Various

“ What confidences are so sacred as those that tell of happy, hopeful love? Think of your girl friend who, with sweet shyness, hid her blushing face on your shoulder, and repeated in a whisper the words lately spoken by that one who had of late become more to her than all the world besides. ”

“ Lucy observed soberly. “Nor can I go with you this afternoon, Florence, unless Hugh can accompany us.”
Florence made a little grimace.
“Isn’t this girl respectable either?” she said. “Have you a written character with her too?”
“No,” Lucy answered. “But she is a perfect stranger. I cannot leave my child with her.”
“Very well, bring him along by all means. I own he is a credit to take out—not like my little monkeys—for he behaves prettily and obeys at a word. The dear old dame will be quite pleased to see him. She will say he is like the children of her youth, and that’s her highest praise. ”

“ The girl called herself “a girl,” the registry office keeper called her “a girl,” and Lucy said within herself that she could not very well call her anything else. What else was she? She had not the appearance or manner of the trained servant. She gave no sign of the habits or nature which Lucy would have rejoiced over in “a maid.” She was “a girl,” ready to do work for a wage. She was but a bundle of negations. Yet Lucy felt bound to take her, not only because time pressed, but because there was really no reason why she should reject her. ”

“ The girl was loved by the people, and they felt compassion for her; but the priest, in a loud voice, cried shame on them for their cowardice, urging them to cruelty, until with a savage cry they shouted, “To the wolves!”
Then Adgillus came forward, saying—
“If you kill her I will be a Frisian no longer. If you throw her to the wolves I go with her and fight with them for her with my sword, which I have sworn to use for the protection of the innocent and defenceless, and God helping me, I’ll keep my oath!” ”

“ Bray had drawn Lucy’s hand into her lap, and was stroking it softly.
“Ah, my dear,” she said, “don’t be hard on me for my vanity! Wait till you’ve been married fifty years yourself, and your husband brings you such a dress, and tells you that he does not think anybody but you would do it justice! Think of that, my dear! I see that sweet speech written between all the flounces and furbelows. How can you expect me to keep my eyes off such finery as that?”
“It is very beautiful!” murmured Lucy. But the old lady knew that her real answer was in the quivering clasp of the hand lying in her own. ”

“ Now, I seem to be looking all the time at the mistakes and follies which, in so many cases, have spoiled lives, and made marriage like anything rather than what God meant it to be.
Is there one amongst you to-night who is getting tired of the daily round in a poor home where all the family are, however, rich in affection? You may have grown weary of the makeshifts and contrivances needful to keep up appearances. You hate to have to calculate how far every shilling will go before you spend it. You long to escape from the narrow round of daily life, almost at any cost. ”

“ Because your heart tells you that affection will have no share in the compact. Conscience whispers that you only know that your suitor’s worldly circumstances are favourable, but as to his character you are almost in ignorance, and have an uncomfortable feeling that you had better not inquire too closely.
Will you give your life into the keeping of one about whom you know almost nothing, and try to silence heart, conscience and reason by saying to yourself, “A fine home, costly garments, money and social position will make up for all else that is lacking.” ”

“ Every bit of knowledge gained, every step made in manual dexterity, artistic perfection, or even professional skill, should trend towards the development of a nobler being, better equipped for every womanly duty than were the women of preceding generations. Ay, and more ready and willing to do it with all the added charm that refinement and culture can give to what nature bestowed in the first instance. ”

“ It isn’t a very interesting engagement, but Raby seems quite happy. I suppose it’s all right.”
“They are two handsome young people, and know each other well. It ought to turn out happily, I think. And how about Cyril?” asked Miss Adene, with a little quick glance, which Sheila met and answered by a flashing smile.
“Oh, Cyril! Well, he is still idling about at home, talking of the wonders he means to do some day, and they all believe in him as much as ever, I think.”
A little smile curved Miss Adene’s lips.
“Don’t be merciless, little girl. Perhaps he may astonish the world yet!” ”

“ If the man is worthy of her affection, he will love her the better for the motives which have induced her to refuse him. He will have realised the cost to herself, and will determine that it shall not be in vain. Knowing that he cannot give her such a home as would{607} deserve the name, and that marriage on such a slender or uncertain income would mean privation, constant struggling to make ends meet, probably debt as an additional burden, he will resolve to work the harder and possess his soul in patience until brighter days dawn for both of them. ”

“ There may have been true affection and unity in aims, principles, and work. The union, as such, may be one against which no one can say a word, except that it will not be a prudent marriage, and can only bring regrettable consequences.
How a young man is to be honoured if he, for the very love he bears a girl, refrains from giving her the pain of saying “No” when her heart as well as esteem for his character would induce her to say “Yes” at all risks! ”

“ Parents, guardians, true friends may do their utmost, but, after all, they cannot do everything. A great part of the responsibility must rest on the girl herself, since they may advise and she refuse to listen. They may picture the prospect before her, she may shut her eyes to it. They may bring facts and figures, she will not discuss them, or will insist that her calculations are right and theirs are wrong. They may point out that the burden of care and toil which would follow such a marriage will prove too heavy for her. ”

“ Mrs. Bray explained. “But she made me cross by asking whether I was not afraid of a dinner-party for my rheumatism. A memento mori, my dears. But,” she said, turning to Lucy, “here’s a grave face saying to itself that I am a foolish and naughty old woman to care for such frivolities!”
“Oh, no!” protested Lucy. “I was only so sorry that the maid had just put it nicely away.”
“It is all in her duty,” said the old lady with a dash of hauteur. “Rachel is here to do what she is told. It need not matter to her what that is.” ”

“ There is a white variety of the Martagon lily, a lovely little gem, which, though rare, is one of the easiest culture. It is curious that this is the only variety in the whole group of Martagons which bears white flowers. It is of garden origin, and is not found in the wild state.
Then there is the double Martagon, about the stupidest flower which owns the name of lily. It is extraordinary the rage people have for double flowers. It is very rarely that a double flower has half the beauty of the single variety. ”

“ The Spaniards with Wellington, as with Moore, did little at any time beyond throwing hindrances in the way of the British. Roy Baron had gone out many months before.
It was hard work for Denham to say good-bye, not only to Polly, with her sweet brave face, but to the tiny boy, with Polly’s own eyes of brown velvet, who had come but a very short time before to gladden their home. Denham bent to kiss the tiny sleeper, then turned again to Polly.
“It will not be for long,” she whispered. “I may think that, may I not? Peace must surely come some day.” ”

“ Indeed one can hardly separate the different parts of self-culture after all. It is by reading the best books that the moral nature is strengthened and cultivated, and that the æsthetic sense is cultivated also. The eye is opened to perceive the beauty of life and of art, for example, by such a writer as Ruskin. ”

“ All that the world has to offer cannot make amends for the absence of true love and the respect and confidence that should give it stability, neither can it stifle the voice of conscience, which says, “I told you the truth, and you would not listen.”
Sometimes girls are impatient of parental control, and to escape from what is only reasonable and right, determine to rule in a home of their own. They use the hackneyed saying that marriage brings affection with it, but too often realise that the parental yoke was light indeed when compared to what they have voluntarily assumed. ”

“ Much must be omitted of necessity, by reason of conditions of the craft; much also, by reason of artistic effect, must be so arranged and rounded off as to give the impression of a happiness impossible in life. The lesson of life, then, in its completeness, cannot be taught even by the best novel. ”

“ When the steward came in the morning to conduct the band of Christians to the arena, the prison was empty save for the girl Fostedina. She pointed to the open window and the ladder, and said, “They are safe, thank God.”
The steward thought she was mad, and begged her to go to her room, as he felt sure the people would tear her to pieces if they found out what she had done. She, however, determined to remain and face the consequences of her deed, lest the punishment should fall upon the missionary and his followers, who were still living in their midst. ”

“ For instance, there is moral self-culture—physical self-culture—æsthetic self-culture—which, with other kinds of self-culture, should be zealously sought. But these subjects are exhaustively dealt with from time to time by writers in The Girl’s Own Paper, so that our special work lies in the treatment of “culture” in its more usual acceptation—the cultivation of the intellect. And if our title seems rather like a vast floating garment, too voluminous for the slight form it enfolds, it must be remembered that culture is generally understood in the sense we have indicated. ”

“ The perfect bee gradually develops from this stage, and in three weeks from the time that it was deposited in its cell by the queen-bee as an almost microscopic egg it emerges from it as a full-fledged worker-bee, exactly like the other worker-bees in the hive, and fit in a few days’ time for two months of daily incessant toil. No sooner has the young worker quitted its cell than the cell is cleaned out by one of the other workers, and a fresh egg is deposited in it by the queen. ”

“ If a mother’s face lights with pleasure at the mention of her son, and the thought of what he is to her brings moisture to her eyes, if the girls of the family make a friend of him and regard him as a great factor in the sum that makes up the happiness of home, there will be good reason for believing that, in the dearest of all relationships, he will not be found wanting. ”

“ Often the girl has to show herself the stronger under such circumstances, and then her task is doubly hard, for she has to battle against her own heart’s pleadings as well as those of her lover.
I do not believe that any girl who shows her courage and self-devotion in such a manner will have cause to regret in the long run. ”

“ Having myself known such an ideally happy married life that the very memory of it makes me unspeakably rich now, in the days of my widowhood, how I long to see my experiences repeated in the lives of those who are to be the wives and mothers of the future! ”

“ The Martagon lily is one of our oldest garden flowers. When once established, it is very loath to go and very free to increase, so in many gardens this lily has come up and flowered every year for centuries.
The bulb of Lilium Martagon is about the size of a hen’s egg, and of the ordinary ovoidal shape. It is very compact and usually stained on the outside with bright yellow or purple. The leaves are of a greyish-green colour and are arranged in whorls. The flower-head is visible when the plant is but a few inches high. ”

“ STANDARD FRAME FITTED WITH FOUNDATION.
Everything should be in readiness for the swarm. The hive should be given three or four coats of good light stone-colour paint, and a site must be chosen for it. This should be in a quiet corner of the garden, sheltered from the prevailing winds, and, by preference, shaded from the midday sun; but a dark, damp place under the constant drip of trees should be avoided. Most bee-keepers prefer to have their hives facing south or south-east to catch the early morning sun, but this is not a matter of great importance. ”

“ Our object to-night is of almost universal interest amongst those who are girls to-day, but who will be the women, wives and mothers of future years. I know that there has been a great revolution in girl life and habits during the last few years. Girls have taken up new occupations, and are the rivals of, and competitors with, the other sex, in nearly every field of study and of work. ”

“ Exercise and other essentials to health must not be neglected; and if health fails, the power of mental self-culture will probably fail too. But it is increasingly recognised that cultivation of the brain in reason is excellent for physical health, and that the woman with the best chance of enjoying life is the woman whose mental education has gone side by side with physical culture. ”