Year: 1875

virtue. And it must be confessed that
when unkindly declaring that his WIFE 5
new bonnet is perfect fright. and her
taste incomparably inferior to Mrs. Jones
her coffee denominated "nauseating,"
and her favorite pudding perfectly dis
gushing, his opinions have changed, al
though she may have really improved in
dress and household management since
the time when all she wore was declared
"lovely" and her cooking Irresistible"
Would he speak in the same tone to
an esteemed lady acquaintance?
Did he not when the guest of Mrs.
Brown, eat her indigestible beefsteak
and sour bread without murmur. and
was he ever known to come in when the
principal meal was half over, after being
delayed for half an hour with only
Don't bother" FOR an apology, and a
| toothpick for a companion? As for the
olive branches around their table, if al
| lowed to eat soup with a gusto which
would only be pardonable in the Sand
wich Islands. to make a promiscuous Sc
lection of anything they may fancy, up
setting dishes and fruitholders in their
haste; to eat with knives instead of forks;
throw bones on the table-cloth and
crumbs on the floor; to interrupt the
most serious conversation with noisy
comments. and leave the, table when and
how they please; is it to be expected that
they will contribute to the comfort OF
the parental repast or maintain the hon.
or of the family when away from homer
On the other hand, have parents any
right TO assume that children are nonen
titles, and administer for tri1ing causes
those severe reproofs which tend to de-
stroy self-respect or inculcate cunning
and deception?


fr1 H. - l.
ed with respect? Thanked for their ser
vices, their wishes consulted, and their
little pleasures not unnecessarily iostled
aside as of no account? Would not such
a course make them more truly polite to
others, more manly and selErelying?


The young misses and ladies whose
grammatical inaccuracies and slang phra-
ses, such as MY graciousl" "Oh, good
ness" are allowed to escape unnotIced
at home, must submit to be severely crit
icized in good society, or else be doomed
to constant anxiety in their efforts to
play propriety.


The young gentleman who lolls in the
easy chair, and in Iariably takes the CO.
siest corner by the freside; neglects to
take off his squeaking boots when visit
ing the sick-room of some suffering rela-
tive, or to accompany his sisters once in
three months to the concert or lecture
which they are longing to hear, will new
er be a perfect gentleman unless some
millennial wave rolls over him. As for
the poor relations who inhabit the attic
chambers. mend the home linen, and
serve as a kind of "pincushion' into
which all the family annoyances are
thrust-what plea shall we offer for
them? or what precept enforce except to
exhort that patience have it's perfect
work.


Be polite at home, grieve not the
hearts which love you by coarse or sting
ing words, let sarcasms be avoided, and
contradictions and personal comparisons
but rarely INDUCED in. Let no slander
or ridicule of absent ones poison your
home circle. The placing OF chair, the
opening of door, or the gentle closing
of the same, the shading a window, or
giving up same faYorite nook for the ac-
commodation or use of another, are not
matters too small TO be attended to.
Neither are promptness and punctuality,
order and neatness. Remembering that
familiarity Breeds contempt" too fire.
quent visits to the rooms of others, even
though they be of the same family and
sex, will not be practiced neither. in or
dinary cases will their wardrobes be rum
maged nor their letters inspe, ted on the
plea that it is all in the family. There
is a sacredness about individuality which
no family ties should venture to disre-
gard.


And so in reference to personal opin-
ions; why should difference, wherein no
question of morality is concerned, be al
lowed to disturb the peace OF the house
hold7 Has not each right to think for
himself? Does an angry discussion on
religious or social problems often lead to
the conviction that one party is in err
ror? How often, indeed, does it tend to
heartburning and estrangement? If We
henIent controversies are out of place in
society they are as much so in the do
mains of home. Let our lives be our
strongest arguments and our actions be
our creed.