Various

“ Curtains of bougainvillia hung over at one place, at another heliotrope of roses made a perfect screen, intermingled with scarlet geranium, poinsettia, and plumbago. Through little gaps in this floral curtain, and through vistas of palm and cactus beyond, could be caught glimpses of the blue sea, and overhead the sky rose sapphire clear, with that peculiar purity and depth of colour which characterises those latitudes.
“Oh, isn’t it lovely?” cried Sheila in ecstasy.
“Awfully pretty,” replied her companion, “though the floor might be better for playing. There are some big cracks. ”

“ I have often seen children dragging along, silent, listless, gaping, with an irritable or indifferent nurse, and a few minutes after I have met ‘mamma’ driving out to pay her calls.”
“I am always so sorry for widows who have to leave their children to others simply that they may discharge other duties to their children themselves,” observed Lucy. “A woman cannot at once play with her babies and earn their bread. I’m afraid we don’t think enough about the hardships which beset some lives. Perhaps they seldom press on our attention till we feel a touch of them ourselves.” ”

“ It must also be remembered that a courteous behaviour should be worn always and everywhere, and not only put on like a grand robe for state occasions, for courtesy is “a happy way of doing things, and should adorn even the smallest details of life, and contribute to render it as a whole agreeable and pleasant.” Hence, first and foremost, courtesy should be practised in the home by the children both towards their parents and towards each other. ”

“ The girl who will be most beloved, and who will have the best influence in a school, is undoubtedly she who is ever ready with a pleasant smile to play with the little ones, to say a kind word to another when in trouble, and who shows by her whole behaviour that she wishes to make those around her happy and comfortable. ”

“ It is not left to gape and stare at the things around—all wonders to it—but it is encouraged to ask questions, and it gets its questions cheerfully and patiently answered.”
“I suppose that is a very important item,” said Lucy.
“Yes, indeed,” said Miss Foster. “A careless nurse may often answer a question, but she does this snappily, perhaps with a hasty shake or a cross remark that the child is ‘a silly, little worrit.’ That encourages no further inquiry, and the baby-mind often closes over ridiculously wrong impressions, which can only confuse and blur its mind and all its processes.” ”

“ Sheila had sprays of roses and heliotrope in her hands as she ran upstairs to Effie. A lamp had been brought in, and the big, lofty room looked quite gay.
“Oh, what roses!” cried Effie in real delight. “Aren’t they splendid? I am going to like this place immensely, Sheila, and we have such a good plan. Susan isn’t to have the big room next door; it’s to be turned into a sitting-room for us. Mrs. Reid will get it done to-morrow, and Susan will sleep in a little room close by; then this great turret place will be all our own, and we can have our friends up to tea and all that sort of thing. ”

“ A green woodpecker, all unconscious of my presence, is clinging to an old tree stem near by, and I can not only hear his tapping noise, but I am able to observe how he is supported by the stiff feathers in his tail, which press against the tree, and how his long tongue darts into crevices in the bark and draws out the insects upon which he feeds. ”

“ Effie was lying on the sofa, but she was looking interested and animated. The maid passed in and out, looking about her, and keeping an eye on her young charge.
“Yes, I like being up here. I feel as though I could breathe. I was afraid it might be too hot below. Father and mother have the room next but one looking south over the sea, and Susan has the next one, though it is big, so that we are all together. She may have to move when the hotel fills up; but she is to be there now. I think I shall like this place, Sheila; and the people seem so kind.” ”

“ The fishmongers are showing plovers’ eggs in their little nests of moss, the pinkest of prawns and crabs, scarlet lobsters in a garnish of parsley, magnificent salmon, salmon-trout, speckled trout, and beautiful fine soles, with mackerel that glisten like the whitebait.
Game is, of course, of no account now; but young chickens are coming to the fore, and pigeons are excellent, so also are the plovers.
Then look at the wealth of June blossom that is poured into the market. Can anything surpass the beauty of these roses? ”

“ Miller, in his book The Building of Character, which I should earnestly recommend every girl to read, says, “Wherever else we may fail in patience, it should not be in our own homes. Only the sweetest life should have place there. We have not long to stay together, and we should be patient and gentle while we may.” ”

“ From these words we can also gather the reason why we should all show courtesy, for, as it is one of the components of love, and Christ said that all His disciples were to be distinguished from the rest of the world by their love for another, we shall not be true followers of Christ, or have a really beautiful character, if we omit any part of love; just as a beautiful mosaic could never be otherwise than imperfect, if, though complete in all other respects, the stones of one certain colour were everywhere missing. ”

“ A sweet-tongued gentle maiden cannot fail to render the home, be it a poor or rich one, both pleasant and dear to her brothers and sisters. And then to parents how far more gentle and courteous we all should be than we are. It has been well said that a blessing is never fully realised until it is lost, and so I fear we hardly any of us realise clearly and distinctly to ourselves how much our parents, especially our dear mothers, do and suffer for us until the day comes when we know what it is to be without them. ”

“ However, the English girls of to-day need not look far for the pattern of a perfectly gracious and courteous woman, for who fulfils this ideal better than her Gracious Majesty, Queen Victoria? Who better known than she for the courteous message of thanks to her troops when they have nobly done their duty, or for the quick expression of sympathy to the suffering victims of an accident or some personal bereavement? ”

“ Widespread as we consider our knowledge of girl nature by this time, competition papers often spring upon us surprises, showing us we have much to learn upon the subject. We confess that, although we have always taken care to provide our readers with subject-matter for deeper thought, still we were scarcely prepared to find that in the majority of cases the first things read were these graver articles and the papers dealing with instructive and interesting matters, the stories as a rule being kept till the last. In one paper only were all the favourites chosen for stories. ”

“ The facts which a child learns are always of little importance compared with the exercise of its mind in grasping them. That is why learning anything by rote is useless save as an exercise of memory, and that explains, too, why some people who are said to have ‘no book-learning’ are far keener observers and arrive at more judicious conclusions{612} than do pedants. The plainer folk have probably learned to use their minds upon the work of their hands. ”

“ Their papers have made our views of life broader, they have evoked sympathy and admiration for the toilers in our great cities; they have permitted us to stand side by side with them as they work and struggle and fight for what they know to be good and pure; they have made us free of their homes, whether in the farm kitchen, or in the streets of our great cities, so that one can sit down and picture them all, whether in a London factory, a country farm, a village rectory, or away in our far-off colonies. ”

“ But a little child takes much on trust. Then they came home to tea, which generally refreshed her considerably. After that, Hugh sat at her side, with his bricks, his picture books, or his “transparent slate,” while she did all the household mending. Jane Smith never put a finger to this, not because she refused to do so, but because when she attempted it on one occasion, she ruined a pair of fine grey woollen hand-knitted stockings, by drawing a slightly-worn heel together with coarse white worsted, showing that she had not the most rudimentary idea of what darning should be. ”

“ Dinners, balls, receptions, weddings, at homes—all make great demand on the markets this month.
The place of game at fashionable dinners is taken by plovers’ eggs, or by an aspic jelly. As the eggs are usually sold ready boiled, and require no accompaniment, we may leave them without further remark; but it might be useful here if we considered the making of a simple aspic jelly such as could be manufactured by the home cook. ”

“ Then on those days of discouragement, when, in spite of all endeavours, the lessons are not well known, and it seems useless to go on trying to do as well as the other girls, or when, perchance, unmerited blame or irritating teasing has unnerved and tired you, how you welcome the friend who, without being told, knows how “wrong everything is going,” and with gentle loving words strives to cheer you, and bids you take heart again and bravely return to the fight. ”

“ I saw the first red feather appear, just a mere tinge of colour amongst the rest, and now daily I see the hue is deepening. If bathing and pluming will tend to make him a handsome robin, he bids fair to outshine his compeers, for he is always busy about his toilet, first fluttering in a large clam-shell, which contains water, and then becoming absorbed in his preening operations, which nothing will interrupt but the appearance of another robin, who, of course, must be flown at and driven away. ”

“ If you meet with an accident through getting on or off an omnibus whilst it is in motion, you contribute to the accident in not ordering the conductor to stop, and you have only yourself to blame; if, however, you had ordered the conductor to stop and he had neglected or refused to do so, you would probably succeed in an action against the company. ”

“ The front is of white satin and cream lace, and the collar has rows of satin on it to correspond. These narrow satin ribbons and tuckings, made of silk and satin, are the special trimmings of the year, and they seem quite ubiquitous, and look so pretty that we have not got tired of them yet.
There are so many muslins—organdies, and the ordinary corded ones—that it is quite a muslin year, and the lace and narrow ribbons used on them are enormous in amount. Lawn of the same colour is generally used for the linings if you do not choose to afford silk. ”

“ She may come down to breakfast, and just mutter a “Good morning” and omit the morning kiss; during the day she may never notice how often she might fetch something for her mother or mistress, jump up or open the door for somebody with their hands full, or try to subdue her loud boisterous laughing or talking in a room where others are busy reading or writing—she will also pass in and out of a door in front of her elders, pay little attention to the wants of her neighbours at table; in short, she will not increase in any way the pleasantness of her surroundings. ”

“ It is with minds as it is with bodies: unless the digestion is in order, food does not nourish, is not assimilated, and only results in disease. So though there is more ‘knowledge’ in the world to-day than ever before, and though it is more widely distributed, yet at every turn the public mind—with its violent prejudices, its unreasonable fluctuations, and its inability to look below any surface conclusions that are offered to it—proves that the Hebrew prophet’s complaint ‘that the people do not consider’ is as true as ever it was. ”

“ These boas are made of feathers—ostrich, of course—in black, white, grey, and black and white mixed; in silk, lace, fringe, in chiffon of all colours, silk muslin, spotted nets, and gauzes, the spotted nets being, I think, the prettiest, though, of course, the most perishable. Although they are so expensive, everyone seems to find money to purchase them, and some few girls manage to find out the way to make them for themselves.
Where skirts are concerned, we appear to have no choice but to make them quite tight-fitting about the hips, and they must flow out about them ”

“ To a true lover of nature hardly anything can be more thoroughly enjoyable than a quiet hour spent in some shady spot early on a summer’s morning, whilst the dew is still upon the flowers, and before any sounds can be heard except those made by happy birds and insects. ”

“ I often think that it will remain so till parents take more interest in their children’s society before they are eight years old.”
“I hear that many school children have so many home lessons that they can’t have much time for home talk,” said Lucy.
“That is so,” consented Miss Foster, “and in my opinion, during the regular school age home lessons ought to be almost unknown. All the time at home is needed for home society and home usefulness if the child is to have a good all-round development. ”

“ Soiled linen should never be kept in bedrooms, but in a basket outside on a landing, or in the bath-room.
It is a pity to throw away clean paper-bags. They should be kept together and given to some small tradesman who will be glad to use them again. Old newspapers should be given to some poor invalid who will be glad of something to read, or sent to the workhouse or hospital. ”

“ Various tall grasses are sending up their feathery plumes, and in a special bed where only wild flowers are allowed to grow, teasel, hypericum, valerian, and bog-myrtle are delighting my eyes by the free, graceful way in which they make themselves at home as if in their native habitat. ”