Various

“ He who cannot bring to his marriage a clean bill of moral health, who cannot make upon his wife the best of all marriage settlements, the settlement of habits in the right direction. And even young ladies require some preparation for marriage. If they are frivolous and flirty and have no higher notion of worship than to burn incense to vanity, they will not be happy themselves in married life and assuredly they will not make their husbands happy. ”

“ As we look at the cooing doves in the castle window, we see an indication of a weighty matter which rests upon the lady's mind. She is gazing out over the distant woods to catch a glimpse of her lover returning from the chase. She would fain believe that her true knight cares for no one but herself, but how can she be sure? ”

“ Now we think that this was a very good rule, which provided that before young people should take upon themselves the great responsibilities of marriage, they should have learned at least this much of the catechism, how to do their duty to their neighbour. Of course husband and wife are more to each other than mere neighbours, but they are that at least, and if they do not do their duty towards each other, homes will be wretched, and where homes are miserable the state cannot but be weak, so we see that it was a matter for state control. ”

“ A girl who gains one of them—even though she may fail to win a prize—will have many reasons for feeling pleased. It will be something she can take a pride both in showing and preserving. And when she goes out into the world, it may be useful as a proof that she is painstaking and persevering—essential qualities for all who would succeed in life. ”

“ Perhaps this opinion of the Greek sage should be taken with a grain of salt, as the great thinkers of Greece entertained such perverse notions of woman's character that the question was actually raised among them whether women had souls! ”

“ At the same time it is quite possible to exaggerate the amount of money necessary for marriage. Show me a couple who are miserable on account of straitened circumstances, and I will show you a dozen couples who are unhappy on account of other circumstances. I suppose we all know old bachelors who have plenty of money for marriage but they have not enough courage, and they make, "I can't afford it" a mere excuse. ”

“ You should never wash your face in very hot water. You should not go out in a wind without a veil, and you should never lace tightly if you wish to have a good complexion. When the face gets rough, as it is apt to do after a walk in the wind, a very little glycerine and rosewater or glycerine and cucumber will help to keep the face clear and soft. Cosmetics are undoubtedly a fertile cause of the bad complexions so common among the upper middle classes, and though by no means all cosmetics are harmful, you should be very careful what you put on your face. ”

“ This was a wise answer, for people should not marry if they are likely to have children who will be diseased in soul, mind or body. It is said that money is a root of evil, but it is not a bad thing to have a little bit of this root with us when we go shopping, and some of it is also required when we go marrying, unless we are to think that mortality is one of the effects of matrimony as a certain servant girl seems to have thought. ”

“ I want to avoid launching into expense, so I shall first of all deal with the doing up of old furniture, for in every house one finds what may be called derelicts, articles of furniture which have outwardly at least had their day, and yet like many an old weather-beaten craft there is a lot of good work still in them if one takes a little trouble and spends a little time in putting on a coat or two of paint and a little varnish. ”

“ His answer was, "I cannot recommend any sort, for if she is fair she will deceive you; if plain, you will dislike her. If she is poor she will ruin you; if rich, you will be her slave. If she is clever, she will despise you; if ignorant, she will bore you ”

“ And I think any one would find the road from Lisieux by Bernay, 20 miles, and on to Evreux, 36 miles, visiting there the celebrated cathedral, and then up straight north to the Seine, one of the prettiest roads. Vernon, 25 miles, is easily reached from Evreux, and few or many days can be happily spent along the ever changing and delightful scenery of the silvery Seine, while here and there one comes upon high chalk cliffs, honey-combed with caves, which are fitted with doors and windows, and which form the dwellings of many families. ”

“ Every girl will have a fair chance, and we have tried to plan so that no one will have to compete against others who in age—and for that reason possibly in information—are greatly superior to herself. ”

“ A patent tobacco tin with a lid is a useful thing to keep your paint in, as when not in use the lid will keep it air-tight, and your paint will keep for a long time if not exposed to the air. Cover the lead with oil and if it is in a pound tin the oil should be an inch or more above the lead. Stir up with a palette knife to allow the oil to mix with the white, and add a tablespoonful or so of turps, and in a few hours the white will become the consistency of cream. If you find it too thick add more oil and a little turps and the driers, and proceed to strain through a piece of muslin. ”

“ As to the age women should marry—I don't like to burn my fingers with that question. All I shall say is that if there are some of them—as it is said there are—not worth looking at after thirty years of age, there are quite as many not worth speaking to before that. Please yourself then, young man, only do not choose one who is either a child or an old woman. ”

“ A good house painter's brush which has been in use some time is the ideal tool, and if you can borrow or hire such a one do. A wide, flat hog, say three inches wide will do, but it will not hold the colour that a house painter's brush will, and the constant filling of it adds to the labour of painting. ”

“ Whether the peace should last, or whether it should speedily end, depended mainly on the will of one man, an ambitious and reckless despot, who cared not a jot what rivers of French and English blood he might cause to flow, nor how many thousands of French and English widows might break their hearts, so long only as he could indulge to the full his lust of conquest, and could obtain plenty of what he called "glory." ”

“ I wonder if she had ever seen a girl in "a decline." To me the dull purple cheeks and lips of advanced consumption are most ghastly. Other women strive after a dead white face, and poison themselves with arsenic to try to obtain it. ”

“ If you find after your first coat that there are any cracks or holes in the old paint take a little of the stiff white lead, and with a little driers added to it use it as putty and stop up any places, levelling it over smoothly with a knife. By the time your last coat is on such defects ought not to show. If you decide not to decorate your furniture, as I have shown in illustration, then instead of using paint for the last coat buy a tin of white, ivory or cream enamel and use to finish. The enamel is not so easy to get on as paint owing to its sticky nature. ”

“ Your brush should carry its colour so that you only have to use force enough to work the colour out on to your surface. You don't try to load the furniture with colour, but get on so much as easily passes from the brush to the wood. In filling your brush only dip the end into the paint, and then knock it against the side of pot or tin so as to distribute it through the hair and then it will not drop about when you use it. So many amateurs try to get a lot of colour on at once, and so get it on too thickly in places. ”

“ Then if a man has a small income he must choose for a wife a girl with a slender waste, not one, that is to say, who has made her waist small by health-destroying corsets, but one who can manage her husband's income with the least amount of waste. ”

“ A girl may not be able satisfactorily to answer all the questions—we shall be surprised if any one is able to do that. But if a Competitor cannot answer all let her answer as many as she can, remembering that to do a little well is much better than to do a great deal in a slipshod manner. ”

“ Of course I do not know, but I strongly suspect that every girl who has a good complexion is too careful of her appearance to need any of the crude hints that I can give to her less favoured sisters about improving their complexions. ”

“ Not, of course, that little boys and girls should be always thinking of and planning for marriage, but that their parents and guardians should remember that this is a fate in store for them, and that one day these children will have homes of their own which they will either curse or bless. ”

“ The colour red absorbs the violet rays of the sun, and therefore a red veil or a red parasol should be used by women who are very prone to become freckled. I am not going to say that a red parasol will entirely prevent freckling, but it does very materially lessen it.
Many persons, who would otherwise have a good complexion, are marred by what are called "birth-marks." These are of three kinds—moles, port wine stains and "spider nævi."
A mole that is small and not very disfiguring should be left severely alone. ”

“ They will not take pupils at the large manufactories, as it is not worth their while, but at some of the smaller places, I think, if a pupil was willing to pay a premium, she might get taken on. I spoke to one farmer who makes about four hundred to six hundred Camemberts daily in his small dairy, and he thought it was quite a possible plan. An intending pupil should provide herself with two thermometers, one to hang up in the dairy and one to test the heat of the milk. My own feeling inclines me to advise the taking up of the Pont Evêque cheeses more than the Camembert ”

“ Some of us who are married find that we have survived the operation and also that we require a certain amount of money to live upon, and therefore we can sympathise with the sensible girl who, having tried a rigorous love-in-a-cottage dietary gave it as her experience that a kiss and a cup of cold water make a poor breakfast. ”

“ When it is possible competitors will, at the foot of each answer, give the source from which their information is derived.
No; girls are not forbidden to ask their friends. In fact, the Competition may supply subjects for much useful and entertaining talk, and in this way be a real boon in many a friendly circle. ”

“ It is very seldom indeed that it is dangerous. It may be caused by anæmia. The second matter that you describe is not very uncommon. A large number of people when they go to the seaside are affected as you are. The freckles are undoubtedly caused by the sun, but it is uncertain what caused the "peeling." Possibly this is only partly due to the sun and partly due to wind. The best thing you could do for the condition is to apply a little glycerine and rose-water, or a little cold cream to the face and hands. Always wear a veil and gloves when you go out. ”

“ The beautiful shades of red and white which are admired by most persons are, however, impossible without good health. Late hours, indigestion, lack of exercise and the use of cosmetics will destroy a good complexion, and when once it has gone it is by no means easy to regain. ”

“ White paint can be bought ready mixed, either in tins or by the pound, and if you know a reliable decorator you might purchase some off him ready for use, but of course you have to pay him for his trouble, and what you buy in tins is not only much more expensive than if you mix it up yourself, but is often adulterated. ”

“ If you have a large and really disfiguring mole on your face have it removed by a surgeon. The younger you are the better will be the result of the operation. A minute scar will be left where the cut was made, but if the mole was removed early in life the scar will be a small linear mark often quite unnoticeable. These big moles are, in themselves, somewhat dangerous, for in elderly people they occasionally develop into cancers. ”

“ A careless servant may destroy things which, though not costly to buy, no money could replace to the owner. It seems that you have broken several things, and your mistress cannot afford to pay for so much carelessness and destruction of her property. ”

“ At the present time the general opinion seems to be that cancer is occasionally hereditary. When all sources of error are removed, as far as possible, it appears that it is very rarely hereditary, but that it is a disease that runs in one or two families—chiefly Jewish, which is strange, for cancer is uncommon among Jews as a race. ”