Various

“ Or to change the figure, those who wish to tread the path of self-culture are like wanderers in some vast unknown forest. Paths cross and re-cross one another in every direction, and industry in plodding forward is vain without a guiding clue or sign. ”

“ Life is a Mystery.—Life is indeed a mystery, but it was God who gave it, in a world wrapped round with sweet air, and bathed in sunshine, and abounding with interest, and a ray of eternal light falls upon it even here, and that light shall wholly transfigure it beyond the grave. ”

“ It is so hard to give up cycling even for a few months and be reduced to walking again. If one is going anywhere, even if only a distance of two miles, it seems such a long way to walk; the trees won’t meet you fast enough, and the silly sticky road seems bent upon stopping your progress, and you are certain you shall feel terribly tired and absurdly stupid, when you do reach your destination. ”

“ When Will Peirce, with the consent of his friends, and under strictest vows of secrecy, confided to Roy the plan under discussion, Roy threw himself into it with fervour. Anything to be free!
He stood in the prison-yard one cold day in late autumn, leaning against the wall, with folded arms and abstracted look. A grey sky was overhead, and some drops of half-frozen rain had fallen. Hundreds of prisoners were assembled there; some walking about to keep themselves warm; some leaping or wrestling; some fighting in good earnest; others absorbed in games of chance ”

“ Let’s go to the dining-room, and drown our sorrows in strawberry ice. Then we can have a waltz, and try a vanilla,—and a polka, and some lemonade! That’s my idea of enjoying myself. Come along, while you get the chance!——”
“Oh, Rob, you are greedy!” protested Peggy; nevertheless she rose blithely enough, and her eyes began to sparkle with some of their wonted vivacity. There was something strong and re-assuring about Robert’s presence; he looked upon things in such an eminently sensible, matter-of-fact way, that one was ashamed to give way to moods and tenses in his company. ”

“ All else who are in fairly good form may ride—nay, but ought to ride. I’d like the whole of Great Britain on wheels, and a beautiful cinder path to stretch all the way ’twixt London and Edinburgh. Ten miles might be laid down first on trial, and no doubt it would pay. No racing should be allowed on this splendid road of mine; the pace should be regulated; a fee charged, and cosy little inns erected here and there along the course where one could dismount for light refreshment; but—I fear the world is hardly old enough yet for such a dream. “The Anglo-Caledonian Cinder Course Company.” ”

“ Accidents will happen, and she has a dozen others to choose from. I don’t see anything wrong with the dress. It looks decent enough.”
Peggy followed the direction of his eyes and caught a glimpse of Rosalind floating past on the arm of a tall soldierly youth. She was sparkling with smiles, and looking as fresh and spotless as on the moment when she had stepped across the threshold of her own room. Neither face nor dress bore any trace of the misfortune of an hour before, and Peggy heaved a sigh of relief as she watched her to and fro. ”

“ In short, reading should be intelligent, not merely formal.
People differ very much as to the speed at which they can read. Some will grasp the whole meaning of a page at a glance; others toil through it sentence by sentence. No rule can be laid down. Only it may be said that the modern habit among well-to-do young people with plenty of books, of skimming through a volume in an hour or two and never looking at it again, is not to be commended. ”

“ Belle.—Undoubtedly the use of tight corsets is a very fertile cause of indigestion. And, indeed, it is a potent factor of that terrible form of indigestion associated with ulceration of the stomach. Some of the greatest medical authorities aver that the reason why that most serious disease is so far more common in women than in men, is because the former wear corsets. Be this as it may, it is an absolute fact that it is quite impossible to cure indigestion if the sufferer wears tight corsets. There is no necessity to abandon corsets altogether, but you must wear them loose. ”

“ My advice is first to consult a doctor, or, if not, to begin with very, very easy records and increase only as the strength increases. At the end of six months you may be astonished at your strength, the ease and freedom with which you can ride, walk, and breathe, and at your ability to sleep soundly. Yes, as a cure for sleeplessness, cycling beats all the medicine in the world, because, see, even the safest of sleeping draughts only removes a symptom, while riding strikes at the very root of the trouble.
Nervousness soon flies when one begins to cycle. ”

“ If you do not feel over strong, never ride with those who are. You cannot keep up at their pace without danger, though the excitement may cause you to try.
Invalids should not talk much while riding with a friend; talking congests the head and undoes all the good the cycling may be doing them.
Girls do not care to enter inns on the road even for the questionable refreshment of ginger-beer or lemonade, but a glass of water from what the poets call a “murmuring rill” often does much good, and a portable paper folding-tumbler should be carried if the journey is to be of some length. ”

“ The dairy, which was built some time in the eighties, is, or rather was, of Swiss design, but mother Nature has of late so bedecked it with climbing plants that it is difficult to detect the handiwork of man under its dainty mantle of greenery. Entering first the dairy proper, one sees a beautifully cool, lofty room some twenty odd feet square, with a plain tiled floor, and a handsome high dado of rare old blue and white Indian tiles, which were specially sent from India to occupy their present position. ”

“ In their younger days the royal princesses and their brothers were constant patrons of the dairy produce, and many a pleasant tale has the dairywoman to tell of the kindness and courtesy of the late Duke of Clarence, with her, as with all on the estate, a prime favourite.{358} The young princesses also, in days of yore, as they skimmed the cream from the dishes of milk for their own consumption, would laughingly remark on the superior advantages of helping oneself. “We can have as much as we want here, at home we get so little.” ”

“ She must not attempt to go fast nor to go out with any companion who recklessly tries to break records. But the fresh air purifies and thickens the blood; the riding puts every organ of the body into gentle play, and in a few months she will be able, in all probability, to keep the pace with her neighbours.
In a word, there is no chronic ailment which I can remember at present, which cycling (always gentle at first) cannot remedy.
I have said already that the delicate ought first to consult the family doctor. If he is a cyclist himself he will let you mount. ”

“ Why is hard water very unsuitable for cooking and washing?
As was fitting with sensible girls, we had numerous and intelligent answers to this question. There was a knowing air about them. A strong case was made out against hard water—a waster of fuel, a waster of time, a waster of tea, a destroyer of the colour of vegetables, a waster of soap, an enemy to the skin. ”

“ When one hears that some hundreds of persons are employed on the estate, that there are workmen’s clubs, schools, almshouses, and cottage hospitals, all erected and cared for by the Royal owners, that there are no unemployed, work being found for everyone, that the fortnightly bill for wages alone is some six hundred pounds, it is easy to see that in a colony of this size there must always be a proportion of ailing and delicate. ”

“ The yard was well known to Roy, since, while living upstairs, he had gone out there daily, meeting many other English prisoners from other rooms, but always at such times as the dungeon inmates were locked in.
The very idea of possible escape from such an existence was naturally welcomed, even though every attempt to get away meant danger to life. Many had escaped; many more were likely enough to do their best for the same end. ”

“ A Wise Girl.—To communicate her knowledge is a duty with a wise girl; to learn from others is her highest gratification.
Sobriety.—Modesty and humility are the sobriety of the mind: temperance and chastity are the sobriety of the body. ”

“ Rather startling and dismaying to the ordinary reader, we may confess them to be! Nor do we suppose that any of our girl readers will emulate them. We simply quote them to show that “lack of time” need not be a valid reason, with the majority of busy people, against self-culture.
To those who have leisure, the practice of occasionally writing a short synopsis of a book they have read is to be very strongly recommended. ”

“ It is very gratifying, for a girl who takes part in it not only gets to know a great many facts of interest, but has excellent practice in the useful art of finding out—an art which she will discover many opportunities for exercising in after life. ”

“ Weakly girls perspire a good deal when riding, and this may prove a source of great danger if they dismount anywhere and stand in a draught. On returning, if the underclothing be damp, it ought to be changed, and it is just then that a cup of good tea or coffee proves so refreshing.
I have nothing to say regarding dress except this, that tight lacing is dangerous. Only the lightest and easiest of clothing should be worn and nothing heavy.
Wool should always be preferred to cotton.
On the whole, and from all I have seen, I think the rational cycling dress has yet to be invented. ”

“ Torpidity of the liver is all too common, even among girls, nowadays. It is characterised by headaches, low spirits, and a dull, sleepy feeling, with many more symptoms I need not mention, all of which soon disappear if a regular course of not too hard cycling be adopted. But one must be careful not to give in too much to the appetite the bike will create, else matters may become worse instead of better.
When the cycle is used as a curative agent, it is well to aid the remedy by the judicious use of medicines suitable for the complaint. ”

“ One of the best read men we know is a busy lawyer. From morning to night he is at his office; in the evening he is often engaged in philanthropic work; but he always carries a small volume about with him and has learnt to make the most of odd moments. ”

“ SELF-CULTURE FOR GIRLS. PART III.
f making many books there is no end,” said the Sage of old. What would he say could he re-visit the world at the present moment? The very multitude of aids to self-culture is, as Frederick Harrison remarks, a serious drawback in the way of those who attempt it. Books may be cheap, free libraries may abound, but where shall the eager student begin? On every hand voices call to her, urgently claiming attention, until at last, distracted by the various appeals, she is fain to cover her ears with her hands and remain deaf to all alike. ”