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diff --git a/old/65651-0.txt b/old/65651-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 3c406a9..0000000 --- a/old/65651-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2792 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. VIII, No. 365, -December 25, 1886, by Various - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. VIII, No. 365, December 25, 1886 - -Author: Various - -Editor: Various - -Release Date: June 20, 2021 [eBook #65651] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at - https://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER, VOL. VIII, -NO. 365, DECEMBER 25, 1886 *** - - - - -[Illustration: THE GIRL’S OWN PAPER - -VOL. VIII.—NO. 365. DECEMBER 25, 1886. PRICE ONE PENNY.] - - - - -WHERE HEAVEN BEGINS. - -BY RUTH LAMB. - - - Not at the gates of pearl or streets of gold, - Not with the endless day or songs of praise; - In meeting those above we loved below, - Or echoing back their new, exultant lays. - - Not in the thought of tears for ever dried, - Of pain, want, weariness and sorrow fled; - Or in the thought that nothing there can part - Those loved and lost ones whom we call “Our dead.” - - So vast our heritage, we claim all these, - For Jesus bought them, made our title clear; - Yet, blessed thought! for heaven we need not want— - Our Lord is with us, and our heaven is here. - - No night, no fear, if Christ within us dwell; - Above where Jesus reigns can be no night. - Heaven here with Jesus, and His hand shall lead - O’er Death’s dark threshold into life and light. - -[Illustration: “ABOVE WHERE JESUS REIGNS CAN BE NO NIGHT.”] - -_All rights reserved._] - - - - -THE SHEPHERD’S FAIRY. - -A PASTORALE. - -BY DARLEY DALE, Author of “Fair Katherine,” etc. - - -CHAPTER XII. - -John Shelley’s White Ram was a great success; up to Friday everything -had gone well; the puddings and cakes had been pronounced excellent, -the beer first rate; and though there had been no stint, John had kept -his word, and no one had as yet been any the worse for it. The tent, -too, was voted a great improvement on a close kitchen, and there, when -supper was over, the men sat smoking and singing their sheep-shearing -songs, while Jack and Fairy listened outside, Jack having hitherto -resisted all his father’s invitations to sup with the other shearers, -in which Fairy, knowing his feelings, assisted him, and, to please her, -John did not press it. - -On Friday evening, when Jack and the other shearers came back earlier -than usual, it was found that Charlie had forgotten to bring home a -lamb that was ailing and required nursing, so, as John Shelley could -not be spared from the supper, and Charlie by no means inclined to go, -Jack, tired as he was, set off to fetch it. While he was gone, the last -of the series of suppers went on in the tent, and was over and the -singing begun before he returned. Fairy wandered out into the field to -listen to the men’s voices as they sang their favourite song.[1] - - “Here the rosebuds in June and the violets are blowing, - The small birds they warble from every green bough; - Here’s the pink and the lily, - And the daffydowndilly - To adorn and perfume the sweet meadows in June. - ’Tis all before the plough the fat oxen go slow, - But the lads and the lasses to the sheep-shearing go. - - “Our shepherds rejoice in their fine heavy fleeces, - And frisky young lambs which their flocks do increase. - Each lad takes his lass - All on the green grass, - Where the pink and the lily, - And the daffydowndilly - Do adorn and perfume the sweet meadows in June. - ’Tis all before the plough the fat oxen go slow, - But the lads and the lasses to the sheep-shearing go. - - “Here stands our brown jug, and ’tis filled with good ale, - Our table, our table shall increase and not fail. - We’ll joke and we’ll sing, - And dance in a ring, - Where the pink and the lily, - And the daffydowndilly - Do adorn and perfume the sweet meadows in June. - ’Tis all before the plough the fat oxen go slow, - And the lads and the lasses to the sheep-shearing go.” - -As the men sung these verses to a swinging tune, which if not very -high musical art, at any rate had plenty of go in it, and suited the -occasion, Fairy strolled across the meadow into the road by which she -knew Jack would come, to meet him. She had not gone very far before -she saw him coming, with his crook in one hand, and what looked like a -dead lamb dangling in the other. As he got closer she saw this was the -case, and there was a frown on Jack’s handsome face; though vexed and -tired as he was, he smiled when he saw Fairy, and Jack’s smile was a -singularly sweet one, which lighted up his whole face. - -“Is it dead, Jack?” asked Fairy, sympathetically. - -“Yes, and all for the sake of a little care. If Charlie had only had -the sense to bring it home with him we might have saved it; he must -have seen it was dying when he came away, but all he thinks of is -getting home to the White Ram. I wish there weren’t such a thing, for -if I had not been forced to leave my sheep to that boy for the sake of -the shearing it would not have died, I am sure.” - -“Poor little lamb. I am very sorry for you, Jack; but it is the first -you have ever lost, isn’t it?” - -“Yes, and if I had my way, I would give Charlie such a thrashing that -he would take pretty good care it was the last. Lazy, careless young -scamp!” said Jack. - -“Never mind, Jack, he will always be lazy; it is his nature, just as it -is yours to be always poring over books; but come home and have some -supper; you look tired out; mother has saved some for you. What are you -going to do with that lamb?” - -“Bury it; but I will have some supper first,” said Jack, leaving the -lamb just inside the gate of the field, which they had now reached. - -Unfortunately, just at that moment Charlie came rushing out of the tent -from which the chorus “of the pink and the lily and the daffydowndilly” -was still rolling, shouting for Fairy at the top of his voice. He was -flushed and excited, his blue eyes sparkled, and he looked just what -he was—a healthy, happy, lazy, labouring boy of sixteen, fresh and -clean, but in thick shoes and corduroys, and not the least pretension -in manner or appearance to be anything but a shepherd’s lad, thoroughly -enjoying his first shearing-feast. As soon as he saw Fairy he ran up -to her, and seizing her by the waist, cried— - -“Come along, Fairy, let us have a dance.” - -“Don’t, Charlie, I don’t want to dance; I am going to give Jack his -supper,” said Fairy, pushing him away. - -“Nonsense! let Jack get his own supper. Come along. - - ‘Each lad takes his lass, - All on the green grass,’” - -sung Charlie again, seizing Fairy by the waist; but before the words -were out of his mouth, Jack, in an ungovernable fit of temper, had -raised his crook, intending to give his brother a good stroke across -the shoulders with it, but Charlie, turning his head suddenly round to -see what was coming, met the blow, which fell heavily across his right -temple. He staggered backwards half-stunned, and fell to the ground, -striking the back of his head in his fall against the stone gate-post. - -There he lay insensible, and for the moment both Jack and Fairy -thought he was killed on the spot. Down on their knees beside him they -both knelt. All Jack’s anger vanished, and only a terrible fear, too -terrible for words, taking possession of his heart. - -“Oh, Jack, Jack, what shall we do? what shall we do? Charlie, Charlie, -do open your eyes! Oh, Jack, has he fainted? What is it?” - -“I don’t know, Fairy. Fetch mother, will you? We must carry him into -the house,” said Jack, trying to feel if Charlie’s heart were still -beating. - -Fairy flew rather than ran into the kitchen, where Mrs. Shelley was -sitting resting after her hard week’s work, listening to the shearing -songs, and watching lest Jack’s supper should burn. In spite of the -hard work, perhaps partly because of it, it had been a very happy week -to her, for she was very proud of John’s position as captain of the -company, and up to the present nothing had occurred to spoil the feast; -it had been as merry as any “White Ram” ever was, but no excess, no -coarse jokes, no irreverent jests had ever been attempted, and Mrs. -Shelley knew, if her husband did not, that his presence was in itself -enough to prevent their occurrence. And now what an ending it was to -have. - -“Mother! mother! come and help Jack! Charlie is dead, we are afraid,” -cried Fairy, standing on the threshold, her great eyes open wider than -ever, and her pale cheeks testifying there was at any rate some truth -in her words. - -Mrs. Shelley was not a nervous woman, and she did not for a moment -believe Charlie was killed, though she rose immediately to go and see -what was the matter. - -“Killed; nonsense, he has fainted, I suppose. Where is he? What has -happened?” she asked, as she followed Fairy. - -“By the gate. Jack wants you to help to carry him indoors; he is -insensible.” - -“Insensible! What has made him insensible? How did it all happen?” - -“I don’t know, it was all so quick. Charlie wanted me to dance with -him, and Jack was angry because his lamb is dead, and he hit Charlie -with his crook, and somehow Charlie fell and knocked his head against -the stone gate-post,” said Fairy. - -They were close to Charlie and Jack, and Mrs. Shelley saw at a glance -it was a more serious matter than she had at first supposed, and -having, like Jack, a quick imagination, as well as a quick temper, she -guessed what had prompted Jack to raise his hand against his brother, -and, for the first time in her life, she turned and spoke unkindly to -Fairy. - -“Go out of my sight; it is all your fault; but for you there would -never have been strife between my boys. Fool that I was to take you -in, when something warned me, even then, it would lead to no good. Oh! -Jack, Jack, my son, my son, what are we to do?” - -Even then, in the first flow of her grief, Mrs. Shelley’s sympathy -seemed to be for her darling son who had struck the unlucky blow, and -not for the poor boy stretched lifeless, to all appearance, on the -ground. - -“Get him indoors first, mother, and then I will run to Lewes for the -doctor. If you will take his feet, we can easily manage him.” - -“Yes, yes, to be sure; we don’t want all those men to know what has -happened. Your father will be out in a few minutes for some more ale, -and then we can tell him,” said Mrs. Shelley, helping Jack to carry -Charlie to the house. - -Again Mrs. Shelley was thinking of her eldest boy. If, indeed, Charlie -were killed, she knew it would be a terrible thing for Jack, and in -any case she did not want all this shearing company to know what had -happened, and gossip about it. - -As she and Jack carried Charlie to the house, Fairy followed, -trembling, and wondering what Mrs. Shelley’s cruel words meant. Why -was it her fault? What had she done? When had she wilfully stirred up -strife between the boys? And where was she to go out of Mrs. Shelley’s -sight? Was she to be turned out of the house because poor Charlie was -dangerously hurt? Frightened and grieved for Charlie and Jack, cut to -the quick by Mrs. Shelley’s words, Fairy threw herself on the bench -outside the door, and burst into tears. - -A minute or two later, John Shelley, coming out of the tent to fetch -some more beer from the house, saw the unwonted sight of Fairy crying -as if her heart would break. - -“Fairy! Why, my pet, what is it? Crying at my White Ram. What is the -matter?” he asked, laying his hand on the bowed golden head. - -“Oh John, John!” sobbed Fairy, clinging to him, “poor Charlie is -dreadfully hurt; it was partly an accident and partly Jack hit him, and -he fell, and he is insensible. Go in and see. I mustn’t come.” - -John had not time to stop and ask why Fairy must not come, but went in -to the little sitting-room, where Jack and Mrs. Shelley were applying -restoratives to the still insensible Charlie. - -“What is this?” said the shepherd, glancing sternly from the prostrate -Charlie to Jack, who dared not meet his father’s glance. - -“Hush, John! it is a terrible business—listen.” And in a few words Mrs. -Shelley, who had heard from Jack exactly how it occurred, told her -husband the story, and what prompted the unfortunate blow. - -“Poor boys, poor boys! Jack, Jack, what were you thinking of?” cried -John Shelley, stooping over Charlie to try and see where he was hurt. - -“He is alive, thank God; perhaps he is only stunned; we must go for Dr. -Bates at once,” said John, after a brief examination of Charlie. - -Here a stifled sob broke from Jack, who was standing with his head -buried on his elbow which he was leaning on the corner of the -chimney-piece, and caused the shepherd to turn to the son who was -suffering far the most acutely. John crossed the room to his eldest -son, and put his arm round his neck. He did not say a word, but as -Jack grasped his father’s hand, he knew that he not only forgave him, -but sympathised with him also. If they had never understood each other -before they understood each other now, these two, as they stood half -broken-hearted by the chimney-piece. Jack understood that whatever -trouble might be in store for him in consequence of his hasty act, -his father would be his friend and do his best to help him; he knew, -too, that he would never hear a word of blame from his lips, for as -children, the shepherd had ever been wont to forgive them directly they -showed any signs of repentance, and it did not require much penetration -to see that Jack already bitterly regretted his hasty temper. And the -shepherd understood what it was that had roused Jack’s anger; in fact, -at any rate, he could quite sympathise with his vexation and annoyance -at the death of the lamb, and he guessed at his jealousy with regard to -Fairy, for Jack’s love for her was no secret to his father. - -“Jack, some one must go for the doctor at once. Will you, or shall I?” -asked the shepherd. - -“Oh! I will, I can go quicker; besides, you can’t leave the men yet,” -said Jack, rising and seizing his hat. - -“That is the best plan; I can’t dismiss these men yet, but I will tell -them we have had a bad accident, so I can’t ask them to stay late, and -I’ll come in every few minutes, Polly, to see how you are going on,” -said the shepherd, as Jack left the house. - -All this happened much quicker than it has taken to tell, and ten -minutes after the blow was struck Jack was running across the fields -to Lewes like a madman, knowing that his brother’s life hung in the -balance. While he was gone John Shelley told the men in the tent his -youngest boy had met with a serious accident, and was lying between -life and death, and, to their credit, the men unanimously stopped -singing and took their departure before Jack returned with the doctor. - -So ended John Shelley’s first White Ram. - -(_To be continued._) - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Taken from the Sussex Archæological Collections (out of print). - - - - -A VEXED “WOMAN’S QUESTION.” - -BY ISABELLA FYVIE MAYO. - - -There is no more vexed “woman’s question” than that of “clothes.” It -has been said that if we see how a man regards money and deals with it, -we see the whole character of the man; and we think it is equally true -that if we find out how a woman or girl feels and acts about clothes, -we should have an excellent key to her nature and history. - -There is the woman to whom “clothes” are the object of life. This does -not necessarily mean that she is a rich woman, who can spend much -money, nor does it mean that she succeeds in being a well-dressed -woman. She may be one of those who indulge in what the poet Crabbe -called “The piteous patchwork of the needy vain,” and who send “one -poor robe through fifty fashions”; or she may be a millionaire, always -on the alert to catch up the latest fashionable outrage on good taste -and good sense. Only in either case, dress is always foremost in her -thoughts. The first question she asks about any public event is, “What -did the ladies wear?” Her first anxiety concerning any crisis in her -own life is, “What shall I put on?” At church she remembers the -bonnets and not the text; and the moment she enters an evening party -she appraises all the toilets present, and is unhappy unless hers -is the most modish and costly, whether it be with the costliness of -Worth’s latest whim from the Continent, or of the last box of frippery -received at the village shop. - -If she feels that any reflection is cast on her waste of time and -expenditure of money in the matter of dress, she defends herself in the -following manner—that she owes it to society to look nice; that it is -everybody’s duty to make the most pleasant appearance; that it is well -to employ labour and to put money into circulation, etc., etc. If she -has “gone in” for “culture,” perhaps she may quote Browning— - - “Be thy beauty - Thy sole duty,” etc. - -On the other extreme there is the woman who does not care a bit for -dress; who says she wishes we were born covered with black fur, or that -we might cut holes in a sack for our feet and arms, and tie it up round -our necks! She carries out her words so far as generally to appear in -garments specially unsuitable to the occasion on which they are worn, -and seems arrayed in remnants and oddments, chosen without any regard -to her age, complexion, or circumstances; she thinks getting up a lace -fichu is “a waste of time,” and finds it too much “bother” to wear the -little ornaments with which family affection may have provided her. -She defends herself from any charge of slovenliness by pointing to the -swamp of petty frivolity in which too many female lives are sunk, and -avers that she scorns any regard which would be influenced by what she -wore or did not wear. It may be said in her favour that she generally -grows tidier and trimmer as she advances in life, and, proving much -more amenable to the criticisms of “her young people” than she was to -the raillery of school friends and cousins, is often a matron of comely -and attractive appearance. - -Then there remains the great multitude between these extremes—a -multitude who does not quite know its own mind, and cannot find any -principle whereby to regulate its movements; who wants to look pretty -and to please, yet is afflicted in its conscience when it reflects on -the sin of personal vanity, and on our responsibility for the souls -and bodies which are perishing at our gates; a multitude who is sadly -tossed between the conflicting arguments of the more strongly-biassed -ladies whom we have just described, with the demoralising result that -it generally leans in practice towards the former, and in theory -towards the latter. - -It is this great multitude of girls and women whom we would like to -help by offering a few broad principles for their consideration; -for principles underlie everything. And it is only by our grasp on -principles that we can guide ourselves through the ever-varying details -of duty. - -Let us say at once that it is the right of all to be well dressed, -because that means to be dressed suitably to the climate and -circumstances in which they live, and to their occupation, age, and -appearance. A woman may be quite as well dressed in print and serge as -in velvet and satin. When you hear people complaining that “nowadays -everybody will go so well dressed,” you hear a misuse of language; -and language loosely used is a dangerous thing; because it leads to -looseness of idea. Nobody has any right to complain of anybody’s being -well dressed. What they really mean is that these are unsuitably -dressed. And there is a great deal of unsuitable dress in the world -of the kind, more or less in degree, of that seen in the daughter of -a _parvenu_ millionaire of the Western States, who, when she went to -a sensible New England seminary, where the young ladies were expected -to wait on themselves, descended to the scullery in a velvet robe and -diamond earrings! - -Anybody, therefore, is not well dressed whose attire unfits her for -the performance of those actions which _ought_ to be her duty. The -tight-laced, be-flounced be-trained damsel proclaims to the world her -utter unwomanliness. The nursery would soon make havoc in her finery. -Let us hope she would never carry it into a sick room, and in the -kitchen it would be a nuisance and a bad example. But then “Isn’t it -pretty for wearing in the parlour during those hours when we are doing -nothing?” Let us reply with other questions: “Ought there to be hours -when we are doing nothing?” And “In providing ourselves with clothes -only fit for such occasions, are we not falling into the error we often -smile at in working men who will buy stiff, uncomely Sunday garments -of broadcloth and silk hats, instead of providing themselves with gala -suits of the sensible tweed that will serve afterwards for work-a-day -wear?” - -We began by saying that everybody has a right to be well dressed in the -true meaning of the phrase. But, as Ruskin says in his grand “Letter -to Young Girls,” “Although in a truly Christian land every young girl -would be dressed beautifully and delightfully: in this entirely heathen -and Baal-worshipping land of ours, not one girl in ten has either -decent or healthy clothing, and you have no business, till this be -amended, to wear anything fine yourself.” And Jean Ingelow, a writer -with whose works you cannot too soon make acquaintance, brings this -indictment against our sex—“For them mainly are the gorgeous pageants, -are the costly clothes, the gold lace, the carpets of velvet pile, the -diamonds and the splendours of life. The pride of life is in their -souls, and mainly for them. It is luxury that stands in the way of the -civilised world, so that men cannot marry young and be happy. For the -earth does not produce unbounded riches for a few while yet the many -can have enough. Equality is a word without meaning or possibility; but -notwithstanding, squalor and destitution might be things outside our -experience, as should be luxury and waste.” - -This brings us to the principle that should guide our expenditure, -whether the sum at our command be large or small. Of material we should -buy the best and most durable within reach of our purse. We have no -right to keep people employed in weaving and making up useless and -perishable shoddy articles. It is a dishonour to them to do such work, -and if they are forced to do it that they may get bread to eat, we -are keeping them in the worst kind of slavery. That we pay them for -it does not make it any better, any more than if we paid them for any -other degrading and wasteful service. We insult them by taking their -industry and trampling it under foot, as if they had no concern in -their work, but only in their wages. How can the industrial classes -retain self-respect under such circumstances? And when self-respect is -lost, respect for others always goes also. Quite lately we saw a lady -sitting in a dressmaker’s room watching the “setting-up” of what was -considered a very grand garment. Its materials were certainly of the -costliest, but it had yards of delicate silk trailing on the ground to -an extent that must have ensured their speedy destruction, even on the -most ceremonious occasion, and over the short front skirt hung masses -of tulle, festooned by elaborate iridescent glass drops, worthy of the -decoration of a South Sea Island god! Seeing our friend’s grave face, -we asked her what she was thinking of, and she replied, “I am thinking -of the men who wove that silk to be trodden on, and the girls who sewed -those beads to be smashed. Poor things! I would rather be the grimiest -maid-of-all-work toiling for real human needs, or the roughest tailor -or cobbler, working to cover honest human nakedness.” - -Let all dress, therefore, always be as durable as can be, both in -material and mode. As to “fashion,” even that has a root of necessity -and common sense, because dress must change as social habits and -customs change. Ruskin advises that no garment should ever be thrown -aside because unfashionable, and that no costly fashion should ever be -followed. Think what that word “costly” involves. Tight lacing, heavy -flouncing, open bodices, high heels, and so forth, costly of health; -dead birds’ wings, and everything else costly of suffering; complicated -trimmings, costly of time and human energy in a world where there are -thousands of little children growing up ill taught, thousands of sick -people dying ill tended, thousands of industrious folk slaving to death -for a paltry pittance. - -It seems to us that when a lady has once discovered the dress best -suited to her age, appearance, and condition—the ideal robe in which -she would wish to be painted for the eyes of unborn generations—her -future study will be, not how much she can “follow the fashion,” but -how little she need follow it to escape singularity. Fashion has -nothing to do with a desire to be pleasant in the sight of others. -Let any of our readers turn to the graceful studies of girl-life -with which M. E. E. makes us so familiar, and then to the figures in -any fashion-plate, and ask themselves candidly which are most likely -to commend themselves to the eye of artistic taste or of domestic -affection? - -And here we come to the matter of making ourselves “fair to see.” This -is a decided duty. We have to make ourselves attractive to those whose -love we desire, and to those from whose wisdom we wish approval. But we -imagine that the desire to be loved and approved has a very small share -in extravagance and fantasticalness in dress. Let us speak out plainly. -We seldom befrill and bedeck ourselves, and waste time and money, -to please our parents or friends, but rather to spite and outshine -our “dearest enemies” among our female acquaintances. Suitability of -style, dainty freshness, and tasteful variety will always satisfy -love; and good sense, combined with a little industry and taste, will -easily secure these desirable objects. I remember the approving notice -bestowed by a great divine and philanthropist on the appearance of a -young literary woman, who, travelling under difficult and troublesome -conditions, was provided with a very few dresses of the plainest -quality and style, but who by artfully varied arrangements of muslin -or lace and coquettish little additions of tasteful ribbon, managed to -give her friends’ eyes an ever-new surprise and pleasure. Can there -be a prettier picture than that of a modest little maiden trying how -a rose-coloured bow will brighten her sober dress, to please papa—or -perhaps somebody else? - -And now we come to the consideration of “luxury.” If we are always -to remember the ignorant and the starving, are we never to have -anything whose price might have paid teachers or bought bread? Let -us hear Ruskin again:—“What of fine dress your people insist upon -your wearing, take and wear proudly and prettily for their sakes.” -Let us never seek luxury of any sort—let us rather avoid it; but let -us still accept it with delight when it comes to us by the hands of -genuine love. The diamond in a girl’s engagement ring, the gold locket -enclosing her mother’s portrait, the dainty filigree bracelet sent -by her brother abroad, the exquisite lace set worked by her dearest -friends, are on quite a different line from the fashionable jewellery -and ornaments which she buys for herself or teases her relatives to buy -for her—as different (with all reverence be it written) as the gift of -the alabaster box of precious ointment tendered by a loving woman to -her Master is different from the cases of Rimmel’s perfume which are -squandered at every ball. - -And thus we see that the great principle which underlies this -vexed “woman’s question” of clothes is the great principle of love -itself—love, serving others, considering others; love bestowing, love -receiving. Such love needs no law, being itself the highest law. - - - - -THE ROMANCE OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND; - -OR, - -THE OLD LADY OF THREADNEEDLE STREET. - -BY EMMA BREWER. - - -CHAPTER III. - -You want to know where they obtained the money in order to lend it? -Well, from all those who had money to deposit—the merchants, the widows -and orphans whose small incomes were derived from money lodged with the -bankers; these all received a small interest from the goldsmiths, who -lent their money again at a much larger interest; so you can see that -when the king refused to pay, it was not possible either to return the -principal or pay the interest to those of whom they had borrowed. Great -was the distress, therefore, not only among the merchants, but among -all who had lodged their money with the goldsmiths. The voice of the -people grew so loud and angry, that at length Charles found himself -compelled to pay the interest, though he never paid back the capital. -In 1625 King Charles sent the Duke of Buckingham to Holland to borrow -£300,000 on the pledge of the Crown jewels. - -You can see by what I have told you how difficult it was for the people -to find secure places wherein to deposit their money, and how ruinous -was the interest demanded if, on the other hand, they desired to -borrow. Great, indeed, was the need of some establishment capable of -advancing money at a reasonable rate on the security of Parliamentary -grants. One or two private bankers of high repute strove to improve -matters. Especially may I mention Child and Hoare. To the former by -common consent belongs the celebrity of having the first banking house, -which was established in 1620 on the site of the present building; -and I am proud to bear testimony to the fact that from that year to -the present day, all through the troublous times of banking, it has -maintained the high position and respectability in which Mr. Francis -Child left it.[2] Hoare’s bank was established in 1680. - -These men did something towards steadying the money market; but it was -left to me to clear the country of the insecurity and rapacity which -had so long obtained. - -Before proceeding with my personal history, I should like to explain -a certain method of keeping accounts before I came into power, which -accounts I strictly paid up as they fell due. It was known by the name -of _tallies_,[3] or _tally_. - -“The word ‘tallies’ is derived from the French, and signifies cutting. -The tallies were pieces of wood cut in a peculiar manner to correspond -or tally. For example, a stick of hazel or some other wood, well dried -and seasoned, was cut square and uniform at each end. The sum of money -which it bore was cut in notches (a notch signifying so much, according -to the size) in the wood by the cutter of the tallies, and likewise -written upon two sides of it by the writer of the tallies. The tally -was cleft in the middle by the deputy chamberlain with a knife and -mallet, whereby it made two halves, each half having a superscription -and a half-part of the notch or notches. Thus cut, one part was -called a tally, the other a counter-tally. When these two parts came -afterwards to be joined, if they were genuine they fitted so exactly as -to be parts one of the other.”[4] - -You will understand, therefore, “that the notches corresponded to the -sum for which it was an acknowledgment; the writing on the other sides -containing the date and the payer. The rod was so cut that each half -contained one written side and half of every notch. One part was kept -in the Exchequer and the other was circulated. - -“When the time of payment arrived, the two parts were compared, and -if they tallied or corresponded all was right; if not, there was some -fraud, and payment was refused. Tallies were not finally abandoned in -the Exchequer till 1834.” - -Having thus cleared the ground, I will proceed with my story. - -You already know of the sensation which my appearance in the world -caused, but I have not yet told you that I started in life with the -sanction and support of the Government, and that I received my Charter -of Incorporation, as it was called, on the day I was born. - -Those who had the charge of me found it no easy matter to fulfil all -that was demanded of them by the Government for my safety. For, by Act -of Parliament, passed especially for my benefit, they were authorised -and commanded to raise the sum of £1,200,000 within a given time by -voluntary subscriptions, and in case of their failing to do this, I was -to lose my charter. - -This was a most difficult undertaking, and under the circumstances -its success was doubtful; for, as you may suppose, I had many enemies -among the money-lenders and people opposed to the Government, who, from -self-interest, did all in their power to ruin me. Happily, however, -the subscriptions came pouring in from individuals, both native and -foreign, and from bodies political and bodies corporate, and that so -rapidly that within ten days the whole sum was obtained and my charter -secured; and thus, bound together with the subscribers, I became a -corporate body, under the name of the Governor and Company of the Bank -of England. - -And now I must tell you that with this £1,200,000, my original capital, -I did my first stroke of business, which was to lend it to the -Government, who were in want of money to prosecute the war, and who -for the loan of it paid me interest at the rate of 8 per cent., with a -further allowance of £4,000 a year for management, which, if you reckon -up, you will find afforded me an income of £100,000 per annum—a nice -little sum to start in life with. - -To understand my position, you must hear something of my household and -my housekeeping. - -It was deemed needful and proper that I should have a governor, -sub-governor, and twenty-four directors, all of whom, it was decided, -must be either natural-born subjects or have been naturalised; and -further to render them eligible for my service, they must have a -certain sum of my stock—Bank of England Stock—standing in their -names and for their use. The governor must possess £4,000 of it, the -sub-governor £3,000, and each director £2,000, at least. - -Regarding my position at this present time, you will scarcely believe -how simple and economical was my way of living originally. I occupied -only one room in the hall of the Grocers’ Company, and employed but -fifty-four assistants, whose united salaries did not exceed £4,350. - -I must here state that my governors and directors were no expense to -me, but served me without proposing any advantage to themselves, save -and except the interest they would receive from their contributions to -the capital stock of £1,200,000, and the position they would derive -from being of my household. - -It was in this one room, with almost primitive simplicity, we lived and -performed the duties of our household. I have a letter in my pocket, -yellow with age and almost crumbling to pieces, written by a gentleman -who paid me a visit in the days of my youth. He writes: “I looked into -the great hall where the bank is kept, and was not a little pleased -to see the directors, secretaries, and clerks, with all the other -members of that wealthy corporation, ranged in their several stations, -according to the parts they held in that just and regular economy.” - -[Illustration: GOLDSMITHS’ ROW.] - -It is a pleasant picture which he draws, and one that I love to look -back upon. I think we all derived benefit from working together in -that intimate and kindly manner; it made us strong and of one mind. Of -course, I have grown quite accustomed to a much grander way of living; -it is a sign of my prosperity and my usefulness, and I am thankful, but -I am afraid if you came upon me unawares in my grand parlour you would -find me with a sad sort of yearning for the early primitive simplicity -and kindly feeling. - -Many were the rules and regulations I was subject to in those early -days, and even now, all powerful as I feel myself to be, I am still -governed by them. They were irksome, but I never thought of rebelling, -for I knew that their object was to give me a high position and keep me -out of the way of temptation to meanness and dishonour. - -One was that I must never trade in any wares, goods, or merchandise -whatever. - -Another, that I was never to borrow or owe more than the amount of my -capital, and that if I ventured to disregard this command I should -bring down punishment on the heads of those whose money had endowed me -with my fortune. - -Again, I was strictly forbidden to pay any dividend at any time save -only out of this same capital or stock. - -Yet one more, I was to lend no money to the Government without the -consent of the Parliament, under a penalty of three times the sum lent, -one-fifth of which was to go to the informer. - -How little I thought that a strict adherence and submission to this -early discipline would pave the way to a future in which my movements -would influence the whole body of the public, my opinions and -determinations affect all the markets of the world, and in which my -one room would have extended itself beyond three acres of ground; but -I must not get on too fast—you will see all this for yourselves as the -years of my history roll on. - -My early life was not without its cares and struggles which strained -to the utmost the talents and energy of my household. I was but three -years old when I was first attacked, not as you may think, by scarlet -fever or measles, but by ill-treatment and cruel sarcasm. - -A child, by name _Land Bank_, living at Exeter Change, not very far -distant from Grocers’ Hall, was ridiculous enough to set up as my -rival. Had she confined herself to fair play while striving to win -from me public favour, I think I should rather have enjoyed it, but -believing that all things were allowable in love and war, she descended -to be spiteful, and being gifted with humour and wit she used them -against me without mercy. - -Papers were circulated in all directions with the one view of injuring -me. You will be able to see them, as I have preserved copies— - -Here is one—“The trial and condemnation of the Land Bank at Exeter -Change, for murdering the Bank of England at Grocers’ Hall.” - -Another, which had a wide circulation, was one supposed to be my last -will and testament, in which “I bequeathed my obstinacy and blunders, -my self-conceit, my blindness, my fears,” and in which “I commanded my -body to be burned lest my creditors should arrest my corpse.” - -A third contained an epitaph— - -“Here lies the body of the Bank of England, who was born in the year -1694—died May 5th, 1696, in the third year of her age. - -“They had issue legitimate by their common seal £1,200,000 called bank -bills, and by their cashier two million sons—called Speed’s notes.” - -These papers, so widely circulated, were not without their effect, and -for some time I and my people were in no enviable position. We had to -struggle for a precarious existence—in fact, we had a difficulty to -make the two ends meet. - -My notes were at a heavy discount, and I had not always the money -to meet the demands of my creditors. And, just as it always happens -when one is short of money, everybody wanted to borrow of me, amongst -others the Government sadly pressed me for a loan. Oh dear, that was -a troubled period of my life, but help came and prevented disaster by -tiding me over the difficulty. - -It was very long before I found myself in a like dilemma, for I soon -learned that to be short of money or, in fact, any difficulty in money -matters, would deprive me of the confidence of the public, and that -would never do; for to me, more than to anyone, confidence was money. - -It was cruel behaviour of the Land Bank, but fortunately, except that -it gave me a period of great anxiety, it did me no permanent harm. -Indeed, now that I look back upon it from this distance of time, I -think it was clever of the Land Bank to handicap me, a young beginner, -with her weight of merciless wit, a thing very hard to deal with, or -even to trace, when once it has issued from mouth or pen. - -This little trouble being over, we went about our daily work in the one -room as usual; work, which was gradually increasing both in quantity -and responsibility, occupied us from morning till night, and the way in -which we performed it called forth many a word of praise. I remember -seeing the following in a journal which encouraged and pleased me -greatly— - -“There never was a body that contributed more to the public safety than -the Bank of England, and who upon every emergency has cheerfully and -readily supplied the necessities of the nation, and in many important -conjunctions has relieved the nation out of the greatest difficulties, -if not absolutely saved it from ruin.” - -I may be excused for feeling proud, for I began to see that not only -was I fulfilling my mission, but that the world was aware of it. - -The work which occupied my early days was very complicated, although it -fell far short of what I now perform. I will try and give you a little -idea of how I spent my days. - -Picture to yourselves my one room, with its directors, clerks, and -secretaries each at his table or desk and ready for the special work -allotted to him. - -You want to know where I sat, I, the young and handsome girl. Well, I -was everywhere, infusing life and energy and cheerfulness into all. - -With clear head and accurate mind, I watched and verified every -transaction, encouraging and helping all who came to me as far as it -was possible, and giving my warnings gently where no help could be -extended. - -All is ready for business—it is early morning—and soon the door opens -to admit a few at first who bring in their hands the peculiar sticks -notched and written on, which were called tallies, and which I have -explained to you in a previous part of my story. These people make -their way up to a certain table and ask that money may be given them in -exchange for the tallies. - -This is readily granted for a certain consideration, provided the tally -be correct—or may be, they desired to lodge the sticks with me. In any -case I obliged them, and by my action I made tallies current payment -in the land which, as my friend, Michael Godfrey, stated in his quaint -pamphlet, “The country had long wish’t for,” and which certainly could -not have been effected without me. - -If you watch, you will see others passing into the room, bringing -securities of many kinds and asking to borrow money upon them, which -was readily granted, at much less interest than had ever been demanded -before. - -Others, who had confidence in me, came to ask that their money might be -lodged with me, to which I assented, telling them that not only would -we give them interest for the money so lodged with me, but that it -would be as much at their disposal as though kept in their cash-box at -home, and very much safer. - -[Illustration: 1 - ________ ___________________________________________________________ - / \ /\ / | -/ \ / \ / De Edv̅o̅. Ironside Pip̅m̅. R. q mutu̅a̅t̅ H Annuit ry— \ -| May Dril. \/ \/ \ -| Kent. solubil. ex le Sinking Fund A^l. C^l. R. R. Georg. Sedi Conc. \ -| Mich^5 yjse die Octob^r. A^s R^i R^s Georg. Sede. xy. \ -\ /\ /\ /\ \ - \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /| /| /| /| /| /| / \ / \ / \ \ - \___/\_/\_/\__/ \/ \/ \/ \__/ |_/ |_/ |_/ |_/ |_/ |__/ \/ \/ \____\ - -No. 1 is an exact copy of a section of an Exchequer Tally acknowledging -the receipt of £236 4s. 3½d. on Oct. 25, 1739, from Edward Ironside -Esq., as a loan to the King on Three per Cent. Annuities.] - -[Illustration: 2 - - ______________ ____________________________________________________ - / /\ /\ / | - / / \ / \ / \ -/ / \/ \/ \ -\ \ - \ \ - \______________________________________________________________________________\ - -No. 2.—Each large notch represents £100, and a single cut of the notch -signifies half the amount. Thus the upper line of No. 2 represents -£250.] - -It was to the interest of all concerned in my establishment to -reduce the interest of money, otherwise we could not have used it to -advantage. We were receiving only 8 per cent. for my stock; the lower, -therefore, we brought all other interest, the more valuable was my -stock. - -Previous to my starting in life, the nation had been paying from 12 to -20 per cent. interest for money, which, if it had continued, must have -ruined the kingdom; and as, by the way I did my work, this would be -no longer necessary or possible, those who had been, up to this time, -making money in this fashion, were compelled to spend it on land or -lend it at a moderate rate. - -Others came in during the day to have their foreign bills of exchange -discounted, which I did at the rate of 3 per cent. per annum, -undertaking the inland bills and notes for debts at 4½ per cent. per -annum. - -This was the kind of work which I performed in my early days, and upon -which has been built up that wonderful fabric of money transactions -associated with my name in this the nineteenth century. I am afraid the -very relation of my day’s work two hundred years ago has wearied you; -if so, forgive me. I felt it necessary to my character to show you that -the work undertaken by me from the very first was good and honourable, -conscientious and helpful, and that wherever my household did a good -stroke of business for itself it was not at the expense of others’ -ruin; on the contrary, we could not help ourselves to riches without -extending the benefit all round. - -(_To be continued._) - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[2] He kept his money-chests in old Temple Bar. - -[3] The revenue was often anticipated by tallies. - -[4] Madox: “History of the Exchequer.” - - - - -CHRISTMAS IN ITALY. - - -We were spending a winter on the Riviera, and, after trying various -hotels in town and country, had finally established ourselves in a -pretty little Italian villa, _palazzino_, as the peasants called it, -not many miles from Genoa. - -From the terraced garden there was a wide and splendid view. On our -left, as we looked seawards, was the city herself, her marble palaces -and churches rising crescent-wise behind the bay, which on the eastern -side is bounded by the headland of Porto Fino. Facing us was the -shining sweep of the Mediterranean; while to the right hand the Alpes -Maritimes trended away into the far distance, their giant peaks and -hollows an ever-present, ever-changing feast of colour—whether seen at -early dawn, a glory of rose and gold; or at sunset, a gorgeous vision -of amber and crimson, and softest, tenderest violet; or under the -southern moonlight, a study in oxydised silver. - -For me mountains have always had a peculiar fascination, and no -landscape ever seems complete without them. I could spend, and, indeed, -did spend, when in Italy, many an hour in watching their changing hues. -But to-day none of our party had time for indulging in mere sentiment. -Throughout the week we had been rambling among the hills and valleys in -quest of mosses, ferns, and other greenery wherewith to decorate the -house; for this was Christmas week, and the day after to-morrow would -be Christmas Day itself. - -How difficult it was, even as we worked at the familiar mottoes and -rejoiced over the holly, which, after a seemingly hopeless search, we -had at last found in a remote corner of the Doria woods—how difficult -it was, I say, to realise the fact that this was the 23rd of December. -Why, the garden was full of roses, camellias, and heliotrope; the air -was as soft as upon a summer’s day in England; and we were out of -doors in thin woollen dresses and large, shady hats, rejoicing in the -brilliant sunshine. - -We had to give up our pleasant work early that afternoon, as we had -engaged to help at a children’s party given by a kindly English doctor -in the neighbouring village. He had hired a large room at the hotel, -and invited about forty children to a sumptuous tea; and, though -wintering abroad for health’s sake, and with doubtless many an anxious -thought for wife and little ones at home, he most unselfishly catered -upon this evening for the amusement of “other folks’ children.” - -The long table was covered with dainties such as little folks love, -while assiduous waiters handed round cups of delicious-looking coffee -and chocolate. - -Tea over, there was an adjournment to another room in which all -kinds of merry romps were carried on for an hour or two, a general -distribution of presents took place, a hearty cheer was raised for the -kind doctor, and the young flock trooped gaily home. - -Christmas Eve we spent in really hard work over our decorations. The -dining-room was made festive with mottoes in pine sprays and trophies -of orange-boughs laden with fruit, while the drawing-room was adorned -with maidenhair fern, lycopodium moss, arbutus-berries, and the -much-prized holly before mentioned. Then, about six p.m. we started to -spend the evening with some charming neighbours. - -The host was German, his wife English, and their two children spoke -both languages with equal facility, adding thereto no mean proficiency -in Italian. An Italian marquis and his younger brother, a married -sister of our hostess, with her husband and little girl, a German -composer, with our own quartet, made up the party. We were at once -ushered into the room in which the Christmas tree had been placed; for -the children, at least, were on the tiptoe of excitement as to their -gifts; and thence, after due distribution thereof, we adjourned to the -dining-room for high tea. - -The table was a picture, with its bowls of crimson or pale-pink -china roses. Each couvert had its own bouquet of heliotrope, fern, -and camellia; while the profusion of handsome silver and of ancient -Nuremberg glass combined still further to set off the tasteful -appearance of the whole. What with the many German dishes, and -the chatter of the German tongue all around me, I seemed to be -transferred bodily from the shores of the Mediterranean to the dear and -well-remembered Fatherland—an illusion which was not dispelled until an -hour or so later on, when we found ourselves walking homewards under -the brilliant, starlit sky of the south. On this particular night, too, -the stars were shining with a radiancy which in England would betoken -a hard frost; only that in this case the stars themselves looked so -much larger, and in many instances shone with such intensity as to make -themselves the centre of a distinct halo. - -We met numbers of people on their way to midnight mass, either at the -various shrines in the mountains or at favourite churches in Genoa, and -at about eleven p.m. the bells began to ring, and went on at intervals -for four hours, when they ceased for a time, to recommence at five -a.m., and summon the worshippers to early mass. - -I inaugurated Christmas in Italy by dressing with open windows, then -joined the younger members of our party in carol-singing outside -our hostess’s bedroom door; after which we all descended to the -dining-room—not, as it would have been, in England, to spread out icy -hands and feet to the welcome blaze of a roaring fire, but to open the -long French windows and to stand awhile upon the balcony watching the -lizards flitting swiftly in and out among the crevices of the marble, -and the green frogs jumping about the boughs of the orange-trees. - -Breakfast in Italy was never a heavy meal; but to-day, in honour of the -day, polenta cake and chestnut bread were added to the usual omelette -and roll, to which due attention having been paid, we returned to the -balcony and eagerly awaited the postman. - -He brought a goodly supply of letters for each of us, and with thankful -hearts we set out for morning service. - -The church was full of roses—red, white, and yellow. Arbutus and fern -wreathed the east window and the chancel arch; and designs of roses -upon a mossy ground filled in the panels of lectern and reading desk -and the wide window-sills. There was, of course, a good attendance, and -all joined with spirit in the service; but our clergyman rather damped -the conclusion of it by preaching a very long and exceedingly dolorous -sermon, in which he harped upon “vacant chairs,” “absent friends,” -“broken circles,” and “dear invalids,” until he had reduced two-thirds -of the congregation to tears. - -Our dinner-party included a few English friends staying at the hotel, -and one or two Italians, the latter being as much interested in our -national customs as we were in theirs. It was certainly quaint enough -to find that the Eastern Counties doggerel had its counterpart among -the shepherds of Sardinia, with whom it is generally used as a cradle -song. - - “Lu letto meo est de battor cantones, - Et battor anghelos si bei ponem, - Duos in pes, et duos in cabitta. - Nostre Segnora a costazu m’istu. - Ea mie narat: Dormi e reposa, - No hapas paura de mala cosa.” - -In Upper Italy they sing— - - “Dormi, dormi, O bel Bambin, - Rè divin. - Dormi, dormi, O fantolin, - Fa la nanna, O caro giglio, - Rè de Ciel.” - -And a gentleman who joined us later on wound up our charming evening by -singing to a strange old chant the following Burgundian carol, written, -as my readers will perceive, in alternate lines of French and Latin:— - - “Voici la Roi des Nations, - Natus ex sacra Virgine: - Ce fils de bénédiction, - Ortus de David seminæ; - Voici l’Etoile de Jacob, - Quam prædixerat Balaam: - Ce Dieu qui détruisit Jéricho, - In clara terra Chanaam.” - - - - -DRESS: IN SEASON AND IN REASON. - -BY A LADY DRESSMAKER. - - -[Illustration: BELOW LAUNSTOWN CASTLE.] - -The advent of new ideas in clothing has been later this year than -usual, and we were well into the middle of November before we -recognised many things as novelties in the shops, even though they were -well filled with new dress manufactures as usual. Stripes are a great -deal worn in all materials, but checked stuffs show signs of being -rather more popular, and the fine-lined checks with which we began the -autumn have grown into greater squares as the time has gone on. But -these new checks are not at all in the direction of Scotch plaids, nor -do they show any tendency to such garish colouring. Their hues are -singularly well chosen, and even when the plaid is large it is neither -ugly nor aggressively visible. They are never produced in more than two -shades of colour, and they are mostly made up with velvet of a dark -shade, nearly akin to that of the darkest shade of the plaid. These -woollen materials are coarse and heavy-looking, and nothing seems more -popular than serge and serge grounds to woollens of all kinds. Angola -wools, with their long, untidy-looking, hairy surfaces, are also much -liked; nor must I forget the new woollens, with stripes of braid in -high relief on them. - -There are great numbers of fancy silk materials to mix with fine -woollens, such as chess-board designs in velvet and plush on a satin -ground; plain and fancy stripes in plush and velvet; velvet, with -crossbar designs in terry; brocaded silks, the brocade being in velvet, -terry, or plush; and silks with stripes in imitation of lace. All these -may be called trimming materials, and are used for underskirts for -woollen materials as well. - -There are several things in the winter fashions which are quite fixed. -First, that there are no trains to any dresses, whatever people may -say—save and except to court dresses and the evening gowns worn by -a few dowagers who fancy old ways the best. The general idea with -reference to all draperies, overskirts, panels, and skirts is to give -length and height; therefore, those of my readers who are very tall -will have to use some judgment in choosing a skirt that shall not make -them look too gigantic. Most of the morning dresses are made of two -woollen materials, a better kind of walking or afternoon dress with -a woollen and silk material, such as I have described. There do not -appear to be any really short tunics, but some dresses have the long -overskirt more raised and bunched-up at one side than they have been. -The skirts are generally rather wider, but are not distended, except by -a moderate _tournure_. The collar, cuffs, and _revers_ are of the same -material as the underskirt, and bands of this material are put round -the edge of the overskirt. When this is a plaid it is cut on the bias, -and with plaids folds are very much used everywhere that they can be -introduced. - -The chief changes that one has to chronicle are to be seen in the -sleeves of dresses, which, after remaining quite stationary and -unaltered for a long time, have now quite blossomed out into new beauty -of form, much of which, I think, is derived from Venetian portraiture. -The sleeves of evening gowns are all of this class, and have puffs of -thin material from the shoulders to the elbow; ending in a plain band -of velvet, or a puff of transparent material at the elbow. Some sleeves -have puffs inside the arm at the elbow, and end in a plain band or cuff -round the arm. In the daytime deep cuffs are much worn; they are cut so -as to stand away from the arm like the deep cuffs of a cavalier glove. -Then there are puffs at the shoulder; and there is also a new sleeve -that has no seam at the back of the arm. Shoulder-straps and epaulettes -are very popular additions to the bodice; and we find shoulder-straps -without epaulettes, and epaulettes without shoulder-straps, or both -together. Some of the shoulder-straps to woollen dresses are of the -material of the dress, which may be braided or embroidered. - -One bodice which I have lately seen struck me as being both ugly and -peculiar, and it must, I am sure, be a faithful copy of a railway -porter’s waistcoat—with its front of corduroy, and its back of linen. -In the copy, the fronts are of velvet, fancy or plain plush, and the -backs are of plain silk to match it in colour, the sleeves being also -of silk. One of the new fancies is to make the dress-sleeves like the -waistcoat or plastron, the bodice being of a different stuff, and -having a small epaulette on the shoulder. I have been careful to give -all these changes in detail, as they will, I know, be very valuable to -the home dressmaker, and to those on whom the burden rests of “doing -up” half-worn dresses, and making themselves look well and ladylike on -small means. - -Bodices are a great deal trimmed at present. Waistcoats, plastrons, -and full or plain plastrons with long _revers_ that extend from -shoulder to the point of the bodice, as well as braces, are all forms -of trimming. The latter are now put on much higher than they were, -and are carried close to the band at the neck, and they sometimes -meet in the centre of the back. The sleeves are often trimmed round -the shoulder-seams on the bodice—a very useful fashion indeed, as the -sides, which are too well worn by the friction of the arms, can be made -quite respectable for a longer term of service. - -There is no change in the way of making dress bodices. The basques -are all cut very short on the hips, and are generally ended in a -square-cut tail at the back, with a fan of pleats, or even plain, and -not with ornaments at all. The darts in front are cut very high, and -are straight in form; and there are two side pieces—one quite below the -arm; and the seam of the side piece at the back is as straightly cut as -possible. The great fancy is still for a narrow and flat back, and all -methods of cutting out tried to produce this effect. - -[Illustration: IN A CORNER OF THE DRAWING-ROOM.] - -There is not very much to relate about mantles this month. They all -seem to be short at the back and long in front, the ends being either -square or pointed. In the latter case many of them are tied with ribbon -bows, or have other ornaments of braid, beads, or chenille. Striped -materials are used for making up handsome cloaks; and ulsters are -usually made of checked woollens, though they are by no means “loud” -in tone. The small mantles of plush, brocade, and velvet are very much -trimmed and ornamented; and in this way—as the beaded trimmings and fur -bands are moderate in price—mantles that have already seen service may -be helped over another winter. The long jackets will be found to cut -into shape very well; and I have recently helped to alter a _paletôt_ -which had been dyed, by cutting it up nearly to the waist, at the back, -and into deep square ends in front. The trimming then laid on was -black astrachan, about two and a half inches deep all round, and in -a V shaped point on the back, with cuffs and a tiny epaulette on the -sleeves, making it quite a new garment at a very small expense, viz., -2s. 6d. for the dyeing and about 6s. for the five and a half yards of -astrachan. - -Instead of the almost forgotten sets of linen collars and cuffs, many -ladies are wearing pleated satin, the pleats being very close and -small. The satin is used in various colours, and appears also in the -necks and sleeves of evening dresses, especially in black ones, where -the bright hues of the satin look refreshing. A velvet bow may finish -it at the neck. - -These are certainly halcyon days for the home milliner, for so -little trimming is placed on bonnets that it is quite worth while -to manufacture them at home, after a look at the many shown in the -windows. Care must be taken to set the bows in front up well, and, if a -soft material, a long bit of wire will form a support. - -The flower of the day is the white chrysanthemum, and one sees it -everywhere—on dinner tables, as button holes, and forming bouquets. -Very few flowers, however, are seen in millinery, and ribbons seem in -greater favour. A new idea in the way of dress pockets is to have the -pocket made as a little gathered bag or reticule, which hangs at the -side for the handkerchief. - -The stockings produced for wearing this winter are quiet and -ladylike-looking, being self-coloured, to match any dress with which -they may be worn; or, if embroidered, the patterns are small, or the -stripes are merely fine lines of colours. The newest shoes all appear -to lace, not button; and this will probably keep them in all the better -shape, as they can be pulled tightly together or loosened, as desired. -Laced boots are also returning to favour, for the same reason; but I do -hope my girl-readers will not neglect their laces, and always try to -keep a spare lace in the house, in case of breakages, as nothing looks -so bad, or is really so wretched in wear, as a broken or an untidy, -unevenly pulled-up lace. For skating, of course, laced boots are a -necessity. - -The new winter muffs of fur are not large, and nearly all of them are -supplied with a purse or pocket of some kind, and also have handles -of fur, which are more convenient than the purse; for the muff can be -slung over the arm when shopping, or when it is necessary to keep the -hands free; a style that seems more sensible than the long cord round -the neck for grown-up people. Long boas are not quite so long as they -were, and are now more used with one long tail hanging down than two, -the other end being the head of some furry creature—mink, marten, or -squirrel; and so far does this idea go, that the legs are often seen as -well, which is a painfully suggestive idea. - -Our illustrations for this month are peculiarly successful in showing -the prettiest of the winter styles, especially in the larger picture of -out-of-door gear. The long cloaks are shown with two different styles -of trimming, and a short jacket braided with thick cord—which is very -girlish and graceful. So, also, is the short mantle trimmed with bands -of fur. In the corner of the drawing-room—which serves as a warm and -cosy refuge to two of our girls—we have our paper pattern of last month -illustrated, with a plastron of soft silk added to it, for wearing in -the house; while a waistcoat is used for the out-of-doors dress. The -young girl in the armchair wears a “Norfolk,” or pleated jacket, like -her dress, which has an air of simplicity and elegance. These “Norfolk -jackets” we propose to adopt for our paper patterns for this month. -The first is really a repetition of that we have already given, which, -however, is as much worn as ever; and the second is rather a new form, -with a yoked top, which is sometimes made pointed both in front and -behind. The first of the “Norfolk jackets,” or blouses, is that without -a yoke, and for this I will repeat the directions given very carefully, -for it is a pattern that can be cut out and made-up by anyone, however -inexperienced they may be. It consists of seven pieces: the front, -back, collar, belt, two halves of a sleeve, and a cuff. The back should -be cut double, as there is no join down the centre; a deep hem must be -allowed on each side the front where the buttons are placed; the pleats -turn forward, and the position of the notches should be very carefully -observed. The edges may be finished by a row of machine stitching, -which should be even and good. - -[Illustration: NORFOLK JACKETS.] - -No lining is needed, as a general rule, to this bodice. The pleats -are run down, like the breast of a shirt, or may be stitched with a -machine. The quantity of material required for either of these bodices -would be about three yards and a half of thirty-six inches in width. -No seams are allowed in the pattern. The other blouse is made with -a yoke, and has nine pieces, viz., front, back, two sleeve pieces, -collar, cuff, belt, and two yoke pieces, back and front. In cutting -out, the back must be cut double, and in making up the yoke should -be stitched flatly on the pleated portions with the machine before -joining the bodice together. Both the belts should be lined with -buckram, and machine-stitched at each edge, to render them firm and -useful. These blouses are worn both out of doors and in, and are made -and worn at present in blue, crimson, and all shades of red, in black -and white, and may be worn with differently-coloured skirts. They are -very suitable for young girls, and may well form the first experiment -in their own home dressmaking for the inexperienced. The materials -used are elastic cloth, serge, diagonal, blue linen, cashmere, and, of -course, any dress material which may be in fashion. - -All paper patterns supplied by “The Lady Dressmaker” are of medium -size, viz., thirty-six inches round the chest, and only one size is -prepared for sale. No turnings are allowed in any of them. Each pattern -may be had of “The Lady Dressmaker,” care of Mr. H. G. Davis, 73, -Ludgate-hill, E.C.; price 1s. each. It is requested that the addresses -be clearly given, and that postal notes may be crossed “& Co.” to go -through a bank, as so many losses have recently occurred. The patterns -already issued are always kept in stock, as “The Lady Dressmaker” only -issues patterns likely to be of constant use in home-dressmaking and -altering; and she is particularly careful to give all the new patterns -of hygienic underclothing, both for children and old and young ladies, -so that no reader of the G.O.P. may be ignorant of the best methods of -dressing. - -The following is a list of the patterns already issued, price 1s. each:— - -April, braided loose fronted jacket; May, velvet bodice; June, Swiss -belt and full bodice, with plain sleeves; July, mantle; August, -Norfolk, or pleated jacket; September, housemaid’s or plain skirt; -October, combination garment (underlinen) with long sleeves; November, -double-breasted jacket; December, Zouave jacket and bodice; January, -princess underdress (underlinen, underbodice, and underskirt combined); -February, polonaise, with waterfall back; March, new spring bodice; -April, divided skirt, and Bernhardt mantle with sling sleeves; May, -Early English bodice and yoke bodice for summer dress; June, dressing -jacket, and princess frock, with Normandy bonnet for a child of four -years old; July, Princess of Wales’ jacket, bodice and waistcoat, for -tailor-made gown; August, bodice with guimpe; September, mantle with -stole ends; October, pyjama, or nightdress combination, with full back; -November, new winter bodice; December, patterns of Norfolk blouses, one -with a yoke and one with pleats only. - -[Illustration] - - - - -NOTICES OF NEW MUSIC. - - -EDWIN ASHDOWN. - -_Vanished Years._ Song. By Seymour Smith.—A sympathetic, easy setting -of the sad words by Helen M. Waitman. It is published in F and A flat. - -_The Violet and the Snowdrop._ Song. By Ethel Harraden, with words -by Gertrude Harraden.—A simple story, simply illustrated. The violin -accompaniment, charming as it is, would have been much more so, had -it been broken up a little more. There is no rest for it, and this -destroys much of its effect. The same part has been transposed an -octave for a violoncello. The song is within the compass of most -singers—C to D, and not higher. - -_Two Melodies_ for violin and piano, by the same composer, Miss -Harraden, meet all the requirements of the youthful amateur violinist. -They are simple, effective, and melodious. As they are so evidently -intended for young people, we are surprised that the violin part is -neither fingered nor bowed. - -_Six Romances._ For the pianoforte. By Sir George Macfarren.—If the -others are as delightful as Nos. 4 (_Lullaby_) and 5 (_Welcome_), which -we have before us, these romances are the most graceful and sympathetic -works for the piano which this great theoretical master has given us. - -_Tarantella._ In G minor. For pianoforte. By J. Hoffmann.—A very -characteristic specimen of this phrenzied dance. The excitement is well -sustained to the close. - -_Violanté._ A Spanish Waltz. For piano. By Michael Watson.—Containing -what Mr. Corder would call “distinct local colouring,” and developing -a graceful subject. Is it because the melody is in Spanish that the -title-page is in French? - -_Gavotte._ In D. By Ariosti (1660-1730). Arranged by Edwin M. Lott for -the piano.—An interesting relic by a man who, like Buononcini, was at -the commencement of the eighteenth century a powerful rival to Handel -in opera production, and who, like Buononcini, is now almost entirely -forgotten. - -_Arpeggios._—An extremely useful collection of these technical -passages. By Edwin M. Lott.—The arrangement of the arpeggios is founded -on the well-known work of Charles Chaulieu, who taught the piano in -London 1840-9. - -_Two Andantes_, for the organ, by Walter Porter, are mild, harmless -movements, containing many signs of the youthful amateur about -them. Amongst others is the fact that the pedals are used without -intermission from beginning to end, augmenting a want of contrast and -variety already too apparent in both pieces. - - -PATEY AND WILLIS. - -_Yellow Roses_ we can recommend as a pretty ballad by Michael Watson. -It is published in every necessary key. - -_Biondina_, a ballad of a rather better order, by Weatherly, has been -set to music by F. N. Löhr. - -_No other Dream._ Song, for mezzo-soprano voice. By Joseph L. -Roeckel.—Is also of the modern ballad type, and hardly attains to the -usual merit of this composer’s songs. - -_Clairette._ By Ernst J. Reiter.—A fascinating little dance for piano. -The delicacy of subject and treatment suggests a lady’s composition in -every page. - -_Bouquets de Mélodies._ Pour violon, avec accompagnement de piano. Par -Gustav Merkel.—We have received No. 1, a gavotte in C, a well-written -trifle by this scholarly German organist and composer. - - -ROBERT COCKS AND CO. - -_While we Dream._ A song of moderate compass, possessing much musical -feeling, and the originality that we are now led to expect from -Mr. Addison. A curious, not very vocal, effect is produced by the -diminished fourth, in the line, “At our feet long shadows lie.” - -_The Old See-Saw_ is a song of the conventional “Swing, swing” type, -but brightly written, and likely to add to Miss Annie Armstrong’s -reputation as a popular writer of small things. - - -J. CURWEN AND SONS. - -A most important addition to the large number of teaching manuals -already published is the _Child Pianist_, divided into grades and -steps, and combining in a thoughtful and systematic way a little -theory and a little practice, never forcing a child, and never letting -the head get in front of the hands or _vice versâ_. Accompanying -these steps with their capital duets for pupil and teacher, by J. -Kinross, written after the manner of Lebert and Stark’s book, we have -a _Teacher’s Guide to the Child Pianist_, an assistance to young -teachers, and an essential explanation to the exercises and method. We -cannot too highly estimate the care and management displayed by Mrs. J. -S. Curwen, the authoress of these valuable works. - - -F. PITMAN AND CO. - -We do not generally notice dance music, but must mention with praise -two compositions of this class by Evelyn Hastings, really charming -and graceful as piano pieces, for little _entr’actes_ at readings, or -between charades; they are the _Onda Waltz_ and the _Postscript Polka_, -the latter being especially happy in its construction. - - - - -AN APPEAL. - - -I should very much like to interest the readers of THE GIRL’S OWN PAPER -in the little Hindu school girls and native ladies in India, with the -hope that I may receive occasional supplies of dolls, scrapbooks, and -old Christmas cards for distribution. Several times a year I pack -a large case with toys and other attractive things, and it is sent -to English ladies at Calcutta or Madras, or elsewhere. These ladies -give away the contents on prize days and other occasions, when it is -delightful to witness the pleasure of the happy recipients. Presents -from England are particularly liked, not only because they are novel -and different from Indian toys, but also because the school-children -are glad to be thought of by friends at such a distance. Though -their ideas of our country are very vague, they value these tangible -expressions of sympathy in their good conduct and progress, which have -come to them from the other side of the world. - -One of the ladies to whom I send cases of presents and prizes is -Mrs. Brander, Inspectress of Girls’ Schools in Madras. During the -last six years her constant occupation has been to examine and report -on schools, and she has often to travel a long way for the purpose. -Though there are some railways in the Madras Presidency, they do not -reach the out-of-the-way places that Mrs. Brander has to visit, so she -makes a part of her journey in what is called a _bullock bandy_. This -is a sort of small private omnibus, drawn by two patient bullocks, at -the rate of two miles an hour. It is sent forward to meet her at some -distant station. Besides the bullock bandy for the inspectress, there -are several other vehicles, forming quite a procession. One is for the -deputy inspector, who has the long name of Miss Govindarajulu; another -for the writers (or clerks), and some for the luggage of the party. Two -Government peons, or attendants, rather like commissionaires, guard -and manage the cavalcade, if so it may be called. The roads are often -very rough and dusty, and for part of the day it is extremely hot. -Sometimes a river has to be forded, for there are not many bridges. -The native drivers are ready to say that the stream is too strong, but -Mrs. Brander does not listen to their objections unless there seems -to be real danger, so down the bank the bullocks are made to go, and -across the water. At night the travellers halt at a rest house, which -is provided at certain places by Government, but does not give very -good accommodation. At last a village is arrived at, where there is -a school, and some of the native gentlemen of the place who are the -managers, receive the inspectress. It is often located in a dark, -close room, or, more pleasantly, in a verandah, under an overhanging -roof. Mrs. Brander then examines the pupils in reading and writing, -arithmetic and needlework. She is not hard upon them, for the teachers -themselves have had little opportunity of learning. The children are -generally bright and quick, very gentle and graceful, and with a -winning but shy manner. It is true they are apt to be idle, but then it -is trying to learn lessons when the heat is so intense, and they are -not taught very intelligently. - -Often the mothers of the little scholars crowd to the school, and talk -to Mrs. Brander. At one place several of these women begged her to give -them a lesson in needlework, and she did so; but they all pressed so -closely round her that she had to insist on two or three only looking -on at a time. - -Altogether, the arrival of an inspectress at a village is an event of -much interest. Now she usually carries with her luggage a number of -dolls, pictures, small boxes, and Christmas cards, out of her English -store. If it is the time for a prize-giving at any particular school, -she chooses some suitable things, which are placed on a table and -distributed with the usual ceremony, including speeches. And how -pleased the children are! They hug their dolls as eagerly as English -children do, and their dark eyes sparkle with pleasure. Whether or -not it is a prize occasion, Mrs. Brander gives Christmas cards to -the scholars that have attended for a month with regularity, and she -likes to leave a packet with the schoolmaster as future rewards. One -school had become almost empty for some reason, but on hearing of the -Christmas cards the children all came back. These journeys of the -inspectress last often three or four weeks, because there are many -schools to visit. At the end of each tour she returns to Madras. There -she has to inspect a number of larger and more important schools, but -for these, too, she is glad to have prizes ready. - -I must not occupy too much space, but I want to mention that when Mrs. -Brander is at Madras she gives an afternoon party to native ladies on -one Saturday in the month. Some English ladies also attend, and there -are various amusements, such as parlour croquet, chess, solitaire, -puzzles, music, and for the little ones, games—as several of the -ladies bring their children. If Mrs. Brander has just received a box -from England, she displays the pretty things, and they are eagerly and -minutely examined by the guests. The party is always much enjoyed, -and on going away the children are often presented with a toy. Other -English ladies at Madras also give occasional parties of the same kind. -Last January there was one at which a beautiful Christmas tree added -greatly to the entertainment. - -Now I shall be very glad to take charge of dolls or other toys, and -old Christmas cards (with or without writing upon them) for sending -to India. I need presents not only for Madras but for other places, -only I cannot refer to those now. The dolls should be of composition -or china, not of very soft wax. It is not necessary that their clothes -should take off and on, though for large dolls this is an advantage. -The Indian children are very pleased to have small boxes with lock and -key, to keep their bangles in, and they like bags too. At Calcutta many -of the ladies read English, so that interesting books are of use, if -not very difficult. I shall be able to inform the donors of the way -in which their kind gifts are applied, for Mrs. Brander and my other -correspondents tell me particulars about the children who receive them. -I give my address, and I shall be very grateful on behalf of the little -Indian children if my appeal is responded to. - - E. A. MANNING, - 35, Blomfield Road, Maida Hill, W. - - - - -“NO.” - -BY MARY E. HULLAH. - - -CHAPTER IV. - -Soon after Easter Mrs. Rakely paid a visit to London. She was a person -with a chronic grievance; and though she had done her utmost to bring -about Joan’s marriage, she considered it necessary to feel ill-used, -because her favourite companion was not at hand to amuse her. - -She called on Embrance, and carried her off—almost without asking her -consent—to spend a long afternoon. - -“I wish I had had you yesterday, my dear. Horace Meade came to dinner. -Joan begged me to ask him; and as I met him in Bond Street, I did; -otherwise, I think it would have escaped my memory. I took a fancy to -him at one time; but he was always eccentric, and he looks more so than -ever since he has been in Italy.” - -“I did not know that he had been in Italy.” - -“Yes. He has only just returned. It was a foolish thing to do, flinging -away his chance of getting his picture into the Royal Academy. -Joan told me about it. But that’s my objection to young men taking -to art—they are so eccentric. Now he is going abroad again—I have -forgotten where, my memory is not what it used to be; but he did tell -me.” - -As long as Mrs. Rakely had someone to listen to her she was quite -satisfied. She took Embrance to a picture gallery; trotted her through -four or five milliners’ shops in search of an ideal bonnet; asked her -advice about umbrellas, and then bought the one she liked best herself; -and finally left her, thoroughly exhausted, at the corner of her own -street. - -A foreign letter was awaiting Embrance’s arrival. Mrs. Clemon was not a -regular correspondent, but when she did write she sent a good budget of -news, pouring out a complete history of her experiences for the benefit -of the niece who had been to her as a daughter. She was happy; her son -was doing well. Now and then there came a hint that Embrance would be -heartily welcome, if she could make up her mind to come out. In the -next page, much blotted and smudged, came the tidings that William -was engaged to be married to a neighbour’s daughter, a pretty girl -and well brought up; but, ah! it might have been so different! Still, -she would not complain, only now would Embrance come? There was room, -and to spare. William and his wife would rejoice to see her. Let her -think over the proposal, and not decide in haste. Then the letter went -on to tell of preparations for the wedding. There were little bits of -information concerning the bride’s family, and there was a great deal -about an Irish help who had run away and left them at a moment’s notice -without rhyme or reason. At the very end of the page came another -suggestion, in William’s hand, “Come for a year, and try how you like -us”; after which his mother had taken up her pen again to say, “Bless -you in all your doings, my child, whatever course you decide upon.” - -Embrance kissed the letter and put it away carefully. There was no time -to read it again to-night, or to think if she should follow her aunt’s -wishes. She was wofully behindhand with her work, and to-morrow morning -she had an extra lesson to give to a backward pupil who lived at South -Kensington. The long day with Mrs. Rakely had tried her newly-gained -strength to its utmost limits, and her ankle was very painful. She -limped towards the chiffonier in search of a book; in the glass over -the mantelpiece she saw the door open with the familiar jerk that -always preluded Annie’s knock. - -“Come in,” said Embrance; but the words died away on her lips as she -recognised the figure in the doorway, whose shoulders towered above the -little handmaiden. - -“Mr. Horace Meade.” - -There was no sign of eccentricity in Horace’s appearance; even Mrs. -Rakely might have been satisfied. He wore a dark, grey coat, and in his -hand he carried a hat which was scrupulously glossy and well brushed. -When he spoke his manner and voice were very quiet, much of the fun -seemed to have died out of him during his sojourn in Italy, and his -first remark was commonplace to the last degree. - -“I heard from Mrs. Rakely that you had met with an accident. I am -exceedingly sorry; I called to inquire how you were before I leave -town.” - -“You are going away for some time, I suppose?” asked Embrance, when -she had invited her visitor to sit down. He took a chair by the window, -and seemed interested in the growth of some ferns that Joan had sent -from her garden. - -“I hardly know. I have several portraits on hand that must be finished -as soon as possible. But my studio is not habitable yet; it is being -painted, and the workpeople are lamentably slow. When these commissions -are disposed of, I may go away for several months, perhaps I shall get -as far as Constantinople.” - -“I have often thought that Constantinople must be a most interesting -city to visit.” - -“Oh, very; it is so beautifully situated; there is no other place quite -like it.” - -“No, I have never seen any place like it.” (“I suppose,” Embrance was -thinking while she uttered her brilliant remark, “that he was offended -at my writing to him.”) - -“I was a fool to come at all,” said Horace to himself, “but I wanted to -see her once more; she looks horribly ill.” - -“I am sorry to see that you are still lame,” he said, aloud, as -Embrance subsided into silence after her last attempt at light -conversation. - -“I am much better,” she said, quickly; “I’m only a little tired this -afternoon. Are you looking at the ferns? Joan sent them; she is very -well and happy. I often hear from her.” - -“I am glad of that; I only heard of her marriage by chance, about a -fortnight after it took place. Well, I hope it is a happy ending to her -many troubles.” - -“Yes,” said Embrance, quietly, “I hope so.” - -“You were in her confidence all along, of course, Miss Clemon?” - -“No, I did not know of her engagement.” - -“That was really heartless of Joan! I hope you were angry with her?” - -“No,” said Embrance again, “but I miss her very much.” - -“I hope that you mean to go and stay with her shortly; the change would -do you good.” - -“I don’t know. I must say good-bye to her, of course, if I go to New -Zealand.” - -It had not seemed so clear to her a quarter of an hour ago that she -would accept her aunt’s invitation as it did now. - -“You would go to your relations—to Mrs. Clemon?” - -“She wishes it very much,” explained Embrance, remembering how he had -once before made a similar question; “if I don’t like it, I am to come -back again.” - -“I think,” said Horace, with a desperate effort to speak naturally, -“that the voyage would be an admirable thing for your health. I hope -that you will be very happy there. If I can be of any assistance to you -in arranging about your passage—in fact, in any way, pray make use of -my services.” - -Painfully conscious that he had delivered this speech very much after -the manner of a stage father in a heavy melodrama, he rose to take his -leave. Embrance sank back into her chair as he left the room. Five -minutes by the clock, his visit had lasted, he had been most kind and -considerate, but—she wished that she had never written that letter. - -Horace met a friend at his club, with whom he dined. It was late when -he got back to his own rooms. He opened the door of the studio to -see what progress the workmen had made. The room presented a forlorn -appearance. The carpets were up, and the furniture was covered with -sheets; all about the floor were paint-pots, shavings, and workmen’s -tools. A writing-table stood apart in the window; Horace bethought -himself of a sketch-book which he had left somewhere about, perhaps in -one of the drawers. The top drawer was unlocked, and as he pulled it -open he saw a heap of letters and advertisements which had accumulated -during his absence. He had opened a great many of them, leaving the -rest to a more favourable opportunity. It occurred to him now that the -opportunity had arrived. He lighted a cigarette, dragged a chair from -a corner of the room, and began tearing up circulars and invitations -to parties that had taken place weeks ago; they would have to be -answered some day, not now. At last he came upon some bills, and -underneath these a grey envelope. He opened it leisurely. The letter -was dated, “February 2nd”—the day before he had gone abroad. “Dear Mr. -Meade,—Please come and see me. I have made a mistake.—Yours truly, -EMBRANCE CLEMON.” - -He read it over and over again, turned it backwards and forwards, then -he put it down with a sigh. It must have been written shortly after -that conversation in the park that he had been trying to forget. It -was an apology—a direct appeal to him—and he had taken no notice of -it! Nay, worse than that! With a groan, he pushed away the candle and -rested his head on his hands, exclaiming, “And _I_ have been advising -her to go to New Zealand!” - -Never had the backward pupil seemed so backward as she did that day. -She had made twelve mistakes in a simple dictation; she had written -an essay on Catherine of Arragon, whom she persistently confused with -Catherine of Medici; and she had worked her sums on a method of her -own, involving one direct certainty—that the answers could not by any -possibility be correct. Embrance succeeded in concealing her vexation, -and the two hours’ lesson ended more happily than might have been -expected. The girl (who was good as gold, though not gifted with a -taste for study) helped her dear Miss Clemon into her ulster, and let -her out of the hall-door, with many injunctions that she was to take a -cab if she got tired, or if it rained too fast. - -Embrance pined for a little air, and was determined to walk, in spite -of the wet. It was a long way; her umbrella was dripping and her -ankle was aching sadly before she reached the corner of the street. -In the distance a policeman was slowly pacing along, the pavement was -slippery, and the road was shining with puddles. There was not a break -in the leaden-coloured sky or a breath of wind to interfere with the -steady downpour. Embrance’s umbrella had seen hard work; the rain -pattered through the little holes in the silk; she had the greatest -difficulty in keeping the book she carried out of the wet. - -Well, it was not far now, though the street was long. Number 11, number -12, number 13; that was the house with the door-knocker that Joan had -made a sketch of (she said it was like her grandfather). Number 14. -There was a quick step behind her, and another umbrella was walking -side by side with her. - -[Illustration: “MR. HORACE MEADE.”] - -“Good morning. I have been waiting to speak to you. I am so glad that -you are come at last.” - -The owner of the umbrella looked excited; his artistic eccentricity was -to the fore; he held a scrap of grey paper in his left hand; his gaze -was fixed on Embrance. - -She said no word of greeting, but dropped the dictionary that she had -been guarding with such care. - -He picked it up for her. “Let me carry it.” - -“Thank you. I do not like to trouble you”—and the rain trickled down on -to her gloves and cuffs as she held out her hand towards him. - -“Not at all,” said Horace, politely, as he pocketed the book, -regardless of the mud. “The fact is, if you don’t mind listening, I’ve -come to make an apology.” - -Embrance glanced at the piece of paper that he was beginning to -unfold, and the blood rushed to her cheeks. - -“You see,” explained Horace, speaking very fast, “I don’t want to be -a worry to you, only I should like you to know that this got put away -with a heap of papers, and I only opened it last night. I hadn’t a -notion yesterday that you had written to me. I wish I had. You are -getting so wet. Will you let me hold my umbrella over you? It will be -better so. Thank you,” as she murmured something that was not a refusal. - -She had nothing now to carry; she clasped her hands, and looked -straight in front of her down the rainy street. - -“Why didn’t you tell me that you had written to me?” - -“I thought you had had the letter, and would rather not answer it.” - -“Why did you write at all?” - -“To explain my mistake,” said Embrance, confusedly. - -“Then you did make a mistake, and I was the sufferer?” - -With a flash, her dark eyes turned to his. The look of joy on his face -brought peace and comfort to her. - -“I am sorry,” she began. - -“Are you?” he asked, tenderly. “Don’t be sorry on my account. If I had -come to see you at once, would you have sent me away a second time, -Embrance?” - -They had passed number 25, and were walking towards the City, unmindful -of the rain. In their hearts was the brightest sunshine. - -“Would you, Embrance?” - -She unclasped her hands; for a second she rested her fingers on his -arm, as she answered, “No!” - -[THE END.] - - - - -OUR TRACTARIAN MOVEMENT. - -BY ANNE BEALE. - - -As the Religious Tract Society never wearies of publishing wholesome -literature, so tract distributors should never flag in spreading it -abroad. Since our first sketch of work accomplished, we have had some -experience, and are thankful to be able to say that religious books -are now gladly accepted, where some years ago they would have been -scornfully rejected. They are particularly welcomed on Sunday, when -policemen, cabmen, firemen, and other public servants who cannot attend -a place of worship, say they like to have something to read when they -are off duty. Of course, the magazine or book is more acceptable than -the mere tract, and when regularly supplied is often eagerly accepted -and expected. - -“I have had this before,” said a policeman, looking at a picture of -_The Cottager and Artisan_. “I haven’t seen you for some weeks, and -I thought you’d forgotten me.” The oversight was soon remedied. “You -would be surprised if you knew how many of the Force will read this,” -said another. “Perhaps a dozen of us. We pass it on, and it does us all -good.” - -“That’s just what I do,” said a cabman, who chanced to be near. -“Perhaps, ma’am, you will read this which was given to me.” He took -a well-thumbed book from his pocket, which we subsequently read and -“passed on” also. - -The railway officials welcome us gladly as they stand or sit at their -enforced Sunday work. - -“It is better than the papers,” said a young porter, whom we heard with -some companions singing hymns below ground. - -Even the newsboys, with the Sunday papers under their arms, like to -have something profitable for Sunday reading. One ragged, pale little -fellow was in the habit of telling us one Sunday what were the contents -of the small book he received the previous Sabbath; and another youth -of larger growth emphatically demanded “A big’un. I likes a big book, -please.” These and sundry others are the hawkers of newspapers. Oh! why -cannot people wait till Monday morning for such secular reading, and -why are our ears to be deafened with cries of the ‘paipers’? Cannot we -give one day in seven to the service of Him who said, “Remember the -Sabbath-day to keep it holy,” and who added, “I am not come to destroy -the law, but to fulfil”? - -I wish all those who will not remember it had heard an undeserved -rebuke administered to us on a weekday by a railway official; -undeserved, because we do not travel on Sunday, either to hear popular -preachers or otherwise amuse ourselves. - -“I shall be happy to take your book to-day, ma’am; but I never accept -one on Sundays,” he said. “Why?” we inquired. “Because you know we have -to work all day Sunday for the public, and I don’t think people who -travel on Sundays, and break the law themselves, have any right to give -us books to teach us how to keep it.” Let Sabbath-breakers take this to -heart. - -It is very rarely that we meet with a rebuff. On one occasion, however, -when distributing illustrated leaflets to a party of scavengers, we -were arrested by the words, “No, thankee. I don’t want one.” - -“Why?” - -“Because I hate cant, and it’s all cant.” - -“I am sorry. Do I look like a cant?” - -“No; I can’t say as you do.” - -“He’s a bad’un, and al’ays rude to the ladies,” whispered a neighbour -confidentially. - -We often encounter gangs of navvies, who have their own ideas on most -subjects, and like to air them. - -“I don’t want tracts; I have heaps of books at home, and read all -Sunday and every evening,” said one. “I’ll warrant me I have some you -haven’t. Have you got ‘Heaven is my Home’? and ‘Paradise Lost’?” He -enumerated many others, after which he poured forth his feelings on -political matters, inveighing against the Poor Law, the School Board, -the distraint system, and saying what he would do if he were in power. -When we ventured to suggest that he would not mend matters if he went -the lengths he proposed, he began an argument that we were obliged to -cut short both for his employer’s sake and our own; but he was a fair -example of “The British Workman.” The navvy is a shrewd discriminator. - -“Is that in favour of Bradlaugh?” asked one; “because, if it is, I must -decline it. - -“Oh, if it isn’t I’ll read it with pleasure.” - -Another stood considering his small offering, and volunteered, “This -don’t tell us to throw away one’s pipe and backy; somebody gave me a -tract as did. They’ve kept many a man from doing a rash act. If I was -without my backy I should sometimes be inclined to destroy myself. It -calms one down, somehow, and makes one more contented. ’Tis all very -well to preach against drinking, but as to backy, that’s different.” - -A fine, stalwart-looking young man lamented that he had had scarcely -any schooling, and feared that the reading we offered him might be too -abstruse for him. He had taught himself to write a little by copying -letters, and could spell out easy sentences; but his education had -ceased when he was six years old. His home was in Devonshire, but his -navvy work had taken him far afield. We recommended him to go to a -night-school, and he was well inclined to do so. We fell in with him -several times afterwards, and found that he had followed our advice, -and went three times a week. He said the teacher would not let him rest -after he had spoken to him, but made him go at once. - -All young men are not so amenable, and sometimes make a jest of what is -meant to help them. - -“Have you anything to suit me? I am an atheist,” asked one, glancing at -our wares. - -“They are sure to suit you; take which you like,” we replied. - -He chose one haphazard, and the title was “Cross-bearing.” - -“What’s an atheist?” asked a burly looking bystander of his mate. - -“Oh, one of them Bradlaughites,” was the answer, as they both came -forward for a book. - -On another occasion a flippant young mason inquired if “it was about -love.” - -“Yes, the best kind of love; about Jesus,” we replied. - -“Oh! I don’t know Him. I only love those I know,” he said, but he took -the book. - -It is melancholy to see how many youths seem to know little of Him who -died to save them. One Easter Sunday we ventured to attack a knot of -them who were holiday-making. The pictures always attract, so they -were soon engaged in contemplating them. - -“Is it about Jesus?” asked one. - -“Yes.” - -“Ah! He was a good man,” he continued. - -“He was your Saviour, and mine,” we added. - -“Do you believe it?” he inquired, with real earnestness. - -“Yes; the little book will tell you so.” - -What was the result? Who shall say? - -We are sometimes astonished at the eagerness of the men and boys, -working in scores or even fifties, to secure the tract, leaflet, or -magazine. The supply rarely answers the demand, for even from the tops -of high houses in process of being built, we hear a shout of “Don’t -forget us, please,” while the workmen on _terra firma_ volunteer to -distribute as many as we can spare. All seize with avidity on _The -Child’s Companion_, for all, or most, have families at home, and -“something for the little ones” is a boon. - -“I read them out while my wife sees to the house,” said one. “I can’t -afford to buy them, but I carry home all I can get.” - -“I read it to father, and father reads it to mother, and mother reads -it to me,” was the satisfactory acknowledgment of a little girl who -came in for one. - -“Here are two young gentlemen who would like to study them, I am sure,” -said a master mason, indicating his juvenile aids, he having accepted -one himself. - -The other day we were arrested by an old man, a scavenger, who said -we couldn’t give him too many good books, for he loved them. “I was -fifty-two years without entering a place of worship,” he added. “I was -guard to a travelling wagon, and worked Sundays and weekdays. Four -years ago I had a bad illness, and a lady converted me. I promised God, -if He was pleased to restore me, that I would serve Him for the rest -of my days. I thought I was dying, but I got better, thanks be to Him; -and I have kept my word ever since. I have been to church three times a -Sunday, and to mission-hall twice a week. I have been on my knees night -and morning for twenty minutes, and I thank and praise the Lord.” - -It is this Sunday working which is the cause of so much irreligion. -Turn where you will, those employed have the same tale to tell. They -all say that if only they could be ensured every other Sunday they -would be satisfied, but to have no Day of Rest was bad both for body -and soul. Indeed, one of them argued that the soul perished with the -body, and that he could prove it from Scripture. Here and there we find -men brave enough to refuse all Sunday work, and they say they have not -lost by it. - -“I never turn a wheel on Sunday,” said a cabman. “Many of us stand out -against it, and all who do say they are better off than those who work.” - -He was certainly a good specimen. His cab was his own; he was well -dressed, and his horse as brisk as himself. It was evident that -“the one day in seven” agreed with them. It is well known that the -life both of man and beast is shortened by the breach of the fourth -commandment, and it is clear that the Great Legislator blesses its -observance. - -We have occasionally fallen in with the regular _colporteurs_, and been -convinced of the good done by the sale of their religious literature. -Once at a coffee-stall we were greeted by an emphatic “God bless -you and your work,” and the gratuitous contribution did not seem to -interfere with the monetary. The holders of these stalls are always -glad of something to read, and are willing to distribute wholesome -reading to their customers. Strange incidents sometimes occur when you -take a poor, wearied, out-of-work yet respectable fellow-creature, -for a cup of coffee and a plate of cake or bread and butter, to one -of these wayside restaurants. One evening at dusk we encountered a -glazier, who, having received the tract, said he had not tasted food -since daybreak. He was a foreigner, a Pole, who had been in England -ever since the Polish insurrection of some thirty years ago. His father -was a gentleman. He had a wife and children, and had been looking for -work all the day. A trifle for them and refreshment for him opened his -heart, and he gave his address. Subsequently a district visitor found -it, and discovered that he was a Polish Jew. He was not in, but his -wife said that it was contrary to their faith to receive relief from -one not of their own religion; but in his hunger food was heaven-sent -through “a sister,” and he could not refuse it. Neither did she reject -a shilling. The family were subsequently placed under the protection -of a charitable Jewish lady, who said, with truth, “That her people -took such care of their own poor, that they had no need to apply to the -Christian.” Still, it is well that Jew and Gentile should meet, as they -now do, happily, in works of general benevolence. The reign of Christ -will begin when universal love takes the place of sectarian hate, and -religious persecution ceases. - -Time and space would fail us to tell how the men of the Fire Brigade -love reading, and how they showed us with pride a number of _The -British Workman_, sent to them monthly by Miss Weston—for are not -the brave fellows mostly sailors? Or how other public servants speak -gratefully of monthly gifts of religious books sent by friends -interested in them, and circulated amongst them. Let no one imagine -that either tract, magazine, or book is thrown away, though a kindly -discretion, and, perhaps, a cheerful manner are needed for their -distribution. We have made an inroad into one of the great laundries, -and find that both men and women employed rejoice at “something to -read” during their brief leisure. Text cards are always welcomed. - -“I shall have this framed. It just suits me,” said one. - -“I wonder that ladies do not visit our large laundries,” remarked the -superintendent. - -This visitation has been begun by members of the Y.W.C.A. May it -prosper! These workers in the steam laundries have a hard life of it, -and stand for long, long hours over their laborious toil. Here are -elderly women and young girls, ready to welcome anyone who will say a -kind word to them, and, perhaps, benefit them thereby. - -“I like a whole story that I can read all through,” said one of the -latter, and the cheap reprints of good stories published by the -Religious Tract Society are invaluable. Moreover, they can be lent from -one to another. - -It is strange that one still meets with people comparatively young who -cannot read. Much of their religious knowledge is often due to hymns. A -man said he liked the old hymns best, and had known “Glory to Thee” by -heart ever since he was a boy. Others are proud of the fact that their -children will read to them whatever we are pleased to give them, and -sometimes even beg for a book apiece for all the olive branches—“For -fear one should be jealous of the other,” said a cabman. To which we -replied that “jealousy was expensive.” - -The other day we fell in with a gipsy encampment: vans and tents -settled on a bit of waste land, having been turned out of a -neighbouring holding for building purposes. In one of the tents we -found a young man and woman, a lovely three-year-old child, and -an infant not yet a fortnight old. The father of the family, aged -twenty-two, had been to night-school once upon a time, but his learning -was nil; the mother, seated on the ground, baby in arms, could not -read; but a ragged urchin who had crept in was going to school the -following Monday. The young couple were strangely handsome, and -rejoiced in the gipsy name of Loveridge. The woman said she had prayed -to the Lord when she was ill. “What else was there to do? I have never -been a great sinner; you know what I mean, ma’am. A gentleman comes -here to preach on Sunday.” - -She did not seem fully to apprehend her need of a Saviour, but -acknowledged that we were all sinners. It was a strange, sad scene. -She, seated on her bed of rags at one end of the small, dark, smoky, -stifling tent; her husband also on the ground making skewers at the -other, and apologising for untidiness; the infant apparently dying, -the little girl affectionately stroking our garments. The mother said -she had had no food that day, for the times were bad; and the trifle -we offered was instantly despatched to a shop at some distance for “a -little oatmeal and arrowroot,” the husband being the joyful messenger. -Still, she said she liked tent-life better than she should life within -stone walls. “I have been used to it, and I suppose it is what we are -brought up in that we like best,” she added, simply, and in perfect -English. - -Thanks to Mr. George Smith, tent and barge are becoming alive to the -teaching of the Gospel; and soon, we hope, the Testament or tract -will be legible by all their long-neglected inmates. At present, -comparatively few, of the seniors especially, can read them. -Nevertheless, we will scatter the seed far and wide, convinced that it -will bring forth fruit if sown to enlarge and to sustain the kingdom of -our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. - - - - -ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. - - -EDUCATIONAL. - -MAUD BELIN.—You do not say whether you have been trained as a nurse. -Write to the secretary, Nightingale Fund, H. B. Carter, Esq., 5, -Hyde Park-square, W., or to the secretary of St. Mary’s Hospital, -Paddington, giving full information. - -B. K. I. O.—We never heard of lady clerks being employed at the Law -Courts, but in America we hear that women are in full practice as -lawyers. - -MOTHERLESS JEAN’S writing shows her to be very young, and so do -her questions. 2. Where does she live? How could we give her the -information she requires about the Kindergarten, not knowing that, when -she says, “she cannot leave home”? - -PSYCHE.—If you be going in for “hard reading,” as you say, you had -better look out for a Lemprière’s Classical Dictionary to teach you -something about mythology. Your questions are too many and long. - -QUI POSSE VIDETUR POTEST.—Copying is only to be obtained by the -personal inquiry and exertions of those who require it. Your writing -does not appear good enough. - -COMPLEX.—We recommend you to apply direct to the secretary or matron -of the Holloway College for the prospectus, and ask for any further -information you require as to Government clerkships. Look through our -answers under the heading “Educational,” and you will soon find the -particulars you require. - -ANNIE B.—We have read your thoughtful and well-expressed letter with -much interest, and we think as long as you are of use at home you are -where God needs you, for in our service we do His will the best. But, -as your education has been a little neglected, a certificate will be -valuable to you, and you will be happier in the feeling that you are -doing something to improve yourself for future work. We should advise -you to go in for the examination of the College of Preceptors, fee -10s.; secretary, 42, Bloomsbury-square, W.C. - -COPY CAT.—We mention with pleasure the correspondence class conducted -by Miss Pearce, Ledwell House, Steeple Aston, Oxon, for English -history and literature. We regret that it is little known, or would -have been named in the manual of girls’ clubs of an educational -character and otherwise, just published (Messrs. Griffith and Farran, -St. Paul’s-churchyard, E.C.), compiled by one of our writers for the -benefit of a large number of our girls who are inquiring about them. - - -MISCELLANEOUS. - -NAN and NANCY.—The letters are nicely made, and a little box full of -them, with plenty of duplicates, might sell at a bazaar for the purpose -of guessing the words to be produced by a given number of letters. -But you would not get very much for a box. We thank you for your kind -letter. Your wise friends deserve to be complimented on their powers of -discrimination, really above their tender years. We hope the parents of -these phenomenal geniuses are prudent and do not press them in their -studies. - -ONE IN TROUBLE.—Your good or plain looks were given you by your Maker, -and you are only responsible for the expression you wear. Nothing -could be more unjust and unkind than to let a plain girl see that she -is neglected or set aside on that account. But some plain girls are -touchy, and see slights where none are intended, and show discontent -and resentment, which are met with ill-feeling in return. Beware of -falling into this error, and bear the cross laid upon you as you -should, who owe so great a debt of gratitude to Him who made you what -you are. You are not fit for heaven in your present state of mind! - -SAPERE AUDE tells us that her friends have written to us on about every -subject “under the globe.” Pray explain what the subjects are that are -connected with that locality? Have they to do with Atlas, the giant, or -the big turtle on which our globe is said, in fable, to be supported? -2. If the German parents you name were naturalised in France, their -children are French. The latter, we suppose, have been registered as -such at their birth, in any case. - -CLARICE E. A. inquires, “What is the meaning of Mount Moriah and Mount -Ararat?” The former was a hill to the north-east of Jerusalem, and -formed a part of the cultivated ground of Araunah, the Jebusite, from -whom David bought it, and on this spot Solomon built the temple (2 -Chron. iii. 1). The latter is situated in Armenia, consisting of two -peaks about seven miles apart, the point of the highest being 17,000 -feet above the level of the sea. It has been generally believed that -upon one of these mountains the ark rested after the Flood, but this -fact is scarcely sufficiently proved. 2. Berlin black, or artist’s -black, is preferable to brunswick black for application to grates. - -ONE OF EIGHT.—Your verses show good religious feeling, and, as you are -so young, you may write better by-and-by. - -UNICA.—“God save the mark” is a phrase found in Shakespeare’s _Henry -IV._ i. 3. Hotspur, speaking of the messenger, calls him a “popinjay” -who talked of guns, drums, and wounds in an unmanly way, and it would -be sad if “his mark,” who has been in battle, were displaced by this -court butterfly. In archery, when a good arrow was sent, it was usual -to cry out “God save the mark,” meaning, “prevent anyone following to -displace my arrow” in the “gold.” - -TOOTSIE.—There are homes for invalids and convalescents at 7s., and -from 8s. to 12s. 6d. a week. You might get into the Female Convalescent -Home, Crescent House, Marine Parade, Brighton. For this home no letter -or nomination is required, but the charge is 8s. a week, paid in -advance, and you may remain there for a month. Address Mrs. Marshman, -4, Ladbroke-square, W. If you take 5s. previously to going there, to -Mrs. Marshman, she will give you a voucher, which must be shown to the -ticket clerk at the station, and he will give you a third-class free -ticket to and from Brighton. Mrs. Marshman is at home every day till -noon to see candidates for admission. - -M. SCHWARTZENBERG.—Write to our publisher, Mr. Tarn, for the index, -frontispiece, and title-page, enclosing thirteenpence for the same and -for postage. - -OLD-FASHIONED.—If your mother approve of your engagement at so early an -age, and to a lad yet in his teens and younger than yourself, we have -nothing to say against it. Still, you should remember that it would not -be to his discredit if he were to change his mind when he became a man -and knew his own mind and character. But in this special case it may -be otherwise. You have our best wishes, and we thank you for your kind -letter. - -PRINCESS LOUISE.—No, the lines are not poetry, but rhymed prose, and -not very good as that. - -AGATE.—The case you name is indeed a very sad one; but within our own -experience we have known two or three exactly such. They were persons -of undoubted piety. Yet God’s ways are often inscrutable and “past -finding out,” and why He permits His people to be visited with such -a terrible affliction, terminating thus their usefulness to others, -we cannot explain. Possibly it may be for the trial of the faith and -submission of others. “When one member suffers, all the other members -suffer with it.” Those that have been deprived of reason are no longer -responsible for their words or acts; those that retain their reason are -fully responsible for rebellion against the calamity laid upon them, -and for any consequent shipwreck of faith. Your afflicted relative is -now, without doubt, at peace, and enjoying the presence of the Saviour -whom she loved and served so long as He preserved her senses. - -HOPE.—Pronounce Mendelssohn as “Mendle-soan”; Gluck, as spelt; “Bach,” -guttural “ch”; Gounod, as “Goo-no”; Schubert, as “Shoo-bert”; Franz -Liszt as “Frantz List”; and Maupréty as “Mo-pray-te.” - -GRACIE.—The schoolroom-maid cleans the schoolroom and the grate, -attends to the fire, lays the table, brings up the meals, and waits and -attends to the bell, making herself generally useful to the governess. - -SARA.—You might obtain information about a home of rest near the -sea during vacation, at about 10s. weekly, if you applied to the -Governesses’ Benevolent Institution; secretary, Charles W. Klugh, -Esq., 32, Sackville-street, London, W. Inquire about a home of rest at -Ramsgate. We have heard of one there which might suit you. There is -also a home of rest at Sunninghill, Staines, about which inquire also. - -[Illustration: WE TOOK SWEET COUNSEL TOGETHER & WALKED INTO THE HOUSE -OF GOD IN COMPANY. Ps. LV. 14.] - -INQUISITIVE GIRL.—Your quotation is not correct. It is, “One touch -of nature makes the whole world kin,” which places the spectator -in sympathy with the actor, since we all have the same feelings, -weaknesses, and emotions, one as the other, in greater or less degrees. -If you saw a mother parting in great grief with a child, you, as a -mother, would experience a kindred feeling. 1. The great composer, Karl -Maria Baron von Weber, did not die in prison; he was found dead in his -bed when on a visit to Sir George Smart, who had entertained him during -his stay in England, June 3rd, 1826. - -SYDNEY.—The Early English style in architecture dates from 1190 to -1245; the Perpendicular from 1360 to 1550. There are three varieties -under the name Romanesque, and four known as Gothic. The former -comprises the Saxon, Norman, and Transition; the latter comprises the -Early English, Geometrical, Decorated, and Perpendicular. All churches -subsequently built are true or debased imitations of these, excepting -in cases where Byzantine or Greek models have been adopted. - -WINNIE.—An apology should be received graciously, and there should be -no reference thereafter made to the quarrel; but everything must depend -on the cause which produced it, so far as your future relations with -each other are concerned. The character of the offender might have -been exhibited in a new and unsatisfactory light, rendering confidence -misplaced and dangerous. Thus, your relations one with the other -might be very materially and wisely changed, notwithstanding the full -forgiveness accorded and the apology rendered. - -EVELYN wants to know how to make the whites of her eyes white. They -become yellow in cases of jaundice, or bilious disturbance, and they -become red from a cold or blast in them, or from crying, over-work, -or intemperance in drink. She must be the best judge as to which of -these causes her yellow or red eyes owe their colour, and deal with the -trouble accordingly. If from a cold in the eye, hold it in an eggcup of -as hot water as can be borne without scalding, and this will force back -the red particles in the blood vessels, which should not be present in -the eyeballs. If Evelyn be a girl of colour, of course, the balls of -the eyes, that should be of a blue-white in white people, are naturally -yellow, and nothing will change it. - -BUTTERCUP.—You should have mentioned the book you were reading, as we -think the word is a manufactured one, _alma_ being “soul,” and _cinere_ -“ashes,” in Italian. Perhaps it has something to do with Ash Wednesday -and Lent. There seems no other clue. - -E. B. B. should read Sir John Lubbock’s recent account of teaching his -dog to read cards, with certain words on them indicating “out,” “food,” -etc. 2. Lilith is fabled by the Talmudist as having been the first wife -of Adam, but, refusing to obey him, she left Paradise for the regions -of the air. - -ISOLDE.—The meaning of the word _nehustan_ (2 Kings xviii. 4) is given -by Bishop Hall as “a piece of brass,” and by Dr. Hales as “a brazen -bauble,” designed to be a term of contempt. The brazen serpent was -made an idol, and was worshipped, and Hezekiah spoke of it in its real -character as a mere piece of metal. We acknowledge your kind letter -with many thanks. - -MISS MALAPROP, FIVE TOES, X. Y. Z.—At sixteen you should be attending -to your lessons. If wise, you would not be in such a hurry to begin the -troubles and anxieties of life. - -MAY.—Even if the brigade of artillery had been moved from Bellary, all -letters and papers would be forwarded to the troops, wherever they -were. We can find no mention of anything recent. - -M. L. W. A.—The great diamond called the Koh-i-noor, or “mountain of -light,” was found in the Mines of Golconda in 1550, and is said to -have belonged in turn to Shah Jehan Aurungzebe, the Afghan rulers, and -afterwards to the Sikh Chief Runjeet Singh. Upon the abdication of -Dhuleep Singh, the last ruler of the Punjab, and the annexation of his -dominions in 1849, the Koh-i-noor was surrendered to the Queen, and was -brought over and presented to her, July 3rd, 1850. Its original weight -was nearly 800 carats, but it was reduced, by the unskilfulness of the -artist, to 279 carats. Its shape and size was like the pointed end of -a small hen’s egg. The value is hardly to be computed, but appraising -it at two millions has been considered reasonable, if calculated on a -trade scale. It was re-cut in 1852, and was reduced to 102½ carats. It -is worn by Her Majesty as a brooch on all State occasions. - -LAURA.—Of course, your pale semi-opaque amber will turn darker and lose -its beauty if exposed to light and heat. Whenever taken off, wipe your -necklace and earrings carefully with a soft handkerchief to remove any -greasiness, and put them by in a cool, dark place. - -R. E. F.—A woman married after the 1st of January, 1883, is qualified -to dispose by will of all property belonging to her at the time of her -marriage, and of all property acquired thereafter, in all respects -as if she were an unmarried woman. If married previously to the date -above named, she must obtain her husband’s consent to any will she may -desire to make, and all property accruing to her after marriage, unless -by settlement, becomes his to surrender to her or to retain, as his -perceptions of honour or feeling of generosity may dictate. - -AWKWARD SIXTEEN would make a very awkward mistake if she burned her -face with aquafortis on account of a few moles! Methylated spirits -should not be packed into a trunk. Better to place it in a basket; and -still wiser to buy what is required on arrival. - -HELEN ADA.—The game of tennis, as all others with a ball, is of very -remote origin. The Greeks played such. Tennis seems to have originated -in or before 1300 in France, and in Charles II.’s reign it was very -fashionable. The game of lawn tennis has been evolved out of the old -game. A statue was erected to Aristonicus, in commemoration of his -superior skill in playing with a ball. - -ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, and WALES.—St. Mary Magdalene was not the sinner you -name, but one afflicted with devil possession, seven of which were cast -out of her by our Lord. - -FATHER’S PRIDE AND MOTHER’S JOY.—You cannot show your dislike to anyone -in a more innocent and godly manner, especially if they be proved -enemies to you, than by kindness and love. If you can do any kindness -towards them, you must look for and seize the occasion to do it. This -is Christ’s way, and would be your way and all our ways if we were only -like Him. - -GERTRUDE’S question is too wide for our space. There are dozens of -pretty watering-places in England. But where does she live, and what -does she require in a watering-place—quiet or noise? It would be -impossible even to suggest a residence unless we had more data to guide -us. - - * * * * * - -[Transcriber’s Note—the following changes have been made to this text: - -Page 195: ununwonted to unwonted—“unwonted sight”. - -suceeeds to succeeds—“succeeds in being”. - -Page 206: be to he—“he began”.] - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER, VOL. VIII, NO. -365, DECEMBER 25, 1886 *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. 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