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For Woman’s Work.
SABBATH MORNING.
[From the German of Robert Reinick.]
Through the vales I hear the ringing
Os the bells like festive singing,
Sunlight through the beechen woods
Throws its clear and living floods,
Holy peace its rays are bringing.
Through the fields their children leading,
Pilgrims travel, naught unheeding.
Happy they, and gala dressed;
Golden harvests, plenty blest,
Cheer them, with their waving greeting.
Here and there I see a meeting.
Or a lover s look, entreating:
See how still the gliding brook,
See how bright the sweet flowers look.
All this long and holy day
I am as a child at play,
Time, with all his years defeating.
Millie Andrews Bell.
For Woman’s Work.
UTILITARIAN KNOWLEDGE,
MARGARET ANDREWS OLDHAM.
Solomon says “Get knowledge, and with
all thy getting, get understanding.”
What a volume of sensible advice this
sentence contains!
We are not told to get an education, or
to become intellectual, but simply to “get
knowledge,” and “understanding,” without
which, knowledge is useless.
The questions that suggest themselves
then, are, what is knowledge, and what
understanding, and how shall we possess
these treasures that the wisest of all men has
told us, are more precious than gold and
rubies, and that all we can desire are not
to be compared to them?
He meant simply an understanding, or
sensible knowledge, limited to no time,
place, or condition, and to no subjects or
professions,—a really thorough, and useful
familiarity with anything.
This is the age of intelligence, and easy
sociability with theisms and ologies, whose
very names would have scared our great
grand-parents—and even our grand-pa
rents of to-day are lonely, with only ti.ese
for companionship! This is no longer an
age of rudiments; little children can read
and write, without knowing one letter from
another, and it is predicted that the “com
ingman” will receive a full-sized education,
like an electric shock, and thus do away
with all rudiments ot learning!
Why not do away with child-hood,
altogether—that insignificant phase of
humanity—and arrange it so that the “com
ing man” will be a man from the time he
can toddle!
The unlovely thought that child-hood—
that embryo state of existence—is so much
of life thrown away, is fast taking root,
and bids fair to grow up and blossom into
a poisonous flower.
The effects of this belief are seen in many
people of our day, who know a great deal,
making us wonder how one small head
can hold it all—and yet, they know scarce
ly a thing that is worth knowing—l mean
that one would value, or envy, or very
much desire to know.
I will give you an illustration: A young
man of twenty-four, having enjoyed every
possible advantage for the finest education,
of quick perception, and plenty of brains,
having graduated, with distinction, from
Harvard, and then finished and “polished,”
in Germany,—had just returned to his luxu
rious, but plain and hospitable Southern
home, to be petted and doted on, and lion
ized, by his parents, and younger brothers
and sisters.
How charming; how entertaining he
was!
He could speak several languages fluent
ly, call the stars and the flowers by name,
and read poetry so it would break hearts—
but that was all!
One day, his mother asked him to put a
button on her pantry door. I dare say
every one has seen a wooden button, that
fastens a door, —and there is nothing to do,
given the button and the screw, but to
screw it on to the frame of the door, so that
it will turn, and fasten the door, when
closed.
Well, this “smart man” was left with
the screw and the button; after the lapse
of an hour and a half, his good old mother
went to the pantry for some butter, having
forgotten all about the button, and there she
found her “gifted” first born, with a dozen
different tools around him, coat off, and
perspiration streaming—still tugging at that
button!
He had screwed the button on to the
door itself, and was opening and shutting
it, turning the button round and round, in
the most harassing and ludicrous manner.
“Mother,” he said, panting and wiping
his red, dripping face, “I’ve seen buttons
on doors, many a time, but I’m hanged if
I know how ’tis done!”
She thought it a good joke, but not so
the father—he looked very sad, when he
heard the “joke,” and after a few minutes
of sober thought, said to his “gifted” son:
“Well, Thomas, you haven’t done nc harm,
but you haven’t done r.o good, and if you
can’t put a button on the door, I’m afraid
you can’t do nuthin. I’d give a thousand
dollars if I could go back with you to the
time when you was jest lamin’ towrite.”
This old father was farseeing—he was
quick to discover his mistake, and quick to
profit by it. His three younger sons got
“knowledge,” and “understanding,” instead
of intellect, and although they never saw
the inside of Harvard, or a German Uni
versity, they became men whose minds
were stored with useful knowledge, and
they are to-day, men of success, honor, and
wealth.
This is no tale of my imagination, but an
actual, unpainted fact.
What a serious and foolish mistake is
made by thinking that knowledge—such
as we use every day, and live by, can be
picked up as pebbles, or done away with,
altogether!
You would not like to be thrown
on the mercies of a world-renowned cook,
if she could cook nothing but desserts.
You would be only too glad to fly to the
other extreme, and say “anybody— that can
cook a beef-steak!”
And so it is, the world over—it is the
miscellaneous knowledge that we must have,
and you may pity the household in which
you cannot find some one possessing it.
Childhood is the period in which to
gather up this store of knowledge, and how
precious the time and work!
One of the first impressions made upon a
child, should be an idea of thoroughness
which is easily and quickly taught. Its little
blocks are scattered over the floor; teach
him to pick them up, every one— do not
leave one under the bed, or under a chair,
or any scattered around, but impress on
him that the work is not finished, until the
last one is picked up and put in its proper
place. He will grow up with the idea of
being thorough, without which, but little
real knowledge is gained.
Soon he will comprehend the meaning
of “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do
it with thy might.” As with his blocks, so
with everything; if he undertakes a game,
he must learn it thoroughly, before he stops
finally. If he be a carpenter, merchant,
doctor, teacher—whatever hiscalling, teach
him that all the praise, the credit, the beau
ty, or the excellence, lies in his thorough
knowledge of the matter—a sensible, un
derstanding knowledge, that can be commu
nicated to others.
This failure to recognize the worth and
value, of simple, every-day home-knowledge,
and learn it thoroughly—is the secret of
most of the financial troubles of our time,
and indeed, troubles of almost every kind.
We want, then, to glean knowledge,
from every person, place, and thing, and
the simple, homely, but priceless bits of
knowledge that you need not look in a book
to find, are the choicest, and most fruitful
seed; glean many, for out of them will grow
the tree of knowledge, and useful, beauti
ful, heavenly thoughts, like bright-plu
maged, and sweet-singing birds, will make
their homes in its wide-spreading branches.
For Woman’s Work.
WALKING WITH GOD.
The difficulty which most people have in
religion is to bring the thought of God into
their daily lives. His very greatness makes
it hard to connect Him with homely, every
day matters. We get some sense of Him
in church, or in rare .hours of exalted feel
ing. But when we go into the busy world,
where most of our lives are spent, God
fades away into heaven that is farther off
than the blue sky above our heads.
This is a great loss to us. It is neglect
on our part, of our highest opportunity.
God walks with us in closest nearness at
every moment.
There is in Him, if we could learn to take
it, a provision of helpfulness, of sympathy,
of sufficiency, for every step in the whole
round of our daily life. The very things
that seem insignificant and without spirit
ual meaning—are set round us by God, as
part of our education. And if we habitual
ly recognize His presence in them, all the
incidents of business and our household
care and daily walk would become threads
of gold holding us in sweetest, noblest
friendship with our heavenly Father.
“He leads us on, ?
By paths we do not know;
Upward He leads us, though our steps be slow;
Though oft we faint and falter by the way,
Though storms and darkness oft obscure the day,
Yet when the clouds are gone
We know He leads us on.”
L. M.
Kind words, kind looks, kind acts and
warm handshakes—thesd* are secondary
means of grace when men are in trouble
and are fighting their unseen troubles.
Hope is indeed very fallacious, and prom
ises what it seldom gives; but its promises
are more valuable than the gifts of fortune,
and it seldom frustrates us withoutassuring
us of recompensing the delay by a greater
bounty.
For Woman’s Work. •
HOME DECORATION.
B. A. RONZONE.
Nb 11.
COLOR IN DECORATION.
Pleased with the effects of the general
coloring of the room into which we have
just entered, we are reminded of beauties
which wc have seen elsewhere. We come
to the conclusion that the mind which con
ceived it. must have had in view one of
those autumn sky effects, when fleecy clouds
which seem to tremble high above the hor
izon, become, for an instant, tinged with
hues of pink and golden yellow, just at the
point of time when the sun disappears
from view. It presents to us, this room, a
glow of color which is indescribable; an
effect produced by a perfect blending of
pink and gold, and gray and blue tints—
light, soft and warm. There are no abrupt,
audacious contrasts of color, in woodwork,
in furniture, in carpet or painting. There
is no attempt made to captivate the eye all
at once ; nothing to excite it for a moment
and to tire it the next.
We feel convinced that the painter who
was capable of producing this effect, under
the direction of the charming woman with
whom we are in a few moments to become
acquainted, must have deeply .felt, in his
heart, a full appreciation for what she had
given form to in her imagination, and an
idea of which she could only have conveyed
to him in, comparatively, cold words. We
can see at a glance, that the painter must
have been a close observer of Nature’s most
beautiful beauty, that he must have had a
passion for his art, strong enough to ren
der him capable of forgetting all else, for
the time, save the task before him; and we
can see, beyond any shadow of doubt, that
what in a great measure had made the
altogether ot this room possible, could only
be the strong mind of a generous patroness
of art, who, deeply imbued with a just
knowledge of the importance of its mission,
and with a sincere love for the beautiful in
itself, could free herself—or rather refuse
to follow the crowd which bows blindly to
the dictates of shallow fashion, the embodi
ment of wealth and vulgarity—and attempt
the setting of an example, to her fellow
beings, of common-sense art.
It is in this happy train of thought that
we proceed to look at our surroundings
more in detail. TVe see the woodwork of
windows, doors and wainscot, ornamented
in the simplest manner—a color like that
of the lightest mahogany—a hue, too pink
to be called yellow, and, too yellow to be
called pink. As we examine its modest
carvings and perfect finish, we recognize
in it, the beautiful wood of California’s red
wood tree; that wonderful species of high
growing plants, the tops of which, some
times attaining the height of three hundred
feet, seem from a distance, to touch the
very sky. This subdued, glossy wood
work contains neither gilt lines nor orna
ments, nor anything in fact foreign to itself.
It seems to say:
“Here I am as Nature made me—my
qualities, such as they are, brought out to
advantage by the hand of man; if worthy,
I desire to be admired for myself alone.”
And we do admire it for this very reason,
and this is what makes it of the highest
value in our humble minds. For of what
value can an object be, especially one
within the province of art, when it must
depend upon something more attractive
than itself, to draw our attention from its
defects? Os what value is any object,
which cannot stand the scrutiny of the
observer, in detail, without arousing the
contempt of a disappointed mind ? Who
ever went behind the scenes of a theatre
for the first time, after having beheld with
delighted senses the beautiful setting of
the stage, and did not feel sore at heart
and a certain amount of depreciation for
the actor and scenery ? This may be said
to be “ far-fetched ;” it may be said, and
with justice, too, that in the theatre, this
outward show is indispensible, both in actor
and scene, but in our homes it is different.
Yet we have often beheld the most com
mon of stage effects introduced in the sa
cred home; we have seen the most abject
specimens of sham, bolstered up to appear
like genuine works of art, in tin, in putty,
and what not, surrounding people who
would have felt injured for all time, had
we but accused them of wearing false
diamonds and brass rings !
For Woman’s Work.
A TALK WITH THE GIRLS.
Dear Girls, if you wish to grow up gool
and true and noble women do not aeceive
mother. If you listen to her warnings you
can never go far astray. I was sorry to
hear a sweet young girl say the other day.
Gl wouldn’t have my mother find this
out for the world; she would feel dreadful
ly.”
I said to her as I would wish to have said
to a young sister or friend of mine.
“Why do you do it at all then, if you
know it is not right and she would not like
it?”
The conversation referred to a face wash
that some woman had induced her to try
while away on a visit, and she was in a
fairway to ruin her naturally good com
plexion.
Do you realize, dear girls, how hard it is
to stop using face washes, paints and pow
ders, after once commencing? But you
say. “O it doesn’t hurt me, I use so little
and it is perfectly harmless.” It does hurt
you and your once smooth velvet-like skin,
becomes rough and oftentimes has spots or
splotches on it, and you then realize that
it is far easier to contract a habit than it is
to break it off. In many of the face pow
ders and washes there is arsenic, or.some
thing equally poisonous; the pores be
come filled, and various diseases are the re
sult.
Do you realize how much your eating
and bathing have to do with your com
plexion. If you want to have a clear, fresh
complexion, avoid hot breads, pickles, gra
vies and rich pastries, and live regularly.
I heard a young gentleman remark the
other day, “I would like to see a girl or
woman who valued her health enough to
take care of herself. Nine-tenths of them
are fools as regards health. They don’t
wear any warm flannels, or if they do most of
them wear short sleeved ones; and many
of them go to parties in mid winter with
sleeveless, low necked dresses on. Then
they get heated from dancing and stand in
a draught until they get cool.”
Is it any wonder that men say these
things? What man can you find who
would undergo the torture that a woman
will for the sake of looking pretty and be
ing admired, what would you think girls of
a man who would wear a low cut shirt and
no sleeves at a party or reception? If I
am not very much mistaken you would
think him a fit subject for some lunatic
asylum. But you say, it is very different
and society permits and desires that wo
man should dress in “full dress'' meaning,
as one man was heard to remark, “just the
opposite.”
John DeWitt Miller in a recent lecture
said: “When I see a woman in “full dress”
according to the fashionable world, I think
she has lost something of her innate mod
esty that she can never regain.”
Undoubtedly some of you are already
saying, “Here is some cranky old maid
trying to preach into us some of her
ideas and notions, she don’t care any thing
about dress or society, or the thousand and
one things that most girls enjoy.”
But my young friends, I am only a girl
with you, who loves beautiful things just
as much as any of you; and I believe in
girls having a long, happy girlhood, but
not in Wasting their time, strength and mon
ey, as so many do.
I saw a young girl at a large party some
weeks ago, in a decolette dress that was cut
so ridiculously low that she was talked
about for weeks. Her mother begged of
her not to wear it, but her father, although
a good man, said she could do as she chose,
and so the dress was worn. It was decided
ly the most conspicuous dress as well as
the most unbecoming one at that party.
Such things to me are very wrong, both
morally and from a health standpoint.
I cannot believe we were put on this
earth to simply amuse ourselves. There
should be higher and nobler purposes and
aims.
Girls, do not let marriage be the one aim
and end of life for you. If a true and hap
py marriage is for you, all right, but you
are a thousand times better off paddling
your own canoe, than as the wife of any
man, no matter how wealthy he is, unless
you can truly love, honor and respect him.
Marriage is at the best hard, but love
lightens many a load and brightens many
a cloud. As you value your own happiness
in the years to come, do not fritter away
the love that is inherent in every woman.
If you wish to win and retain the re
spect of men, do not, I beg of you, send
them presents or repeated invitations to
call on you when you scarcely know them,
and they have never shown you any atten
tion. If they care to know you, let them
make the advances.
If they are at all anxious for your ac
quaintancerestassured they will find plenty
of ways for cultivating it.
Unless you are engaged to a gentleman,
( or he is an old friend of the family, do not
accept presents of value other than books,
music or flowers.
Better be called a prude than fast or wild,
dear girls. It is much wiser to “avoid the
appearance of all evil.”
Carrie M. Ashton.
If we work upon marble, it will perish;
if we work upon brass, time will efface it;
it we rear temples, they will crumble into
dust; but if we work upon immortal minds,
if we imbue them with principles, with the
just fear of God and love of our fellow-men,
we engrave on those tablets something
which will brigten to all eternity.— Daniel
Webster.