amuse herself by +consulting with the nurse as to how they should go and fetch the baby +back when they discovered where it was. She ate little or nothing, and +after another sleepless night looked so worn and ill that the baron sent +for a doctor, who came and urged strongly that the baby should be sent +for at once, or he would not be answerable for the consequences; the +suspense and anxiety were telling so on the baroness that if the strain +lasted much longer he feared she would have an attack of brain fever. + +On hearing this the baron was dreadfully alarmed, and telegraphed to +Leon's agent at Havre to let him know immediately he heard from M. Leon +de Thorens, who had sailed two nights before in the Hirondelle for a +cruise in the Channel. The agent telegraphed back that he knew no more +than M. le Baron at present, but so soon as he received any further +information he would let the baron know. This did not reassure the +baroness, who had taken it into her head that something had happened to +the yacht, and not all Arnaud's promises that the moment he knew where +the child was he would go himself and bring her back could comfort the +poor, anxious little mother, who, with pale cheeks and black marks round +her great brown eyes, which were always large but looked bigger than +ever now that they had not been closed since the baby left, wandered +about the chateau, looking like a picture of despair. + +This lasted for nearly a week, and then came a telegram from the agent +to say the Hirondelle was lost in a fog off the east coast of England +with all hands drowned. The baron was alone when the telegram was handed +to him, and the news was such a shock to him that he read the message +over again and again before the words, though they were burnt indelibly +into his brain, conveyed their full meaning to his mind. Slowly he +grasped the terrible truth; poor Leon, the life of the house, wild, +handsome Leon was drowned, and his own poor innocent baby as well, +drowned, and by his fault. He was little better than a murderer, he +thought, in the first outburst of his grief, and he must tell Mathilde, +and perhaps kill her too. How should he ever have the courage to do +this? Strange to say, though perhaps, after all, it was not strange, the +baron was far more cut up at the sad fate of his little girl, whom, a +few days ago, he had been so anxious to get rid of, for a while, at +least, than he was at the news of poor Leon's death. So much hung on the +baby; Mathilde's life might almost be said to depend upon its recovery, +and now he must go and strike the blow which would perhaps kill her. +Pere Yvon was indeed right; his jealousy was truly bringing a terrible +punishment in its train, and the baron buried his face in his hands, and +sobs of bitterest grief shook his whole frame. At last, rousing himself, +he went to the door of the study where the chaplain was engaged teaching +the younger boys, and beckoned him out. Pere Yvon saw at a glance by the +baron's pale, scared face, as well as by the telegram he held in his +hand, that something terrible had happened, and drawing Arnaud into the +nearest room, he asked eagerly what was the matter. The baron answered +by placing the telegram in his hands, and paced the room in a frenzy +while Pere Yvon read it. The chaplain's first thought was for the poor +widowed mother, whose darling son was thus cut off in the beauty of his +youth. He had known her so many years, and had comforted her in so many +sorrows, it was natural he should think of her first, before the other +mother, who had her husband to comfort her, and whose child was only an +infant of a few months old. + +"La pauvre baronne! My poor madame! It will break her heart: her darling +son," murmured the chaplain. + +"Ah, poor Leon. I can't realise it yet that we shall never see him +again, and my poor, innocent baby too; it will kill Mathilde. Oh, mon +pere, how are we to tell them?" groaned the baron. + +"I will tell your mother; it is not the first time I have been the +bearer of ill news to her, and you must break it as gently as you can to +your wife. It is a sad day indeed for this household, but the Lord's +will be done. He knows best, and He will not send any of us more than we +are able to bear," replied Pere Yvon, as he went on his sad mission to +the old baroness. + +As he had said, he had broken many sorrows to her, but he had never had +to deal a heavier blow than when he told her her favourite son was +drowned, the son of whom she was so proud, whom she loved better than +all her other children; but the baroness was a saintly woman, and one of +her first sayings after she heard the news was, "Mon pere, it is hard, +but it is just--he was my idol." + +She did not grieve in any extravagant way; she did not absent herself +from any meals; she attended mass, for she was a devout Catholic, in the +private chapel every morning, and, indeed, spent a great deal of time +there in prayer; she never gave up one of her accustomed duties, visited +the poor as regularly as ever, but from the day she heard the sad news +to her death, which happened a few years later, she was scarcely seen +to smile again, and she was never heard to mention Leon's name except to +Pere Yvon. Hers was a life-long sorrow, too deep for words, too deep for +even tears to assuage its poignancy; her heart was broken; she had no +further interest in this life; all her hopes were centred on that life +where she hoped to meet her darling son again, never to be separated +from him. + +The young baroness bore her trial very differently. She gave way to a +passionate outburst of grief on learning that her baby was drowned--a +grief in which the baron shared, and was, indeed, in more need of +consolation than his wife, for to his sorrow was added remorse and +bitterest stings of conscience for having brought such sorrow to his +wife, about whom he was very anxious, until the doctor assured him the +sad certainty was even better for her than the terrible suspense she had +been enduring for the last week. To a young, passionate nature hitherto +undisciplined by the sorrows of life, like the young baroness's, +anything was easier to bear than suspense, and the doctor assured Arnaud +that the passionate grief in which his wife indulged would do her no +harm--on the contrary, she was more likely to get over it quickly. +Violent grief is rarely lasting; there invariably follows a reaction. + +A few days later the baron received another telegram from the Havre +agents, telling him they had found out that the Hirondelle had left +Yarmouth, on the Norfolk coast, where she had been lying for two or +three days, the day before she was lost, and was then intending to +cruise round the coast of Great Britain. The baron was immediately +raised from the depths of despair to the highest pinnacle of hope on +hearing this, for he felt sure Leon had gone ashore at Yarmouth to place +the baby with some Englishwoman, and had remained there some days on +purpose. Confiding his new hope to Pere Yvon, he at once decided to +start that night for England by Dover and Calais, for already steamers +ran once or twice a week between these ports. He would then go on to +Yarmouth by stage-coach, and make all inquiries for his baby. His +difficulty was, he did not know the language, but living near the +Chateau de Thorens was a Monsieur de Courcy, who had married an English +wife, and spoke English very well. He was intimate with the De Thorens, +and the baron hoped he might be able to help him in his trouble. + +Accordingly he called on the De Courcys at once, and, to his great +relief, Monsieur de Courcy offered to go to Yarmouth with him, while +Madame de Courcy suggested that the baroness should come and stay with +her during their husbands' absence, for the chateau was a very gloomy +place for the poor young mother while the shadow of death rested upon +it. Arnaud jumped at this, for he had never been separated from his wife +since their marriage, and he would far rather leave her with this pretty +young English lady than at the chateau, while his mother's grief for +Leon saddened the whole household. It was easy to account for his +journey to England, by saying that he was going to get particulars of +the accident from the place off which it happened. This would seem only +natural to Mathilde, who must on no account be told that he had any hope +of finding the child. She had accepted the news of its death without +questioning it, and it was far better to let her continue under this +impression than to raise fresh hopes, which, after all, might never be +realised, and if he could only persuade her to come to Parc du Baffy +while he was away he would feel quite happy about her. + +Madame de Courcy and the baroness were on intimate terms with each +other, although Madame de Courcy was a staunch Protestant, and both the +baron and baroness bigoted Romanists; but the great attraction to +Mathilde, as Madame de Courcy guessed, would be her child, a beautiful +boy of three years old, in whom the baroness had delighted until her own +baby was born and absorbed all her time and affection. Knowing this, +Madame de Courcy offered to send her boy to the chateau with the baron, +hoping to inveigle the baroness to return with him to Parc du Baffy, a +manoeuvre which succeeded admirably, for Mathilde, not having seen the +little Rex for some weeks, was so enraptured with him that she could not +part with him, and as Madame de Courcy could not be asked to spare her +child as well as her husband, the baroness consented to go and stay at +the Parc while the baron was away. The little Rex was too old to remind +her of her own baby, and his pretty mixture of French and English amused +her immensely, and for the moment charmed away her sorrow. Had she known +the real object of her husband's visit to England, the suspense and +anxiety would have made her seriously ill; not knowing it, the change +and Rex's society did her good, so that Madame de Courcy was able, after +a day or two, to write to the baron and tell him his wife was certainly +better and more cheerful since she had been at the Parc du Baffy. + +Meanwhile the baron and M. de Courcy reached Yarmouth safely, and +learned the day and hour on which the Hirondelle arrived and also left +Yarmouth, and that the cause of her remaining so long there was the +absconding of an English sailor, named, or, at all events, calling +himself, John Smith. The baron was more elated than ever at hearing +this, for he knew the Englishman was to place the baby out to nurse, and +if he were safe, the chances were that the child was too; but when, +after having run two or three John Smiths to earth and discovered that +they bore no resemblance to the original, it became evident that the +real John Smith had made himself scarce, and was probably not John Smith +at all, the baron's hopes of recovering the child again fell, though he +could not abandon the idea that if he could only find the runaway +sailor he should hear some news of the child. The wish was, perhaps, +father to the thought, but he could not help thinking the child was not +on board the Hirondelle when she went down, now that he found the +English carpenter had left the yacht at Yarmouth. But the baron felt his +inability to speak English a great drawback to prosecuting his inquiries +as fully as he would have liked, although M. de Courcy was very kind and +did all any friend could have been expected to do; still, it was not the +same as speaking the language himself, as the baron felt, and he +bitterly regretted he had never tried to master its difficulties. Many +of the Yarmouth fishermen and boatmen remembered the Hirondelle and the +handsome French gentleman to whom she belonged, but not one had ever +seen the sign of a baby on board her, though this did not throw much +light on the matter, as the baby might easily have been kept below or +removed at night. + +At last, after spending a week or ten days in fruitless inquiries, the +baron and his friend returned to France, the baron convinced in his own +mind that some hope of his child being safe still existed, a hope which +he dared not communicate to the baroness, but which, nevertheless, +lingered in his breast for many a long day. + +(_To be continued._) + + + + +THE ROMANCE OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND; + +OR, + +THE OLD LADY OF THREADNEEDLE STREET. + +BY EMMA BREWER. + + +INTRODUCTION. + +A gentleman asked me the other day upon what subject I intended next to +write, and on telling him that the Editor had kindly permitted me to +deal with the Bank of England and the National Debt, he said, "Nonsense! +what do girls want to know about the Bank of England and the National +Debt? Let them be content to leave all such knowledge to men, and rest +satisfied if they get their dividends all right and know how to spend +them properly and keep out of debt." + +He seemed to forget that to do even the little he permitted us would +require knowledge and education of a liberal character, and that without +these our desires might outrun our income, and getting into debt might +prove our normal condition. + +A thorough knowledge of our circumstances is better than partial +blindness, and to see things all round and weigh them justly is better +than sitting with hands folded while men see and judge for us. + +The subjects of the Bank of England and the National Debt are well worth +a study, and will not fail to afford us both varied and interesting +information. + +Among other things they will tell us how the Bank of England came into +existence; what the nation did previous to its existence; how our +country came to have a debt which it has never been able to pay off, and +how it would prove a calamity if it were possible to pay it off +suddenly. + +Again, we shall learn the meaning of "selling out" and "buying in" +money, and what is understood by "consols," "reduced threes," "stocks +going up and down," "a run upon the Bank," "panic," and many other such +terms. + +There is no reason why girls should not be able to give answers to all +of these, and every reason why they should, seeing that an intimate +knowledge of these subjects is as much a part of our nation's history as +is the history of our kings and queens, our wars, and our institutions. + +And even beyond this, it is a matter of importance that girls having +property, little or much, should understand the character of those to +whom they entrust it. + +There are many and valuable books published upon these subjects, but +they are expensive to buy and take a long time to wade through; in +addition to this, they are so learned that we women-folk fail often to +get the simple information we require, even when we have read them. + +The Bank of England, either by name or by sight, is known, I suppose, to +all of us; but its origin, its working, its influence, is not so +familiar to us, and it does not seem to me that we should be going at +all out of our province if we were to ask the "Old Lady of +Threadneedle-street" to tell us something of her history, her household, +and her daily life, seeing that most of us contribute to her +housekeeping, some more, some less. + +We trust her so completely that "safe as the Bank of England" has passed +into a proverb; yet, for all that, we should like the old lady's own +account of how she came into existence, and how she became such a power +in the land, and what she does with all the money we lend her, and out +of what purse she pays us for the loan. + +She certainly ought to be able to tell an interesting tale--for her +palace, her servants, her house-keeping, her treasures, her cellars, her +expenditure, her receipts and clearing, the frights she has every now +and again both given and received, must each and all be more amusing and +full of interest than any fairy tale told by Grimm or Andersen. + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE STORY OF THE OLD LADY OF THREADNEEDLE STREET. + +And so you want me to tell you the story of my life! Telling tales is +not quite in my line, but I will do the best I can; and should I become +garrulous and tedious, as old ladies are wont sometimes to be, you must +recall me by a gentle reminder that you live in the present century, +whose characteristics are short, decisive, and by all means amusing. + +My career has been a strange and eventful one, as you yourselves will +see if I can interest you sufficiently to listen to the end. + +Of course, I was not always known as the Old Lady of +Threadneedle-street; indeed, I can well remember the feeling of +annoyance with which I saw _Mr. Punch's_ illustration of me in 1847, as +a fat old woman without a trace of beauty, except in my garments, which +were made of bank notes. I have kept a copy of it, and will just pencil +you the outline. + +The annoyance was intensified when I found myself handed down to +posterity by him as the _Old_ Lady of Threadneedle-street. He could have +no authority for this picture, seeing that, like the Delphian mystery of +old, I am invisible, and deliver my oracles through my directors. + +You are girls, and will quite understand the distress of being thrust +suddenly into old age. Up to 1847 I was young, good-looking, and +attractive, and to be bereft of my youth and romance at one blow; to +know that from henceforth all would be prosaic and business-like, that I +should never again have lovers seeking my favour, was a condition of +extreme pain. I had always prided myself on my figure, but even this +_Mr. Punch_ did not leave me, but told the world that it was due to +tight-lacing. It was very cruel, and I have sometimes thought it was +envy of my position; but let that go. I took counsel with myself, and +determined to face the future with the resolve to be the very nicest old +lady in the world, and to make myself so useful to my fellow-creatures +that they should love me and stand by me even though my first youth had +passed. And I am sure you will agree with me in thinking that I have +accomplished this, and that not only have I kept clear of weakness and +decrepitude, but have achieved for myself a reputation and position +second to no lady in the land. + +It has been necessary for me to make this little explanation, otherwise +you might have thought I had never been young. And now to proceed. + +It was in the reign of William and Mary that I first saw the light, +being born in Mercers' Hall on the 27th of July, 1694. + +From this place, after a few months, I was removed to Grocers' Hall, +Poultry; not the stately structure with which you are acquainted, but +one much more simple, which was razed to make room for the present +building. + +I may say, without vanity, that my birth created a sensation throughout +the length and breadth of the land. + +The House of Commons even was not exempt from this excitement, but set +aside its serious work to discuss whether or not I should be strangled +and put out of the way, or nurtured into strength by its support and +countenance. + +Those members who were in favour of the last resolution declared that I +should rescue the nation out of the hands of extortioners, lower +interests, raise the value of land, revive public credit, improve +commerce, and connect the people more closely with the Government, while +those of the contrary opinion assured the House that I should engross +the whole money of the kingdom, that I should weaken commerce by +tempting people to withdraw their money from trade, that I should +encourage fraud and gaming, and corrupt the morals of the nation. + +Little recked I of all the stir and commotion my birth was causing, as, +nursed and cared for by my father, William Paterson, a Scotch merchant, +and his friend, Mr. Michael Godfrey, I gradually grew into strength. It +was not till long afterwards that I heard and understood the +circumstances of my birth, and how around me were centred the interests +of the kingdom. + +When I was only twelve months old, those who were bound together to take +care of my interests separated my father from me, giving as an excuse +that he was of too speculative and adventurous a spirit to be entrusted +with my welfare. + +Poor father! It has always seemed to me very sad that he who had worked +so long and so persistently for my success should have been condemned to +spend the last years of his life in solitude and neglect in Scotland, +while I, his child, was gradually becoming everything that his highest +ambition could have pictured; but so it was. + +[Illustration: THE OLD LADY OF THREADNEEDLE STREET. From "Punch."] + +I have often wished that he had employed those last weary years of his +in writing a history of his life. I am sure it would have interested all +classes of readers, but I suppose he was too sad and out of heart. He +was forty-one years of age at the time of my birth, having been born in +Dumfries in 1658. He was one of those who may be said to live before +their time. He possessed great ability, knowledge, and experience, and +was a great traveller, yet, with all this, his life was a series of +disappointments and failures. + +His great friend, Michael Godfrey, who had worked so faithfully by his +side, would, I am sure, never have forsaken him, but he was struck down +by a ball in the trenches of Namur, in 1695, while seeking the king in +my interests. + +He was a great loss to me, although I was too young at the time to +estimate it fully. He has left behind him a quaint and graphic account +of my infancy, with which I shall hope to make you acquainted later on. + +Should you feel any interest in him, look in St. Swithin's Church some +day when passing, and there you will find a monument to his memory, +which records that he "died a batchelour, much lamented by his friends, +relations, and acquaintances for his integrity, his knowledge, and the +sweetness of his manners." + +My name "Bank," which signifies "bench" or "high seat," I derived from +Italian forefathers, who, in early days, carried on their business in +the public places or exchanges on _benches_. + +This business of theirs consisted chiefly in being the depositories of +the wealth of rich people, and making payments for them according to +written orders, and further in receiving money from some people on +interest, and lending it to others at a higher rate. I have been told +that in their day making a profit by lending money was not considered at +all an aristocratic proceeding, and procured for those who indulged in +it the name of usurers, a word I do not like; it savours of sordidness. + +From my very birth I was educated to be reliable, steady, secure, and +faithful, and to be true and just in all my dealings. + +It was made clear to me that it was the lack of these qualities in the +money affairs of the kingdom which had led to the necessity of my +existence, and I was made distinctly to understand that it was only upon +my developing largely these peculiar traits of character that I should +continue the existence thus begun. + + * * * * * + +My education was quite different from that of other girls. I had to +learn arithmetic almost before I could speak, and the state and +condition of kings and governments were instilled into my mind as +regularly as food into my body. + +There were no novels, no light literature for me, except what I could +extract for myself out of the dry material placed before me. Still, my +mind was not warped with this peculiar bringing up, and now that I am an +old woman, I think I can see that I owe this to the character of those +who governed and directed me. + +Of course, this peculiar education and training kept me far ahead of +other girls, and while they were scarcely out of the nursery, and still +enjoying battledore and shuttlecock, I was seeking information, either +by reading or conversation, concerning my forefathers, position, duties, +and property. + +Young as I was, I began to feel creeping over me a sense of +responsibility, and a longing to know how best to fulfil all that was +required of me. I knew that I was rich, but how did I become so? I knew +that my riches were expected to make others rich, but how? I was always +asking questions, and sometimes succeeded in getting an answer, which +served as a clue, and sent me to search old parchments or to make +comparisons. + +It was some time before I could piece the scraps of information +together, but gradually I did so, and then assuredly I saw the awfulness +of my influence and position, and determined, with God's blessing, to be +a comfort and support to the widows and orphans who trusted in me, as +well as a source of strength, security, and honour to the nation and its +rulers, and I resolved that henceforth my name, _the Bank of England_, +should carry with it a meaning wherever it was heard, far beyond its +original signification; it should be another term for wealth, honour, +and thrift--a something to be trusted, and in which nothing foul, mean, +or sordid must be found. + +(_To be continued._) + + + + +HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF MUSICAL FORMS. + +SKETCH I.--THE ORATORIO AND PASSION MUSIC (SACRED DRAMA). + +BY MYLES B. FOSTER, Organist of the Foundling Hospital. + + +In a former number, in prefacing reviews of new music, we said +sufficient upon the subject of listening to music to call the attention +of our many readers to the performances going on so frequently in all +parts of the world, and now we persuade ourselves that there may be some +to whom a short account of the various and varied forms, to which our +attention as audience is most frequently invited, would be of interest, +even though they have some knowledge of the subject already; and that +there may be others to whom these very incomplete sketches may appear as +information, and as an incentive to further investigation. + +For our first sketch we have chosen the oratorio, for it is undoubtedly +the highest form of musical dramatic art, and is founded upon and +contains the greatest and deepest truths of the Christian life. As +regards the actual music forms employed, we find, indeed, similar ones +in the operas, such as the various forms of recitative, the aria, the +duet, and the chorus, and even the scena; but in the sacred works, who +are the heroes and heroines? Are they not the instruments of the Divine +power, the messengers of the good tidings? And what are the subjects? +Are they not the struggles, the trials, the victories of noble souls? +With such sacred characters, with such lofty thoughts, the composers of +the oratorio, dealing, not with the semblance of truth that the opera +contains, but with the truth itself, are bound to express their feelings +and emotions in the grandest and most perfect thoughts. + +Purely sentimental ideas, and the whole list of passions and struggles +in human existence, rather form the basis of opera than the proper +subjects for oratorio, and the modern attempts to transform the sacred +ideal into the region of operatic and dramatic realism seem to fall +singularly short of expectation. To our minds, the strongest period in +the history of oratorio was the time of Handel and Bach, and writers of +to-day have yet to graft on to their work the more careful study, and +the strengthening influence of these noble masterpieces in stronger +cuttings, to make the struggling young plant a healthy and beautiful +tree. Let us progress, by all means, but true progression is but the +joining of all that is good in the preceding age with all the fresh +beauty God bestows upon us in this our day. + +We seem to be comparing or contrasting the secular form opera and the +sacred oratorio, and it is interesting to know that the origin of both +may be traced back to the same source--viz., early miracle plays and +moralities. For some time after the introduction of Christianity into +Eastern Europe, the new converts seem to have retained their fondness +for the heathen practice used in religious, as in secular, celebrations +of theatrical representations, which were chiefly upon mythological +subjects, and all of which angered and distressed the priests of the new +religion. However, the latter soon found out that it was necessary to +reach the minds of these people through their more acutely trained +senses and the medium of their old traditions, and thus in these early +ages the dramatic element worked its way into the church worship. +Spiritual plays were arranged by the priests in all parts of +Christianised Europe, who chose scenes and stories from both Old and New +Testaments, and from the lives of the saints and holy men. The plays +were acted upon a stage, usually erected under the choir of the church. +As women were not permitted to appear, priests took all the characters, +male and female. We learn, from many reliable sources, that these sacred +representations had a great effect upon the pious worshippers. + +In the course of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and chiefly in +the west of Europe, profane elements crept in amongst the holy legends, +and these religious entertainments also developed so greatly, that +hundreds of actors would be engaged in representations lasting over +several days, whilst the eager audiences were so large that the churches +could not contain them, and the stage had to be erected in the +market-places, and out of doors. + +The direction passed more and more into the hands of the laity, who +employed jongleurs, histrions, and strolling vagabonds, whose acting +included gross buffoonery, and whose profanity completely choked the +religious growth first implanted by these miracle plays. The stages, it +should be explained, were of curious construction, being divided into +three stories, the upper one containing the heavenly characters, the +middle one being for the people upon earth, and the lowest for the +denizens of hell. + +At the beginning of the sixteenth century the whole Catholic world was +influenced by those reforms so necessary to the Christian Church of that +time, and so bravely contended for and gained by Luther. The +demoralisation which weakened all the church's fabric was deeply +deplored by the Catholic clergy, and we find at the close of this +century St. Philip Neri founding a congregation of priests in Rome and +drawing youths to church by dramatising in simple form such stories as +the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, etc., which were set to music in +four parts with alternate solos, first by Animuccia (a pupil of +Goudimel), and later on by the great Palestrina. These "sacred actions" +or plays were not performed in the church itself, but in an adjoining +chamber, called in Italian "oratorio," an oratory, and the title has +since then adhered to this species of sacred work. + +Our girls will be pleased to know that the first oratorio, set to music +by Emilio del Cavalieri, was written by a lady, Laura Guidiccioni. It +was acted for the first time in the year 1600, probably in the oratory +of the Church of Santa Maria della Vallicella, in Rome. The name of the +work is "The Representation of the Soul and the Body." It was to be +played in appropriate costumes, and certain choruses were to be +accompanied, in a reverent and sedate manner, by solemn dances. Some of +the characters were Time, Pleasure, the World, Human Life, the Body, +etc. + +As the various forms of music, already named as common to the opera and +oratorio, developed in the former, so in proportion they expanded and +became freer in the latter; those portions which had been mainly founded +upon plain song became more expressive and dramatic, and the melody +assumed a flowing and cantabile character. But whereas you would imagine +that a closer connection between the secular and sacred would be the +result of this change, nevertheless, the composer's conviction that the +music must strive to be of adequate importance to the sacred words and +subjects caused a line to be drawn, ever growing more and more marked, +as time and growth in grace and knowledge went on, between the secular +and sacred musical drama. + +In the seventeenth century we find Carissimi greatly advancing oratorio, +and composing really noble music. You may remember a revival of his +"Jephtha," by Mr. Henry Leslie, a few years back. Scarlatti, Stradella, +and others also contributed to this period. But, notwithstanding its +Italian birth and infancy, it remained for Germany to bring oratorio to +a vigorous manhood, and to its lofty position in the world of music. The +compositions of Handel and Bach, early in the eighteenth century, placed +this sacred art form upon a pinnacle of such height and strength, that +few composers have the stamina or knowledge wherewith to reach it. + +Having gazed at this, for a time, culminating summit, let us go back to +the early days again for a moment to notice a branch of this tree, a +member of this sacred family, whose growth has been parallel with that +of the subject of our sketch, viz., the Passion oratorio, one dealing +with the sufferings and death of our blessed Redeemer. Foremost amongst +the miracle plays, in which originated the sacred drama, was the +representation, during Holy Week, of the Passion of our Lord. To this +day we have interesting relics of this custom, such as the Oberammergau +play in South Bavaria, the performances in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, +and in some parts of Spain. The oldest Protestant composition on this +subject was published in 1570. + +At the commencement of the seventeenth century a great development +followed in the writings of Heinrich Schuetz, who wrote music to the +Passion, as told by all four evangelists, and whose tercentenary was +celebrated last year by commencing the publication of all his works. He +did much towards the great musical development in Germany. Following in +his footsteps came Sebastiani, at the end of the century, and Keiser at +the commencement of the eighteenth. In Keiser's Passion we find, in +addition to the Bible narrative, reflective passages for a chorus, +holding much the same functions as the old Greek chorus, with +interpolated solos for "the Daughter of Sion" and "the Believing Soul," +some of which are used later on by Bach, especially in his setting of +the subject according to St. John's Gospel. John Sebastian Bach added, +moreover, many well-known chorales in which the people could join, and +these favourite old hymn tunes had the greatest power over the hearts of +the worshippers. + +Now we have returned to the period at which we left oratorio, and side +by side with Bach's great Passion music stand up those massive +monuments, the oratorios of Handel, of which so much has been written, +and many of which you all know and love so well. It is worthy of notice, +if only to show how recently (viz., almost halfway through the +eighteenth century) action, and costume, and other accessories were +tolerated in connection with the sacred subjects, to tell you that at +the performance of his first English oratorio, "Esther," at the theatre +in the Haymarket, Handel appended the following note to the playbills:-- + +"N.B. There will be no acting on the stage," this being called shortly +after "oratorio fashion," even when applied to performances of secular +dramatic subjects which were to be sung, and not acted. + +After these great works of Handel, no important oratorio was heard in +England until Haydn's "Creation," in 1798. Then, in the present century, +Spohr followed with his "Crucifixion," "Last Judgment," and "Fall of +Babylon;" and then Mendelssohn, that greatest disciple of Bach, whose +"Elijah" and "St. Paul" quite revived the taste for oratorio, and gave +an impetus to it, which extends to our day. + +To end this fragmentary sketch, we may fairly say that oratorio should +contain two important elements:-- + +I. The narrative form, as subject of the whole work. + +II. The didactic and contemplative, as interpolations in soliloquy, or +in chorus of adoration, prayer, and warning. + +A third element, the dramatic accessories of costume, scenery, and +action, we have dispensed with, and, I think, happily so. + +We find in these days in many nations, including our own dear country, +composers are striving after this highest and noblest ideal; let us pray +they may receive that strength necessary for so great a responsibility. +There is none greater in music, and our hearts tell us that unless a +composer knows and believes himself that the subject which in reverence +he approaches is the truth itself, which he must proclaim and preach as +a conviction of his own--we say that unless he thus incorporates himself +in his work it is but mockery, and the result of it nothingness. + + + + +NOTES FOR NOVEMBER. + + +During this month we get the finest effects of the changing tints of +foliage; after a wet, windy summer the colours are poor, but fine and +varied after dry calm weather. + +These autumnal changes of colour are caused by decay and death; the life +in the leaf enabled it to withstand certain chemical changes, which it +can no longer resist as the vital force wanes, and the green colouring +matter is either changed or destroyed. + +We can prove this fact for ourselves if we notice how often, while all +the rest of a tree is green, the leaves and small branches which are +partly broken, and have, therefore, lost a great part of their vitality, +lose their green colour, and become yellow or red. + + * * * * * + +Not only are the broad effects of a landscape made beautiful in autumn +by the rich colouring of large masses of trees, but the close observer +will find every hedge, bottom, and wild common flaming with colour. +Heath tell us "it is the commonest plants whose colours are the most +beautiful and striking." Amongst those which produce the most brilliant +autumnal tints, the following are found almost everywhere in the hedges +in England: Bramble, hawthorn, wild strawberry, dock, spindle-tree, herb +robert, cranes-bill, silver weed, hedge maple, dogwood, black bryony, +ivy; while in the kitchen gardens nothing can exceed the beauty of the +asparagus and the common carrot. + + * * * * * + +Many birds come to England from the north to spend the winter. Wild +ducks, woodcocks, fieldfares, and curlews are coming now, besides +thrushes, larks, and other small birds. Some of these live with us all +through the year, and are only joined by relatives from colder climates. +In very cold winters many birds who do not usually migrate, are driven +south in search of food; but the reception they meet with is hardly +calculated to attract great numbers of strangers to our shores; for the +notice one usually reads in the newspapers is that such and such a rare +bird "has been seen and _shot_." + + * * * * * + +"It is as hot as we have it in India, or, at any rate, I feel the heat +as much." One often hears this statement on a hot summer's day from an +Indian visitor; while, on the other hand, our Canadian cousins assure us +that their bright, clear winter, though so intensely cold, is not so +trying as ours. This is to a great extent caused by the unusual moisture +of the air in England. John Burroughs tells us that "the average +rainfall in London is less than in New York, and yet it doubtless rains +ten days in the former to one in the latter," which he explains by the +fact that in England "it rains easily, but slowly." + +That we can bear greater dry than damp heat is easily proved by holding +one's hand before a fire, and then plunging it into hot water, using a +thermometer in both cases to test the heat. The same fact with regard to +cold can be tried by holding both hands in a draught of cold air, the +one hand being wet, the other dry. + + * * * * * + +Lovers of natural history are not all aware what advantages the first +sharp frost offers them for the study of animal and vegetable life in +ponds. Thoreau, one of the most devoted admirers of nature, says in his +"Walden," that, "The first ice is especially interesting, being hard, +dark, and transparent, and affords the best opportunity that ever offers +for examining the bottom, where it is shallow; for you can lie at your +length on ice only an inch thick, like a skater insect on the surface of +the water, and study the bottom at your leisure, only two or three +inches distant, like a picture behind a glass." + + * * * * * + +[Illustration] + +Country girls have an opportunity during the early darkness of winter +afternoons of appreciating one of the dangers which beset arctic +explorers during the long twilight which takes the place of day during +the winter months in those northern climes. In towns, the well-lighted +and well-paved streets make walking in the dusk as easy as in the day; +but girls, whose walks lead through fields and rough country lanes, know +how many trips and stumbles are caused by the uncertain light before +darkness sets in. Greely, in his terribly sad history of the sufferings +of his men during their arctic expedition, tells us how much their +difficulties were increased by this dimness of the light. It was +necessary that they should go long journeys on foot, each man carrying a +heavy load of provisions and other stores; and he adds: "The absence of +sufficient light to cast a shadow has had very unfortunate results, as +several of the men have been badly bruised and sprained. When no shadow +is formed, and the light is feeble and blurred, there is the same +uncertainty about one's walk as if the deepest darkness prevailed. The +most careful observation fails to advise you as to whether the next step +is to lie on a level, up an incline, or over a precipice. A few bad +falls quite demoralise a man, and make him more than ever distrustful of +his eyesight." + + * * * * * + +There is not much to be done in the garden this month, but bulbs may +still be put in, though the flowers will not be so good as those planted +earlier. Hyacinths, narcissi, and tulips planted now ought to flower in +April. + +If the weather is mild, the grass should be rolled occasionally; early +peas and beans may be planted in a dry place, and a little radish seed +sown in a warm corner, but they must be carefully covered if a sharp +frost comes. + +Green hedges should be clipped, and shrubs needing it pruned. Now that +the leaves are off, the fruit trees may be more easily examined, and +dead branches, or those that rub against one another, removed. + +If the weather is very cold, take care of delicate plants by spreading +cocoa-nut fibre or light manure over the beds, or by covering the plants +with matting. + + + + +CHILD ISLAND. + +FAIRY TALE FOR YOUNGER GIRLS. + +[Illustration] + + +A long time ago--so long that it was ages before my grandfather was a +little boy, and long before his grandmother was a little girl--there +was, not far from fairyland, a beautiful lake, the waters of which were +so clear that as they sparkled in the sunlight they glistened and +gleamed like silver: and so it was called the Silver Lake. Beautiful +white swans sailed majestically on its surface, and thousands of gold +fishes swam in its clear waters. + +On one part of the lake the most lovely water-lilies opened up their +white flowers, looking, as some people said, like tiny boats; but one of +the little girls I am going to tell you about thought they looked like a +set of green saucers and white cups, and used to call them the swans' +best tea-things. Now, in the midst of this Silver Lake stood the +beautiful island called Child's Island. Such a lovely little island as +it was had never been seen before, and I verily believe has never been +seen since. + +Black clouds never came near it, for there the sky was blue and +cloudless always, and I am told that at night more stars might be seen +from that pretty isle than from any other part of the world; but whether +that is true or not I cannot tell. But I do know that its shores sloped +green down to the water's edge, that the brightest and sweetest flowers +bordered every pathway, that the roses were without thorns, and there +was not a single nettle in the whole island. I know, also, that the +grass was the greenest, the trees the shadiest, the flowers the +brightest, and the fruit the ripest to be found anywhere. As to the +animals, there were none but the gentlest kind. Little white mice went +peeping about with their wee pink eyes, pretty tame squirrels bounded +from tree to tree, and a herd of graceful fawns fed and played in the +meadows. Birds of the gayest plumage and sweetest song were there; +pretty poll-parrots hopped among the trees, crying, "What's o'clock? +What's o'clock?" In short, it was the brightest, merriest, sunniest spot +in the world, and I can say no more in its praise than that. All day +long the sun shone gently down upon the little isle, and the wind never +raised its voice above a whisper. + +But, besides birds and butterflies, fawns, and flowers, there was +something else in this pretty isle. Now, what do you guess that +something was? Why, a beautiful fairy palace. + +I call it a fairy palace, not because fairies lived there, for they did +not, but because it was the work of fairy hands, and was more beautiful +than any other palace in the world. It stood in the midst of a lovely +garden, but no wall or railing shut it in from the rest of the island; +and you and I, had we been there, might have walked across the green +lawn, and plucked some of the gay flowers, and gone up the marble steps, +without anyone saying, "Stop! You must not go there." Round about the +palace, in groups of twos and threes, were several little houses, all +very beautiful and all exactly alike. + +[Illustration] + +Now, I daresay you will think that this was a very pretty place, at the +same time, very strange; yet the strangest and, to me, the most charming +thing of all was that there were none but children in this little +island. They were all quite young, the eldest amongst them were not +twelve years old; they were the king and the queen, who, of course, +lived in the beautiful palace. And thus, because only children dwelt +there, it was called Child Island. + +[Illustration] + +Well, these little folks had nothing to do but to play; and a rare time +they had of it, as you shall hear; but perhaps you would first like to +know how it happened that they were alone in this island without any +grown people to take care of them. Then listen, and I will tell you. + +The Silver Lake and Child Island belonged to the good fairy Corianda, +who was very fond of little children, and took great pleasure in +inventing games for, and otherwise amusing them. She loved all children, +but she was especially fond of those of Noviland, the king of which was +one of her subjects. She used often to slip on her magic veil, which +rendered her invisible, and go amongst the little folks of Noviland to +watch them at their play, or at their lessons, or to peep at them whilst +they slept. It was in this way that she found out there was scarcely a +child in Noviland but what was discontented with what it had, and sighed +for what it had not. + +One fancied that Noviland would be the jolliest place in the world for +little boys if there were no lessons, no schools; but grammar and +spelling spoiled all. Pepitia thought that if she might wear fine +dresses like mamma, have a coach and six to ride in, and no one to +control her, she would be perfectly contented. The little Teresa sighed +for a land where there was no A B C, and Dorinda for one where toys grew +on trees, and no hard-hearted shopkeeper demanded money before they were +plucked. Herbert wished he lived in a place where there were plenty of +gay butterflies, and that he had nothing to do but to hunt them. Thus +each child had something to wish for, and something to be discontented +about. + +I wonder whether there are children in any other part of the world who, +like those of Noviland, want what they have not, and grumble at what +they have? Do you know any? Ah, no! I suppose there are no other little +folks so silly, so I won't urge the question, but go on with my story. + +When the good fairy heard all these murmurings, she said to herself, "I +will gratify these little people for a short time in what they want, and +we shall see if they will be happy then." + +So she set her fays to work, and had built on Child Island the beautiful +palace and houses I have told you of. When all was ready, she and her +fays took the little grumblers out of their beds one fine night and +wafted them away, whilst still asleep, to Child Island, taking care, I +should tell you, to leave changelings from Fairyland in their places, so +that the parents might not be filled with grief in the morning to find +that their dear children had been stolen away. + +The next morning, after the sun had dispelled the mist which always +seemed to hang about him before breakfast at Child Island, and he was +fresh and bright for the day, like little boys with clean faces ready +for school, the young strangers were all assembled on the lawn in front +of the palace, and the fairy spoke to them as follows:-- + +"My dear children, as you all fancy you would be happier if you were +quite free from control, and if you had nothing to do but to play, I +have brought you to this beautiful island, where you can amuse +yourselves all day long. You will have everything supplied to you, and +there will be no one to dictate to you. These pretty houses I give you +to live in. The palace is for the king and queen, and the other houses +are so precisely alike that none of you will be able to dispute as to +choice. You, Philip, who are the eldest boy, shall be king, and you, +Pepitia, who are the eldest girl, shall be queen. Be kind and +good-natured to one another, and I will always be your friend. Don't eat +too much fruit or cake, as that will make you ill. Now, come with me, +and I will show you the inside of the palace." + +Then they followed the good fairy, in a merry crowd, up the marble +steps into the hall of the palace, and a grand hall it was, with its +rows of pillars and richly decorated walls. The fairy led them up the +staircase and through the royal apartments, which consisted of +drawing-rooms, dining-rooms, bedrooms, and dressing-rooms, where the +looking-glasses reached from floor to ceiling and the wardrooms were +filled with magnificent dresses. Then into the throne-room, hung with +crimson velvet embroidered in gold, and where, at the upper end, were +two golden thrones inlaid with precious stones and cushioned with +crimson velvet. The more they saw the more delighted the little folks +were; they clapped their hands with joy, and cried, "Oh, my! how +beautiful!" at least twenty times in a minute. + +"Oh! shouldn't I like to be you," said Amanda to Pepitia, "you will be +queen, and have all these fine things." + +After they had seen all that was in the palace, the fairy took them over +the other houses, all of which were elegantly furnished, but it would +take up too much time to tell you of all the beautiful things that were +in them. Just fancy how you would like to furnish a little house that +had drawing-rooms, dining-rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, and whatever you +fancy you would like to put there _was_ there, and even more than that. +No wonder the children were pleased. + +After the fairy had shown them all the pretty things the houses +contained, and had allotted to each set of children the particular house +they were to inhabit, a crystal car, drawn by six white swans, was seen +to approach the shore. Then the fairy said, "Now, my little dears, I +must go, for here is my coach and six come to fetch me." So she kissed +them all round, bade them be good children, said she would come to see +them again some day, got into her car, and was soon out of sight, the +children shouting, "Good-bye, dear Fairy, good-bye," till they could see +her no longer. + +Then they said, "What shall we play at first?" + +"Let us go into that pretty dell, where the fawns are at play, and +gather some of the flowers," said Pepitia. To this they all readily +assented, and ran skipping and singing into the dell. Some pulled long +rushes and sat themselves down to weave little baskets; some gathered +nosegays, some played with the fawns. Presently one of them said, "Oh! +suppose we have a dance." + +"Yes, yes, yes, so do," cried a dozen little voices. + +"But there's no music," objected the queen, "we can't dance without +music. How I wish we had some!" + +"I'll hum a tune," said Sophia; and she immediately began one. + +"No, that's so stupid," said Amanda. + +"Oh!" screamed a little boy. "Look there!" + +"Look where? What's the matter?" cried they all. + +"Why, look at that big yellow thing," replied the child, pointing to a +large gourd which lay upon the ground, "it's opening all by itself!" + +And sure enough it was slowly opening, as if it were a monster mouth +taking a lazy yawn. The children clustered together and watched it +eagerly, when, to their great amazement, out popped a little figure, not +more than six inches high, dressed in a suit of sky blue velvet with +white lace ruffles at the throat and wrists. The dress was fastened down +the front and at the knees by diamond buttons; diamond buckles were in +its shoes, white silk stockings on its legs, and on its head a crimson +cap with white feather. As soon as this quaint little figure jumped out +of the gourd he was followed by another, and another, and another, till +there were a full score of them, all dressed exactly like the first, and +each carrying a tiny musical instrument in his hand. + +As the last jumped out the gourd closed, and the leader of the +Liliputian band stepped a few paces in front of his fellows, and, taking +off his feathered cap, made a low bow to the king and queen, then, +without speaking a word, he sprang on to the foremost branch of a white +Mayflower bush, which was in full blossom, and immediately his little +companions perched themselves on different branches behind him, and +began tuning their tiny instruments. + +The children, full of glee, arranged themselves for a dance, the band +struck up "Sir Roger de Coverley," and away they all went, their little +feet keeping time to the music as truly as the leader's tiny baton. They +danced, and they danced, and they danced, till they were too tired to +dance any more, then they flung themselves down to rest; upon which the +little leader of the band jumped down from his perch and placed himself +on a broad smooth leaf, that two of his band spread on the grass +opposite to where sat the king and queen. + +He made a low bow to their majesties, the band struck up, and the little +fellow commenced dancing a _pas seul_. If you had seen him prancing and +capering about the leaf, now with his arms akimbo, going jauntily round +and gracefully bending his body from side to side, keeping time to the +music as he did so; now suddenly clasping his hands above his head, +whirl rapidly round and round till he got to the front edge of the leaf, +and then, springing into the air, come down on the very tips of his +pointed shoes; if you had seen all this I think you would have laughed +and shouted as loudly as did Rosetta, Minette, and all the rest of the +little folks. When the droll fellow had finished his dance he flourished +his feathered cap, made a low bow, and backed to where his companions +were standing. The gourd slowly opened again, and each little fellow +making his bow, popped in as quickly as he had popped out; then the +gourd closed, and nothing more was seen of the little musicians that +day. + +The children gathered round the gourd and tried to open it; tapped at +it; called to the little musicians to come back; bent down their pretty +heads to listen; but all was useless, no sound came from it, and they +might as well have tried to open the oak tree 'neath which they stood as +it. + +Now, for fear you should think that the good fairy had left these little +children to take care of themselves entirely, to cook their own food, +wash their own clothes, make their own beds, and all that sort of +work--for children, you know, cannot do these things for themselves, and +that is why they are always so good and obedient to mammas and papas and +kind aunts, who see to all these things being done for them--I will tell +you what queer, droll little beings she left in the island to attend to +the domestic concerns of the young king and queen and their little +subjects. + +Just shut your eyes and fancy you see a little brown figure with small +dark eyes, like black beads, sharp nose, thin lips, and glossy red hair, +combed off the face, plaited into a long tail behind, and tied by a bow +of black ribbon. Then fancy this little figure, with arms so long that +they reach to its knees, dressed in a dark blue smock frock without +sleeves, a red leather belt round its waist, dark red trousers on its +legs, and green morocco shoes on its feet; then call it a Noman, and you +will see precisely the sort of beings which were left to wait on the +young inhabitants of Child Island. They were all alike and all dressed +alike; they used to make their appearance and begin to dust and sweep, +and light fires, and such like, just after cock-crow every morning, and +they all disappeared every night directly the children were safely +tucked in bed. They came all together and they disappeared all together, +but where they came from or where they went to nobody ever knew, so you +must not expect me to tell you. + +I daresay you will think these Nomen a strange race, but I am going to +tell you something stranger still concerning them, and that is that none +of them could talk, no--not one! + +Was not that odd? They had some way of talking amongst themselves by +means of signs, but the only words they could say to their young masters +and mistresses were, "nob, nob," which meant no, and "yah, yah," which +meant yes. These they uttered very quickly, and nodding their heads at +each sound. + +Now, the good fairy had charged these little beings to be very kind and +attentive to the children; to cook their meals and serve them nicely, +and to keep their houses in pretty order. + +She also charged the children to be kind and gentle to the Nomen; never +in any way to tease, annoy, or insult them, for if they did, the fairy +said, and she looked very grave as she said it, "some punishment would +immediately follow." This Master Edmund found to be quite true, when one +day he attempted to kick the Noman who was brushing his hair, for as he +raised his leg to kick, an invisible hand pulled the other from under +him, and Master Edmund measured his length on the floor. So, also, Miss +Sophia, who said one day, whilst looking in the glass, admiring herself +and sneering at the Noman who was fastening her frock, "What a fright +you are with your squiny eyes and red hair! I shouldn't like to be such +a fright as you are." Upon which she immediately felt a sharp prick on +her nose, whereon a large red pimple, as big as a cherry, made its +appearance; her frock was torn to tatters, and on going to her wardrobe +for another she found it quite empty, so she had to wear her rags all +that day, as it was not until the next that the clothes came back to her +wardrobe, and the pimple left her nose. I warrant me she will never be +saucy to the Nomen again! + +Master King Philip had a lesson of the same kind once, at his dinner +table, when all his court were dining with him. Calling to one of the +Nomen who were waiting, "Make haste, you brown rascal, and fill me a +glass of wine!" the words were scarcely out of his mouth than he got a +smart sounding slap on his face, and his elbow was violently jerked, so +that he spilt all his wine, whereupon the little lords and ladies +tittered, and some were so uncourtly as to laugh outright, and say it +"served him right," which made Master King Philip wish he had not been +so bounceable. + +One evening, after they had been some weeks on the island, the king told +his courtiers to prepare for a butterfly hunt, which he intended to have +the next day. Early on the morrow they all assembled at the palace, +attired in green and white, and each carrying an ivory rod, at the end +of which was a green net, with which to catch the butterflies. On +reaching the top of the staircase the little lords went to the +dressing-room of the king, and the little ladies to that of the queen. +Her majesty was dressed in white satin trimmed with green. + +"Won't you wear your crown?" asked Rosetta. + +"Well, I don't know," said the queen, in an undecided tone of voice. +"Ought I? Won't it be too heavy for the chase?" + +"Oh, but kings and queens always wear their crowns when they go +out--don't they?" said Rosetta, appealing to her companions. + +"Yes, yes; to be sure they do. Wear the crown--do wear the crown!" they +all cried, clapping their hands. + +Pepitia did not require much persuasion on the subject, as she dearly +liked to be finely dressed. And, indeed, when she had put it on, and +also her velvet train lined with satin and trimmed with ermine, I must +confess she did look a charming young queen. The little Dorinda was so +struck with her appearance that she screwed up her face into a comical +expression of surprise, and, holding up both her hands, exclaimed-- + +"Oh, my! Aren't you smart!" + +"But I don't like the way your hair is done," said Amanda, who was +disposed to be quizzical. + +"Don't you?" rejoined the queen, tartly. "Then you needn't." + +Amanda was on the point of making an equally tart reply, when +fortunately the king appeared at the door, and so interrupted the +threatened dispute. He also wore his crown and train, and, moreover, he +carried the ball and sceptre in his hand; for this little monarch was +not disposed to part with any of the insignia of royalty, and thought he +might as well not be a king if he did not wear the grand trappings +belonging to his office. + +Then the whole party went down into the hall to be marshalled into +proper order by Alphonse, who always took upon himself to be master of +the ceremonies whenever he could get a chance. This was not effected +without a vast deal of chattering and confusion; and report says that +one or two sounds like "Shan't!" "Shall!" were distinctly heard, +followed by what sounded like, and probably was, a slap. + +The little train-bearers were especially difficult to manage, owing to +their constantly wanting to speak to one or other of their companions in +the rear, which inclination occasioned their majesties several +unmajestic jerks from behind, and, of course, called forth a sharp +reprimand from the majesty so pulled; the only effect of which was a +vast deal of giggling amongst the little girls, and the making of droll +faces by the little boys. + +"Please, queen, Edmund's making a face!" cried a little lady-in-waiting, +looking at the culprit and speaking to the queen. + +"Oh, you story-teller!" cried Edmund, indignantly. "I ain't." + +"I'll box your ears if you do so again, you rude boy," said the queen, +turning sharp round on the guilty Edmund. At this threat the urchin made +a queer grimace, and then pretended to cry, sobbing out, "Oh, please, +queen, don't!" + +[Illustration] + +At length all were got into their proper places, and the procession set +out. The king and queen, with their train-bearers, marched first, then +strode consequential Master Alphonse, and the rest of the party +followed, two and two, all singing a jingling rhyme as they marched, and +swinging their nets to the tune. This is what they sang:-- + + "Bring your nets and make haste; + Come away to the butterfly chase, + Up the meadow and through the dell, + By the path we know so well; + Shout loud, jump high, + And haste to catch the butterfly." + +When they came to the dell where most butterflies were to be found they +all separated and got their nets ready, whilst Alphonse took a thin +switch and gently beat amongst the flowers, which grew in great +profusion. + +Presently a cloud of large, brilliant butterflies flew up, and the +children, shouting, started off in chase of them. The train-bearers were +not proof against the excitement of the moment, and, quite forgetting +their post of honour, scampered off pell-mell with the rest, leaving +their majesties looking rather foolish. + +"The rude little things, to run off in that manner!" cried the queen. + +"Here, I say, you Alphonse!" shouted the king, forgetting his dignity, +"come back! I shan't play if you're going off like that. Come back." + +But Alphonse was too busy chasing a brown and gold butterfly to heed +King Philip or anybody else. + +Just then there flew past an immense butterfly with wings of crimson, +black, and gold. Philip immediately forgot all about being a king; away +went ball and sceptre, and off he started in full chase. Now the queen +loved butterflies no less than the king, so no sooner did she see him +take to his heels than she started off in pursuit of the same butterfly. + +Away they both went, their trains flying behind them, over hillocks and +through bushes, quite regardless of their fine clothing. + +The butterfly led them a fine dance; many a time they thought they had +got it, but it always managed to fly off just as the extended thumb and +finger were about to close upon it. Philip and Pepitia were tired, +though by no means inclined to give up the chase, when the butterfly +burrowed itself deep into a convolvulus flower that grew on the top of a +not very high bank. + +"Now we shall have him," cried Philip, as they both scrambled up the +bank. But, alack and alas! Pepitia's foot got caught in her long train +just as she got to the top of the bank, and down she fell, roly-poly, to +the bottom. + +Poor Pepitia! she quite forgot she was a queen, and began to cry most +lustily, not the less because she could not use her arms to raise +herself, for in her tumble she had got so rolled round and round in her +train that she could not move her limbs. + +Philip ran quickly to her assistance, and soon extricated her from her +embarrassment, but as she still continued to cry, he tenderly, for he +was a tender-hearted boy, sat her down on a grassy mound and tried to +console her. + +"What is the matter? Have you hurt yourself, dear?" + +But Pepitia only sobbed and sobbed instead of answering, partly because +she was hurt, and partly because she was vexed, and the poor little king +began to fear she would never leave off crying. + +"I wish that Alphonse and the rest would come back," said he, feeling +disposed to pick a quarrel with "that" Alphonse when he did come. + +(_To be concluded._) + + + + +AFTERNOON TEA. + +[Illustration] + +(_See Frontispiece._) + + + A pretty cottage, and maidens three, + Blithe and happy as maids can be, + Out in the garden at afternoon tea. + + Just such a feast as girls will make-- + Fruit and flowers and a big plum cake, + And plenty of laughter for laughter's sake. + + The sunflowers nodded their heads so tall, + The dahlias smiled 'neath the moss-grown wall, + The three little maids outdid them all. + + I warrant me in that garden gay + Was never a bloom more fair than they, + As they sipped their tea on that summer day. + + Three little maids. Ah! one is dead, + And one is married; and one, unwed, + Now lives alone in the old homestead. + + There are silver threads in her golden hair, + Her cheek is pallid and lined with care, + Yet is she still accounted fair. + + And daily her gracious, tender ways + Win a more loving meed of praise + Than did the prime of her girlish days. + + Yes, youth will wane as the years go by; + Too soon do the rose-leaves scattered lie, + But charms there are which may never die. + + And hence it happens that oft we trace + Through timeworn features the soul's sweet grace, + And beauty lives in a faded face. + + SYDNEY GREY. + +[Illustration] + + + + +HEALTHY LIVES FOR WORKING GIRLS. + +"Grant her in health and wealth long to live." + +These are the words in which many of us, Sunday after Sunday, pray for +our gracious Queen. We desire for her health and wealth; and justly so; +both are necessary. The one for her comfort, and to enable her to +perform her arduous duties; the other for her exalted rank and position. + +For ourselves, however, it is to be hoped we rarely pray for what is +termed wealth; but, on the other hand, how needful it is that we should +supplicate unceasingly for health. "Grant me health, Lord, to perform my +daily task." We have, indeed, need to ask for that unpurchasable, that +priceless blessing. If we possess it already, we need to implore its +continuance; if we have lost it, so much the more earnestly and devoutly +should we solicit a return to its paths. Yes, next to the possession of +a healthy conscience, we hold physical health to be the greatest of all +gifts, but, like most of the grandest, fairest, and divinest things on +earth, many of us accept it as a matter of course. And when, through our +own want of forethought, through neglect of the most ordinary rules of +health, through reckless indifference, we are forced practically to +acknowledge that the most robust health has its limits of endurance, +then we chafe and pine; and life, which seemed such a joyous, easy thing +a month ago, is now a dreary burden, duty a heavy chain, pleasure a +fiction; and self, weary self, rises in the ascendant, occupies all our +sympathies and thoughts, and leaves us dissatisfied and indifferent, +ungrateful and ungracious. + +There are those who believe that by not attending to or neglecting their +health they are acting unselfishly. They say it is so selfish to be +always considering whether this is good or harmful or that is likely to +encroach upon the domain of health. If this sentiment is carried to the +verge of hypochondria, we grant its truth. There is nothing more odious +than a person who is constantly looking out for the weathercocks, and +who, as soon as he finds the wind in a certain quarter, shuts himself +up, and carefully excludes all intercourse from the outer world; or who +can trace certain symptoms--the hypochondriacs' pet word--to the extra +spoonful of salt or sugar in yesterday's seasoning; who is a bore to his +surroundings and a melancholy object of interest to himself; who is +nothing but a useless encumbrance upon the face of the earth. + +This is not the taking care which we advise or suggest. Things good in +themselves may be perverted into errors by the spirit and the want of +judgment with which they are pursued, and we fervently believe that if +our prayer for health is answered, it will be first by the opening of +our own eyes to facts and laws to which we were hitherto blind, or of +which we have been ignorant, than to the practical observance of these +laws, and our willingness to be subject to them. + +But it is not of those who are merely inconvenienced by illness that we +would speak to-day. Not of those who are only subjected to the loss of a +little pleasure, a good deal of temper, and who are learning a lesson in +being patient. In a word, we do not write for the well-to-do invalid, +but for a very different class. Our remarks are intended especially for +those of "our girls" to whom health is, perhaps, the only capital they +possess. To whom loss of health means loss of work, loss of wage, +anxiety, which aggravates matters, and perhaps serious privations to +those in any way dependent upon their exertions. + +Yes, the army of girl and women workers in this great metropolis is, +indeed, a vast one, and work for them is no sinecure. If they cannot +work so thoroughly or efficiently as men, at least it is for them +greater toil than for the sterner sex. Of a more delicate organisation, +of less robust frame, of smaller powers of endurance, the "buffets of +fortune" meet with less resistance, and are more readily yielded to. +Added to this, men have the advantage of being early trained to the +habit of work which many of our girls have not, and they have greater +facilities afforded them for outdoor exercise, of which they very +readily avail themselves. These are all advantages which women do not +possess, or if they do, it is after a careful course of acquired +systematic training with a view to meet those demands upon their health +and strength which are entailed by the continued and steady application +to one branch of labour or to one particular profession. There is no +doubt that a girl cannot take up an engagement which demands her daily +presence at a stated place and at a given time, to perform duties which +perhaps require the concentration of mental powers, and very frequently +the maintenance of the body in one position for many hours together. +There is no doubt, we repeat, that unless such avocations are begun and +continued with decidedly common-sense views as to diet, hygiene, and +general deportment, but little time will elapse ere our girl will +succumb for a greater or less period to the unusual fatigue and the +unwonted restrictions to which she has to submit. + +It is fatal in such cases to regard health from a careless or +indifferent standpoint. It is a question which must be considered by +every one of the legion of working girls and women who labour for their +own, and often for others' bread. Looking at it from the most practical +standpoint, it will be found to be the greatest economy in the end. If +the health is kept at a fair standard of excellence, the mental powers +are maintained in a state of useful energy. As soon as health is below +par, even when not sufficiently so as to force us to desist from work, +the brain loses its elasticity; we are dull, become mere machines +instead of intelligent workers, and our duty gets irksome and fails to +interest us. And here let us interpose one word. If we wish to spare +ourselves that most wearying of all sensations, that fatal sense of +boredom and disgust for our daily task which sometimes creeps in upon +us, we must try with all our hearts to take an interest in what our +hands find to do. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do that do with thy +might." It is not only right to think and act up to this; it is the +greatest wisdom also; for our own comfort and happiness. Work done with +a will only takes half the time in doing. The hours fly, and the sense +of weariness has no time to creep in. This is a spirit, it will be +found, which can be easily cultivated, and will, after a little effort, +come quite naturally, much to our benefit in every way. + +It has seemed to us, in spite of the great advance that has been made in +the teaching of hygiene, and the possession by many of a fair knowledge +of the laws which govern it, that there is still a lamentable want of +practicability in its application; that is to say, the theories we +learn, and to which we subscribe, are rarely, and then very imperfectly, +carried out in actual individual life. We grant that great improvements +are visible on all sides, in what we might term general hygiene; but +where we perceive a great deficiency still, is in that personal +application of the laws of health which must and can only be properly +applied by individuals to themselves, so as to make them fit into the +circumstances under which they exist. + +It will not help our girls much, for instance, to have learnt the number +of cubic feet of oxygen that is necessary for turning the purple blood +into scarlet--the amount of nitrogenous, phosphatic, carbonaceous, and +other elements which are requisite for building up new tissue, etc., +etc., and many other dry facts of a kindred nature, if she does not put +this knowledge to practical use. There is a wide division between facts +thus learnt off glibly at school and the practical application of them +to our daily wants. + +The human body, if it is to be maintained in but a fair state of health, +requires a certain amount of fresh air--a certain amount of +flesh-forming, bone-forming, brain-forming, and warmth-giving nutriment. +Our girls require to have a tolerable, if not exactly a faultless, +circulation, in order that these various foodstuffs may be digested, +_i.e._, converted into these flesh, bone, and brain-forming tissues. In +order to have a tolerable circulation, the body must have a regular +amount of exercise and of fresh air. There, in a nutshell, is the secret +of the whole matter. Given a fairly normal state of health to begin +with, that health may be maintained by a little wise direction of our +actions towards supplying the really very moderate demands of Nature, +upon which, however, modest as they are, she insists, to enable her to +carry on the process of healthy life. Deprive her of that little, and +the results are such as we too frequently see--broken-down health from +overwork (so-called) of many of our busy sisters. It is our intention +here to endeavour to put this plainly before our girls. + +We will imagine, then, that some of our girls have to pass many--say +eight or ten--hours of their days in work; that that work is sedentary +work; that our girls are very apt to stoop, for their poor backs get +weary sometimes. We will imagine that it is winter, and sitting as they +do all day, they like to have all the windows closed. Our girls will not +feel very hungry when meal-time comes, especially if they have to +provide their own meals. In fact, many of our girls practise a little +economy in this direction, if the choice of doing so rests with them. +Economy, we all know, is imperative in many conditions of life--not only +amongst working girls; and it is a serious matter to practise it +wisely--to determine and mark clearly the line that divides the luxuries +from the necessities. In the former practise as much economy as you +will; in the latter it is only a false way of meeting matters which will +have to be balanced by-and-by with heavy interest. + +Well, our girls not being very hungry (for their lungs are full of +impure air, and they feel tired and weary--rather sleepy too--all from +the same cause), they think they will make themselves "a nice cup of +tea--strong, you know." They do not care whether they have milk with it +or not, so long as the tea is strong and gives them a fillip. With this +they will eat a little roll and butter or bread and cheese. This +so-called meal is either partaken of in the room in which they work, or +our girls go out for it. In the latter case they stand a little better +chance; for often the fact of going out of the room in which they have +been seated all the morning brings with it a sense of returning +appetite, and induces them to procure a more substantial meal. But even +this is rarely the case; for they have an odd sinking at the chest, and +if they eat a heavy meal and sit down directly after it, they get that +weight behind their waistbands, they cannot breathe, and they feel +altogether miserable. They do not feel like this, they think, after the +good, strong tea--the clearest proof to them that they should look to it +as a main resource during the midday rest. Probably tea is again hailed +with delight during another break in the work-hours; and at the end of +the day our weary one is so fearfully tired, although she has been +sitting all day, that she feels as though her limbs would never carry +her home. Come what may, she must ride. She puts herself into the first +Underground Railway carriage that will take her to her destination, and, +exchanging the carbonic acid gas of the workroom for the sulphurous gas +of the underground tunnels, she arrives home spent and utterly tired +out, longing to get to bed and rest her weary limbs and pillow the poor, +fatigued head. In the morning, feeling refreshed after Nature's kind and +grateful rest, she plucks up again and walks to the scene of her duties. +But she has to be there by a certain time, and, somehow, she always +manages to be just a little late in starting, so that at the last she +has to hurry to arrive at the appointed hour. She looks at every clock +she passes; she starts at some which tell her that it is later than she +thought, feels relieved at others which are more merciful; and, putting +on an extra spurt at the last, manages to arrive just to the minute. + +But what good can our girl get from a walk taken under such +circumstances? It is ten times as fatiguing--the mind is harassed, the +heart is beating wildly, and the breathing is short and hurried. + +The routine of the previous day is then repeated. There is the same +shyness of air, the same imperfect meal, the same lassitude, the same +finale. + +Pursue this course, or one similar to it, for a few months and we defy +any girl to keep well. She may not yet break down altogether, but she +will have lapsed from positive into negative health, and the merest +straw may turn her negative health into actual bodily incapacity--which +means the loss of work and wages to which we have referred. + +And is it to be wondered at? Our girl has been steadily withholding +from Nature all those elements upon which she imperatively insists as +the condition under which alone she will consent to carry on her work. +Long-suffering she is, and ever eager to repair any neglect that has not +been carried too far. Only return to the right path, and she busily sets +to work to make good the ravages which have followed upon our ignorance +or neglect of her laws. But it must be the right path. None other will +do. She will not be cajoled into working with any other than her own +simple tools. + +Our girls have withheld from her air, food, exercise--the three great +factors of her powers--and have given for them miserable substitutes. +Though kind, she cannot be put off with excuses. She is inexorable, and +the same results will follow our neglect of her laws, whether it be due +to a want of acquaintance with them or want of attention. It is as much, +if not more, from these causes, then, that our girl has become ill than +from the supposed overwork. Overwork might have been the immediate +cause; that is to say, her collapse might have followed upon a little +extra pressure or hurry of work; but the real cause will be found to lie +in that steady neglect of the primary laws of health to which we have +alluded, and upon which too much emphasis cannot be laid. Had it not +been so, the fatigue engendered by an extra hour's work would have been +set right by a good night's rest. + +And when our girl is ill, her recovery will depend upon the degree to +which she is enabled to meet the demands of Nature. If she can have +plenty of rest, peace of mind, fresh air, light, digestible, and +nourishing food, sunshine, and genial surroundings, she will soon be +herself again. But if our brave worker has not these indispensables, or +has them in a chance, get-me-if-you-can sort of way, then she lingers +on, and often rises from her couch but half cured, and plunges on again +under the old conditions, until something occurs which some persons call +"a chance," some by another name, which mercifully changes the current +of her life for a while, or perhaps for a permanency. + +It is said that "men do work while women weep." That is part of an +old-time ditty. In this generation women do not leave all the work to +their brothers, and we will hope that in proportion as we work more, so +we weep less. And women are not to be pitied that it is so. Work is one +of the greatest of blessings, and when its aim is high, is, we believe, +blessed. There is no reason why our work should be irksome to us, or +should be aught but a pleasure. We must make up our minds to a certain +number of disagreeables, and be prepared to meet them as they arise; but +beyond that we should endeavour to take a pleasure in our work and a +pride in its correct fulfilment. This will be easy to do with health, +but without it will require more moral resolution than many of us +possess. + +Let us then turn this subject over in our minds and see if nothing can +be done to make matters a little smoother; to enable us to be happy in +our work-a-day lives; to lessen the chances of becoming ill, and, in +spite of circumstances, to meet Nature's demands in one way or another. + +First, then, as to air. That early morning walk is a good thing. It is +well to get the lungs filled with pure morning air. Even in the London +streets the air is tolerably good at that time. But many of our girls +live a little way from the crowded streets, and only come into them for +business or professional purposes. Some live too far to walk the whole +distance into town. If that is the case, they should ride part of the +distance. They should choose for the walking that part of the route +which has the most trees about it, going a little out of their way even +to walk through one of the parks or squares. They should not hurry, but +should take care previously to allow themselves ample time. This can +quite well be done by a little management, and when our girls are imbued +with a sense of its importance we are sure will be. They should, if +possible, meet one of their companions who is going the same way, and +should chat to their hearts' content. (We are not afraid of the +non-performance of this part of our prescription.) This will exercise +the lungs, send plenty of fresh air into them, and lessen fatigue. A +walk, under such conditions, is of untold value. + +Our girl then will begin her day in better spirits. She will feel in a +lighter mood; difficulties will be brushed aside. Instead of a furtive +glance at the clock, and a thankful gasp that she has arrived in time, +she will never think of the hour till she enters the room, for she has +not troubled her mind about it, knowing she has given herself ample +time. With all the arts of persuasion at her command she will then seek +to lead her companions to have the windows open, just a chink or two at +the top; and will gradually lead them round to her own conviction of the +necessity for fresh air, and of the great desirability there is for an +outlet for the carbonised air which is being emitted by one and all from +their lungs. Before long she will have gained her point, and the open +window will be a daily fact. + +We are speaking now, of course, of our sensible girl, the one who has +taken in the justice of our remarks, and who intends to act up to them +as far as she can. + +At luncheon time she will produce from her store some well cut +sandwiches, made preferably with brown bread, and, with heroic +determination, refuse tea (for it is hard to give up a habit), and will, +instead, regale herself with a glass of milk, or a cup of cocoa; or, if +she has neither of these, she will make a little strong beef-tea of +Liebig's extract of meat, and partake of it with her roll and butter, +remembering that, by the addition of an egg, she will make her broth +more sustaining. + +If she goes out to a restaurant and does not care for meat, she will +recollect that its properties may be found more or less in eggs, in +milk, in lentils, in haricot beans, in oatmeal, and in peas. Oatmeal +porridge and milk form an excellent, inexpensive, and nutritious lunch +or midday dinner. In some form or other one of these nitrogenous foods +should be taken during the midday meal; and, if the taste and finances +permit, should be supplemented by a little fresh, stewed, or dried +fruit. Fruit is most wholesome, and is well enclosed within the border +line of necessities. + +Then, when tea time comes round, our sensible girl will either take milk +again, or else will dilute her tea largely with milk, or, failing that, +with water, and will refuse altogether to drink tea that has "stood" for +more than a quarter of an hour. In the evening she will feel less tired +(_i.e._, less exhausted from want of air and food), and will repeat her +method of procedure of the morning on her journey home. Arrived there, +she will feel far less weary and exhausted, and will enjoy a quiet, +social evening, a book, a little music, or some such relaxation. + +But we can hear her, O. S. G., saying, after pursuing this _regime_ for +awhile, "It is true I am better in a great many ways, but I do still +have back-ache, I do still have the weight in my chest, which I know now +to be indigestion; you say nothing about that. Even your pea-soup or +your oatmeal porridge punishes me, and make me wish we could altogether +live without eating." + +Be not so impatient, my dear sensible one, we are coming to that now. +One great reason of your back-ache is that stoop of yours. You seem to +think it essential to maintain your spine in the shape of the letter C. +You have got into a very bad habit, and if you try now to sit upright +you get as tired as possible--your back, too, is not the only sufferer; +your digestive organs are all cruelly cramped--all the delicate +machinery, by the aid of which occur the changes of the food in its +conversion to the different bodily tissues, is impeded in its action, is +hemmed in, is fretted. Instead of a free circulation, and an unimpeded +course between all the channels of communication, the functions of +digestion are carried on with difficulty, and the stooping pose is the +cause of many other complications into which we have not space to enter +here. + +We have said that exercise is necessary. A great part of that is indeed +gained by the walk to and from business. But that is not sufficient. +Indeed, we do not consider that walking exercise, exclusive of any +other, is sufficient to keep the body in health; but in the instance we +are imagining it is especially insufficient. The body ill brooks being +kept in one posture for any length of time; and during sedentary +occupation some of the muscles are maintained in a state of extension, +whilst others are as unduly kept in a state of relaxation. These +relative conditions, kept up as they are for hours and hours, cannot +fail to have their marked results on the health of our girl. If she were +at home, she would throw her work aside, get up and walk about a little, +or run upstairs to stretch out her limbs; but in business this is not to +be thought of; so she must bear it as best she can. Not so, say we. +There is even here a remedy--even here a way of procuring an immense +amount of relief. Our only fear for its adoption, however, rests in its +extreme simplicity. But when our girl thinks a little more she will +learn that all really great and effective things are simple, and that it +is only their useless wrappings that blind people to their real simple +grandeur. We shall give O. S. G. our remedy in its modest garb of +truthfulness, and she will, we think, not reject it. We would advise +her, then, three or four times during the day, to stand upright by her +chair--she need not even move from her place--throw her shoulders back, +stretch her head up, expand her chest, and arch the spine well inwards, +remaining in that position for at least half a minute. This will +entirely change the posture of all the muscles, those which before were +expanded being now contracted, and _vice versa_. She will then send her +arms straight up over her head, and either bring them down from there +like a wheel, or, if she has not room for this, will bend her arms so as +to form a V with each arm, the two points of the V being respectively +the shoulder and hand and the lower point the elbow. If done properly, +this will beautifully expand the chest, and will contract the muscles of +the back both laterally and longitudinally. Our girl must take care, +however, to keep her head very erect, if she would have the whole +benefit of the exercise. The whole business occupies about a minute and +a half; it is as easy and as simple as breathing; and, we repeat, its +usefulness is not to be measured. + +The chief difficulty in this part of our _regime_, after its extreme +simplicity, will lie in its novelty. It will seem absurd and ridiculous +to those who do not understand these matters, but O. S. G. will have to +learn to bear the ridicule of others some time during her life, and she +might as well begin now. She may be sure that only those will laugh at +her whose opinions are not worth considering, and if she quietly +persists in doing what is right, the ridicule will first be changed into +respect, and then into imitation. + +O. S. G. must remember that her health is her all. At least, it is the +all of the girl of whom we are speaking. Now, it is most imperative that +she should guard that health as she would a treasure. Once aware of the +simple rules which must be observed to that end, she will shape her +actions so as to make them fit in with the circumstances of her life. + +The dress of our girl workers is also a point to be considered. It +should be durable, suitable, comfortable, and should be made simply and +practically. The dress is far better when made in one, _i.e._, not +divided at the waist, then the weight of the garment is equally +distributed over the body, from the waist and shoulders. There should be +no steels or kindred impediments, which have to be considered in sitting +down. A durable wool material, thicker in winter, thinner and lighter in +colour and texture in summer, is always the most durable, and keeps its +freshness longer. The bodice should fit well and comfortably at the neck +and round the arm-holes, so that there is no pressure anywhere. + +For a working gown there is nothing, in our opinion, to equal the +princess dress, made to clear the ground, and modernised, if our girl +wills, by a flouncing, and a little puffed drapery behind, either with +or without a scarf loosely tied round the waist. + +For slender girls the round-gathered dress and bodice (in one) are very +useful and suitable. The principal advantage of the princess dress is +its continuity from the shoulders downwards, leaving the waist free of +bands and tapes. With spotless collars and cuffs, our girl will be both +suitably and well dressed. A good woollen combination under-garment for +warmth and protection from the cold, thicker in winter, thinner in +summer. One, or at the most two, woollen petticoats, made with sloping +bands, to prevent pressure at the waist, will form a very comfortable +and practical dress, and, moreover, one that will present a very fair +appearance. + +No, we know we have said nothing about stays; we are no friend to them; +we dislike them heartily, and we shall never rest until we can release +our girls from their trammels. We know the difficulties that present +themselves on all sides, but these can be met and overcome. Once release +our girls from this bone and steel bondage, her health will rise to a +high state of excellence. But she has so accustomed herself to use her +stays as a prop upon which she leans, that not without great resolution +on her part will she consent to pass through the small discomfort of the +change. + +Once she has done so, however, she will wonder that she never thought of +it before, so light, so free, so agile will she feel. These stays are +our girls' worst foes, and have as much to answer for the indigestion as +all else put together. + +If our girls wish to be happy, merry workers, as well as hard, +responsible workers, they will have to learn to do without stays; they +will have to train their own muscles to supply them with the support +they now seek in the corset. + +"How are we to do this?" we hear some exclaim, who have followed us so +far. "How are we, who work from morn till eve, to begin 'training our +muscles?' We have no time now for that sort of thing." + +Get a little more patience, dear girls. Reforms go slowly, but steadily, +if willing hearts go together. We hope ere long to show you that this, +too, is possible. + +Meantime, for an immediate step in the right direction, let us urge upon +those who have not the courage to throw aside the corset, to set about +rendering it less harmful. Let the working corset be soft, and denuded +of its bones, and let the front steel be exchanged for a very flexible +one, and let the stays, above all, be very loosely laced. We feel we are +weak in conceding thus much even, but we look upon it as the thin end of +the wedge, which represents the fulfilment of our aim. + +We think we have now said enough to set our girls thinking, and though +we have far from exhausted our subject, we hope that each reader will be +able to deduce some hints which may be applicable to herself. + + + + +BOOKS FOR TIRED GIRLS. + + +Have not some readers of THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER a few to spare? + +A little reading-room and library for business girls is about to be +opened in the new Y.W.C.A. Buildings, 316, Regent-street, now quickly +nearing completion. Help is greatly needed in making it really +attractive for those whose minds are hungry after the day's mechanical +work, but who are too weary to take up a prosy volume. + +Brightly written works of history, biography, natural history, travels, +etc., would be warmly welcomed, and good poetry and fiction; also graver +books, specially such as would be helpful to Sunday-school teachers. + +Parcels should be addressed to Miss L. Trotter, 316, Regent-street, +London, who will thankfully acknowledge them. + + + + +ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. + + +EDUCATIONAL. + +H. F. and CONAMARA.--Write to Griffith and Farran, St. +Paul's-churchyard, E.C., for a small shilling manual called a "Directory +of Girls' Clubs," which will give you a large choice of educational, +literary, industrial, artistic, and religious societies instituted for +the benefit of girls, the cost being little more than nominal. + +M. HEDGE.--The change of your address, from what has been given in the +"Directory of Girls' Clubs," will probably cause you inconvenience, +which it is now too late to avoid. You should have named the probability +of a change. In any case, we can tell our readers that those who wish to +avail themselves of your useful Society for Studying Languages, should +address the secretary at Lyndhurst Lodge, Chelsea-road, Southsea, Hants. + +A. G. O. E.--We scarcely think that any system for helping the memory +for ordinary use would be of service to you in the matter of playing +long pieces of music by heart; it is so much a mechanical operation, the +hands often acting while the mind is preoccupied with other matters. Try +to learn a simple air, not a long piece of six pages. + +A SWISS GIRL.--The Cambridge and Oxford examinations are open to +students of all nationalities alike. For information respecting those of +either university, write direct. If you wish to compete in the Cambridge +junior local examination, held in December, you must be under seventeen. +Write to the Rev. G. F. Browne, St. Catherine's College; fee, L1. For +the Cambridge senior you must be under eighteen. The Cambridge higher +(local) examinations are held in December and in June; fees, L1 and L2. +An honour certificate in this examination admits to Tripos examinations +the members of Girton and Newnham who have resided during a sufficient +number of terms, provided the student has passed a language and +mathematics. If your age should exclude you, you might go to the +universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, or St. Andrews, where no limitations +are made in respect to age. + +GUESS.--We advise you to write to the British chaplain of the Embassy +Chapel, in the Rue d'Aguesseau, for information and the best advice, as +he has taken a special interest in the matter of English girls being +sent to French schools, and has publicly addressed the question in all +its many bearings. Address the British Chaplain. + +ANXIOUS MOTHER.--See our answer to "Guess." There is a French Protestant +institution, directed by Madame Yeatman Monoury, 27, Bd. Eugene, Parc de +Neuilly, Paris, which is, or was, patronised by the Rev. Canon Fleming, +the late Bishop of Carlisle, Bishop of Down, Lord Napier of Magdala, and +other persons of consideration. There is also a Protestant school at 27, +Rue des Bois, pres du Bois de Boulogne, for which the charge amounts to +L60 per annum. Apply to the lady directress, Mademoiselle Jonte. + + +ART. + +A COLONIAL SUBJECT.--The illuminating body mentioned is used on +parchment and hot-pressed drawing-paper. It is mixed with the +water-colours to render them opaque. + +R. C. M.--1. To press flowers, gather them when dry, not quite +full-blown, and before the sun has faded them; press them between sheets +of botanical-paper, change and dry the latter constantly. 2. You can +draw an outline upon a mirror with red pencil and Indian ink. It is +better, however, to mark the design through tracing-paper with a +knitting-needle. + +ASTHORE and DOLLY.--The generality of the advertisements named by you +are not to be relied on, and we advise your not spending your money as +you propose. + +LARRY WILFER.--Female art scholarships are conferred by the Slade +School, by the Crystal Palace School of Art, and by the National Art +Training School, South Kensington. Apply for farther information to the +secretaries of each of these schools. + +A WOULD-BE ARTIST.--There is a school of wood-engraving at 122, +Kennington Park-road. The yearly fee for instruction is L3, and free +scholarships after the first year are obtainable by students. These +latter must be upwards of sixteen years of age. + +PRINCESS PEACE.--1. There is a preparation sold by Lechertier and Barbe +for fixing chalk drawings. It is a liquid, which is blown upon the +picture when finished with an apparatus resembling a scent-spray (price +2s.). 2. If you can obtain regular employment from a good firm, +wood-carving is profitable, especially when you can originate your +designs; but these appointments are not to be had every day. Show some +of your work to an upholsterer, or a carver and gilder, and you may +either obtain an engagement or at least an order. + + +HOUSEKEEPING. + +A YOUNG WIFE is certainly entitled to display any large articles of +silver she may possess on her sideboard in the dining-room. + +PASTORA should have the silver cleaned by a silversmith. 2. A recipe for +"pot pourri" has lately been given. + +A FARMER'S DAUGHTER.--The feathers required a very much longer time for +drying, and must also be "stripped," as it is called, _i.e._, all the +large thick stalks taken out. It is these which have not dried, and +retain the animal particles, causing the smell. + +PINCHER and FREDA.--A recipe for "pot pourri" was given at page 224, +vol. v. + +A YOUNG DOMESTIC.--We should recommend the eiderdown quilt being sent to +a cleaner's, as it will only lead to disappointment if you wash it at +home. Put a little glycerine on the tea-stain before it goes to the +wash. + +PRIMROSE should try a little tripoli and water upon the surface of the +table. It will remove the spots. + +PRIMEVERE.--There have been no other papers but those you mention on +"Economical Housekeeping," but we shall probably give more on both +subjects. + +WILLOUGHBY.--We do not think that either green gooseberry jam or jelly +can be kept green; they always boil a light red. + +NOVICE IN HOUSEKEEPING.--If you paid more attention to ascertaining what +meat, game, fish, poultry, fruit, and vegetables were in season (fully +in), and then procured them at places where you had not to pay for extra +high rents, as you do when shops are situated in expensive localities, +you would bring down your bills greatly. + + +MISCELLANEOUS. + +INKY PEN.--We sympathise much with your anxiety, but we can only say to +you as we say to all who wish to succeed in literary work, you must try +and try again for a long time before you will succeed, and success is +not even then assured. + +E. MC. T.--Your sedentary life as a dressmaker does not agree with you. +You should try to take more exercise and warming food. Dress in woollen +under-clothing, and rub the body well in the morning with a cloth dipped +in salt and water. + +VIOLET VERNON.--We have heard that the homoeopathists have a special +cure for such little excrescences. + +TOM-TIT writes very well. The 2nd of January, 1865, was a Monday. + +NYMPHIA ALLA.--Disease or weakness of the nervous system is often, +unhappily, an inheritance from our parents. Not that they may be nervous +themselves, but that their course of life--late hours, over-taxed brain, +poor living, fast living, drink, or bad constitution, etc., result, one +or more, in bequeathing a wretched inheritance of weak nerves, not +positive disease, to their children. Live generously, go to bed early, +be much in the open air, and take a tonic if required, and by a doctor's +advice. + +ALONE.--We sympathise with you, and approve of the sentiments you +express in verse; but the latter is not even correct in composition, +quite apart from its lack of any ideality, which is inseparable from +true poetry. No sentence should be divided (excepting as a joke in a +burlesque piece) between two lines thus-- + + "But 'what' He was preparing _for + Him_ was not on earth; it was where" + +B. W. complains of "taking fits of laughter into her head." Evidently, +she has apartments to let in that repository. In any case, it is well +that she should find so much to entertain her and feel so bright and +happy. This state of things will only change too soon. + +FIDDLESTICKS.--Your verses have been written without due knowledge of +metrical composition. + +MATY GERTY.--We are glad to hear that you have rosy cheeks. Surely you +would not like to look like a washed-out, pasty-faced, sickly little +girl? Young folks often get spots in the face from eating too fast, +swallowing half-masticated food, and indulging in too much jam and sugar +and "lollypops." By this means they spoil their teeth as well as their +skin. + +GLADYS.--Your neck should be examined by a good surgeon. You may have +broken some small tendons, and need to be bandaged. It might be +desirable to go to one of our first-class hospitals, and so get the +opinion of more than one experienced surgeon. You write a pretty hand. +On no account change it to the coarse "park-paling" style of writing +which so many girls affect to look "strong-minded." They do not take us +in by it! + +VERY GRATEFUL WOMAN.--Homoeopathic doctors give vegetable +medicines--not minerals. The principle of the system is "like cures +like." Allopaths give drugs of a directly opposite character to the +disease, instead of that which, taken in health and in different +proportions, would produce the disease to be cured. + +[Illustration] + +L. M. O.--The famous Library of Alexandria was burnt by the Saracens in +642 A.D. It was a union of two collections. One was made by the +Ptolemies, and the other was that of Pergamus, formed by Eumenes, and +given by Mark Antony to Cleopatra. Eumenes was a chief officer in the +army of Alexander, and well worthy to succeed him, as he did. + +[Illustration: + +RULES + +_I. No charge is made for answering questions._ + +_II. All correspondents to give initials or pseudonym._ + +_III. The Editor reserves the right of declining to reply to any of the +questions._ + +_IV. No direct answers can be sent by the Editor through the post._ + +_V. No more than two questions may be asked in one letter, which must be +addressed to the Editor of_ THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER, _56, Paternoster-row, +London, E.C._ + +_VI. No addresses of firms, tradesmen, or any other matter of the nature +of an advertisement will be inserted._] + +JOEY.--We will consider your wishes in future, if possible. + +UNHAPPY S. (we cannot read the name).--We feel for you much in being +separated from a home so dear to you; but you must look away from all +second and human causes of this separation to the ruling Hand of One who +is as good and as merciful as He is wise and mighty. If you wish for +peace and real happiness, seek His favour and guidance and personal care +in daily prayer. Lay your troubles at His feet, and ask Him to give you +a contented spirit, and grace to be thankful and reverently loving +towards "Him who first loved us." + +ROSEBUD.--Wear stuff shoes, instead of leather, and let them be very +easy and wide in the toe. + +AMERICA.--You will find a full list of Miss Wetherall's (Susan Warner's) +works in any encyclopaedia. We have not room in our over-crowded +correspondence column for long lists of books, so only give the chief +works of interest. + +SWEET NINETEEN (?).--The young ladies of a family are called Miss Edith, +Miss Margaret, etc., by gentlemen who do not know them well. + +IONA would not require to know the name of the head of the department. +She should ask for the secretary or the head clerk. + +PRIMROSE.--Lord Beaconsfield was by birth a Jew, and of very ancient and +distinguished family; but he became a Christian by conviction. Having +had no personal acquaintance with him, we could not possibly answer such +a question as yours, even were it right to do so. + +DAISY A.--Your contribution is declined, with thanks. It is not devoid +of merit, but needs more experience in writing. + +GEORGIANA W.--We are much obliged, but do not think the essay fit for +our amateur page, nor is the subject new nor interesting enough. + +ETON GARDENS had better wear gloves to protect the hands. We know no +other way. + +A FIJI GIRL.--The work of a bookkeeper is the same almost everywhere. +She keeps books, and in a hotel she would make out the accounts of the +visitors, of course. + +DAMARIS.--The lady bows first, of course, if she has been formally +introduced. Invite the brother, certainly. If you know the family you +do not need a separate introduction to him. + +LAURA.--We have always prophets of evil amongst our friends, and a +celebrated American advises that "no one should prophesy unless he +knows." There are no reasons for believing that there are any real +inspired prophets now, if that be what you mean. + +STRUGGLING BIRD.--We sympathise with you; but in committing your way to +God in prayer, you do the best that we could recommend. It is best to +avoid any exercise of authority over your sister, who is so wild and +wilful; but should she do anything very wrong, you will have to lay the +case before your father, painful and ungracious as the duty may be. You +are right in regarding example as better than precept. + +CAMOMILE is thanked for her grateful letter. If she used a better pen +her friends would like her writing better. + +FERNIE.--1. Herne Bay is on the east coast, and thus exposed to the +trying winds from that quarter, to which you specially object. Ventnor, +in the Isle of Wight, various places on the south coast of England and +in the Channel Islands, especially in Jersey and the Isle of Sark, would +suit your mother. The latter island is specially ordered as a cure for +asthma. 2. After pressing the leaves between sheets of blotting-paper, +varnish them with a solution of gum-arabic. + +SIRENA.--If you eat hot cake or buttered bread, of course take off one +glove at afternoon tea. + +A YOUNG WIFE.--We are not quite sure that we should advise any business +man to give up in England and go to Australia unless he saw his way very +clearly indeed. Why do you not write to your friend who has already +emigrated, and take his advice on the subject? Write also for full +particulars of expenses and advice to the secretary of the Colonial +Emigration Society, 13, Dorset-street, Portman-square, W. The rates of +passage, third-class, are, L18 and kit; sailing vessel, second-class, +from L20 to L28; third-class, L17 to L21. + +A LOYAL IRISH GIRL.--We are very glad that you have been improved by the +late competition. We are much obliged by your kind offer. Your letter is +very creditably written and composed. + +SWEET WILLIAM.--Directions for bookbinding were given in vol. ii., pages +342, 426, and 810. + +R. L. I.--Our paper can be got in all the colonies. Many thanks for the +information that the free grants of land were stopped in Tasmania in +January last. + +A NURSERY GOVERNESS, we think, is unhappy and discontented because she +dwells on herself and her own feelings too much, and thinks too little +of other people and their happiness. She must try to live most in +others, and in giving pleasure and love to them. As yet she fails to +comprehend the Christ-like character which is so lovely an acquisition, +and the higher service to which we are destined by following Him in all +things. Love is the keynote, and, if she try, in so doing is the +happiest and truest life to be found. + +YOUNG LOCHINVAR should bear in mind the enormous ages attained by the +antediluvian patriarchs, and that the world around them was so quickly +populated that Cain might, and did, meet with plenty of people who +possibly, as he thought, would regard him as a monster to be driven from +amongst them. A long course of years succeeded that on which he slew his +brother through envy and a hatred as to what was holy and God-fearing. +In the first days of man upon earth they married their sisters, there +being no physical objection to it ordained by a merciful God. + +M. R. (Norwood).--We pity you! To what a miserable, unwholesome state of +deformity you have reduced yourself! We do not open our columns to +persons who boast of having so far degraded themselves. + +F. M. C.--On no account take a cold bath if it do not agree with you. +Have it tepid, or as warm as you feel comfortable. If the bath-sheet +were warmed you would run no chance of being chilled. The 17th June, +1865, was a Saturday. The violin is not an easy instrument to learn, and +requires a good ear; but we should recommend it in preference to the +banjo or the concertina. The guitar is also unsuited for general music. + +LIZZIE MATTIE CLOVER.--Coals are called "black diamonds" because coals +and diamonds are both carbon. + +SINGLE DAHLIA.--You do not name your age. Try St. Mary's Hospital, +Paddington, W. Write to the matron. We could not say whether it would be +against you. The 12th March, 1864, was a Saturday. + +HOPEFUL.--Perhaps you need a tonic. Ask a medical man, and take plenty +of exercise and a tepid bath every morning. + +LUCY.--From what you say of your being "saucy" to your stepmother, and +that you are slapped "whenever you tell lies," and that you think you +"ought to do as you choose," we see that you have been a spoilt child, +and deserve some sort of correction. You are evidently well and suitably +fed. We greatly disapprove of tight-lacing. If you were good, obedient, +and respectful, you might then venture to say when the maid laced you +in. It is to be regretted that so young a girl should wear any at all. + +A BUNCH OF VIOLETS might undertake bookkeeping, or, if she know any +thing of millinery, she might get a little extra work from that. Her pay +in the shop is very small. Everyone should be paid enough to live upon, +and 8s. a week is not enough to live and dress upon. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. VIII, No. +357, October 30, 1886, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GIRL'S OWN PAPER *** + +***** This file should be named 18501.txt or 18501.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/5/0/18501/ + +Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |