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diff --git a/old/53391-0.txt b/old/53391-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 8df41bd..0000000 --- a/old/53391-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5409 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Home Amusements, by M. E. W. Sherwood - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Home Amusements - -Author: M. E. W. Sherwood - -Release Date: October 28, 2016 [EBook #53391] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOME AMUSEMENTS *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Paul Clark and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) Last Edit of Project Info - - - - - - - - - -_ADVERTISEMENTS._ - - - MITCHELL, VANCE & CO. - 836 & 838 BROADWAY, - And 13th Street, NEW YORK, - - _Offer an Unequaled Assortment of_ - GAS FIXTURES, - IN CRYSTAL, GILT, BRONZE, AND DECORATIVE - PORCELAIN. - - FINE BRONZE AND MARBLE CLOCKS. - - MODERATOR AND OTHER LAMPS, - IN BRONZE, GILT, PORCELAIN, CLOISONNÉ, ETC. - - Elegant in Styles and in Greatest Variety. - - _A Cordial Invitation to all to examine our Stock._ - - - CHAS. E. BENTLEY, - (SUCCESSOR TO BENTLEY BROS.) - - Manufacturer of - DECORATIVE ART-NEEDLEWORK - In Crewel, Silk, and Floss. - NOVELTIES IN EMBROIDERIES, - - With Work Commenced and Materials to Finish. - Perforating Machines, Stamping Patterns, etc., etc. - - _Wholesale, 39 & 41 EAST 13th ST.,_ - _Retail, 854 BROADWAY._ - - FULL LINE OF MATERIALS USED IN FANCY-WORK. - - ALL THE NEWEST STITCHES TAUGHT IN PRIVATE LESSONS BY THOROUGH EXPERTS. - - STAMPING AND DESIGNING TO ORDER. - - _Send 3 cents for Catalogue._ - - - Gatherings from an Artist’s Portfolio. - - By JAMES E. FREEMAN. - - _One volume, 16mo._ _Cloth $1.25._ - -“The gifted American artist, Mr. James E. Freeman, who has for many -years been a resident of Rome, has brought together in this tasteful -little volume a number of sketches of the noted men of letters, -painters, sculptors, models, and other interesting personages whom he -has had an opportunity to study during the practice of his profession -abroad. Anecdotes and reminiscences of Thackeray, Hans Christian -Andersen, John Gibson, Vernet, Delaroche, Ivanoff, Gordon, the Princess -Borghese, Crawford, Thorwaldsen, and a crowd of equally famous -characters, are mingled with romantic and amusing passages from the -history of representatives of the upper classes of Italian society, -or of the humble ranks from which artists secure the models for their -statues and pictures.”--_New York Tribune._ - -“‘An Artist’s Portfolio’ is a charming book. The writer has gathered -incidents and reminiscences of some of the master writers, painters, -and sculptors, and woven them into a golden thread of story upon -which to string beautiful descriptions and delightful conversations. -He talks about Leslie, John Gibson, Thackeray, and that inimitable -writer, Father Prout (Mahony), in an irresistible manner.”--_New York -Independent._ - - New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street. - - - - - Appletons’ Home Books. - - HOME AMUSEMENTS. - - By M. E. W. S., - AUTHOR OF “AMENITIES OF HOME,” ETC. - - “There be some sports are painful; and their labour - Delight in them sets off.” - - “Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes, and groves; - And ye that on the sands with printless foot - Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him, - When he comes back!” - - I do invoke ye all. - - NEW YORK: - D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, - 1, 3, and 5 BOND STREET. - 1881. - - - - - COPYRIGHT BY - D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, - 1881. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - - I.--PREFATORY 5 - - II.--THE GARRET 7 - - III.--PRIVATE THEATRICALS, ETC. 9 - - IV.--TABLEAUX VIVANTS 20 - - V.--BRAIN GAMES 25 - - VI.--FORTUNE-TELLING 37 - - VII.--AMUSEMENTS FOR A RAINY DAY 45 - - VIII.--EMBROIDERY AND OTHER DECORATIVE ARTS 50 - - IX.--ETCHING 64 - - X.--LAWN TENNIS 67 - - XI.--GARDEN PARTIES 77 - - XII.--DANCING 86 - - XIII.--GARDENS AND FLOWER-STANDS 93 - - XIV.--CAGED BIRDS AND AVIARIES 104 - - XV.--PICNICS 112 - - XVI.--PLAYING WITH FIRE. CERAMICS 117 - - XVII.--ARCHERY 124 - - XVIII.--AMUSEMENTS FOR THE MIDDLE-AGED AND THE AGED 131 - - XIX.--THE PARLOR 135 - - XX.--THE KITCHEN 140 - - XXI.--THE FAMILY HORSE AND OTHER PETS 144 - - XXII.--IN CONCLUSION 148 - - - - -HOME AMUSEMENTS. - - - - -I. - -PREFATORY. - - -Goethe, in “Wilhelm Meister,” struck the key-note of the universal -underlying dramatic instinct. The boy begins to play the drama of life -with his puppets, and afterward exploits the wild dreams of youth in -the company of the strolling players. We are, indeed, all actors. We -all know how early the strutting soldier-instinct crops out, and how -soon the little girl assumes the cares of the amateur nursery. - - “I have learned from neighbor Nelly - What the girl’s doll-instinct means.” - -We begin early to play at living, until Life becomes too strong for us, -and, seizing us in merciless and severe grip, returns our condescension -by making of us the puppets with which the passing tragedy or comedy is -presented. With this idea in mind we have begun our little book with -the play in the garret--the humblest attempt at histrionics--and so -going on, still endeavoring to help those more ambitious artists who, -in remote and secluded spots, may essay to amuse themselves and others -by attempting the _rôle_ of a Cushman, a Wallack, a Sothern, a Booth, -or a Gilbert. - -Our subsequent task has been a more difficult one. To tell people how -to give all sorts of entertainments--in fact, to tell our intelligent -people how to do anything--is nearly as foolish a practice as to carry -coals to Newcastle, and implies that sort of conceit which Thackeray -so wittily suggests when, in his “Rebecca and Rowena,” he presents the -picture of a little imp painting the lily. It is hard to know where -to draw the line. It would be delightful to amuse--to help along with -the great business of making home happy--to tell a mother what to do -with her active young brood, and yet to avoid that dreadful bore of -mentioning to her something which she already knows a great deal better -than we do. - -The Scylla of barrenness and the Charybdis of garrulity are before any -author who tries to speak upon a familiar theme. Let us hope that, -through the kindness of our readers, we may not have wrecked our little -bark on either. - - - - -II. - -THE GARRET. - - -Happy the children who have inherited a garret! We mean the good -old country garret, wherein have been stowed away the accumulations -of many generations of careful housewives. The more worthless these -accumulations, the better for the children. An old aunt who saved all -the old bonnets, an old uncle who had a wardrobe of cast-off garments -to which he had appended the legend, - - “Too poor to wear, too good to give away--” - -these are the purveyors to the histrionic talents of nations yet -unborn. Old garrets are really the factories of History, Poetry, and -the Drama. - -Into such a garret crept the lame little Walter Scott, and what -did he not bring out of it! Talk of the lumber of a garret and the -accumulations of a house, and you mention to the thoughtful the gold -and diamond mines of a future literature. A bright boy or girl will -unearth many a pearl of price from those old trunks, those dilapidated -bureau-drawers, those piles of old love-letters, those garments of the -past, that broken-down guitar, that stringless violin, that too-reedy -flute. The taste for old furniture has rather emptied the garret of -its time-honored chairs and old clocks, but there is still in its -ghost-haunted corners quite enough goblin tapestry for the fancy of the -growing child. - -A country home is, of course, the most precious possession a child can -have--a country home in which his ancestors have lived for years, and -which has a large garret, a capacious cellar, and several barns. One -might wish that every child might be born in Salem or Plymouth, or near -one of those old settlements. But as that would be quite impossible, -considering the acres which we are compelled to cover as a nation, -we may as well see what can be done, in the way of Home Amusements, -with the garret as well as the parlor. The garret, in both town and -country, has been the earliest home of the legitimate drama since the -first youthful aspirant for histrionic honors strapped on the sock and -buskin. A good country barn has also been sometimes the scene not only -of the strolling but of the resident player. - - - - -III. - -PRIVATE THEATRICALS; ACTING PROVERBS AND CHARADES. - - -Wherever the amateur actor pitches his tent or erects his stage, he -must consider wisely the extraneous space behind the acting arena -necessary for his exits and entrances, and his theatrical properties. -In an ordinary house the back parlor, with two doors opening into the -dining-room, makes an ideal theatre; for the exits can be masked, and -the space is specially useful. One door opening into a large hall is -absolutely necessary, if no better arrangement can be made. The best -stage is, of course, like that of a theatre, with areas all around and -behind it, so that the actors have a space to retire into. This is -difficult in a parlor, unless it be a very large one. The difficulty, -however, has been and will be solved by the ingenious. Drawing up the -big sofa in front of the footlights, and arranging a pair of screens -and a curtain, has often served well for a parlor play. - -It is hardly necessary to say that all these arrangements for a play -depend, in the first place, on the requirements of the play itself and -its legitimate business, which may demand a table, a bureau, a piano, -a fireplace, etc. And here we would say to the youthful actor, Select -your play at first with a view to its requiring little change of scene, -and not much furniture. A young actor needs space; he is embarrassed by -too many chairs and tables. Then, again, choose a play which has so -much varied incident in it that it will, as it is said, “play itself.” -Of this branch of our subject we will treat later. - -The first thing to be built is the stage. Any carpenter will lay a few -stout boards on end-pieces, which are simply squared joists, and for -very little money will take away the boards and joists afterward; or -a permanent stage can be built for a few dollars. Sometimes ingenious -boys build their own stage with old boxes; but this is apt to be -dangerous. Very few families are without an old carpet, which will -serve for a stage-covering; and, if this is lacking, green baize is -very cheap. A whole stage-fitting--curtains and all--can be made of -green cambric; but it is better to have all the stuffs of woolen, for -the danger from fire is otherwise great. Footlights may be made of tin, -with pieces of candle put in; or a row of old bottles of equal height, -with candles stuck in the mouth, make a most admirable and very cheap -set of footlights. The mother, an elder brother, or some one with -judgment, should see to all these things, or the play may be spoiled by -an accident. - -The curtain is always a trouble. A light wooden frame should be made -by the carpenter; firm at the joints, and as high as the stage, to the -front part of which it should be attached. This frame forms three sides -of a square, and the curtain must be firmly nailed to the top-piece. -A stiff wire should be run along the lower edge of the curtain, and a -number of rings be attached to the back of it in squares--three rows -of four rings each, extending from top to bottom. Three cords are now -fastened to the wire, and, passing through the rings, are run over -three pulleys on the upper piece of the frame. It is well for all young -managers of garret theatres to get up one of these curtains, even if -they have to hire an upholsterer to help them. The draw-curtain never -works surely, and often hurts the _dénoûment_ of the play. In the case -of the drop-curtain which we have described, one person holds all the -ends of the cords, tied together; and, on pulling this, the curtain -goes up and down as if by magic, and rarely gets out of order, which is -a great gain. - -Now as for stage properties. Almost any household, or any -self-respecting garret, will hold enough of “things.” If it does -not, let the young actors exercise their ingenuity in making up, -with tinsel-paper and other cheap material, all that they will want. -Turnips, properly treated with a jackknife, have heretofore served for -Yorick’s skull in the great play of “Hamlet.” A boy who knows how to -paint can, on a white cotton background, with a pot of common black -paint, indicate a scene. If he be so fortunate as to know a kindly -theatrical manager who will let him for once go behind the scenes, he -will find that the most splendid effects are gained by a very small -outlay. - -As for the theatrical wardrobe, that is a very easy matter, if the -children have an indulgent and tasteful mother, who will help a little -and lend her old finery. - -A brigand’s costume (and brigands are very convenient theatrical -friends) is easily arranged. Procure a black felt hat, fastened up -with a shoe-buckle; a bow and a long feather; a jacket, on which Fanny -will sew some brass buttons; one of mamma’s or sister’s gay scarfs, -tied round the waist several times; an old pair of pantaloons, cut off -at the knee, and long stockings, tied up with scarlet ribbons; a pair -of pumps, with another pair of buckles, and any old pair of pistols, -dirks, or even carving-knives, stuck in the belt, and you have, at very -small expense, a fierce brigand of the Abruzzi. - -Girls’ dresses are still easier of attainment. But the great trouble in -the dressing of girls for their characters is the frequent inattention -to the time and style of the character. A young lady who plays the part -of Marie Antoinette must remember the enormous hoops which were a part -of the costume of the unlucky queen. She must not be content to merely -powder her hair. She must remember time, place, circumstance, and dress -herself accurately, if she wishes to produce a proper dress. A lady -once wore in the part of Helen of Troy, for private theatricals in New -York, a pair of high-heeled French slippers, with the classic _peplum_. -A gentleman of archæological tastes declared that he could not stay in -a house where such crimes were committed against historical accuracy! -She should have worn the classic sandal, of course--not modern black -slippers. - -The “make-up” of a character requires study and observation. In -the painting and shading of faces, adaptation of wigs, application -of mustaches and whiskers, there is much to be done. A box of -water-colors, a little chalk, camel’s-hair pencils, a saucer of rouge, -a burnt cork, and some India ink, all are useful. If these can not be -got, one burnt cork, aided by a little flour, will do it all. Mustaches -can be made by borrowing mamma’s old discarded artificial curls, -cutting them off to a proper length, and gumming them on the upper lip. -The hair of a good old Newfoundland dog has served this purpose. A very -pretty little mustache can be painted with India ink. However, if near -a barber or a hair-dresser--or, still better, a costumer--it is well to -get ready-made mustaches, which come of all colors, already gummed. If -the make-up of an old man is required, study a picture of an old face, -and trace on your own face with a camel’s-hair pencil and India ink the -wrinkles, the lines of an aged countenance. Make a wig of white cotton -if you can not hire one of gray hair. - -If a comic face is needed, stand before a glass and grin, _watch the -lines_ which the grin leaves, and trace them up with a reddish-brown -water-color. Put on rouge particularly about the nose and eyes. A -frown, a smile, a sneer, a simper, or a sad expression, can always be -painted by this process. The gayest face can be made sad by dropping a -line or two from the corners of the mouth and of the eyes. - -For a ferocious brigand, cork the eyebrows heavily, and bring them -together over the eyes. If you wish to produce emaciation or leanness, -cork under the eyes, and in the hollow of the cheek (or make a hollow), -and under the lower lip. To make up a pretty girl, even out of a young -man’s face, requires only some rouge and chalk and a blonde wig. There -should be also a powdering about the eyebrows, ears, and roots of the -hair. There should be a heavy coat of powder on the nose, and after -the rouge is put on, a shower of powder over that. All will wash off -without hurting the complexion. For a drunkard or a villain, purple -spots are painted on chin, cheek, forehead, and nose. - -The theatrical wardrobe, to be complete, should have several different -wigs, and as these can not be made well except by an artist in hair, we -recommend the actors to lay out all their spare cash on these adjuncts. -Having dressed for the part, the acting comes much more easily. No one -knows the effect of dress better than the real actor, who calls it “the -skin of the part.” - -The lines to be spoken should be committed most thoroughly to memory. -Without this no play can be a success. Each performer should write out -his own part, with the “cues,” or the words which come directly before -his own speeches, and commit the whole to memory. When the performer -hears the words of the cue, the words of his own part come to his lips -immediately. - -The exits and entrances, and what is known as “stage business,” are -always difficult to beginners. The necessity of closets, etc., in -a small stage, places to retire to, and the like, can be managed, -however, by screens, and these are so useful in all private theatricals -that one should be made, six feet high by three feet wide, hinged, and -covered with wall-paper, before any plays are attempted. - -We are describing the very cheapest and most unsophisticated private -theatricals--such as those which school-boys and girls could get up in -the country, or in a city basement or garret, with very little money -or help from their parents. And these are the ones which give the most -pleasure. Expensive and adroitly-conducted theatricals, in a city where -experts can be hired to do these things, have no lasting charm. It is, -as in all other things, _the amount of ourselves_ which we put into -anything which makes us enjoy private theatricals. And in a city, grown -people have the privilege of the best theatricals, beside which all -amateur efforts are lamentably tame. But a party of fresh young people, -full of the ichor of youth, can with the slightest help produce the -most delightful effects with very simple means. - -Young girls are too apt, in playing private theatricals, to sacrifice -character to prettiness. Now this is a fatal mistake. To dress a -part with finikin fineness, which is to be a representation of quite -different sorts of qualities, is poor art. Let them rather imitate Miss -Cushman’s rags in Meg Merrilies, or Bastian Le Page’s homely peasant -simplicity in Joan of Arc. Remember, the drama is the mirror of nature, -and should produce its strong outlines and its deep shadows. It is in -this realism that men surpass women. The college theatricals, in which -all parts are played by men, are by far the best. - -In selecting a play, amateurs should try and find one, as we have -said, which “plays itself.” They should not attempt those delicate and -very difficult plays which only great artists can make amusing. They -should select the play which is full of action and situation, like “The -Follies of a Night,” or “Everybody’s Friend.” The most commonplace -actors fail to spoil such plays as these; and there are for younger -performers hundreds of good plays, farces, and musical burlesques -to be found at every book-store. “Naval Engagements,” “A Cure for -the Fidgets,” “The Two Buzzards,” “Betsey Baker,” “Box and Cox,” “A -Regular Fix,” “Incompatibility of Temper,” “Ici l’on parle Français,” -“To oblige Benson,” are among the many which really help the amateur, -instead of crushing him. - -But no one who is not a first-rate actor should attempt “Two can play -at that Game,” “A Morning Call,” “A Happy Pair,” or any of those -beautiful French trifles which look so easy, and in the hands of good -actors are so charming, for they depend upon the most delicate shades -of acting to make them even passable. - -For those players of a larger growth, who attempt the very interesting -business of amateur theatricals on a more ambitious plane, we can -illustrate our meaning as to plays which “play themselves” by two -instances: - -“Ici l’on parle Français” gives the two amusing situations of a man -who is trying to speak French with the aid of a phrase-book, and the -counterpoise of a Frenchman who is trying to speak English in the same -fragmentary manner. Their mutual mistakes keep the house in a roar; and -almost any clever pair of young men can assume these two characters to -great advantage. They each have an eccentric character mapped out for -them, and very little shading is necessary. - -Again, for a very much more poetical and entirely different range of -part, but yet one which “plays itself,” we would suggest “Pygmalion -and Galatea,” Gilbert’s beautiful and poetical play. Here we have the -great novelty of a young lady disguised as a marble statue. She can be -“made up” with white powder and white merino drapery to look very like -a marble statue, and a powerful white lime-light should be thrown on -her from above. There is a tableau within a play to begin with, and -something novel and interesting. The marble statue, however, at the -very start becomes endowed with life, steps down from her pedestal, -walks forward to the footlights, talks, and receives the homage of a -lover. Now, almost any pretty and intelligent maiden can make this part -very interesting. She needs nothing but grace and a good memory to do -this Galatea well. The part plays itself. - -The same young actress could not do Lady Teazle--that delightful and -intricate bit of acting, so dependent upon stage tradition and stage -training that old theatre-goers say that in fifty years only five -actresses have done it well. Still less could she approach the heroine -in the “Morning Call” or the young wife in “Caste.” These parts demand -the long, severe stage training of an accomplished artist. The Galatea -is assisted by the novelty of the position, by the fact that every -young maid is a marble statue, in one sense, until Love makes her a -woman, so that each person may give a strikingly individual portrait; -and, above all, it is a play which is a new creation, and therefore -capable of a new interpretation. - -We do not advise amateurs to undertake Shakespeare, unless it be -“Katherine and Petruchio,” which is so gay and scolding that it -_almost_ plays itself. - -The very beautiful comedies of Robertson seem very easy when one sees -Mr. Wallack’s company play them; but they are very difficult for -amateurs. They depend upon the most delicate shading, the highest art, -and the neatest finish. - -The sterling old comedies--all excepting “The Rivals”--are almost -impossible, even those which are full of incident and full of costume. -Their quick movement seems to evade the player; and what is so terrible -to the listener as to endure even a second’s suspension in the “give -and take” of a comedy? “The Rivals,” strange to say, is a very good -play for amateurs. - -Boucicault’s farces and society plays run very well on the amateur -stage. Lady Gay Spanker is not a difficult part. Bulwer’s “Lady of -Lyons” should never be attempted by amateurs. It becomes mawkishly -sentimental in their hands. But Charles Reade’s “Still Waters run Deep” -is excellent for amateurs; and “Money” runs off rather more easily than -one would suppose. - -Amateurs are very fond of “A Wonderful Woman,” but we can not see -much in it. “The Wonder” is very picturesque. It is one of the plays -which plays itself; and the Spanish costumes are beautiful. The -famous comedies, “My Awful Dad,” “Woodcock’s Little Game,” and “The -Liar,” should be studied very thoroughly by observation and by book -before being attempted by amateurs. The “Little Game” has two very -hard parts to fill, Mrs. Colonel Carver and Woodcock; still it has -been done moderately well. For a parlor comedy, “The Happy Pair” is -a great favorite; and “Box and Cox” can be done by anybody, and is -always funny. Music helps along wonderfully, as witness the immortal -“Pinafore,” which has been played by amateurs to admiration for -hundreds of admiring audiences. - -A stage manager is indispensable. In getting up ambitious plays in -a city, which the courageous amateur sometimes attempts, an actor -from the theatre is generally hired to “coach” the neophytes. In the -country, some intelligent friend should do this, and he can properly -be arbitrary. It is a case for an absolute monarchy. The stage -manager must hear his company read the play over first, and tell John -faithfully if he is better fitted for the part of the lackey rather -than that of the lover. He must disabuse Seraphina of the belief that -she either looks or can play the _ingenu_, and relegate her to the part -of the housekeeper. We all have our natural and acquired capabilities -for various parts, and can do no other. - -Then, after reading the part, comes the rehearsal; and this is the -crucial test. The players must study, rehearse, rehearse, study, -and not be discouraged if they grow worse rather than better. There -is always a part lagging, and the dress rehearsal is invariably a -discouraging thing. But that is a most excellent and advantageous -discouragement if it inspire the actors to new efforts. Nothing can -spoil a private theatrical attempt like conceit and self-satisfaction. -The art is as difficult a one as playing on the violin; and, although -an amateur may learn to play pretty well, the distance between him and -a professional is as great as that between an amateur violinist and -Vieuxtemps. The amateur must remember this fact. - -“Acting proverbs” is an ingenious way of suggesting an idea by its -component parts rather than stating it outright. The parts are not -written, but merely talked over, and are often done by clever young -people on the spur of the moment. It is well, however, to consult -beforehand as to the argument of the play. The books are full of little -plays written upon such proverbs as “All is not Gold that Glitters,” -“Honor among Thieves,” “All is Fair in Love and War,” etc. But we -advise young people to take up less well-known proverbs, and to write -their own plays. They might learn one or two as a sort of exercise, but -the fresh outcrop of their own originality will be much better. The -same may be said with the acting of charades. - -A dramatic charade is a very ingenious thing, and a very neat little -play in four acts can be made from the word AB-DI-CATE. A B, of course, -presents a school scene. And at a watering place, if some witty man -or woman will represent the schoolmaster or schoolmistress, all the -pupils can be the grown men and women who are well known. The entrance -of a fashionable mamma, her instantaneous effect on the severity of the -teacher, the taking off the fool’s-cap from the head of Master Tommy, -who has been in disgrace--all will cause laughter and an opportunity -for local jokes. This is Act I. Di can be represented by the _dyeing_ -process of a barber who has to please many customers; or “The _die_ is -cast”; or an apposite allusion to Walter Scott’s “_Die_ Vernon”; or -some comico-tragico scene of “I can but _die_.” This is Act II. Cate, -to “_cater_,” “_Kate_”--for bad spelling is permitted--all these are -in order. This is Act III. The last act can be the splendid pageant of -a Turkish _Abdication_, in which a sultan abdicates in favor of his -son. All the camel’s-hair shawls, brilliant turbans, and jewelry of the -house and neighborhood can here be introduced with effect. - -Charades in which negroes, Irish or German people, or anybody with a -dialect, enter in and form a part, are very amusing if the boys of the -family have a genius for mimicry. Amateur minstrels are very funny. The -getting up of a party of white men as black men is, however, attended -with expense. The gift of singing a comic song is highly appreciated in -the family circle of amateur dramatists, and a little piece with songs -is very sure to be acceptable. - -If every member of the party will do what he can, without any -false shame, or any egotistical desire to outdo the others, if the -ready-witted will do what they can to help the slow-going, and if the -older members of the family will help along, these amusements will -cheer many a winter’s evening, many a long rainy week, and will improve -all who are connected with them; for memory and elocution, good manners -and a graceful bearing, are all included in the playing of charades, -proverbs, and the little dramas. - - - - -IV. - -TABLEAUX VIVANTS. - - -We now come to one of the most artistic of all Home Amusements--the -_Tableau vivant_. - -Lady Hamilton amused the people of her age, all over Europe, by playing -in a parlor very striking living pictures. All she asked was a corner -of the room, a heavy curtain behind her, and a few shawls and turbans. -Being a beautiful and graceful woman, with the dramatic instinct, she -gave imitations of celebrated statues and pictures, and was no doubt -aided by some very ingenious painting, which she knew how to apply to -her own fair face. The art she discovered is certainly worth trying in -the present age as an amusement. - -The preparations for good tableaux should be somewhat elaborate. A -vista should be built and lined with dark-colored cloth; lights should -fall from the top, sides, and front, so as to avoid shadows. The -groups should be striking, the colors clear, and the attitudes simple. -Sometimes there are such wonderful and unpremeditated effects from -these living pictures that artists hold up their hands in despair; more -often they are ruined by shadows; the lights are not well arranged, -and the whole effect lacks elevation and meaning. It is difficult to -arrange a crowded tableau, but it can be done. - -The principle of a picture--a pyramidal form--should be observed -closely in tableau. To secure this desirable object the persons in the -background must stand on elevations. Boxes covered with dark cloth, -so as to be unnoticeable, are the best of all devices, and the effect -of any object held up in the hand, as a scepter, a bird, a distaff, -or a wreath, must be carefully noted, as it may throw a shadow on the -picture in the background. There never was, or could be, a tableau -which did not have some weak spot, and these shadows are the faults -which most easily beguile; but they can be avoided. - -A group of Puritans make into many very striking pictures. The costume -is beautiful and becoming; red cloth can be laid on the table or floor -to set off the grays; and the many picturesque incidents in our early -history form very pleasing subjects. It is a beautiful dress for women -and a dignified one for men--that gray dress and high ruff, that -broad hat, and plain, long gown. A group of young people might take a -winter’s amusement out of reading up the Puritan annals, and giving at -the Academy or in their own homes a series of Puritan tableaux. - -A tableau can be given in parlors separated by folding-doors; but they -are not by any means as good as those for which a stage, vista and -footlights, flies and side-lights, are arranged. If there is a large -unused room, where these properties can stand, the result is very much -better. There should be a gauze curtain or one of black tarlatan, which -should have no seams in it, and this curtain should hang in front of -the stage all the time. The drop-curtain must be outside of this. The -gauze curtain serves as a sort of varnish to the picture, and adds to -the illusion. - -Although the pure white light of candles, gas, kerosene, or lime-light -is the best for tableaux, very pretty effects are produced by the -introduction of colored lights, such as can be produced by the use -of nitrate of strontia, chlorate of potash, sulphuret of antimony, -sulphur, oxymuriate of potassa, metallic arsenic, and pulverized -charcoal. Muriate of copper makes a bluish-green fire, and many other -colors can be obtained by a little study of chemistry. Here are some -simple recipes: - -To make a _red fire_.--Five ounces nitrate of strontia, dry, one and -a half ounces finely-powdered sulphur. Take five drachms chlorate -of potash and four drachms sulphuret of antimony and powder them -separately in a mortar; then mix them on paper, and, having mixed the -other ingredients, previously powdered, add these last, and rub the -whole together on paper. In use, mix a little spirits of wine with the -powder, and burn in a flat iron plate or pan. - -A _green fire_ may be made by powdering finely and mixing well thirteen -parts flour of sulphur, five parts oxymuriate of potassa, two parts -metallic arsenic, three parts pulverized charcoal, seventy-seven -parts nitrate of baryta; dry it carefully, powder, and mix the whole -thoroughly. A polished reflector fitted on one side of the pan in which -this is burned will concentrate the light and cast a brilliant green -luster on the figures. A bluish-green fire may be produced by burning -muriate of copper finely powdered and mixed with spirits of wine. These -fires smell unpleasantly in the drawing-room; and equally good effects -may almost always be produced by colored globes, if the light is not -needed too quickly. - -Sulphate of copper, when dissolved in water, will give a beautiful -_blue_ color. The common red cabbage gives three colors. Slice the -cabbage and pour boiling water on it; when cold, add a small quantity -of alum, and you have _purple_. Potash dissolved in the water will -give a brilliant _green_. A few drops of muriatic acid will turn the -cabbage-water into a _crimson_. - -Then, again, if a ghostly look be required, mix common salt with -spirits of wine in a metal cup and set it upon a wire frame over a -spirit-lamp. When the cup becomes heated, and the spirits of wine -ignite, the other lights in the room should be extinguished, and that -of the spirit-lamp shaded in some way. The result will be that the -whole group will become like the witches in Macbeth, - - “That look not like the inhabitants of the earth, - But yet are of it.” - -This burning of common salt produces a very weird effect. It seems -that salt has some other properties than the conservative, preserving, -hospitable kind of quality which legend and the daily needs of mankind -have ascribed to it. - -A very fine and artistic set of tableaux can be gotten up by reference -to such a great work as “Boydell’s Shakespeare,” if it happens to -be at hand. Also a study of fine engravings, such as one finds in -the “National Academy.” If these books are not attainable, almost -any pictorial magazine will furnish subjects. Or, if imagination is -consulted, construct a series out of Waverley, or from the but too -well known scenes of the French Revolution, or from George Eliot’s -delightful “Romola”--a book full of remarkable pictures, with the -additional charm of the old Florentine dress. Sometimes a very -impressive poem is given in tableaux, like Tennyson’s “Princess,” or, -the “Dream of Fair Women.” Then there are many artistic but rather -horrible surprises, as “The Head of John the Baptist,” which can be -“cut off” admirably by an intervening table, and so on; but nothing is -so good as a study of the fine groups of the best painters. - -Venetian scenes, from Titian’s and Tintoretto’s pictures, can be -admirably represented in tableaux. The Italian wealth of color is -always impressive; and as engravings of these pictures are attainable, -it is well to represent them. Roman scenes are very effective, and -especially as Alma Tadema arranges them for us, with his fine feeling -for the antique. - -The humor of Hogarth, aided as it is by the picturesque dress of his -day, can be represented in a tableau. But without some such aids -humor is generally lost in a tableau. There is not time for it. Some -of Darley’s groups, as, for instance, the illustrations of “Rip Van -Winkle,” are admirable, and would seem to contradict this statement, -for they are full of fun; but then--they are wonderfully well dressed. -That early Revolutionary dress, borrowed in part from the days of Queen -Anne, is very picturesque. - -If there is some one in the group whose fine sense of the proprieties -of art can be trusted, the allegorical can be attempted. But the danger -is that the allegorical in art is generally ridiculous. Faith, Hope, -and Charity, Mercy and Peace, are better anywhere than in pictures. - -The grotesque is always lost in a tableau, where there seems to be a -sort of æsthetic demand for the heroic, the refined, and the delicate. -A double action may be presented with very good effect; as in some -of those fancies of Retzsch and Ary Scheffer, where an angel bends -over a sleeping child, or a group, unknown to the actors in front, -is representing another picture behind. But the best effects are the -simplest. One should not attempt too much. The old example, called -“The Dull Lecture,” painted by Gilbert Stuart Newton, where a prosy -old philosopher is reading aloud to a pretty girl who is fast asleep, -is a case in point. That has been a favorite tableau for forty years, -nor are its charms yet done away with. Tableaux from Dickens have only -a moderate success, excepting, perhaps, the rather overdone “Christmas -Carol.” The dress is wanting in color and character. - -Tableaux in which animals are introduced are sometimes very effective, -if stuffed bears and lions and tigers can be hired from a museum. A -fine tableau was once composed, from a French print, of the Queen -of Sheba’s visit to Solomon; but the camel on which that lofty lady -arrived was a piece of scene-painting done by a very clever artist, and -it would be difficult to improvise one. - - - - -V. - -BRAIN GAMES. - - -We now come to the winter evening, and the pencil and paper. - -It is a delightful feature of our modern civilization that books are -very cheap, and that the poets are read by everybody. That would be -a very barren house where one did not find Scott, Byron, Goldsmith, -Longfellow, Tennyson, Browning, Bret Harte, and Jean Ingelow. Very few -boys and girls can reach the age of sixteen without having committed to -memory some immortal poem of one of these most popular poets. - -Therefore there would be no embarrassment if we asked the members of -any evening circle to write down three or four lines in the measure of -“Evangeline,” “Lady Clara Vere de Vere,” “The Corsair,” “The Traveler,” -“Marmion,” or “Hervé Riel,” “The Heathen Chinee,” or the pretty “Bird -Song” of Jean Ingelow. Not a parody only, however, but a parody -involving a certain idea or word. - -In the great year of Coggia’s comet this game was thus played, and a -young man was requested to speak of the comet in the style of “Mother -Goose.” The result was as follows: - - “Sing a song of Coggia-- - Comet in the sky! - Wonder if he’ll trouble us, - Whip up you or I! - When his tail is over, - Then begin to crow; - Four-and-twenty doctors, - Tell us all you know!” - -Another of the circle was directed to treat of the Wood Fire in the -measure of Tennyson’s “May Queen.” The result was the following: - - “If you’re snapping, snap out wisely, snap out wisely, burning wood! - You would not snap so wildly if your drying had been good. - Nor had I, sitting near you with the hearth-brush in my hand, - Have found no peace in sitting, for fear of burning brand.” - -This was declared to be too easy a game for such a wild and superfluous -supply of brains, and, therefore, the word _Poker_ was pronounced -to be an essential element of every future poem. Poor Browning and -Longfellow, Bret Harte and Walter Scott, were mercilessly spitted on -that poker. Much foolscap was spoiled, but much fun gained. Here is one -of the poker successes: - - -“AFTER BYRON, WITH A POKER; ALSO AFTER DRINKING FLIP. - - “Here, too, the Poker stands in brass! and fills - The air around with safety! We inhale - The ambrosial aspect which its heat instills - (Part of its immortality) to Flip - (That beer which is half drawn), within the cup - We breathe, and its deep secrets dip. - Who Flip can make--who cares where he may fail! - Before its wide success let Heliogabalus turn pale. - - “We drink, and turn away--we care not where! - Fuzzled, and drunk with porter, till the head - Reels with its fullness. There, for ever there, - Stand thou in triumph, Poker, strong and red! - We are thy captives, and thine ardor share. - Away! there need no words, no terms precise, - To say in loving accents, Flip-cup, thou art nice!” - -To this class of Home Amusements belongs also the famous game of -“Twenty Questions,” which was played so much at one time by the -Cambridge professors that they declared that any subject should be -reached in ten questions. The proper formula for this very intellectual -game is this: Two parties are formed, the questioners and the -answerers, the first having the privilege, after the word has been -chosen, to inquire-- - -“Is your subject animal, vegetable, or mineral?” - -“What is its size?” - -“To what age does it belong?” - -“Is it historical or natural?” - -“Is it ancient or modern?” - -“Is it a manufactured article?” etc. - -The number of subjects which are _none_ of these, or which _are all -three_, or which can not be defined in some way, is of course small. -Thus, a Blush, a Smile, a Tear, an Echo, an Avalanche, a Drought, are -all indescribable by the exact definitions of the above questions. But -the questioner soon arrives at this negative, and begins a new series. - -Perhaps one of the most puzzling of subjects is a “mummy.” It fulfills -certain conditions, but not others; and the final question, “What is -its use?” and the answer, “It is used for fuel,” though true--for the -Arabs cook their dinners by them--does not at all cover the ground -of the supposed use of a mummy. The shield of Achilles, the Hole in -the Wall through which Pyramus and Thisbe kissed, have been asked and -guessed! A Bat baffled even the most ingenious twenty questioners, -while the Parlor into which the Spider invited the Fly was guessed. - -It is a very intellectual and very amusing game, and those who play it -should be as honest as possible in their answers. If puns and wordy -equivoque are allowed, the game ceases to be legitimate. - -Among games requiring memory and attention we may mention “Cross -Purposes,” “The Horned Ambassador,” “I love my Love with an A,” -“The Game of the Ring” (arithmetical), “The Deaf Man,” “The Goose’s -History.” “Story Play” consists in putting a chosen word into a -narrative so cleverly that it will not be readily guessed, although -several people tell different stories with the chosen word several -times repeated. The best way to play this is to have some odd word -which is _not_ the word--like _Banana_--and use it several times; -yet one’s own consciousness of the right word will often betray the -story-teller. “The Dutch Conceit,” “My Lady’s Toilet,” “What is my -Thought like?” “Scheherazade’s Ransom” are very pretty, and may be -found in many Manuals of Games. This last deserves a description. - -Three of the company sustain the parts of the Sultan, the Vizier, and -the Princess Scheherazade. The Sultan takes his seat at the end of the -room, and the Vizier then leads the Princess before him, with her hands -bound behind her. The Vizier then makes a burlesque proclamation that -the Princess, having exhausted all her stories, is about to be punished -unless a sufficient ransom be offered. All the rest of the company -then advance in turn and propose enigmas, which must be solved by the -Sultan or Vizier; sing the first verse of a song, to which the Vizier -must answer with the second verse; or recite any well-known piece -of poetry in alternate lines with the Vizier. Forfeits must be paid -either by the company when successfully encountered by the Sultan or -Vizier, or by the Vizier when unable to respond to his opponents; and -the game goes on till the forfeits amount to any specified number on -either side. Should the company be victorious and obtain the greatest -number of forfeits, the Princess is released, and the Vizier has to -execute all the penalties that may be imposed upon him. If otherwise, -the Princess is led to execution. For this purpose she is blindfolded, -and seated on a low stool. The penalties for the forfeits, which should -be previously prepared, are written on slips of paper and put in a -basket, which she holds in her hands tied behind her. The owners of the -forfeits advance and draw each a slip of paper. As each person comes -forward, the Princess guesses who it is, and, if right, the person must -pay an additional forfeit, the penalty for which is to be exacted by -the Princess herself. When all the penalties have been distributed, the -hands and eyes of the Princess are released, and she then superintends -the execution of the various punishments that have been allotted to the -company. - -Another very good game is to send one of the company out, and as he -comes in again to address him as the supposed character of Napoleon, -a Russian emperor, Gustavus Adolphus, or some well-known character in -history or fiction. For instance, a young lady leaves the room, and as -she enters some one says: - -“Charming and noble heroine, most generous and most faithful! we are -glad to see you. How well you look, after all that has happened to you! -Burned alive? Yes, I should say so; and all that you suffered before! -How did you like wearing armor? and what do you think of ungrateful -kings? How was it at home before you left----? Did you really see those -visions? and how did St. ---- look? And, now that you are come back, -will you ever be so generous and noble as to fight for _any_ cause -except yourself?” - -Of course, the young lady knows that she is Joan of Arc. But it is not -necessary that character should be so plainly indicated, however, as in -this example. - -“The Echo” is another very pretty game. It is played by reciting some -little story, which Echo is supposed to interrupt whenever the narrator -pronounces certain words which recur frequently in his narrative. These -words relate to the profession or trade of him who is the subject of -the story. If, for example, the story is about a soldier, the words -which would recur the most frequently would naturally be “Uniform,” -“Gaiters,” “Chapeau bras,” “Musket,” “Plume,” “Pouch,” “Sword,” -“Saber,” “Gun,” “Knapsack,” “Belt,” “Sash,” “Cap,” “Powder-flask,” -“Accouterments,” and so on. Each one of the company, with the exception -of the person who tells the story, takes the name of Soldier, -Powder-flask, etc., except the name “Accouterments.” When the speaker -pronounces one of these words, he who has taken it for his name ought, -if the word has been said only once, to pronounce it twice; if it has -been said twice, to pronounce it once. When the word “Accouterments” is -uttered, the players--all except the soldier--ought to repeat again the -word “Accouterments” either once or twice. - -These games are amusing, as showing how defective a thing is memory, -and how apt, when under fire, to desert us. It is also very queer to -mark the difference of character exhibited by the players. The most -unexpected revelations are made. - -Another very funny game is “Confession by a Die,” played with cards and -dice. It would look at first like a parody on “Mother Church,” but it -is not so guilty. A person takes some blank cards, and, counting the -company, writes down a sin for each. The unlucky sinner when called -upon must not only confess, but, by throwing the dice also, confess as -many sins as they indicate, and do penance for them all. These can, -with a witty leader, be made very funny. - -“The Secretary” is another good game. The persons sit at a table with -square pieces of paper, and pencils, and each one writes his own -name, handing the paper, carefully folded down, to the Secretary, -who distributes them, saying “Character!” Then each one writes out -an imaginary character, hands it again to the Secretary, who says -“Future!” The papers are again distributed, and the writers forecast -the future. Of course, the Secretary throws in all sorts of other -questions, and, when the game is through, the papers are read. They -form a curious and heterogeneous piece of reading. Sometimes such -curious bits of character-reading crop out that one suspects and dreads -complicity. But, if it is honestly played, the game is amusing. - -Of Ruses and Catch-games, Practical Jokes, and all plays involving -mystification and mortification, we have a great abhorrence. They do -not belong to the class of Home Amusements. Let them be relegated -to that bad limbo of “college hazing,” and other ignoble tricks -which some people call fun. Far better the games which call for wit, -originality, and inspiration; which show knowledge, reading, and -a full _repertoire_; and a familiarity with all the three homely -studies--geography, arithmetic, and history, including natural history. -One of these games is called “The Traveler’s Tour,” and may be made -very interesting, if the leader is ingenious. It is played in this -way: One of the party announces himself the “Traveler.” He is given -an empty bag, and counters with numbers on are distributed among the -players. Thus, if twelve persons are playing, the numbers must count -up to twelve--a set of _ones_ to be given to one, _twos_ to two, and -so on. Then the Traveler asks for information about the places to -which he is going. The first person gives it, if he can; if not, the -second, and so on. If the Traveler considers it correct information, -or worthy of notice, he takes from the person one of his counters, -as a pledge of the obligation he is under to him. The next person in -order takes up the next question, and so on. After the Traveler reaches -his destination, he empties his bag, and sees to whom he has been -indebted for the greatest amount of information. He then makes him the -next Traveler. Of course, this opens the door for all sorts of witty -rejoinders, as the players choose to exaggerate the claims of certain -hotels, the geographical position of places, and the hits at such a -place as Long Branch, for instance, by describing it as an “inland -spot, very retired, where nobody goes,” etc., etc. Or it can be played -seriously, with the map of Europe or America in one’s memory. The -absurd way is, however, the favorite style with most, as in this wise: - -_Traveler._ “I am going to Newport this summer. Which is the best -route?” - -_Answer._ “Well, start by the Erie Railroad and try to form a junction -with the Pittsburg and Ohio.” - -_Trav._ “When shall I get there?” - -_An._ “If you take the Southern Pacific you may reach Newport before -the Fall River boat gets in” (sarcasm on the slowness of the boat). - -_Trav._ “How if I go by the Northern Pacific?” - -_An._ “Well, that is better than the _Wickford_ route.” - -Or _Trav._ says: “I want to go to San Francisco; how shall I start?” - -_An._ “Well, at the rate the Cunarders are going to Europe now, your -quickest way is to take the Gallia, and on reaching Liverpool to go to -India by the Overland Route, and so round the world.” - -The rhyming game is also very amusing. It is done in this way: - -_Speaker._ “I have a word that rhymes with _Game_.” - -_Interlocutor._ “Is it something statesmen crave?” - -_Sp._ “No, it is not _Fame_.” - -_In._ “Is it something that goes halt?” - -_Sp._ “No, it is not _Lame_.” - -_In._ “Is it something tigers need?” - -_Sp._ “No, it is not to _Tame_.” - -_In._ “Is it what we all would like?” - -_Sp._ “No, it is not _Good Name_.” - -_In._ “Is it to shoot at Duck?” - -_Sp._ “Yes, and that Duck to _maim_.” - -Such words as Nun, Thing, Fall, etc., which admit of many rhymes, are -very good ones to choose. The two who play it must be quick-witted and -read each other’s thoughts. - -The end rhymes, which the French like, are very ingenious.[A] Try -making a poem to fit these words, for instance, and you catch the idea: - - Town. Lay. Place. Long. Run. Fame. Rain. - Renown. May. Space. Wrong. Sun. Name. Train. - -The game of “Crambo,” in which each player has to write a noun on one -piece of paper and a question on another, is curious. As, for instance, -the drawer may get the noun “Mountain,” and the question, “Do you love -me?” he must write a sonnet or poem in which he answers the one and -brings in the other. - -The game of “Preferences” has had a long and a successful career. It is -a very good addition to Home Amusements to possess a blank-book lying -on the parlor-table, in which each guest should be asked to write out -answers to the following questions: - - Who is your favorite hero in history? - - Who is your favorite heroine in history? - - Who is your favorite king in history? - - Who is your favorite queen in history? - - What is your favorite male Christian name? - - What is your favorite female Christian name? - - What is your favorite flower? - - What is your favorite color? - - What is your favorite style of music? - - What is your favorite style of climate? - - What is your favorite amusement? - - What is your favorite study? - - What is your favorite exercise? - - What is your favorite book? - - What is your favorite game? etc., etc. - -These questions may be amplified according to the taste of the owner of -the book. - -These books are very common in English country houses, and the -statistics of favoritism have been taken. Napoleon Bonaparte, even in -the land of the Duke of Wellington, had the greatest number of admirers -as a hero; Mary, Queen of Scots, was the favorite queen in a majority -of instances; Lord Byron led off as a poet, and the names Edward and -Alice had the greatest number of votes as admired Christian names. Joan -of Arc is always ahead as a heroine. In America, after a five years’ -experience, a number of books were compared, and resulted in a close -tie between Washington and Napoleon as hero; between Charles X, of -Sweden, and Francis I as king; with Mary, Queen of Scots, far ahead -as queen; with Theodore and Mary as Christian names in advance. Yet -an occasional originality crops out in these “preferences,” and the -examination of the different opinions is always interesting. - -The game of Authors, especially when created by the persons who wish -to play it, is very interesting. The game can be bought, and is a -very common one, as, perhaps, everybody knows; but it can be rendered -uncommon by the preparation of the cards among the members of the -family. There are sixty-four cards to be prepared, with each the name -of a popular author, and any three of his works. The entire set is -numbered from one to sixty-four. Any four cards containing the name -and works of the same author form a book. Thus, “Henry W. Longfellow, -‘Hyperion,’ ‘Evangeline,’ ‘New England Tragedies,’” would form one set. -As the shuffling and distribution of these cards, and the plan of also -drawing from a pile in the middle of the table, creates the greatest -uncertainty as to the whereabouts of a certain card, much amusement -can be derived in the effort to make a book. The cards must be equally -distributed one at a time, beginning at the left of the dealer. The -players then arrange their cards in the hand. If one finds four of a -kind, he immediately declares a book, and lays it face downward on -the table; and then, if holding one of the “Longfellow’s,” he will -say “Evangeline.” He can ask any other player for “Hyperion.” After -receiving either the card or a negative answer, the next player to the -left goes on with his play. Players can only call for such cards as -belong to books of which they hold a portion. Should a player call for -a card which he already holds, that card is forfeited to the person -of whom it was called. The caller always finds the name of the card -he wants among those printed in small type; the person of whom it is -called finds it in large type at the top. - -This game may be made very useful by using the names of kings and -queens, and the learned men of their reigns, instead of authors. It is -a very good way to study history. The popes can be utilized, with their -attendant great men, and by playing the game for a season the dates and -the events of some obscure period of history will be effectually fixed -in the memory. - -As the numbers affixed to the cards may be purely arbitrary, the count -at the end will fluctuate with remarkable impartiality; thus, the -Dickens cards may count but one, while Tupper will be named sixteen; -Carlyle can be two, while Artemus Ward shall be sixty. This is made -very amusing sometimes. King Henry VIII, who set no small store by -himself, can be made to count very little in the kingly game, while the -poor Edward IV may have a higher numeral than he was allowed in life. - - - - -VI. - -FORTUNE-TELLING. - - -We now come to that game which interests old and young. None are so -apathetic but that they relish a look behind the dark curtain. The -apple-paring in the fire, the roasted chestnut and the raisin, the -fire-back and the stars, have been interrogated since time began. -The pack of cards, the tea-cup, the dream-book, the board with the -mystic numbers, and the Bible and Key, have been consulted from time -immemorial. The makers of games have given in their statistics, and -they declare that there are no cards or games so sure of selling well -as those which foretell the Future. - -Now a very pretty Home Amusement is to cultivate, without believing -much in them, the innocent sciences of palmistry and of fortune-telling. -Several years ago this led to the making of a very pretty book -by Mrs. Gilman, of South Carolina--a poetical and very harmless -fortune-teller--made up of lines from the poets. The young ladies of -the period used to draw as future husbands: “A professor, and a log -cabin in the West”; “a lord, and a castle”; “a merchant prince”; “an -irresolute and an obstinate fool”; “a well-favored gentleman,” and so -on, the good fortunes being in great advance of the bad ones. It was a -popular work, and amused many a tea-party. - -Many people, since the advent of Spiritualism, have amused themselves -with that wonderful toy, “Planchette,” and other curious caprices of -mind-reading, clairvoyance, table-tipping, and knocks. The Key, which -seems to possess strong magnetic powers, and all the performances which -the unbeliever calls “nonsense,” or worse, and which the believing -call “manifestations,” are also interesting; but we can not recommend -this sort of tampering with nervous and exciting pleasure, as it has -undoubtedly sometimes unhinged the most truly innocent minds. Such -investigations should be left to strong and sober men, and should be -approached in a very philosophical spirit, or not at all. - -There can be no harm, however, in a playful consultation of the leaves -of the daisy, the four-leaved clover, the fortunate black cat who -brings us luck, the moon over the right shoulder, the oracular “You -shall travel over land and sea”--believing in all the good fortune, -but in none of the bad. The salt should be carefully thrown over -the left shoulder, if spilled, and all the Fates and Fairies should -be propitiated. It gives delightful variety to life to know all the -superstitions and the lore of old nurses and grandmothers. Did we -follow them back, we should find that they each had a poetical origin. -We all like to believe that we can enumerate on our fingers the false -friends, the enemies; but we may hope that the world could not hold the -admirers and the friends whom one four-leaved clover or one black cat -had given us--or promised us. To be sure, “we had dreamed of snakes, -and that meant enemies.” But, after all, are not enemies next best to -friends? They give us consequences, and who that is worth anything was -ever without them? That would be a very colorless individual who should -go through life without an enemy. - -The riches which are hidden in a fortune-telling set of cards -(although like Peter Goldthwaite’s treasure) are very real and -comforting while they last. They are endless, they have few really -trying responsibilities attached, they can not be taxed, they are -absolutely where thieves can not break through and steal. They are so -satisfactory, which real wealth never is; they buy everything we want; -they go farther than any real fortune could go; they are our real and -personal estate, and our poetical dreams; our Lamp of Aladdin, and -our Chemical Bank. They are gained without hurting anybody; they are -dug out of the ground without painful backache or bloodshed; they are -inherited without stain, and can be spent without fear of profligacy. -Of what other fortune can we say as much? - -It would be an unending theme to try to make a catalogue of the -superstitions of all nations. The Irish, with their wild belief in -fairies, that _Leprechaun_--the little man in red, who, if you can -catch him, will make you happy and prosperous for ever after; who has -such a strange relationship to humanity that at birth and death the -Leprechaun must be tended by a mortal! to read, as they do--these -imaginative people--a sermon in every stone; to see luck beneath the -four-leaved clover, and to hang a legend on every bush; to follow the -more spiritually-minded Scotchman in his second sight, who holds that - - “Coming events cast their shadows before.” - -A very learned book has been written on the “Superstitions of Wales” -alone. Eloquent and poetic are the people who have invented the -Banshee, the Brownie (or domestic fairy who does all the work). The -more tragic and less loving superstitions of Italy teach that the “evil -eye” is always to be dreaded. The Breton superstitions are as wild as -the sea-gust which sweeps from their coast. All these are subjects of -profound interest to those who read the great subject of race, from -ethnology, folk-lore, and ballads. The superstitions of a people tell -their innermost characteristics, and are thus profoundly interesting. - -The French have, however, tabularized fortune-telling for us. Their -peculiar ability in arranging ceremonials and _fêtes_, and their -undoubted genius for tactics and strategy, show that they are able to -foresee events with unusual clearness. Their ingenuity in all technical -contrivances is an additional testimony in the same direction, and we -are not surprised that they have here, as is their wont, given us the -practical help which we need in fortune-telling. Mlle. Lenormand, the -sorceress who prophesied to Napoleon his greatness, and to many of the -princes and great men of France their downfall and their misfortunes, -has left us thirty-six cards (to be bought at any book-store), wherein -we can read the decrees of fate. Her preface says, “Thousands of -noblemen did then acknowledge her great talent already during her -lifetime, and did often confess that her method was full of truth and -exactness.” Lenormand was a very clever sibyl; she had great ingenuity; -she throws in enough of the inevitable bad, and finds enough of the -possible good, to at least amuse those who consult her oracles. Whether -we have confidence or faith in the divination, we can not but look for -the lucky cards. In this game “The Cavalier” is a messenger of good -fortune, and, if not surrounded by unlucky cards, brings good news, -which the person may expect either from his own house or from abroad. -This will, however, not take place immediately, but some time after. - -“The Clover Leaf” is a harbinger of good news, but if surrounded by -clouds it indicates great pain; but if No. 2 lies near No. 26 or 28, -the pain will be of short duration, and will soon change to a happy -issue. - -“The Ship,” the symbol of commerce, signifies great wealth, which will -be acquired by trade or inheritance. If near to the person, it means an -early journey. - -“The House” is a certain sign of success and prosperity, and although -the present position of the person may be disagreeable, yet the future -will be bright and happy. If this card lies in the center of the cards -under the person, this is a hint to beware of those who surround him. - -“A Tree,” if distant from the person, signifies good health. Nine -trees, of different cards together, leave no doubt about the -realization of all reasonable wishes. - -“Clouds”: if their clear side is turned toward the person, it is a -lucky sign; with the dark side turned toward the person, something -disagreeable will soon happen. - -“A Serpent” is a sign of misfortune, the extent of which depends -upon the greater or smaller distance from the person; it is followed -invariably by deceit, infidelity, and sorrow. - -“A Coffin,” very near to the person, means, without any doubt, -dangerous diseases, death, or total loss of fortune; more distant from -the person, the card is less dangerous. - -“The Nosegay” means much happiness in every respect. - -“The Scythe” indicates great danger, which will only be avoided if -lucky cards surround him. - -“The Rod” means quarrels in the family, domestic afflictions, want of -peace among married persons, fever, and protracted illness. - -“The Birds” mean hardship to be overcome, but of short duration; -distant from the person, they mean the accomplishment of a pleasant -journey. - -These are descriptions of a few of the picture-cards with which Mlle. -Lenormand tells fortunes still, although she has gone to the land of -certainty, and has herself found out if her symbols and emblems, and -her combinations, really did draw aside the curtain of the future with -invisible strings. We advise all our readers to possess themselves of -her “Fortune-telling Cards” if they wish to become amateur sibyls. - -The cup of tea, and the mysterious wanderings of the grounds around the -cup, so long the favorite medium of the sibyl, seems to be an English -superstition. It fits itself to the old crone domesticity of the -Anglo-Saxon humble home, rather than to the more out-of-door romance of -the Spaniards and the Italians; and yet the most out-of-door people in -the world--the gypsies--use it as a means of discerning the future. - -The cup should be filled with a weak infusion of tea--grounds and -all--and then carefully turning the cup toward one, the tea should be -carefully turned out, waving the cup so skillfully that the tea-leaves -are dispersed over the surface of the cup. Happy the maid who can turn -out the tea without spilling the leaves. If one drop of tea is left in -the cup it will mean--a tear. - -These grounds, or tea-leaves, have been used from the earliest days as -the alphabet of the Parcæ. Before Chinese tea was brought to England -the old fortune-tellers made some sort of a brew out of powdered herbs, -which left their mark on the cup. We can understand how that sinuous -serpent who has had so much to do with our destiny, as a synonym of -evil, can be pictured or “visualized” by such a process; but where the -sibyl finds the light-haired young man crossing a river, where she -finds gold and where trouble, we must leave to the interpreters. - -That most interesting of sibyls, “Norna of the Fitful Head,” used -molten lead as a means of interpreting the unseen, and that can be done -by our modern soothsayers. - -Cards from early antiquity have been used to tell fortunes. The Queen -of Hearts is the heroine, and as about her group the propitious reds, -or the gloomy blacks, so may we hope for good or dread bad luck. The -Ace of Spades is a bearer of evil tidings; the King of Hearts, at the -right of the Queen, is the very Fortunatus himself. And now, who is -this goddess so often invoked? _Fortuna_, courted by all nations, was, -in Greek, _Tyche_, or the goddess of chance. She differed from Destiny -or Fate in so far that she worked without law, giving or taking at -her own good pleasure, and dispensing joy or sorrow indefinitely; her -symbols were those of mutability--a ball, a wheel, a pair of wings, -a rudder. The Romans affirmed that, when she entered their city, she -threw off her wings and shoes, and determined to live with them for -ever; she seems to have thought better of it, however. She was a sister -of the Parcæ, or Fates, those three who spin the thread of life, -measure it, and cut it off. Fortunatus, he of the inexhaustible purse -of gold and the wishing-cap, is too familiar a figure to the readers of -fairy tales to be mentioned here. - -And yet, although all nations have desired to propitiate Fortuna, her -high-priests and interpreters have ever been in disrepute. In Scotland, -that land of demonology and witchcraft, of second-sight, of dreamy -superstition, fortune-tellers were denounced as vagabonds, and their -punishment, by statute, was scourging and burning of the ears. We all -know how the knowledge of the “black art” was denounced in Germany; and -the witches of Salem, while they were approached at dead of night by a -pale magistrate who desired to have his fortune told, were, at his high -behest, tortured, pilloried, and hanged the next week, if the fortune -was a bad one, or, if being well foretold, was slow of accomplishment. -That half-belief which superstitious persons repose in their oracles, -shown in the case of the Indian, who breaks or maims his God if he does -not respond to his prayer, and in the remarkable story of Louis XI, of -France, who used to alternately pray to and abuse his leaden images of -saints, is repeated often in the history of fortune-telling. - -Mother Redcap, “a very witch,” was resorted to by hundreds of persons -in England as a fortune-teller; her image remains on a coin dated -1667. The well-known prophecies of her neighbor, Mother Shipton, have -come down to us. Poor Redcap had all the duckings and the batings -of the populace. She and her black cat were the favorite horrors of -the superstitious inhabitants of Kentish Town, and hundreds of men, -women, and children saw the devil come in state to carry her off. But -Mother Shipton (who was born at Knaresborough in the reign of Henry -VII) became the most popular of British prophets, and, although she -was supposed to have sold her soul to the Old Gentleman, she yet died -in her bed decently and in order at an extreme old age. So Fortuna -is capricious, even in her treatment of her votaries. It is not -strange that “Palmistry” should have taken higher ground than mere -fortune-telling, and indeed the lines of the hand will seem to map out -character, and perhaps destiny, with some accuracy. The books say that -the lines running through the palm indicate will or indecision, force -or weakness, quickness or slowness; indeed, all which makes character -and fate. We are the arbiters of at least a part of our fortune. - -The power to tell fortunes by the hand can be learned from any of -the French books on palmistry, and there are one or two little -English translations. It can be sufficiently curious and varied to -amuse the home circle, and so long as it is done for that purpose, -fortune-telling can do no harm. - -But the moment we rise above the idea that the beans, the tea-grounds, -the black cat, the cards, or the lines in the palm, are but blind -guides, making the most palpable mistakes, then the tampering with the -curtain becomes dangerous, and we had better leave the future alone. - - - - -VII. - -AMUSEMENTS FOR A RAINY DAY. - - -It may seem an impeachment of the taste of our readers to have lingered -so long on the lesser lights of games and fortune-telling as “Home -Amusements,” when we have before us the great world of decorative art: -æsthetic embroidery, dinner-card designing, china painting, the making -of screens, and the thousand and one devices by which the modern family -can amuse itself. - -The making of screens is an amusement which occupies the whole family -most profitably for a rainy day, even if it is to be only the cutting -out of pictures from the illustrated newspapers, and the subsequent -arrangement of them in curious conjunction on a white cotton or muslin -background. The use of screens has dawned upon the American mind within -a few years. They are delightful in a dining-room to keep off a draught -or to hide a closet-door. They break up a too long room admirably. -They are very useful in a bedroom to shut off the washstand and bath; -and they are very comforting to the invalid, as a protection to his -easy-chair against insidious breezes. - -Of course, those of satin or linen, embroidered by a skillful hand; -those painted on canvas by the best painters of to-day; those from -China and Japan--are the screens of the opulent. Very pretty paper -screens may be bought at the shops for three or four dollars. But -those on which a group of pictures are to be pasted are the cheapest -and most amusing of any. And do not go and buy highly-glazed pictures -for the purpose. If you do, the screen looks like a valentine. But -cut out the pictures from old copies of the “London Illustrated -News,” “Punch,” “Harper’s Weekly,” “Harper’s Bazaar,” and the English -“Graphic,” paste them thickly one upon another, and you have a curious -and most interesting mosaic. A lady in 1876, the Centennial year, made -a very beautiful screen of fashion plates from the ordinary magazines -of the period. Already (1881) these fashions look very antiquated, -and the screen is becoming historically valuable. The effect of these -delicately-colored pictures, put on as thickly as possible over the -white muslin, has an effect like a festal procession, and is very -pretty. - -The medium used for adhering the pictures is common flour paste, the -pictures being also washed over the outside with the same, and all the -edges effectually fastened down, the cotton cloth to which they are -applied being tightly stretched over a wooden frame. When domestic -paste is made, the material is frequently injured by scorching, or by -the addition of too much water. Good paste, when spread on paper, will -not strike through it like water, but will remain on the surface, like -butter on a piece of bread. To make paste of a superior quality, that -will not spoil when kept in a cool place for several months, it is -necessary to add dissolved alum as a preservative. When a few quarts -are required, dissolve a dessert-spoonful of alum in two quarts of -tepid water. Put the water in a tin pail that will hold six or eight -quarts, as the flour of which the paste is made will expand greatly -while it is boiling. As soon as the tepid water has cooled, stir in -good rye or wheat flour, until the liquid has the consistency of cream. -See that every lump of flour is crushed before placing the vessel -over the fire. To prevent scorching the paste, place over the fire a -dish-kettle or wash-boiler, partly filled with water, and set the tin -pail containing the material for paste in the water, permitting the -bottom to rest on a few large nails or pebbles, to prevent excessive -heat. Now add a teaspoonful of powdered resin, a few cloves to flavor -the paste, and let it cook until the paste has become as thick as -“Graham mush,” when it will be ready for use. Keep it in a tight jar, -and it will last for a long time. If too thick, add cold water, and -stir it thoroughly. Such paste will hold almost as well as glue. - -The famous picture-books of Walter Crane make a very pretty frieze for -screens; the artists of the family sometimes paint a frieze. In these -days of dadoes the screens are often made with dado, wainscot, and -frieze in three different colored papers, so that there are three tiers -of background for the pictures, if the maker desires to leave spaces -between them. The cutting out of the pictures is an amusing occupation -for all the family on a rainy day. - -This making of screens sometimes leads to another very attractive -work for a rainy day--the preparation for a fancy dress ball. This, -in a lonely country house, far away from the chance of any outward -amusement, has often cheated a fortnight’s bad weather of its -heart-depressing qualities. - -As we have not the stores of old armor, old brocade and satin, powdered -wigs, and costumes of the different reigns, which may be supposed from -modern English novels to be the property of every English mansion, -we must call upon taste and upon our national faculty of invention -to help us in this dilemma. The country store will give us black and -white tarlatan, chintz, cotton flannel (a most excellent medium), and, -indeed, flannels of all sorts. Black lace, jewelry, and flowers are in -every lady’s trunk, and, with some stiff linings and _appliqué_ chintz -flowers, an old silk can be made into a priceless brocade. - -Let us take a Venetian dress first. We will have King _Pantelon_, -the Lord of Misrule, in black with scarlet shirt and three-cornered -hat, and attended by his gay and dissolute crew. We will have the -_Illustrissimi_, wearing the dress of the ancient Venetian nobility, -scarlet cloaks, and long bag wigs, mightily disdainful; the _Chiozotti_ -in black velvet, wide lace collars, and high cloth caps, adorned with -artificial flowers--they shall shower _confetti_ and make jokes; we -shall have dominoes and masks, Egyptians and Neapolitans in velvet, -with scarlet caps and stockings, clapping castanets; we shall have -Armenians, Levant merchants and sailors, Turks in caftans, Greeks and -Dalmatians, regular-featured Mussulmans, Hindoos with jet-black hair, -and Malay Lascars in many-colored turbans, fez, and scarf; grinning -soot-black negroes, Polish Jews in furred caps and long coats, Magyars -in Hessians and pelisses; Bohemian nurses in Czechen costume, a colored -handkerchief in the hair; dark-eyed young _bourgeoises_ in coquettish -black veils; elegant ladies in velvet and point lace; the gondolier, -in his picturesque sailor costume and broad sash; the Finland peasant, -with short skirts, long-dangling ear-rings, and silver pins; the -Maltese with her _fazzoletto_; an old _Contadino_, with short velveteen -knee-breeches, gaiters, and colored cotton umbrella; priests all -in black gown, shovel hat, and black silk stockings; dashing naval -officers; the _Guardia Nazionale_, and weather-beaten fishermen with -bronzed faces and red Phrygian cap. We shall have Lord Byron, pale and -melancholy, and picturesque Masaniello; the patriarchs of the Greek -Church; the Spanish beauties, the Swiss peasant, the German Mädchen; -the madcap Harlequin dress of a Spanish princess. Then there will be -all the seasons--winter, for instance, in tulle, swansdown, and spun -glass; the Marie Antoinettes, in pink brocade with long, square trains -and trimmings of Marabout feathers; the lovely Georgian costume, a -Seville gypsy, a Russian peasant; a flower-girl, a Nymph; Night and -Day; Spanish students and Flemish boors; Pages of Queen Blanche of -Castile; the beautiful white uniform of the _Dragon de Villars_; a -gothic costume; Charlemagne and his Paladins. In short--“the Carnival -of Venice.” All this was done, and well done, at a country house and -the adjacent village (a village of not more than fifteen hundred -inhabitants), and for very little money, only a few years ago. - -The business is done if one only _thinks he can do it_; and there -are numbers enough to work at it. A boarding-school holiday, a -watering-place, a large town bent on “getting up something” for -charity, should have one such home behind it, where a natural-born -leader will set the whole thing going, and the picturesque shores of -Italy will give up their delights to some western town, some inland -village, some quiet and decorous hamlet of New England, where all the -inhabitants are dying of _ennui_. - -But here, from the pictures of our screen, which have suggested all -this, we have been led off from Decorative Art into the business of -giving a ball! We have been entertaining a motley crowd indeed! - - “The day was dull, and dark, and dreary, - It rained, and the rain was never weary.” - -But see! how we have cheated the clouds! The rainy fortnight has been -the most dissipated season possible--all owing to our happy device of -getting up a fancy ball--one of the very many pleasant thoughts which -have grown out of screens and screen-making. - - - - -VIII. - -EMBROIDERY AND OTHER DECORATIVE ARTS. - - -Let us return to our three legitimate decorations--our fan-painting, -our screen-painting, and our embroideries. - -Of Embroidery the world is full, and at its best estate. The foolish -old German wool-worsted work has gone out, and in its place we have -the very elaborate church needle-work of the Middle Ages, and, better -still, its tapestry. - -Some ingenious lady discovered that a plain piece of carpet made a very -good background for a rich curtain, after a few stitches of embroidery -were added; and it took but one step farther for another lady to find -in cotton velvet a good background for tapestry. The figures are -sketched on, and then the embroidery is artistically added, in the -style of the thirteenth century, when the characters were outlined by a -single line, which also designates the shape and folds of the garments. -These outlines are filled in with masses of stitches in two or three -shades of color. It is best, in making tapestry, to adhere to this -simplicity, as in attempting the later richness of the Gobelins the -work degenerates into a vulgar imitation. - -And in stitching away at the tapestry frame, the well-read mamma -might give her daughters a little sketch of the history of tapestry. -How once these artistic draperies were the adornments of those stone -castles which knew no plastered walls. How they caught the story of the -“Iliad” and “Odyssey,” the scenes from the Bible, the whole story of -mythology, the history of great wars. There hangs to-day, at Blenheim, -a perfect set of pictures of the victories of the great Duke of -Marlborough, done for him by the pious Belgian nuns. - -But those works anterior to the sixteenth century have the greatest -interest for the student of tapestry. Gold thread and silk were freely -used in their embellishment, and the effect is rather that of a mosaic -than of a picture. The greens are a study. They are produced with a -dark blue for the dark, and a yellow for the light tints. The wonderful -work of Matilda, called the Bayeux tapestry, wrought on brown linen; -the many historical pieces found in Italy, done in wools; and the -collections all over Europe, show a mastery over the needle which we -have lost. - -But it was left for Francis I, of France, to establish the most -renowned factory for these beautiful things, when at Fontainebleau -he founded what is now the _Gobelins_. The Gobelins were two Dutch -dyers of wool, celebrated for their brilliant scarlets, who eventually -gave their name to the art, and a “Gobelin” got to mean a tapestry. -Under Louis XIV the Luxurious this manufactory attained to highest -importance. They became the Herters and Marcottes of France. Colbert, -the Prime Minister, united under one head all the different bands of -workmen who were employed on furniture and decorations for the royal -palaces of France. To the weavers of carpets and tapestry were added -embroiderers, goldsmiths, wood-carvers, dyers, etc. Charles Lebrun -and his pupils were charged with furnishing designs. Lebrun himself -furnished over twenty-four hundred designs. In 1667 Louis himself -paid a visit of state to the manufactory, accompanied by Colbert, -and examined the magnificent carpets, tapestries, silver plate, and -carvings which formed the splendid “Manufactory of Furniture to the -Crown.” This great establishment, however, went down, as Louis lost -money; and after the death of Lebrun (he was father to the wretched -husband of pretty Madame Le Brun) it returned to its original function -of producing tapestry. These Gobelin tapestries grew to be the most -wonderful reproduction of pictures ever seen. - -But why, one pauses to ask, try to reproduce a picture “done in oils” -by the laborious process of needle-work or weaving? Why by process of -mosaic? It is one of the useless fancies of the human race. The old -tapestry, done by hand when there were no Gobelins, had a meaning and -a use. So has the modern tapestry done by hand. It is cheap, it is -individual, it is original; but for the Gobelins, that favorite luxury -of kings, we fail to see an excuse. However, it is very beautiful, -expensive, and rare. - -The process of tapestry weaving is called the “_haute lisse_,” the warp -being placed vertically, in contradistinction to the “_basse lisse_,” -a work with a horizontal warp, as is usual. The weaver stands with the -model which he is to copy behind him. As the surface of the tapestry -must present a perfectly smooth and even surface, all cuttings must -be made on the wrong side, for the workman never sees the beautiful -work he is doing. This has been made use of in poetry in the following -simile: - - “We work but blindly at the loom, - Nor see the pattern, save in parts; - Not ours to mark the gleam or bloom, - But labor on, with patient hearts. - - “But when the angels overhead - The soul-wrought tapestry unfurls, - Perhaps the tears we vainly shed - May glow amid the threads--like pearls. - - “The sorrow which has crushed the heart - A lily blooms, on azure field; - The strife in which we bore our part - In bud and flower may stand revealed.” - -The Gobelins used gold, silver, pearls, and everything decorative -in their work, at times, to produce effect. The first Revolution -brought destruction to the Gobelins, as it did to everything else, -and many choice pieces were burned. But it rose again under the first -Napoleon, David furnishing designs. In 1871 the Communists again set -fire to the manufactory, burning up the exhibition-room. Four hundred -thousand dollars was the estimated loss. But when we remember that -there perished tapestries of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, -including the “Acts of the Apostles” by Raphael, and the now valuable, -graceful, although affected, charming designs of Boucher, which were -wrought for Pompadour, besides historical portraits and scenes, this -seems a low estimate. The embroidery of the cartoons of Raphael, copies -of which may be seen at Hampton Court, were among the greatest of the -Gobelin triumphs. - -However, to those who have walked the galleries of Florence, who have -seen there the grand and beautiful specimens of embroidered tapestry of -the sixteenth century, there will ever be a charm about old tapestry -in the crude perspective and the sudden shading. It is this, perhaps, -which can be copied. It is this to which the modern tapestry worker -should address herself, if among the amusements of home she counts the -making of curtains, and wall-coverings, and _portières_, which shall -almost suggest the possibility that they once hung in a Florentine -or a Venetian palace. A dark background of some cheap woolen stuff, -a knowledge of drawing, the silk and woolen and cotton and linen -threads now brought to our hand so cheaply--will all furnish forth the -appliances for the making of tapestry hangings, such as a castellan of -the Middle Ages would not have despised. - -Painting on fans has become a very common Home Amusement, and it is -a very elegant one. The white silk fan is usually selected, although -linen, satin, and wood fans are all easy and pleasant mediums. -For painting on silk, some technical knowledge is necessary, some -gum-water, or sizing, to prevent the paint from spreading. For painting -on wood, one needs only the common water-color box, and a simple -knowledge of drawing and painting. Flowers, birds, and butterflies -are the favorite devices, monograms having gone out of fashion. It is -better, if possible, to have the silk stretched on a frame before it -is mounted on sticks, as one still sees the masterpieces of Boucher, -Watteau, and Greuze, not yet mounted, but framed, in galleries--far too -precious to mount, the Marchioness who ordered them having, perhaps, -fortunately forgotten her caprice that we may admire it. - -And what pretty and pleasing and altogether historical memories come -in with the fan! It was created in primeval ages. The Egyptian ladies -had them of lotus-leaves; the Greek and Roman ladies followed. The word -_flabellum_ occurs often in the Roman literature. They also had fans of -peacock-feathers, and of some expansive material painted in brilliant -colors. They were not made to open and shut like ours; that is a modern -invention. They were stiff, with long handles, for ladies were fanned -by their slaves. The _flabellifer_, or fan-bearer, was some young -attendant, generally male, whose common business it was to carry his -mistress’s fan. Would that were the fashion now! There is a Pompeian -painting of Cupid as the fan-bearer of Ariadne, and lamenting her -desertion by Theseus. In Queen Elizabeth’s day the fan was usually made -of feathers, like the fan still used in the East. The handle was richly -ornamented, and set with stones. A fashionable lady was never without -her fan, which was chained to her girdle by a jeweled chain. A satirist -of the day, Stephen Gosson, approves of the fan if used to drive away -flies and for cooling the skin. He, however, continues scornfully: - - “But seeing they were still in hand, - In house, in field, in church, in street, - In summer, winter, water, land, - In cold, in heat, in dry, in wet-- - I judge they are for wives such tools - As babies are in plays for fools.” - -Queen Elizabeth dropped a silver-handled fan into the moat at Amstead -Hall, which occasioned many madrigals. Sir Francis Drake presented to -his royal mistress a “fan of feathers, white and red, enameled with a -half-moon of mother-of-pearl; within that a half-moon garnished with -sparks of diamonds, and a few seed pearls on one side. Having her -Majesty’s picture within it, and on the reverse a crow.” Why not try, -young ladies, to paint a fan like this? Use silver dust to illustrate -“sparks of diamonds.” It would be a very pretty conceit. - -Poor Leicester gave, as his New Year’s gift, in 1574, “a fan of white -feathers set in a handle of gold, garnished on one side with two very -fair emeralds, and fully garnished with rubies and diamonds, and on -each side a white bear (his cognizance), and two pearls hanging, a lion -romping, with a white muzzled bear at his foot.” This fan would be -difficult to copy. It was evidently a love-token from poor, ill-used -Leicester to his haughty queen. Just before Christmas, in 1595, -Elizabeth went to Kew, dined at my Lord Keeper’s house, and there was -handed her a “fine fan, with a handle garnished with diamonds.” - -Fans in Shakespeare’s time seem to have been composed of -ostrich-feathers, and so on, stuck into handles. In “Love and Honor,” -by Sir William Davenant, we find the line, - - “All your plate, Vasco, is the silver handle of your old prisoner’s - fan.” - -Marston says: - - “Another, he - Her silver-handled fan would gladly be.” - -Forty pounds were often given for a fan in Elizabeth’s time. Bishop -Hall, in his “Satires,” in 1597, says: - - “While one piece pays her idle waiting man, - Or buys a hood, or silver-handled fan.” - -The fan of the Countess of Suffolk resembles a powder-puff. - -But gentlemen carried fans in those days. We find in a manuscript in -the Ashmolean Museum, at Oxford, the following allusion: “The gentlemen -then had prodigious fans, as is to be seen in old pictures, like that -instrument which is used to dry feathers, and it had a handle at least -one half as long, with which their daughters oftentimes were corrected. -Sir Edward Cole, Lord Chief Justice, rode the circuit with such a -fan, and William Dugdale told me he was witness of it.” The Earl of -Manchester also used such a fan. “But the fathers and mothers slasht -their daughters, in the time of their besom-discipline, when they were -perfect women.” Both fashions have happily passed away. Lords Chief -Justices no longer “slash” their daughters, nor do they carry fans. - -Of Catharine de Braganza (1664) we read that she and her maids walked -from Whitehall in procession to St. James’s Palace through the park -in glittering costume of silver lace in the bright morning sunshine. -Parasols being unknown in England at that era, the courtly belles used -the gigantic green shading-fans, which had been introduced by the -Queen and her Portuguese ladies, to shield their complexions from the -sun, when they did not wish wholly to obscure their charms by putting -on their masks. Both were in general use in this reign. The green -shading-fan is of Moorish origin, and for more than a century after -the marriage of Catharine of Braganza was considered an indispensable -luxury by our fair and stately ancestral dames, who used them in open -carriages, in the promenade, and at prayers, where they ostentatiously -screened their devotions from public view by spreading them before -their faces while they knelt. - -But China and Japan--the home of fans--are waiting to be let in! and -as soon as the India trade was opened by Catharine’s marriage treaty, -there entered the carved ivory fan, the light bamboo and palm-leaf, the -paper fan, the silk folding fan, mounted on beautiful Japanese sticks; -all came to England about this time. - -The vellum fans of France, on which Watteau first painted his -shepherdesses in hoop-petticoats, and swains in full-bottomed wigs, the -choice impossible goddesses of Boucher, with cupids and nymphs, all -came next. The history of fans, in France alone, would fill a volume; -and the neighboring kingdom of Spain, where the language of fans has -become a very serious study, would give us another volume. The fans of -tortoise-shell, enriched with jewels, are a favorite luxury of to-day. -Oliver Wendell Holmes has written a delightful poem on the “Origin -of the Fan.” In all our art loan collections there is, nowadays, an -exhibition of fans. The young student of fan-painting should strive to -see some of those of Watteau and of Boucher. Tiffany to-day turns out -some very beautiful specimens; and more than one of our artists could -admirably paint a fan or two as his contribution to Fan History. - -Nothing can be prettier as a Home Amusement than fan-painting, into -which much, but not too much, Japanese suggestion should creep. -Remember, young ladies, the plea of that poor stork, of which we have -seen so much, “that he be allowed to put down his other leg!” and spare -us the gilded bird, or give him to us but seldom. - -The art of Illumination, which is now studied occasionally by our -young ladies, goes wonderfully well into fan-painting. Perhaps it is -too good for it. Perhaps the same hand which can copy the old initial -letter which makes the missals rich and rare, should not condescend to -the application of the same delicate manipulation in order to ornament -a fan. But a fan of vellum, painted by an illuminator, is still a very -beautiful thing. - -A fan painted to illustrate a song or a ballad is a very pretty thing. -The common linen fan, on which a clever hand draws with pencil or -ink the story of “Mary, Mary, quite contrary,” becomes a precious -possession. And in these days of Kate Greenaways and Rosina Emmets we -ought to have many charming fan decorators. We should not object if -they selected the old-fashioned _maniéré_ goddesses, hovering cupids, -smiling nymphs, and _posé_ infants of Boucher, if they would give us -his cool, pearly grays, and sweet, soft rose tints. We have had enough -of realism and ugliness, disagreeable cat-tails, and harsh, dirty Joan -of Arcs. Let us have a little beauty by way of a change, at least on -our fans. Perhaps we could “live up to it.” - -Nor should we fail to note the pleasant possibility of all the -dinner-cards of a winter coming fresh from the hands of the young -ladies of the family. What infinite suggestion does one glimpse of -the garden on a June morning give to the fair artist! We can imagine -that some poetical member should thus summon and direct her sister and -brother artists in the following manner: - -“Do give me, Rosamond, that spray of sweet-brier which has caught a -bit of spider-web over its sweetest pink bud. Throw in that green -dragon-fly who is about to dart through the spider’s web. Give me, -Grace, that morning-glory cup with a yellow butterfly floating over it. -It will shame the best Venetian glass of Mrs. Crœsus. - -“You, Jane, paint me those dandelions, strewed by some millionaire -who is tired of his gold. You, Constance, take this volume of the old -poets, and hunt up appropriate mottoes to write under these fancies -from Nature. They shall illuminate our dinners of next winter, and -breathe the breath of Nature through our stiff conventionality. They -shall be our visitors from Titania. - -“Yes, a happy thought! You, Mary, who are so akin to the fairies, give -us your kindred. Paint me Oberon and Queen Mab giving a banquet in yon -lily. What a splendid and baronial apartment! How the golden shower -falls on their royal heads from those laden stamens! True courtiers -they, who never stop flattering. Suggest, if you can, with your brush, -the perfume of luxury which is born and bred in this royal pavilion. -Show me their delicate guests. Here comes the Butterfly, most _repandu_ -of beaus; and the Humming-bird, rich bachelor (hard to catch), who -dashes in for a look at the beauties, and away again--you can put him -in; he is a type for a dinner-card. - -“And you, Paul, who are of a strong, masculine, satirical turn, -shall make all these frogs and toads into guests in another set of -dinner-cards. Give me the frog as an Ambassador. I like his pouting -throat, his puffy air--it so simulates importance. How grand and -disdainful he is! I declare, he looks so like old Mr. ----! But do not -make a portrait; that would give offense. These toads are just about as -lively and as brilliant as the rank and file of diners-out. Put them -all in Worth dresses. Make the dishes on the table after Hawthorne’s -delicate fancy, the shapes of summer vegetables--squashes, cucumbers, -pea-pods. What is that pretty poem I remember about Pods? - - “‘The Monk’s-hood and the Shepherd’s-purse, - And the Poppy’s pepper-caster; - The Rose’s scarlet reticule, - And the somber box of the Aster; - Nasturtion’s biting brandy-flask, - Infused with a wholesome smart; - And the Milkweed’s knot of white floss silk, - Which will not come apart; - For next to the bud where the Poppy nods, - And the sweet Moss-rose--are the late Seed-pods.’” - -“Yes,” said Mary, “pods are very pretty.” - -Well, we have, perhaps, talked nonsense enough about the dinner-cards. -It is a pretty Home Amusement for the back piazza in summer, or for -the close and guarded warm home parlor of winter. Give us the results -of both, young ladies. And since all the wealthy chromo people are -offering such splendid sums for the Christmas, Easter, and even -advertising cards, why should not every group try their hand at -the--perhaps--thousand dollar prize? - -Here is a suggestion for a Christmas card: A group of young pagans -going out of the Catacombs are represented as strewing flowers -and singing gay songs. On the other side a group of austere early -Christians are coming in, singing hymns. Between the two a ray of -light comes down through a fissure of the roof and forms a cross. The -religion that is going out, the religion that is coming in--the cross -is between them. How much a clever hand could make of this moment of -time, so replete with interest to all the world! - -It would seem as if, with all the suggestions of Easter, that no one -would need anything but a paint-box and a pack of blank cards to -interest them at this season. We should have the World being hatched -out of an egg; the Saxon goddess Eastre; the Legend of the Stork; -the German children searching for the Nest in the garden where the -Easter-hen had laid her egg; the great Sunburst; the Sun dancing on -Easter morning; the games of mediæval England, when the women played -ball at one end of the town and the men at the other, and one fine -couple taking occasion to run away to get married on the sly. The -Easter Egg is full of meat for the artist. - -Growing out of these thoughts comes up the great and increasing taste -for symbolism, which finds its highest exponent in church embroidery. -The Catholic Church has ever been a good customer of the decorative art -schools. It needs and consumes or uses much embroidery. But the pious -women of Protestant communion now also deem it a duty and a pleasure -to decorate the altars of their beloved churches with much that is -symbolic and beautiful, and it is a favorite form of Home Amusement to -create an altar-cloth or some draperies which shall engross an hour or -two a day of the time of the best embroideresses in the family. - -[Illustration] - -The favorite symbols are these: The Cross in its various forms; the -monogram composed of the Greek letters Χ (_Ch_) and Ρ (_R_), the first -two in the name of CHRIST; the Apocalyptic letters Α and Ω (_Alpha_ -and _Omega_), often combined into a monogram; and the Greek characters -ΙΗΣ, the first three letters in the name ΙΗΣΟΥΣ (JESUS). This last -symbol is sometimes interpreted thus, in Latin: _J[esus], H[ominum] -S[alvator]_--JESUS, OF MEN THE SAVIOUR. - -Less frequent is the Fish, which was often used by the early Christians -as a kind of secret sign of their faith, the reason being that ΙΧΘΥΣ, -the Greek word for “fish,” contains the initials of an article of their -creed, thus: Ι[ησοῦς] Χ[ριστὸς], Θ[εοῦ] Υ[ιὸς], Σ[ωτὴρ]--_Jesus Christ, -God’s Son, the Saviour_. - -Besides the foregoing, we have the Ship, indicating the Church, as -typified by Noah’s Ark; the Anchor (always in close connection with -the ship) entwined with a dolphin--emblems of Fortitude, Faith, and -Hope; the Dove, occasionally bearing the olive-branch--the symbol of -Christian Charity and Meekness; the Phœnix and the Peacock--symbols of -Eternity; the Cock of Watchfulness; the Lyre of the Worship of God; the -Palm-branch--the heathen symbol of Victory, but in a Christian sense -that of Victory over Death; the Sheaf; the Bunch of Grapes, with other -Biblical signs and allusions, such as the Hart at the Brook; the Brazen -Serpent; the Ark of the Covenant; the Seven-branched Candlestick; the -Serpent in the Garden of Eden; and, lastly, the Cross, with flowers, -with a Crown, with a dove hovering about it. Many of these decorative -symbols suggest themselves to the contemplative mind, and enter into -the appropriate designs for ecclesiastical embroidery. - -This embroidery must be beautifully executed to be worthy of its -mission. The face of Christ has been so exquisitely wrought by some -devout embroideresses that it is like a painting. The work should be -done in a frame, and after considerable study. - -And how pleasant a study for a winter evening becomes the universal -subject of symbolism! We learn that the Eagle and the Thunderbolt were -the symbols of Power under pagan mythology, because the attributes of -the highest among the gods. The Rod, with the two serpents, indicated -Commerce, because Mercury, whose insignia they were, was the God -of Traffic. The Club, the emblem of Strength, was the attribute -of Hercules. The Griffin--most useful animal for all decorative -purposes--was sacred to Apollo. The symbol of the Sphinx was taken -from the fable of Œdipus. We are coming back to the Oriental method of -teaching by parables in all our new internal decoration; and for the -illuminator the knowledge is priceless. - -We mount up from these simpler emblems to a consideration of the -myths of Niobe, of Cupid and Psyche, of Orpheus captivating the wild -beasts of the forest by the sound of his lyre, in which was supposed -to lurk an analogy of the history of our Lord. Then we come down to -the materialism of the ancients, by which a river is symbolized by -a river-god; a city, by a goddess with a mural crown; night, by a -female figure with a torch and a star-bespangled robe; heaven, by -a male figure throwing a veil in an arched form over his head. All -these reflections, born of study and leading to it, are brought in -by the practical application now made in embroidery, painting, and -wall-decorations; and it would be well if, among the Home Amusements, -these graver studies went hand in hand with the pleasant duties of -embroidery and illuminating cards and books. - -Ole Bull says that he arrived at his wonderful effects upon the violin -less by manual practice than by meditation. It would be well to _think_ -much over the subject of art. He _practiced_ less and _thought_ more, -it is said, than other violinists. No occupation conduces more to -quiet and pleasant thought than that of embroidery. We want realism; -but we also want idealism. There is no sort of doubt that Art, once -admitted as a friend of the family, becomes the greatest instigator -of all sorts of Home Amusements, whether peeping out through the -paint-box, the needle, the embroidering-frame, the etching tool, or -the turpentine-bottle and the mineral paints which are to decorate the -plaque. Art is a sprite whose acquaintance should be cultivated. - - - - -IX. - -ETCHING. - - -“Good etching is the poetry of drawing, written down rapidly in -short-hand.” No doubt many a very orderly mamma, who has had a son or -daughter afflicted with a mania for etching, as so many young people -are now, has a vision of bath-tubs misappropriated to mixtures of -what looked very unlike clear water for cleansing purposes, and which -turned out to have plates of copper inside waiting for a bite of acid. -Such mammas will blame us for calling this a Home Amusement; they call -it--it is to be feared--“a Nuisance.” And yet what form of Art is -so near the highest forms of poetry? The etcher is next door to his -subject and his public. He has but the ink and himself between that -cloud-shadow and them. - -Etching is defined by some writers as the stenography of artistic -thought; a system of short-hand writing. Given a copper plate, an -etching-needle, and the proper knowledge--easily learned--of the action -of the acid, and etching can be done at home as well as crochet or -embroidery; and as only the simplest lines and the simplest curves are -admissible, the question of merit narrows itself to one of intelligent -combination. The best etching is that which combines the maximum of -speed with the maximum of expressional clearness; so that the landscape -may be written on a “monument less perishable than brass,” while the -thought is fresh and vivid. An artist can see in the short-hand of an -etching the glory of a sunset amid its clouds. - -Highly-elaborated drawings can also be reproduced by etchings as in -no other way, as we have learned by consulting the Magazines and Art -Periodicals of the day; and although a great etcher must have a genius -for it, many without genius can learn the art. An etching is not a -skeleton of a picture, but a _résumé_. Samuel Palmer, Frederic Taylor, -and Hook, in England; Jules Jacquemart, Flameny, Rajou, Boilvin, Le -Rat, Hédouin, Greux, Courtey, Laguillermie, and others, in France, have -taught us what a beautiful _résumé_ it is, not to speak of our own -gifted interpreters. The original etchers can produce strong sentiment -concerning life and nature; and although there is at first discouraging -uncertainty about results, yet there is a great chance of success. - -And the capriciousness of the thing is one of its charms, as it is, -like poetic expression, dependable upon personal thought and feeling. -It is like the success which attends upon a happy hit in poetry when -one makes a good etching, yet a certain amount of mechanical exactitude -can always be acquired. Let the boys and girls of a large family be -taught etching, and some one will turn out a clever and, perhaps, a -first-rate etcher. - -It is quite too unfortunate that our young girls in the country do not -take more to sketching from Nature, and to water-color. To sit at one’s -window, and, with a “few telling touches,” to give the trees in the -near foreground or the distant reach of the river, is the every-day -amusement of many an English lady. Our first efforts must be labored, -of course; we must patiently observe and copy what we see; but then -comes the attainment of ease, and our Home Amusements are infinitely -enriched. It is best to study at first in single tint until one gets -accustomed to form, and then to try varied colors. - -The mastery of the three primary colors--yellow, red, and blue--is the -Alpha and Omega of painting. As force of color is only to be obtained -by opposing one of these singly to all the others combined, they are -consequently all present whenever opposition occurs; and no picture -is perfectly pleasing without the presence of all three, even though -they may be subdued to the most solemn and sober undertones. Try the -effect of mixing the various colors, and preserve the mixtures you find -most useful. But this is an art which must be learned, and for the -elucidation of which we have no space here. - - - - -X. - -LAWN TENNIS. - - -And now we come to what, perhaps, our readers may imagine we might have -come to before--the out-of-door Games and Amusements which radiate from -Home. - -Lawn Tennis is so preëminently the game of the present moment that we -must give it a central place in our volume. - -It has great antiquity, of course. What fashionable game has not? Did -not Agrippina play at croquet, and Cleopatra institute “Les Graces”? We -know that Diana started archery, for isn’t she always drawn with a bow? -And yet she died an old maid. - -The Greeks styled court tennis as “_Sphairistike_,” and the Romans -called it _Pila_. It was the fashionable pastime of French and English -kings. Charles V, of France, and Henry V, VII, and VIII, of England, -were all good tennis players. Who does not remember the insult which -the French king put upon royal Harry? - -“Tennis balls! My lord?” - -It has been justly described as one of the most ancient games in -Christendom. It became in England the exclusive sport of the wealthy, -owing to the expense of erecting and maintaining covered courts; for in -early days we learn that it was always played within doors. Indeed, the -history of France is full of it. The unhappy Charles IX gave the order -for the massacre of St. Bartholomew from a tennis court. The French -Revolution was born in one. - -But to Major Walter Wingfield do we owe Lawn Tennis. This officer, -of the First Dragoon Guards, attempted, unsuccessfully, in 1874, to -procure a patent for a new game. He had taken the net out of doors, -and no longer did four walls encompass the players. A little pamphlet -is in existence now which fully establishes the claim of this officer -to the rightful title of inventor of lawn tennis. It is called “The -Major’s Game of Lawn Tennis; dedicated to the party assembled at -Nautelywdjin, December, 1873, by W. C. W.,” and is illustrated with -an elaborate pictorial diagram, containing a sketch of a lawn tennis -court, erected in a pretty garden. The only difference appreciable to -a modern player in the appearance of the court is that on one side it -is divided into two squares, and that on the other the server stands in -a diamond-shaped space. With slight exceptions, the game remains as it -did when Major Wingfield invented it. - -Now, in 1881, as in the days of Henry III, of England (about 1222), it -is a favorite with people of superior rank, well befitting the tastes -of the nobility, in the performance of which they could exercise a -commendable zeal, as also their whole physique; that is to say, it is -the fashion. The name undoubtedly comes from Tennois, in the French -district of Champagne, where balls are manufactured, and where, it is -claimed, the game was first introduced. - -A lawn, well clipped and evenly rolled, is the first requirement. The -courts should be laid rectangularly. The game should be gotten up with -reference to the wind, the net being set at right angles with it. Thus -will be avoided the tendency of air currents to carry the balls off or -beyond the bounds; and the play will be then against or with the wind. -In either case its influence can be more accurately calculated. - -The lines of boundary and division should be indicated upon the -greensward by means of whitewash, carefully laid on with brush and -string. The larger or double court should be seventy-eight feet -long by a width of thirty-six feet, inside measure; and the smaller -or single-handed court seventy-eight by twenty-seven feet, inside -measurement. As in the old game of tennis, so in this, the court is -divided across the middle and at right angles to its greatest length -by a net, so stretched and fastened to and by two posts, standing -three feet outside of the side lines, that the height of the net at -each post for the double-handed or larger court is four feet, and in -the middle over the half-court line three feet six inches; and for the -single-handed or smaller court four feet nine inches at the posts, and -three feet in the middle over the half-court line. These divisions are -termed courts, and are subdivided into half-courts by a line midway -between the side lines, and running parallel with the greatest length, -which is known as the half-court line. The four resulting half-courts -are respectively divided by a line on each side of the net, parallel -to and twenty-two feet from it. These two lines, called service lines, -it may be observed, will then be seventeen feet inside of the lines of -boundary for the short sides, known as base lines. - -The implements comprise net, posts, cordage, balls, and rackets. -The net should be taut, the posts straight, the ball hollow, of -India-rubber, covered with white cloth; in size, two inches and a half; -weight, two ounces. The racket is made with a frame of elastic wood, -with a webbing nicely wrought of catgut. The large-sized rackets made -at Philadelphia and in London are the best. - -The players don a costume of flannel for the purpose, wearing shoes of -canvas with corrugated rubber soles, without heels. Indeed, a chapter -might be written on lawn-tennis dresses, aprons, and other fancies. But -these--so they are loose and easy, and not long or cumbrous--may be -left to the fancy of the individual. - -The choice of sides and the right of serving are left to the chance of -toss, with the proviso that if the winner of the toss choose the right -to serve, the other player shall have the choice of sides, or _vice -versa_. - -There are double-handed, three-handed, and four-handed games, each -having some variations. In the double-handed game the players stand on -opposite sides of the net. The player who first delivers the ball is -called the server, and the other the striker-out. The first game having -been played, these interchange; the server becomes the striker-out, -and the striker-out the server; and so alternately in subsequent games -of the set. The server usually announces the intention to serve by -the interrogation “Ready?” If answered affirmatively, the service is -made, the server standing with one foot outside the base line, and from -any part of the base line of the right and left counts alternately, -beginning with the right. - -The ball so served is required to drop within the service line, -half-court line, and side line of the court which is diagonally -opposite to that from which it was served, where the service from the -base line must fall to be a service. If the ball served drops on or -beyond the service line, if it drops in the net, if it drops out of the -court, or on any of the lines which bound it, or if it drops in the -wrong court, or, if in attempting to serve, the server fails to strike -the ball, it is a “fault.” A fault can not be taken, but the ball must -be served the second time from the same court from which the fault was -served. - -Though the service is made if the striker-out is not ready, the service -shall be repeated, unless an attempt is made to return the service -on the part of the striker-out; which action shall be construed to -be equivalent to having been ready. No service is allowed to be -“volleyed”; that is, the striker-out is not allowed to return a service -while the ball is “on the fly,” or before a “bounce.” If such a return -of service is made, it counts a stroke for the server. - -To properly return a service, and have the ball in play, the ball is to -be played back over the net or between the posts before it has touched -the ground a second time, or while on the “first bounce,” and is -subject to no bounds other than the side and base lines of the court. -After the ball is in play, it may be struck while “on the fly,” but -policy would dictate a bounce to determine whether or not it has been -played beyond the boundaries of the court. A ball served, or in play, -may touch the net, and be a good service or return. If it touches the -top cord it is termed a “let,” a “life,” or a “net” ball, and need not -be played if it drops just inside the net, on the striker-out side, -but must be served again. Should it fall on the service side, or in -the wrong court on the striker-out side, or out of bounds, it counts a -“fault.” If, however, it falls so as to be a good return, in any stage -of the game other than service, it must be played as a good ball. In -play, if the striker-out volleys the service, or the ball in play, -or fails to return the service or the ball in play, or returns the -service or the ball in play so that it drops untouched by the server, -on or outside of any of the lines which bound the court, or if the -striker-out otherwise loses a stroke, as we will find presently, when -we consider the conditions common to both server and striker-out, the -server wins a stroke. - -In the handling of the racket the greatest dexterity may be attained -by careful study and practice. The twist ball is a feature of the game -which good players utilize to the greatest advantage. The uncertainty -of its bounces is calculated to outwit the most adroit. - -Since, under certain conditions of failure on the part of the -striker-out, the advantage in count of a stroke comes to the server, -so, too, the striker-out reaps a harvest if the server serves two -consecutive faults, or if the server fails to return the ball in play, -or if the server returns the ball in play so that it drops untouched -by the striker-out on or outside any of the lines which bound the -court, or if the server loses a stroke under conditions common to both -server and striker-out, in any of which cases the striker-out wins a -stroke. There are conditions under which each player loses a stroke: -If the service-ball, or ball in play, touches the player, or anything -worn or carried by him, except the racket in the act of striking; or -if the player strikes or touches the service-ball, or ball in play, -with the racket more than once; or if in returning the service-ball, or -ball in play, the player touches the net with any part of the body, or -with the racket, or with anything that is worn or carried; or if the -ball touches either of the posts; so if the player strikes the ball -before it has passed the net, or if the service-ball, or ball in play, -drops or falls upon a ball lying in either of the players’ courts. -So much for the conditions under which the players, either server or -striker-out, win or lose a stroke. - -As for scoring, there are two systems, each of which has its adherents. -Both should be understood, and the more thoroughly the player -understands both, the more at ease will he be in any company with whom -he may be playing. - -The first plan is this: The first stroke won counts for the player, -winning a score of fifteen; the second stroke won by the same player -counts for that player an additional score of fifteen, making a total -of thirty; the third stroke won counts for him an additional ten, -making the score forty. Unless there is a tie of forty, the fourth -stroke won by that player entitles him to score game. If, however, -both players have won three strokes, the score is called _deuce_, and -so on until at the score of deuce either player wins two consecutive -strokes, when the game is scored for that player. Six games constitute -a “set,” and the player who first wins them wins the set, unless in -case both players win five games, when the score is called “games-all,” -and the next game won by either player is scored advantage game for -that player. If the same player wins the next game he wins the set. If -he loses the next game, the score is again called “games-all”; and so -on until at the score of games-all either player wins two consecutive -games, when he wins the set. An exception to this is where an agreement -is entered into not to play advantage sets, but to decide the set by -one game after arriving at the score of games-all. In this mode of -scoring both the server and the striker-out are entitled to count, -while in the “alternative method” it is different. - -An alternative method of scoring is as follows, in which the -term “hand-in” is substituted for “server,” and “hand-out” for -“striker-out.” In this system the hand-in alone is able to score. If he -loses a stroke he becomes hand-out, and his opponent becomes hand-in, -and serves his turn. Fifteen points won constitutes the game. If both -players have won fourteen points, the game is set to three, and the -score called “love-all.” The hand-in continues to serve, and the player -who first scores three points wins the game. If he or his partner loses -a stroke, the other side shall be hand-in. During the remainder of the -game, when the first hand-in has been put out, his partner shall serve, -beginning from the court from which the last service was not delivered, -and when both partners have been put out, then the other side shall be -hand-in. - -The _hand-in_ shall deliver the service in accordance with the -restrictions mentioned for the server, and the opponents shall receive -the service alternately, each keeping the court which he originally -occupied. In all subsequent strokes the ball may be returned by either -partner on each side. The privilege of being hand-in two or more -successive times may be given. - -What has been said of double-handed games applies equally well to the -three-handed and four-handed games, except that in the three-handed -game the single player shall serve in every alternate game; in the -four-handed game the pair who have the right to serve in the first game -may decide which partner shall do so, and the opposing pair may decide -similarly for the second game. The partner of the player who served in -the first game shall serve in the third, and the partner of the player -who served in the second game shall serve in the fourth, and so on. In -the same order, in all the subsequent games of a set or series of sets, -the players shall take the service alternately throughout each game. - -No player shall receive or return a service delivered to his partner; -and the order of service and of striking-out once arranged, shall not -be altered; nor shall the strikers-out change courts to receive the -service before the end of the set. The players change sides at the -end of every set. When a series of sets is played, the player who was -server in the last game of one set shall be striker-out in the first -game of the next. - -A _Bisque_ is one stroke which may be claimed by the receiver of the -odds at any time during a set, except that a bisque may not be taken -after the service has been delivered. The server may not take a bisque -after a fault, but the striker-out may do so. One or more bisques may -be given in augmentation or diminution of other odds. - -_Half-fifteen_ is one stroke given at the beginning of the second and -every subsequent alternate game of a set. - -_Fifteen_ is one stroke given at the beginning of every game of a set. - -_Half-thirty_ is one stroke given at the beginning of the first game, -two strokes given at the beginning of the second game, and so on -alternately in all the subsequent games of a set. - -_Thirty_ is two strokes given at the beginning of every game of a set. - -_Half-forty_ is two strokes given at the beginning of the first game, -three strokes at the beginning of the second, and so on alternately in -all the subsequent games of the set. - -_Forty_ is three strokes given at the beginning of every game of a set. - -_Half-court_ is when the players having agreed into which court the -giver of the odds of half-court shall play, the latter loses a stroke -if the ball returned by him drops outside any of the lines which bound -that court. - -If the game is to be umpired, there should be one for each side of the -net, who shall call play at the beginning of a game, enforce the rules, -and be sole judge of fair and unfair play, each on his respective side -of the net. - -We have followed the best manual and the best opinions of the most -successful players in the above lengthy abstract for the use of -many who may be confused by the very absurd and contradictory rules -published in the newspapers. These rules of ours are those which were -used at Newport, at the Casino, during the famous Lawn Tournament of -1880, which was so very interesting, and in which the victors were -rewarded by prizes, from Mr. Bennett, of silver pitchers, bracelets, -and rings of great value; and which shows that the game of lawn tennis -deserved the high encomiums pronounced by Henry III on court tennis. It -is a game of science; it does exercise every part of the body; and it -requires skill, good temper, staying power, judgment, and activity. - -Of course, few groups at home will play with the science and skill -displayed in these tournaments; yet the rules of the game should be -thoroughly learned, and those who play scientifically will avoid those -contentions and disputes which spoil any game. - -It is better in giving a lawn-tennis party not to invite any but those -who really are devotees of the game. As to others, the absorption of -the players makes the party stupid. - - - - -XI. - -GARDEN PARTIES. - - -A Garden Party is a scene of enchantment, to which the lawn-tennis net -lends an additional grace and variety. - -A lady, living near a city, who chooses to inaugurate the season -with a garden party, sends her invitations a week in advance, and -carefully incloses a card telling her guests by what roads, railway -trains, and boats she may be reached. There must be no confusion or -lack of carriages at the end of the route. This hospitality must cover -everything. If the weather is fine and the distance short, ladies -generally drive to these entertainments in gay dresses and bonnets -or hats; for a garden party should look as much like a Watteau as -possible. Those who have had the advantage of seeing a garden party -in England--at Holland House, or at Buckingham Palace--will remember -how beautiful, finished, and gay a scene it is. A dressy parasol and a -fan hung at the side are indispensable. Ladies go either in the short -Amazonian dresses which the practice of games has made so fashionable, -or else in Worth’s last and most elegant trailing costumes, trusting to -the grass being dry, and knowing that they can sit on the piazza. - -Most garden-party givers provide band music, which plays either in -the grand hall, or at some spot on the lawn where dancing can go on. -But our turf is not like the English turf, and modern dancing is not -that springing measure of “young Bertine,” as she bounds under the -walnut-trees of Southern France. So we can not count in dancing as one -of the usual pleasures of a garden party, unless a broad platform is -laid; and this has in its way a very pretty effect under the trees or -in a large tent. - -A garden party is for all ages; so there should be in our uncertain -climate full provision for the elderly, who can not always spend an -afternoon on the lawn. Broad piazzas are very useful, and much enjoyed -by those who fear our treacherous malarious soil; and if one can not -exercise, it is better to sit on a piazza than on the grass. - -As it is always prone to rain at picnics and garden parties, it is -better to have the refreshments in the house. Gentlemen can run into -the banquet-hall and get a plate of lobster-salad for a lady, or the -waiters can carry the refreshments about; but for a sudden shower of -rain to descend on a table is miserable, and defeats the object of the -table. - -The lady of the house, however, often improvises a hasty roof or -covering for her table, put up by the carpenter at a small outlay, if -she is determined to have everything _al fresco_. Frozen coffee, iced -tea, punch, ice-cream croquets, salads, jellies, pressed turkey, potted -meats, _pâté de foie gras_, and sandwiches, are spread about. Do not -attempt any hot dishes at a garden party; they are out of place, and -impossible. - -The garden party is said to be “the first hybrid which unites society -and nature.” It is a growing taste with us Americans, and will grow -to be a greater favorite as time goes on. The popularity of the game -of archery, that relic of Robin Hood and Maid Marion, “that vision -of Lincoln green,” is now added to lawn tennis, croquet, and “_les -Graces_,” as one of the most popular features of a garden party. One -would think that there was nothing needed but the long sweep of the -trees upon the lawn, the vision of the distant city, the flower-beds -where geraniums and calceolaria vie in color, the “pleached alley,” -the buttercup in the grass, the Watteau-like picture, or groups of gay -ladies and gallant cavaliers causing “unpremeditated effects” to make -the garden party agreeable. But there is always a need of preparation -for such a party. No lady should trust alone to the power of her guests -to amuse themselves. She must do all that she can. - -In the country a lady can wait for a day of fine weather, and invite -her guests only the day before. The grounds and garden walks, the lawn -tennis, the archery, should all be in order, and a few chairs out -under the trees. It is not long before all her guests begin to enjoy -themselves in their own way, and to appreciate how much better a room -is made by the Gothic arch of the trees than by any sort of cramped-up -house arrangement. - -One can be more general in the invitations to a garden party than to -any other; for if people like each other they can group together, and -if they do not, they can easily walk apart, and get rid of each other. -In a small room, particularly at a dinner party, how two people can -glow and glare at each other, to the dreadful dismay of the hostess! -But at a garden party Nature is too wide for them. They are almost -obliged to seem amused whether they are or not. If not at all amused, -they can, however, go and sulk under the lilacs. Those fragrant -vegetables will not care whether the guests sulk or smile. - -Every country house has its charms. How lovely a garden party can be -given at the Locusts, when all those trees are in flower, sending down -the perfume of Araby the Blest! How the perfume reminds one of St. -John’s Gardens, Oxford, when the lime-trees are in bloom, and every -bough is laden with wild bees who make a music as they sip! A flowering -tree is the most perfect thing which Adam and Eve saved from Paradise. -One seems, in inhaling its fragrance, to have just recovered from a -long illness. - -The best part of a spring or early summer garden party is this first -whiff of fragrance which is brought to the disused or insulted nostril -of the city. We little know until then how the most aristocratic of the -senses has been wronged. We are always, and all of us, most patient -over our city bad smells until we go into the country and realize what -a bath of delicious odors a forest is--a bit of woodland, a field of -growing grass, one sweet cherry-tree, an apple-blossom, a violet! The -perfume of lilacs is the perfume of luxury; and the first scythe of -the mower, as it sweeps through the young blood of the grass, reveals -a thousand scent-bottles all uncorked for our use. A lady in giving -a garden party should always have a bundle of new-mown hay somewhere -about the grounds. - -And at the garden party what may not those who sit on the benches -remember? All the sprightly, frivolous, charming figures who seem to -have posed for us at garden parties in France! Philippe d’Orléans and -La Phalaris; the Duc de Richelieu and the Abbess de Chelles; Watteau, -Voltaire, Carmargo; Louis XV, with Pompadour and Du Barry; Boucher -and Vanloo; Greuze, Voisenon, and Bernis; Guimaud and Sophie Arnould; -Crébillon, the tragic, and Dancourt, the gay! What a faithful study of -naiads and hamadryads did the beautiful women of these days suggest to -the artists at those garden parties when, toward the end of spring, -the trees were in blossom, and the enameled grass carpeted the parks! -Madame de Pompadour asked Louis XV to come and see her hermitage! -Venus, Hebe, Diana the huntress, the three Graces--all were in order! -The garden itself a masterpiece of attraction--a wood, rather than a -garden--a wood peopled with statues, formed of verdant and odorous -arcades, of charming groves, of dark, shaded retreats. Such was the -_Parc aux Cerfs_. - -We think again of the rose-tree of Jean Jacques at the hermitage. We -remember Dufresny, who “studied love in his heart, grandeur at the -court, war upon the field of battle, architecture in the erection of -buildings, _nature in his garden_, music in song.” Dufresny was in love -with gardens. A poet, a friend of Louis XIV, he loved roses better than -any other luxury. It was he who broke up the stiff, old-fashioned plan -of gardening at Vincennes, and introduced Nature with her charming -caprices and fairy fantasies. It was he who said, “Cultivating roses, -marking out paths, planting hedges, is the same as writing sonnets, -songs, and poems.” In his day a picturesque garden was often called -“_à la Dufresny_.” Under his rule Versailles became what it is. “I -shall never be poor while I have a garden!” said he to the King. “I -find there the green vine-tendrils, or the roses, for a crown.” To him -verdant prospects were real terrestrial paradises. - -We can remember how the boy Florian gathered cherries, and forgot his -Greek and Latin! We remember him, in Voltaire’s garden, naming the -poppies after the faithless Trojans. The most beautiful he called -“Hector,” and then demolished him with a blow from his wooden sword. -Later, when he had grown up, still wandering in gardens, he wrote his -eclogues, poems, dramas, fables, and “Numa Pompilius.” His style has -all the tender freshness, the brilliancy, the perfume, the clear color, -of a “garden party.” It is an idyl of primroses and dandelions. - -We hardly think of Buffon at a garden party. (When Voltaire heard of -his “Natural History”--“Not so _natural_,” said the great wit.) The -laborious and tranquil life of the great author of the “Garden of -Plants” seems out of place at a garden party, and yet he lived and -wrote in a garden. He submitted Nature to a crucible, and tore a lily -to pieces to see of what it was made; and yet he brought together the -flowers and trees of all nations. We admire, but do not love Buffon. - -We cross the Channel and see, in imagination, the Princess Anne with -Lady Castlemaine and Miss Stuart, Lady Churchill, and all their -friends, loftily walking in the groves and alleys of Spring Gardens, -emerging into St. James’s Park. The glories of Bird-Cage Walk come -back to us. From these models did Colley Cibber get his “Lady Betty -Modish,” and what a pretty, stylish, affected model it was! Lovely -Lady Fitzhardinge was of the Princess’s party, and later, when Lady -Churchill became Duchess of Marlborough, what garden parties at -Blenheim! - -A garden party always brings back Lady Mary Wortley Montague, who left -many an account of those stately old-time gardens at Rome, Florence, -Naples, Genoa, Avignon--not to speak of the early adventures at -Twickenham, and later at Strawberry Hill. All England is a garden. The -garden party is possible anywhere. - -And the beautiful Duchess of Devonshire and Mrs. Crewe! How they adorn -a garden party! We almost see the splendid cream-colored horses of -George III drive up past Carleton Gardens, to proceed in solemn state -to St. James’s, as we hear the low, rippling laughter of the two -beauties in brocade. - -The Prince of Wales forgot his two hundred thousand pounds of debts as -he received the Buffs and Blues at a garden party, which began at noon -and continued all night, at Carleton House. The Duchess of Devonshire -was then lady paramount of the aristocratic whig circles, in which rank -and literature were blended with political aspirations. It was she who -canvassed for Fox, and allowed the butcher to kiss her for his vote; -and to her was paid the compliment, highly prized, by the link-boy who -asked if he “might light his pipe at her eyes.” These women seem to -have lived in garden parties. - -Sweet Madame de Sévigné, with her children, at _Les Rochers_, and later -at Paris, talking gayly under the trees of her garden, with Corneille, -Racine, Molière, La Fontaine, and Boileau, again wins us back across -the Channel, and back a hundred years or so. - -Garden parties have this advantage: they are like Madame de Staël’s -age--“not dated.” They are of all time. Madame de Sévigné’s garden -party comprised Pascal, Bourdaloue, Mascaron, Bossuet, the restless De -Retz, the Scotchman Montrose, La Rochefoucauld, Marshal Turenne, Le -Grand Colbert, and Condé. The ladies were the Duchess de Longueville, -the political _intrigante_ of the Fronde; the penitent La Vallière; -the heartless Maintenon; Madame de Montespan; the Comtesse d’Olonne, -daughter of Madame de Rambouillet, and one of the _Précieuses_; Madame -de La Fayette, the authoress of “Zaide.” Alas, and alas! we could -not get together such a garden party of to-day! No! not if we had a -fortnight’s time before us, and all the wealth of the Indies. - -Madame de Sévigné was that delightful combination--a beauty, a wit, and -a _femme d’esprit_. As an instance of the flattery to which even genius -stooped in speaking to a monarch who loved flattery and adulation more -than anything, she relates an answer made by Racine to Louis XIV when -that sovereign expressed his regret that the poet had not accompanied -the army in its last campaign. “Sire,” said Racine, “we had none but -town-clothes, and had ordered others to be made; but the places you -attacked were all taken before they could be finished.” “This,” adds -Madame de Sévigné, “was well received.” - -It is in her famous correspondence with her daughter that we find many -an account of a garden party, or a _fête_, which we should gladly have -seen, and which at our own garden parties we are glad to remember. Her -letters contain much talk on books, religion, philosophy, and politics; -on the frowns and smiles of the great monarch; the favor accorded to -this courtier, the disgrace of that; the marriage contracted, the -_bons mots_ circulated. But it is upon society that she is strongest. -She loved nature, too, in a Frenchwoman’s way. When she walked the -garden of her uncle, the Abbé, at Livry, or far away in the solitudes -of Brittany, she rejoiced in the song of the nightingale, in the change -of the leaf, in the glad freshness of the air. She is a poet, without -meaning it. Her garden-party letters are her best letters. - -Very stately must have been those garden parties at Wilton, when Ben -Jonson and Philip Massinger afforded amusement to the intellectual -great. The Masque, an entertainment of the rich and noble in the time -of Elizabeth and James I, called out the powers of these men. The -actors were people of the highest class, sometimes royal personages, -the masques always in the open air. Dancing and music were introduced. -These various actors learned their parts under the tutorship of the -Master of the Revels. Lawes composed music, to which the poetry -of Jonson was sung; and the scenes, decorations, and dresses were -contrived and executed by Inigo Jones. Certain great families copied -the example of the court, and ordered masques to be written, and played -at their own country-seats; calling in for the choruses the children -of the Chapel Royal, who were regularly trained to take their part -in masques. At Wilton, at Belvoir Castle, at Whitehall, at Windsor, -these charming but costly diversions were carried on. Ben Jonson might -have been heard scolding and working over these garden parties at -the house of the beautiful Mary Sidney, sister to the author of the -“Arcadia,” who was afterward Countess of Pembroke. She often gave these -entertainments at Wilton. She there received Queen Elizabeth, Walter -Raleigh, the Earl of Essex, Will Shakespeare, Spenser, and Cecil. -Philip Massinger was in her servants’ hall, a humble retainer. The -pious Countess, for her solemn hours, had Dr. Donne, most devoted of -servitors. The death of her noble brother, Philip Sidney, broke her -heart, and there were no more garden parties at Wilton. We all know -how Walter Scott has described these garden parties in “Kenilworth.” -Indeed, they make us rather out of love with our later attempts. - -Once in our own land a masque was attempted, the famous _Mischianza_ of -Major André, on the Delaware, at Philadelphia. Had not he and Arnold -gone out together in that rather sad way, we might like to tell of that -garden party, but we will skip it. - -After all, man was born, the race was started, in a garden. Adam and -Eve held the first garden party. What a pity that the serpent crawled -in! - - - - -XII. - -DANCING. - - -Dancing is so well known to all young people as a Home Amusement that -it seems perhaps _banale_ to describe it. A glance at the dances now -fashionable may, however, not be out of place. - -From the Virginia Reel to the German Cotillon is indeed a bound. -Our grandfathers were taught to dance the Pirouette, the delicate -Pigeon-wing--indeed, all the paces of the dance such as it was when -Vestris bounded before Louis XVI. When commanded to dance before him, -the dancer loftily replied: “The House of Vestris has always danced for -that of Bourbon.” - -Dancing then was an accomplishment. Who does not recollect seeing some -grandfather still “taking his steps”? Now at the most is permitted the -Galop, which has the needed element of jollity without coarseness. It -is _l’allegro_ of the ballroom. The Gambrinus Polka also lights up -the ballroom occasionally. With these vivacious exceptions, dancing -is reduced to the Waltz--_la valse à trois temps_--the various steps -of which consist of the Hop-Waltz, the Glide-Waltz, the Redowa, and -the Waltz proper. The Boston “Dip,” the “Racket,” and the “Society,” -are spurious. They are not taught by the best dancing masters. They -are “rowdy,” but some people, desirous of notoriety, do dance them at -the Charity Ball. As a famous dancing authority observes, “Did such a -style of dancing prevail, dancing must go down; its enemies would have -unanswerable arguments against it.” The dance of society is now quiet, -easy, natural, modest, and graceful. Those who would make it otherwise -must remember that they are copying the excesses of the _Bal Mabille_. - -The spurious dances mentioned above are ridiculed in “Punch” as the -“pivotal” dances. The Redowa is a pretty form of the Waltz. It is -composed of a step known as the _pas de basque_. Its movements are -indicated as a _fête à glissé_ and a _coupé dessous_; the feet, -however, are never raised from the floor. - -The Galop is a great favorite with the Swedes, Danes, and Russians; it -has a Viking force in it; while the Redowa reminds one of the graceful -Viennese, who dance it so well. The Mazourka, danced to the wild Polish -Mazourka measure, is a more poetical dance, and has many a poem written -to its honor; but it rarely appears seen at a fancy-dress ball. - -The German Cotillon, born many years ago in a Viennese palace to meet -the requirements of court etiquette, is now the favorite dance at home -and at balls, as a way of finishing the evening. Its favors, beginning -with flowers, ribbons, and bits of tinsel, have ripened into fans, -bracelets, gold scarf-pins, and pencil-cases, and many other things -even more expensive. Favors now often cost $5,000 for one fashionable -ball. So the German, thus conducted, can scarcely be called a Home -Amusement. - -To dance by the firelight to the music of the piano is a _Home_ -Amusement. And if there be a good old kitchen, with a hard floor, into -which a negro fiddler can be introduced, and where the _contra-danse_ -can be also added, and the evening can end with Virginia Reel--this is -a Home Amusement. The old-fashioned quadrilles, the Lancers--dances in -which old and young can join--these are home dances! - -“There is something so _conscientious_ about papa’s dancing,” said -a profane youth who was watching his estimable parent through the -decidedly complicated mazes of Money Musk. Youth will always laugh -at age when it attempts the accomplishments. That is a real dance, -however, when papa, mamma, and the children all join in, and when Jane, -aged seven, leads out grandpa. How Dickens luxuriates in Mr. Fizziwig’s -dancing at the Christmas supper in the “Christmas Carol”! Dickens could -never have made the “_German_” so pathetic or so funny! - -All fashion polishes off the edges, and causes an aristocratic icing -to form over the outside of any expression of jollity; so no wonder -that fashionable dancing has become a _glissé_. It would not be well -to attempt any gay dancing at a fashionable ball--that would look like -romping; but surely in the old kitchen, in the private parlor, at -Christmas, on birthdays, one is allowed to romp a little. - -The German is a dance of infinite variety, and a leader of original -fancy constructs new figures constantly. The Waltz, Galop, Redowa, and -Polka steps occur in its many changes. There is a slow walk in the -quadrille figures; a stately march; the bows and courtesies of the old -minuet; and, above all, the _tour de valse_, which is the means of -locomotion from place to place. The changeful exigencies of the various -figures lead the forty or fifty or the two hundred people to meet, -exchange greetings, dance with each other, change their geographical -position many times; and the Grand Army of the Republic did not have a -more varied scope. - -The Kaleidoscope is one of the prettiest figures. The four couples -perform a _tour de valse_, then form as for a quadrille; the next four -couples in order take positions behind the first four couples, each -of the latter couples facing the same as the couples in front. At a -signal from the leader, the ladies of the inner couples cross right -hands, move entirely round, and turn into places by giving left hands -to their partners; at the same time the outer couples waltz half round -to opposite places. At another signal, the inner couples waltz entirely -round, and finish facing outward; at the same time the outer couples -_chassé croisé_, and turn at corners with right hands, then _dechassé_, -and turn partners with left hands. _Valse générale_ with _vis-à-vis_. - -Another pretty figure is _La Corbeille, l’Anneau, et la Fleur_. The -first couple performs a _tour de valse_, after which the gentleman -presents the lady with a little basket containing a ring and a flower, -then resumes his seat. The lady presents the ring to one gentleman, the -flower to another, and the basket to a third. The gentleman to whom -she presents the ring selects a partner for himself; the gentleman -who receives the flower dances with the lady who presents it, while -the other gentleman holds the basket in his hand and dances alone. -Counterpart for the others in their order. - -_Le Miroir_ is another very pretty figure. The first couple performs -a _tour de valse_. The gentleman seats his lady upon a chair in the -middle of the room, and presents her with a small mirror. The leader -then selects a gentleman from the circle, and conducts him behind her -chair. The lady looks in the mirror, and if she decline the partner -offered, by turning the mirror over or shaking her head, the leader -continues to offer partners until the lady accepts. The gentlemen -refused return to their seats, or select partners and join in the -_valse_. - -_Le Cavalier Trompé_ is another favorite figure. Five or six couples -perform a _tour de valse_. They afterward place themselves in ranks -of two, one couple behind the other. The lady of the first gentleman -leaves him, and seeks a gentleman of another column. While this is -going on, the first gentleman must not look behind him. The first -lady and the gentleman whom she has selected separate and advance on -tiptoe on each side of the column, in order to deceive the gentleman -at the head, and endeavor to join each other for a waltz. If the first -gentleman is fortunate enough to seize his lady, he leads off in a -waltz. If not, he must remain at his post until he is able to take a -lady. The last gentleman remaining dances with the last lady. - -_Les Chaînes Continues_ is another good figure. The first four couples -perform a _tour de valse_. Each gentleman chooses a lady, and each lady -a gentleman. The gentlemen place themselves in line, and the ladies -form a line opposite. The first gentleman on the left gives his right -hand to the right hand of his lady, and turns entirely around with -her. He gives his left hand to the left hand of the next lady, while -his lady does the same with the next gentleman. The gentleman and lady -again meet, and turn with right hands, and then turn with left hands -the third lady and gentleman, and so on to the last couple. As soon -as the leader and his lady reach the fourth couple, the second couple -should start, so that there may be a continuous chain between the -ladies and gentlemen. When all have regained their original places in -line, they terminate the figure by a _tour de valse_. - -A very pretty figure, and easily furnished, is called _Les Drapeaux_. -Five or six duplicate sets of small flags of national or fancy devices -must be in readiness. The leader takes a flag of each pattern, and his -lady the duplicates; they perform a _tour de valse_. The conductor then -presents his flags to five or six ladies, and his lady presents the -corresponding flags to as many gentlemen. The gentlemen then seek the -ladies having the duplicates, and with them perform a _tour de valse_, -waving the flags as they dance. Repeated by all the couples. - -Another of the favorite combinations is _Les Rubans_. Six ribbons, each -about a yard in length, and of various colors, are attached to one end -of a stick about twenty-four inches in length; also a duplicate set of -ribbons, attached to another stick, must be in readiness. The first -couple perform a _tour de valse_, and then separate. The gentleman -takes one set of ribbons, and stops successively in front of the ladies -whom he desires to select to take part in the figure. Each of these -ladies rises, and takes hold of the loose end of a ribbon. The first -lady takes the other set of ribbons, bringing forward six gentlemen -in the same manner. The first couple conduct the ladies and gentlemen -toward each other, and each gentleman dances with the lady holding -the ribbon duplicate of his own. The first gentleman dances with his -partner. The figure is repeated by the other couples in their order. - -To give a German, a lady should have all the furniture removed from her -parlors, a crash spread over the carpet, and a set of folding-chairs -introduced for the couples to sit in. The great trouble of this -proceeding is what has led to the giving of Germans, in large cities, -at private balls or in public places. It is considered that all taking -part in a German are formally introduced, and upon no condition -whatever must a lady, so long as she remains in the German, refuse to -dance with any gentleman whom she may chance to receive as a partner. -Every American must learn that he should speak to every one whom he -meets in a friend’s house, if necessary, without an introduction, as -the friend’s house _is_ an introduction. So in the German, the very -fact that _guests are there_ is an introduction. - -In taking a review of the German we may as well say that, in a country -house, the making of the favors is a very pretty amusement. The ribbons -are easily bought at the village store. The same gold-paper and tinsel -which furnishes forth the private theatricals will do for the orders -and insignia, and the prettiest bouquets come from the garden. These -hastily-improvised home Germans are very amusing and very pretty. - -The laws of the German are, however, so strict, and so tiresome -occasionally, that a good many parties have abjured it, and now dance -some of its figures without a leader, and as sporadic attempts. A -leader for the German needs many of the same qualities as the leader -of an army. He must have a comprehensive glance, a quick ear and -eye, and a very great belief in himself. He must have the talent of -command, and make himself seen and felt. He must be full of resource -and quick-witted. With all these qualities he must have tact. It is no -easy matter to get two hundred dancers into all sorts of combinations, -to get them out of it, to offend nobody, but to produce that elegant -kaleidoscope which we call “the German.” - -The term _tour de valse_ is used technically, meaning that the couple -or couples performing it will execute the round dance designated by -the leader once around the room. Should the room be small, they make -a second tour. After the introductory _tour de valse_, care must be -taken by those who perform it not to select ladies and gentlemen from -each other, but from among those who are seated. When the leader claps -his hands to warn those who are prolonging the _valse_, they must -immediately cease dancing. - -The religious objection to dancing having almost died out, we recommend -all parents to have their children taught to dance. It is a necessary -thing toward physical culture. It is the most embarrassing thing -for a man later in life to find himself without the grace which -dancing brings. Nothing contributes so much to Home Amusement as the -informal dance. Nothing can be more innocent. If, in after-life, this -accomplishment leads to late hours and to reckless love of pleasure, we -must remember that all good things can be abused. - - - - -XIII. - -GARDENS AND FLOWER-STANDS. - - -The making of gardens is decidedly and judiciously conceded to be a -Home Amusement, and it is a pity that the new fashion of bedding-out -plants, which is so beautiful in our public parks and in the pleasure -grounds of the rich, should have seemed to so utterly do away with a -taste for the old-fashioned gardens of early English poetry--of Miss -Mitford, of every sweet New England dame of the early days, who had -her garden, with its “pretty posies,” and its bed of sweet marjoram, -lavender, and sage. It is, however, a hopeful sign to see in remote -country towns some effort to keep up the old-fashioned idea of a pretty -flower-plot, and there are always women who have the gift of making -flowers “blow” and grow in a quiet way. - -Yet science can help to bring the old-fashioned garden to perfection, -as well as to make those artificial beds of many-leaved coleus, -and steadier groups. Every garden design, every project of garden -furnishing, and every item of garden work, should be governed by this -consideration, that it is hard work to fight against Nature, and there -is seldom thus a conquest worth obtaining. Aim modestly to gain a -victory over the easily-cultivated native flowers at first, and you -will secure enjoyment. - -Fortunately, if gardening is pursued with earnestness, every soil and -every climate will be found to produce some flowers in rare beauty -and in unexpected luxuriance. Geometric plans, if well carried out, -are very pretty, and the amateur gardener should learn to mass her -geraniums, petunias, and pansies, her gladioli, roses, marigolds, and -poppies, so as to give a good and really splendid result of color. -Nature takes care to send us delicate, pale yellows and lilacs in -Spring in her sweet daffy-down-dilly, and the elegant _fleurs-de-lis_; -and the peonies come on mildly with pink and white before they dash -into red. Then come the Turkish carpets of the portulaca, and so on -until midsummer blazes with poppies, gladioli, and all the gorgeous -zinnias. These may all be found in the commonest garden, without -mentioning the larkspur, the mignonette, the petunia and the sweet-pea, -and a thousand other charming common flowers. The delightful flowers -which sow themselves, and those hardy bulbs, the crocus, tulip, lily -of the valley, snowdrop, and hyacinth, should not be neglected. A -quantity of white-lily bulbs stowed away in the garden reward one -year after year with their elegant flowers and fragrance at no cost -whatever. Pansies, daisies, and polyanthus keep from season to season, -and carnation pinks need to be two years old before they will blossom, -while the chrysanthemums make the garden gay in October. - -Now for borders to the garden beds. Common grass is the best and -easiest, as the gardener’s boy can cut it with a sickle each week -and keep it from spreading. Or the little, cheap mosses make a -pretty border, as does the periwinkle, which looks so like myrtle. -To attempt a border of the gorgeous coleus requires a hothouse and -an accomplished gardener. In the common large country garden rows of -hollyhocks, as against a stone wall, or marking out the long walks, -are most ornamental. Dahlias also are very good in groups. Phlox, -that much-abused plant, is also pretty in masses. Asters too, of many -varieties, delight the eye, and are easy of culture. In trying to raise -shrubs, why not take the American wild pink, or azalea, the laurel and -the rhododendron, and, by studying up their habits, capture them? - -The best soil for the rhododendron is a peat containing much sand and -much vegetable fiber. Any clean, pulverized product of vegetable decay -will like them. It is their native food. The laurel is capricious, -and resents the act of transplantation; but they will flourish if -planted thick enough. They love company, and thrive in it. The best -way to treat them is to study their quality, and to give them the same -conditions which made them grow so luxuriantly on the hill-side. - -But if even these plants resist you, every lady loves a rosarium, and -it will go hard with her but she has a rose garden somewhere. The -gardeners now sell one hundred rose roots for a dollar, at Rochester, -and if planted out and attended to they give a million of dollars in -pleasure back again. - -Some ladies understand budding, and this is a very interesting process. -In this way an army of sweetbriers can be covered with yellow Marshal -Neills and royal Jacqueminots. To propagate by layers is, however, the -easiest way, if, indeed, one does not prefer to buy them all started. -For garden roses we need vigorous growers that are sure to flower -freely, and will contribute to the gayety of the garden. One of the -best--the old-fashioned damask--if set out well, will blossom for -thirty years. A very effective garden of roses is produced by roses -pegged down. A deep, rather rich, loamy soil is to be prepared, the -position selected being rather open. When the plants are about a foot -high peg down the strongest growths. The rose prefers a firm soil. -Those who desire to have firm blooms the second season must cut off a -few inches of the flowering wood as soon as the first bloom is over, -and give the beds a thorough soaking of manure or sewage-water every -third or fourth day. But in this, as in every sort of cultivation of -an especial flower, one should buy an especial treatise on the subject. - -Every lady gardener is troubled by insect pests--the horrid green -canker-worm, the little green louse, the potato-bug; these are -everywhere. One fights them with all sorts of powders and all sorts of -syringes. One very simple cure is not generally known. It is to plant -a lettuce beside your rose; the vermin prefers the lettuce. It is the -same principle which induced the rich owner of a wine-cellar to put -a barrel of whisky beside his best Madeira; the whisky went, but the -Madeira stayed. Dirty flower-pots, filled with dry moss, put in the -neighborhood, will catch large numbers of these gentry, for vermin are -fond of dirt. Dusting with powdered lime, or sulphurized tobacco-dust, -will kill the insects which destroy the asters. Lettuces also save the -asters, and a bed of green lettuce is not an ugly “bedding-out” plant. - -No manure is so good as that common rotted vegetation of the forest. -Bring a pailful home from every drive, and it will make your flowers -grow. Nothing, also, so good as this for that lovely flower, the pansy, -which thus recalls its early start in the forest, The pansy does not -require much water, but in very hot, dry weather the beds should be -sprinkled at night with a watering-pot. - -But these few directions may seem impertinent, as every lady has now -the most ample means of reading up about her garden. The cultivation -of a few flowers in the house--window gardening--is by far the more -essentially a Home Amusement. And, as almost everybody has once bought -a lot of greenhouse plants but to see them fade before her eyes, we -recommend to all to either raise a slip from the root or to start very -young plants in a dark room. Thus accustomed to the atmosphere of the -house they are to live in, they do sometimes live. - -The hardier roses, the calla-lily, all the geraniums (useful dear -creatures), the violets and the pinks, grow well in the house. Hanging -pots of calceolarias and healthy primroses are also possible. Some -ladies can raise azaleas at home, but they are difficult. Then there -is the kangaroo-vine, and the Jerusalem, and all the other very hardy -vines. If a large ivy-vine can he induced to grow over a picture-frame, -it is a beautiful friend in midwinter. - -Then come the delightful hanging baskets, the Wardian fern-cases, -the ornamental stands of pot-plants, and the indoor box of earth for -planting rice and grass seed, the wild flowers, which now have become -exotics, and all the pretty fancies of throwing seed over a wet sponge. -Anything green in winter looks lovely. Nothing more charming than the -branches of nasturtion growing in water can be imagined. They grow -and flower all winter, and the blue convolvulus flourishes well in a -hanging basket; so do the common morning-glory and the scarlet bean, -both delightful, airy visitors at Christmas. - -A wire-work ox-muzzle, filled with moss, makes an admirable basket. -It should be painted dark green, and hang over a box of growing -flowers, so that it can drip when watered and hurt nothing. Put in -the ivy-leaved geranium to drop over its edges; fuchsia, variegated -geranium, bright blue lobelia, and the healthful dracænas, begonias, -and sedums also make a very pretty combination. The gardeners give you -wooden baskets filled with flowers, and ivy, and ferns, but it is Home -Amusement to make these baskets yourself. - -Fern-cases are delightful as winter friends. Wardian cases can be -made very cheaply, and their perpetual condensation and shower is -a very pretty study in physics. A large case, in which large-sized -ferns can be accommodated, is best. As regards cultivation, the first -thing that demands attention is the drainage of the case; for, if that -is defective, neither ferns nor any other plants can be cultivated -successfully. In order to secure good drainage the case should be -fitted with a false bottom, into which the water may drain through -perforated zinc or iron, on which the rock-work and little bank for -the ferns should be placed. The false bottom, being a little kind of -tank or drainer, should be perfectly water-tight, so as to protect the -carpet, and should have a tap fixed in one corner of it, by means of -which the surplus water should be drained off. - -To be able to give free ventilation to the plants every morning is -another essential point, as a stagnant atmosphere is as injurious to -plants as it is to young children. Over the perforated tray of the -case a good layer of broken pottery should be laid, and this should be -covered with cocoanut fiber, on which the rock-work should be laid. -The space in which it is intended that the ferns are to grow should -then be filled in; and nothing is better than peat, rotten turf, and -sharp grit sand as a soil for ferns. In the parts of the case intended -for the planting of rather strong-growing ferns a larger proportion -of rotten turf should be mixed with the peat than in those intended -for less robust varieties. The _adiantum pedatum_ (maidenhair), -_capillus veneris_, _pteris tessulata_, _eretica_, _albo lineata_, -_polypodium vulgare_, _acrophorus chairophyllus_, _hispidus anemia -adiantifolia_, _asplenium striatum_, _bulbiferum_, with _trichomanes_ -and _lelazinellas_, are all useful, pretty ferns for these cases. If -the fern-case be large, it might be advisable to have an arch reaching -from end to end. - -But any intelligent gardener will tell more in an hour than we -could do in a week on the subject of ferns. Many ladies delight in -selecting these lovely aristocrats of the forest themselves. They -find no difficulty in arranging a little family of native ferns in an -improvised Ward’s case; and this pursuit, as a reason for a woodland -ramble and a subsequent fit of industry on the back piazza, is one -which has no end as a Home Amusement. - -Plant-stands for halls are very favorite decorations nowadays; but, of -course, the plants must be hardy, as they will be subject to sudden -changes of temperature. One lady made a fine effect by cultivating -young pine-trees, spruces, and firs in the large stone jars of her -hall. Cocoanut palms or India-rubber plants are the favorite exotics. -Hardy ferns group in well for these hall plant-stands. In the bottom -of each jar should be placed some broken pottery, for drainage, placed -so that the moisture will drain down through the fragments without the -soil choking the jar. Over the potsherds a little cocoanut moss should -be placed, and then a mixture of leaf-mold, rotten turf and peat, -and glass-maker’s sand, to keep the whole porous. On the surface of -the pots and between them should be put wood moss, as in the case of -stands for sitting-rooms. A common seed-pan, filled with _selaginalla -denticulata_ dropped into a small vase, has a fine effect; long sprays -grow out over the sides of the vase and drop down eight to ten inches. - -In an ordinary apartment, where the window-sills are not wide enough -to hold flower-pots, the plan of wire stands is an admirable one for -the window gardener. A piece of oil-cloth under the stand catches -all the drippings, and a servant-girl with a wiping-towel can clean -up all the _débris_. Soft-wooded plants and those with soft leaves -should be arranged as near the window as possible; and if rearranged -and turned against the light often, so much the better. Hard-leaved -plants, like ivy and the India-rubber plant, may be put anywhere away -from the light. But most plants need light before anything. The _yucca -quadricolor_, so much used in the decorative house-jars or vases, -becomes beautifully tinted with crimson if it has enough light. Now, -if a lady has not room for many rustic _jardinières_ and ornamental -flower-stands in her room, she can have zinc-pans and pots, neatly -enameled and painted, set on the floor, in which her larger plants -may be put out, This is a very good idea for grouping; for she thus -produces in her _tout ensemble_ some of the wild confusion and grace of -Nature. - -A climbing rose should go scattering itself over an imperceptible wire -trellis. A geranium should steadily blossom beneath. A group of yucca, -agave, dracæna, Jerusalem cherry, should form a distinct and effective -grouping below. And then beautiful trailing plants should drop from -hanging baskets, and from every “coigne of vantage.” Ivy grows well -in the shade, and may be employed for trailing around sofas, couches, -_tête-à-tête_ chairs, and picture-frames. Ladies sometimes tie a -bottle of water behind a picture-frame, and allow the long shoots of -nasturtion to grow out as if from the wall. The effect is startling. -Mirrors are often cunningly placed behind a flowering plant which is -growing in a hanging basket against the wall, thus doubling the effect. - -As the days grow shorter, and the winter threatens to come upon us -apace, we are always tempted to bring in from the garden the flowers -that we think will last. Just before the fatal frosts, roots of -mignonette should be planted in pots and put in a dark closet for a few -days, where the plant takes root and accommodates itself to its change -of base. It will make a room sweet all winter. - -A lady can make all sorts of ornamental flower-pot coverings, and -herself arrange pretty leather and paper standard covers for the ugly -but useful flower-pot of commerce; or she can buy at most country -potteries some very artistic flower-pots--also useful. And to put -red, green, and blue glass tubes for hyacinths among these gives her -window a very pretty effect. The very study of color in these minor -matters adds much to her window garden. It is lucky for all lovers of -beauty that beauty is now cheap. Art is putting her slender foot down -everywhere; and it is almost possible, in a remote country village, to -get the delicate classic shapes in cheap pottery which the cultivated -Greeks imagined three thousand years ago. - -For internal decoration by means of cut flowers, it seems almost absurd -to attempt to delineate the proper thing to do; for, if a lady has -taste, she will know without being told. But some few hints may not -appear impertinent. - -For the breakfast-table and dinner-table fresh flowers are almost -indispensable. The pretty, cheap, and useful combinations of glass -and silver, of china and pottery, which are made to hold flowers, are -innumerable. Select a high vase, and fill it every day with fresh -grasses, a few daisies, or some graceful ferns combined with white -lilies, and you have always a superb center-piece. - -For the summer, a large lump of ice covered with flowers, in a silver -or glass dish, is delightfully refreshing. It also keeps away the -flies. In grand party decorations ice is now freely used, and if -some way can be devised to get the refuse water out of the way, it -will be always a good thing for a country party or at a grand _fête_ -at Newport. For great blocks of ice covered with vines and flowers, -lighted from behind, have a splendid effect. They cool the air and keep -all the flowers fresh. Flowers, when cut, demand coolness; and the -effect of the white crystal column is always beautiful. - -Some ladies have a large tub put in the corner of the room, and the -pyramid of ice placed in that. Then the tub can be masked by moss, -branches of trees, evergreen, or any floral device, and the ice is -draped with garlands. At a _fête_ at Newport, in 1879, this ice -decoration was much admired. At a ball given by the Prince of Wales -to the Czarina of Russia in the large conservatory of the Royal -Horticultural Society of South Kensington, ten tons of ice were used to -build an ornamental rockery. This was draped with drooping ferns and -graceful vines, and was surrounded with crimson baize and lighted from -behind. - -Nothing is so pretty for the breakfast- or dinner-table as a tall, -slender vase which carries the floral decoration high up above the -articles of food. Nor is a garden necessary for this species of -decoration. Wild flowers, ferns, grasses, and all the beautiful -furniture of forest and field, make these vases doubly elegant. - -In the rose season--in the sweet days of June--most country gardens -overflow with the always regal flower; and this is a table ornament of -the highest. The great, broad, low baskets are best for these full, -rich queens of color and fragrance. Mass your roses for the middle -of the table, and have specimen glasses for some of the more rare -varieties. The rose is a cleanly flower, and can be put anywhere near -food. But if an unlucky visitor has the rose-cold, then it must be put -far away; for the subtile, pungent odor of a rose makes the sufferer -sneeze fearfully. There are some families in which roses are thus -tabooed. - -A basket of roses is the prettiest thing in the world; and the lady -going into the country for the summer had better supply herself with a -number of these, with handles, from the florist or the basket-maker. -If she gets a tin pan also fitted in cunningly, she has the loveliest -table ornamentation all ready. Her buffets, her parlor-table, her -piano, her brackets can all hold these pleasant things, for which no -money need be paid, but which have a value far above money. Never give -these baskets a heavy, packed look, but allow plenty of the rich green -leaves of the rose to set them off. It seems to us that ladies might -create an endless succession of Home Amusements by studying how to vary -the effect of their vases and baskets of flowers. - -A simple bunch of yellow buttercups in the early spring will make a -purple room perfectly beautiful; and dandelions can be massed with -great effect. Yellow flowers are rare, but necessary to produce -fine contrasts of color. We all tend too much to the red and white -easily-obtained effects. They are poor compared with what we can do. - -If Fashion has rather run its worship of the daisy into the ground, -Fashion might have done a worse thing. We can scarcely blame Fashion -for going back to this impressive flower, which in its simplicity has -moved all philosophers, poets, and fortune-tellers to admire and study -it. - -It seems to us that something more cheerful than our usual Christmas -decorations could be invented. We make them too somber. Try mixing in -the beautiful bitter-sweet berries, which are so very easily obtained, -and which keep all winter. The holly is not so common with us as in -England; still, many a New England swamp produces a host of hips and -haws and red berries. - -The business of preserving autumn-leaves shows ten failures to one -success. Yet, when autumn leaves are well preserved, they are very -charming means of winter decoration. They are luminous at evening, -and, mixed with ferns and grasses, are perpetual bouquets. But do not -varnish them: that gives them a waxy effect, which is detestable. Press -them carefully, and iron them under a piece of brown paper. That seems -to preserve the color. - -Grasses, on the contrary, and a thousand pods and seed-vessels, grains -and cat-tails, and certain weeds, dry into beautiful colors and make -most wonderful groups for the parlor mantel. The young ladies of our -vast continent can not do a better thing than to each year add to these -beautiful and most graceful bouquets, which retain, like the fabled -Dryads, all the fascination of Nature, even when they have passed into -sticks and dry leaves. - - - - -XIV. - -CAGED BIRDS AND AVIARIES. - - -From flowers to birds is a natural transition, and we enter upon that -part of Home Amusement which centers around a cage of singing-birds. -It is a dreadful thing to snare and to imprison an innocent bird; -therefore we begin with that bird which seems to take most kindly to -captivity--the canary. - -Travelers tell us that this yellow darling has gray plumage at home; -but as we know them they are generally yellow, white, green, or brown. -Climate, food, and intermixture of breeds has, no doubt, to do with -this. The canary, which in France is nearly white, at Teneriffe is as -brown as a berry. We can not tell why they are always yellow in cages. - -The exact date of the introduction of the canary is not known to us. In -1610 the bird was considered a great rarity. According to some authors, -the island of Elba was the first European ground on which the canary -found a resting-place for its tiny foot. A ship bound for Leghorn, -they say, having on board a number of sweet songsters, foundered near -this island, on which the birds, set at liberty by the accident, -found a refuge; and the climate was so congenial to their nature that -they remained and bred, and would probably have remained there had -not their unlucky, fatal gifts of beauty and song betrayed them to -the bird-catchers, who hunted them so assiduously that not a single -specimen was left on the island. From Italy these birds soon found -their way into France and Germany, from the latter of which countries -and the Tyrol we now receive our best supplies. Canary breeding and -teaching is conducted in the Tyrol on a large scale, and these trainers -have the power always to obtain large prices for their birds. Canary -societies exist in England, and small traders, like Poll Sneedlepipes, -compete for prizes. - -Canary critics recognize two varieties--two grand divisions--in fancy -canaries: “gay birds,” or “gay spangles,” and fancy, or “mealy,” -birds--the first being plain, like the original stock, and the last -variegated. This also includes the _Jonques_, or _Jonquils_, as the -yellow birds are technically called. The varieties of these two grand -divisions are almost innumerable, nearly every year producing a new -one, which, like a prize flower, is in high favor until superseded by a -greater beauty. Every year has its fashionable bird, its professional -beauty, its Mrs. Langtry, until some Mrs. Cornwallis West or Lady -Lonsdale carries off the palm. Like all hobbies, this is a hobby -desperately ridden. It is a “Dutch taste for tulips,” and immense -prices are given for prize canaries, even by men who can not afford to -speculate in such very uncertain stock. - -There are certain standard properties which are always considered -essential toward gaining a prize. The first property considered in the -show bird is the “cap,” which must be of a good gold color. The next -is purity of color through the whole bird. Then the wings and tail, -which must be black quite home to the quill. The fourth relates to -the spangle, which must be distinct. Fifth, size and shape. Besides -these properties there are what are called “additional beauties,” not -essential to the winning of a prize, but adding to a bird’s chances. -These are five in number: pinions, for size and regularity; swallow and -throat, for size; fair breast, for regularity; legs and flight, for -blackness. In explanation of this it may be noted that from the beak to -the back of the neck is called the “cap,” and this should be of a clear -orange-color, full and rich in the ground, and with black edges to the -feathers. The feathers on the loins, or the _saddle_ as it is sometimes -called, as well as those of the breast, must be free from black, while -the wings must have no admixture of any other color. No bird can fairly -compete for a prize which has not black on the stock or neb of the -back, flight, or tail feathers, or that has less than eighteen flying -feathers in each wing or less than twelve in the tail. Such, lady -bird-fanciers, is a prize canary in England! - -Holborn is the great canary mart. In St. Andrew’s Street every third or -fourth house is occupied by a dealer, and those who desire to possess -a first-rate singer should visit that street. It is best to go by -gaslight, when all the birds are on the twitter. - -Now, in America we have the plain yellow bird, with no admixture of -black; and yet the same conditions seem to be observed as to his -treatment. Sacrifice the beauty of your bird to his song, which is -his chief accomplishment. He should have a comfortable mahogany cage, -and be allowed to step into it of his own accord. It should be well -furnished with seed and water. Place a light in front of the cage, and -he will begin to sing. A single hemp-seed or a morsel of chickweed will -induce the little prisoner to sing almost immediately. They are very -amiable and happy in captivity. - -The blackcap, called the “mock-nightingale,” is a very charming -household pet, if he will live. His power of song is almost equal to -that of the nightingale. He is sometimes called “the English -mocking-bird,” and he imitates any songster whom he may hear--blackbird, -thrush, or meadow-lark. They are by no means plentiful birds, and they -bring a good price in the market. They are about the same size as -the linnet, and the prevailing colors of the plumage are ashen-gray -and olive-green. The old birds feed their young on caterpillars, -moths, and other insects. They can be reared, however, on bread and -milk. If brought up with a canary or a nightingale, they will acquire -a beautiful song composed of their own natural notes and those of -these brilliant performers. This bird has been known to live twelve -or sixteen years in confinement. It demands some sort of fruit, like -cherries, currants, or raspberries in summer; a bit of apple, pine, or -orange in winter. To keep it in perfect health, it must have an iron -nail in its cup of water. - -But _chacun à son goût_. Every lady has her preferences as to her -feathered favorites. Suffice it to say a few words as to the care of -these poor little creatures. - -Birds are naturally tender things. They are not born to live in cages; -therefore they should be especially cared for. Domestic pets are apt to -come to untimely ends, particularly if left to the care of servants, -who regard them as a burden and a nuisance, and too often cruelly -neglect them. Birds in captivity are very liable to diseases which do -not attack them in their wild state; and in the various casualties -which endanger their prison life, their owners should seek to protect -them and to cure them. Let it be one of the Home Amusements for the -lady to feed her pet canary--to clean its cage, or see that it is done. -We have seen a little boy of seven take such care of his pet canary -that he shamed all the older people in the house; and a happier bird -never lived. - -If you keep but one bird in a cage in very hot weather, his cage should -be cleansed once a day. If you minister personally to the comfort of -your bird, he will grow very much attached to you. If the perches are -not kept clean, the birds become afflicted with the gout and other -maladies, resulting in the loss of toes. - -Wooden cages, especially of mahogany, are the best, as they are less -likely to harbor insects. If of fir or soft wood, the cage should be -painted green. The wires of a cage should never be painted, as the -wire being non-absorbent, the bird pecks off and eats the paint, which -poisons it. Japanned zinc cages are very well. A cage should not be too -open. There should always be a snug corner or sheltered place, where -the bird can retire and shun observation. It is great cruelty to hang -a cage in the sun unprotected. Remember that in their free state birds -seek the shady tree. In a shower always bring your birds indoors, for -they are apt to take cold if wet in an imprisoned state. - -It is a pity that more of our country residents have not the idea of an -aviary. It is so very pretty--an abiding-place of beauty, love, song, -and happiness. Surely it does not cost so much as a greenhouse. - -The model aviary is built of brick or stone, iron and glass, with a -stove and pipes fitted to keep it of an even temperature all winter. -The floor should be an earthen one, beaten hard, like the floors of -some barns. Bricks are too cold. Planks harbor insects, retain bad -smells, and form coverts for rats and mice. The roof of the aviary -should be semicircular or shelving, with vines and flowing creepers -trailing over it, so that there shall be a rustle of green leaves -steeped in sunshine, and air laden with sweet perfume to delight the -birds within. There should be also creepers and shrubs growing inside -for the birds to nest in. Perches and wicker baskets with horse-hair -and wool should be left around, and there should be a small marble -basin and fountain in the middle, of which the water should be always -fresh and changing for the birds to drink. This is, of course, a -very magnificent aviary, costing money. But what an addition to Home -Amusements to care for the happy family within! The birds can be of -all sorts. At the period of migration--about the last of August--all -birds kept in confinement show a great desire to get out, and often -beat themselves to death against the walls of their cages. In this -time of ardent enterprise the top of the aviary or the cages should be -covered with dark cloth, and the poor things shut out from the light. - -A much cheaper aviary is built in the form of a large cage on the -top of a tree, with open exit and entrances, fitted up with every -convenience of bird-furnishing, and visited twice a day by the boys of -the family. Here many birds come to lodge and get tamed, as the Indian -does by having a house and garden, and often one pair of birds comes -back several times. This is a charming sort of aviary, and very much -to be commended. What romantic tales of a wayside inn do the robin -redbreasts and orioles tell the peeping boy as he goes up the ladder to -feed his familiar friends! It is the prettiest sort of correspondence -with _l’inconnu_! - -It is a curious thing that the lungs of birds in captivity always -suffer from impurity of air, especially when the temperature is at all -varied; this must be one of the points very carefully attended to. - -For food--we now are getting to a very creepy stage of our -narrative--meal-worms, ugh! are the _pièce de résistance_; but -canaries, goldfinches, bullfinches, linnets--all, God bless -them!--prefer seed; while chaffinches, buntings, and the whole tit -family and larks must have seeds, insects, and fat meat--namely, worms. -The nightingales, thrushes, redbreasts, blackcaps, must have worms, -crickets, cockroaches, and ant-eggs. The maggots of the blow-fly -and all such tidbits, meal-worms, and flesh-maggots must be kept in -reserve; and this kind of housekeeping is apt to shock the delicate -sense. Let the boys of the family attend to this part of the birds’ -diet. Boiled cabbage, green peas, all sorts of pudding, dry bread, and -a little finely minced cooked meat, bread-crumbs mashed up and scalded -in milk, milk itself, hemp-seed, a little chickweed, lettuce, and -cresses, can be given to birds with advantage. - -The bathing of birds must be done with great skill and wisdom. After -the operation of a warm bath, with soap, which should be given to -nestlings who are troubled with vermin, great care must be taken that -they are not chilled, as death will be the result. Wrap them up, like -little babies, in flannel. - -In teaching them to sing, the voice, the piano, and flute are all good -teachers. The patient and music-loving Germans teach all birds to sing. -It should be begun in the morning early, when the bird is hungry; and -his lesson should not last more than an hour. - -Early and regular attendance, gentleness and kindness, are the -_rationale_ of bird-tending, as of nearly everything else! - -Those half-captives, the pigeons, should be around every country house. -How beautiful they are in Venice! the pigeons of St. Mark, which have -swooped about that storied piazza for so many years, because regularly -fed there. All boys should learn to cultivate them; to have the lovely -shifting luster of their necks lighting up the ground and making gay -the twilight. How proud and pompous are the pouters! how gentle the -ringdoves! and how pretty the whole family! Peacocks are very stately -visitors, and, except for their horrid shrieks, are especially to be -commended. The old ruffled turkey-gobbler has his charms; and the pages -of Hawthorne teach us how very amusing a group of hens and chickens -may become. We advise every family to have as many birds as they can -possibly feed; for every bird is a study, from the blink-eyed owl which -hides in the fir-tree, to the poor old goose that quacks and hobbles -toward the pond. Indeed, the æsthetics are all pretending that the -goose is the most beautiful of them all!--a perfect love, a type, is -a goose, since Walter Crane and Kate Greenaway came in. But we still -prefer the stately swan, of which splendid specimens are now beginning -to add their attractions to our inland lakes. The goose is all very -well in her way, but the swan is better. - - - - -XV. - -PICNICS. - - -Perhaps it is not well to class among Home Amusements a series of -entertainments which imply, at first sight, the getting away from home. -But, as the basket of luncheon has to be packed at home, and the best -part of a picnic is the getting home again, we must be permitted a -divergence. - -It is curious to see how emphatically fond of picnics the Americans -are. A universal national hunger seems to seize the tired cit as the -first warm day of May beams upon us. They “babble of green fields.” -Best of all charities those which send the poor children off, on boats -and trains, for a whiff of pure air! It is the blessed privilege of the -rich to thin out the crowded tenement, and to send the overplus of an -irrepressible civilization back to Nature for a moment. - -But, for a Home Amusement in the country, what can compare with the joy -of getting ready for a picnic? The baskets for the provisions (and be -sure, Mary, not to forget the salt or the sugar), the coffee-pot that -will stand being poked down into the wood-coals, the fine old swinging -iron kettle, the bread, the knives, and the pail of ice. Ah! - -Then, as to carriages. Not the luxurious cushioned barouche, but the -shabbiest old rattletraps about the place are the proper ones. A good -old hay-wagon is the very best--if it have hay in it. It may do very -well at Newport for the luxurious to drive out to one of Mr. Bennett’s -picnics in a four-in-hand or a drag, or a Victoria or a barouche; but -in the country take the buckboard, the old Rockaway wagon, which holds -nine--the more the merrier--the farm-wagon, and the market-cart. Filled -with youth, beauty, and jollity, these become the chariots of Apollo. - -It is not always easy to get mamma to a picnic; but it is good for -her, and for all the others, if she will go. She is apt to be anxious -about rain, and is afraid of farmer Bell’s bull; and she should be -allowed to go in an easy carriage. She also fears to take cold, and is -mightily frightened at those crazy boats on the lake. But it is better -for all parties if these fears are assuaged and she really goes. The -change does her good, and she acts as a temporary restraint on the too -volatile spirits of the party. - -Another power hard to coerce is Statira, who is the head of the -commissary department. Statira, cook and factotum, was brought up on -the wrong side of a mullein-patch herself, and she is not in love -with the country. She remembers the woods as a place where she went -to look, in her youth, for recalcitrant cows; and in winter, how cold -and bleak the woods were! Her present warm and cultivated kitchen, -with stationary wash-tubs, is to her a far more agreeable spot. She -hesitates, as the young people ask for her delicate apple-pies and her -delicious cakes, “to cram into baskets,” to “eat out in the pasture,” -as she sniffingly avers. - -However, although Statira is a greater tyrant than Nero, the young -people prevail, and the picnic gets started somehow. What a jolly hour -is passed in driving through the still valley to the brow of yonder -hill, which commands a view of the whole country! Then Susan, the -thoughtful one, dreads lest the coffee-pot has been forgotten. Hurried -search! The coffee-pot is found under a back seat. Happiness restored, -the songs go on, and the murmuring pines and the hemlocks take up the -wondrous tale. - -Then the party arrive at the lake. The girls take off their hats. The -winds play with the “tangles in Nerea’s hair.” The picnic is a nice -opportunity for a pretty foot, a fine figure, and a splendid head of -hair--so it is said. Then come rambles into the forest. - -That is a pretty story of a nymph who appeared on the edge of a forest, -but who disappeared as she was followed, until, at last, as her lover -pursued her farther into the forest, he threw his arms about a white -hawthorn-tree. It is the world’s earliest romance that the first -courtship took place at a picnic. Roses and briers twine around lovers -for ever, and the lotus and the buttercup tell the same story. - -Picnics are healthy; but should be appropriately dressed. Balmoral -boots, broad hats, and flannel dresses, warm, plain, and serviceable. -A white Marseilles which will wash--percales and cambrics and ginghams -will do; but no finery should be allowed. At Newport one may try the -Watteau combination of brocade and satin, with fine old house, grounds, -and trellised arcades. But at a country picnic Watteau dresses are -out of place. Our climate is too fitful for safe picnicking, as we -dread rain. In England they do not care, but lunch at Ascot, with the -rain pouring into the champagne. But here we need to go prepared with -aquiscutums and umbrellas, and a neighboring barn is well in the near -distance. - -It is a common want, this need of the confessional of Nature. We leave -our morbid fancies, our discontents, in the bosom of our dear common -mother, and we come back as cheerful as is the dappled deer. We like to -go back to that idyllic spot where the race started. - -In the spring certain natures get frisky, like the colts. One pasture -will not hold them. We get tired of white man’s work. It was a true -reading of the human heart which made the Greeks place Apollo with -the shepherds of Admetus, and Jove stooping to the people of the -hill-sides. “The populous all-loving solitude” of Nature draws us with -a potent hand. Our houses are a false shell. Titania’s subjects will -rebel. That rural solitude, which has no conventionality; that desert -rock, against which the noisy wave of human folly breaks itself; the -dense forest, where is sung the mighty hymn of the pines; the brow of -the hill which the sun kisses last; the lone seashore; the distant -heath; that cloud-shadow on the mountain--these are all necessary to -us once a year. We must go once to “_La roche qui pleure_.” We must go -where the forest-growths expand in all their strength and splendor. We -must find the shyest wild flower, the most untamable vine. It is in the -fable of Daphne that we read the deep significance, the poetry, the -true meaning of our love of the picnic. - -Who of us--comfortable and well housed--but has in some moment of -nomadic instinct envied the tramp and the gypsy their life of chapleted -ease, as they lie on the greensward, hugging dear mother Nature -to their very bosoms? Who has not some wild, untamed blood in his -veins--some fellowship for the Indian--some desire for the flitting -caress of the passing breeze, or the somber greeting of the mountain -shadow? - -But no more poetry, if you please. We are getting hungry. Where are -those baskets? Ah! the cold roast beef, the wing of a chicken, and the -salt, not forgotten! - -Those hard-boiled eggs--how good they are! So glad that chicken-raising -has been one of our Home Amusements! Just a high picket-fence, a few -good hens, some boxes, and a little attention, and what eggs these -are! Mamma will not, however, eat them; she says they are unwholesome. -But she takes a piece of the breast of a noble pullet, and a cup of -coffee in a tin mug, made by Sam, best of cooks, amateur--college-bred -cook--who has boiled it under the trees! and laid the grounds with a -dash of cold water. Sam puts his own clearness and strength into the -coffee. - -And now for an hour’s reverie by the side of the lake; and then a -rough-and-tumble drive home! How tired, ragged, jagged, disheveled, and -happy we are as we get home! - -Statira has built a splendid wood-fire for us, and has a supper of -broiled chicken, cold ham, preserves and cream, baked potatoes, and -toast, and hot biscuits which might tempt the virtue of an anchorite. -We have no such proud resistance. We have brought an appetite from the -place where they make them; and we can eat hot biscuits and still wrap -the drapery of our couch about us and lie down to pleasant dreams. - -A picnic is, therefore, a Home Amusement. It has home at both ends; -else it would not be a picnic. - - - - -XVI. - -PLAYING WITH FIRE. CERAMICS. - - -Now let us ascend from these trivialities to the consideration of the -great subject which has been more talked of and dabbled in for the -last seven years than any accomplishment ever was, before or since. -The splendid display of Ceramic Art at our great Exposition of 1876 no -doubt had its share in creating that intense interest in the subject -which has been felt everywhere. - -How it came into the category of Home Amusements we hardly know, unless -the art schools stimulated the pursuit. But now we do know that nearly -every lady paints a plate, from grandma down to the smallest child. -Especially has it become the pastime of middle-aged ladies, who have -got through with the work of life, and have much leisure on their -hands. It is one of the many accomplishments which has taken the place -of the German wool worsted abomination, the canvas roses, and counted -out violets. - -“Home would be happier were it not for the smell of turpentine,” said -a lively girl as she found her grandmother, mother, and sister all -hard at the plaques. It is true, this pungent liquid is necessary, and -the china after being painted has to be baked--two very unpleasant -accompaniments. But let us see how it is done. - -One needs, first, a porcelain palette; a glass slab about eight inches -square; several small and medium-sized camel’s-hair brushes; several -blenders, large and small; a quart-bottle of spirits of turpentine; a -quart-bottle of alcohol; a small bottle of oil of turpentine; one of -oil of lavender; one of copaiba; a steel palette-knife, also one of -horn or ivory; a rest for the hand while painting, made of a strip of -wood about an inch and a half wide and twelve inches long, supported -at each end by a foot an inch and a half in height. A flat ruler or -thin strip of wood may be used for plates, or any flat piece having a -raised edge, and may be found more convenient than the cumbrous rests. -A fine needle, set in a handle, for removing particles of dust which -may settle in the painting, and a small glass muller, are required. - -The china used for decoration must be of the finest quality, and free -from spots. The hard porcelain of French manufacture is the best for -this purpose. The mineral paints bought in tubes (those of Lacroix, of -Paris, being the best) are the colors which stand fire. Brushes, as for -water-color painting, are used. Small camel’s-hair brushes with square -ends may be had, which will do for blending when necessary in fine work. - -In tinted surfaces and borders large blenders are necessary. The -brushes used by gilders, and called “trade-gilders’ brushes,” make good -blenders; No. 9 is a very useful size. In placing the color on these -surfaces, a broad, flat camel’s-hair brush, rather more than an inch in -width, should be used. In narrow bands and lines, brushes of suitable -size with very long hair and square ends are employed. - -The colors most in use are: dark carmine, flesh-red, capucine-red, dark -red, brown, iron-violet. In _purples_--deep purple, dark golden violet. -_Blues_--sky-blue, dark ultramarine, deep blue. _Greens_--grass-green, -brown green, apple-green. _Yellows_--mixing yellow, ivory-yellow, -jonquil-yellow, orange-yellow. _Browns_--dark brown, yellow brown. -_Black_--ivory-black. Permanent white; pearl-gray; black gray. - -Now, in commencing to paint a design on china, the first thing to be -done is to sketch the outline. The best way to do this is to prepare -the china by rubbing the surface with spirits of turpentine, and, -after having left it a few minutes to dry, draw the design upon it -very lightly with a hard lead-pencil. Alcohol may be used for the -same purpose, and has the advantage that it is not so liable to catch -the dust. The surface, however, does not receive the marks of the -lead-pencil so well as when it is prepared with turpentine. - -Lithographic crayon may be used, and without any preparation; but the -outline is not so delicate as that drawn with the lead-pencil. - -If the subject is a difficult one, as, for instance, a design -containing several figures, time may be saved, and liability to error -avoided, by tracing the design, which insures the correct relative -position of the figures, and tends to produce the object desired--a -correct copy of the original. It is better, however, to sketch simpler -subjects direct on the china. It is commonly supposed that a tracing -is of great assistance to any one unskilled in drawing; but if one -is unable to draw a correct outline, it is hardly possible that the -painting will be good. It is so very easy to lose the outline in -working that, after all, a tracing is but a slight indication, which -has for its principal use the placing of the design in exactly the -right position on the plate or other object to be decorated. - -There are various ways of tracing, the simplest and best of which is -the following: Lay a piece of transparent paper over the design to be -copied, and trace the outlines very carefully with a hard lead-pencil. -Then turn the tracing-paper over on any white surface, and go over all -the lines on the reverse side with a soft pencil. You can now lay the -tracing right side up on the china, which has been previously prepared -for the lead-pencil with turpentine, and having placed it in exactly -the right position, secure it by means of bits of modeling-wax or -gummed paper at the corners, and pass over the lines with a hard point, -or rub the entire surface with a rounded instrument; the handle of the -palette-knife may be used for this purpose. This will transfer the -pencil drawing to the surface of the china. - -The more delicate the outline the better, provided it is more plainly -visible, as a heavy, dark, or colored outline sullies the colors -used upon it, and causes much annoyance in working. Although it may -disappear in the firing, it is better to avoid it. Faulty lines in the -tracing may be rectified by the use of a sharpened stick of soft wood -moistened with turpentine. - -If tube-colors are used, and found difficult to lay, a drop of oil -of turpentine may be added to the turpentine. Care should be taken, -however, to avoid too much oil, as it renders the colors liable to -blister in the fire. The use of clove-oil as a medium is advised by -some. The color can, perhaps, be more easily laid with it than with -spirits of turpentine. It does not dry so quickly, however, and, unless -recourse is had to the process of drying the work with the aid of an -alcohol lamp, its use involves tedious waiting. It is better to use -turpentine and finish the work at one sitting. The drying of colors -is affected by the state of the atmosphere. If, during the progress -of the painting, it is found to be difficult to work over the colors -first laid--which are indeed very liable to come up--the piece of china -may be placed in a moderately warm oven to dry before proceeding. On -being taken out of the oven, the colors will be found to have lost -their gloss, if perfectly dry, and, perhaps, will have changed their -hue. No alarm need be felt at this, as they will return to their former -brilliancy when fired. But here we come to a great trouble. - -The chance of a piece “firing” well is one of the great trials of the -china painter, and is beyond her control; but this is always counted -in. It is best to send the piece to a pottery to be burned. A cup -containing turpentine should stand near the working table to wash the -brushes; and after using a color containing iron, the brush should be -carefully washed before it is charged with one which does not contain -iron, or if white is to be used. The brushes ought not to be too small, -and the colors should, as far as possible, be laid in broad washes, and -decided touches placed lightly and quickly, and not overworked. The use -of the blender may be resorted to if necessary, especially in laying -the first washes; although it is better to avoid using it afterward, if -possible. - -The same rules may be applied to china painting as to water-colors, -to which it bears a strong resemblance. The greatest art consists in -placing each touch where it should go, and leaving it; not spoiling it -by uncertainty, or degrading the tint by overwork. In fine work, lining -and stippling are necessary in finishing, but should not be carried -to excess or made too apparent. These latter processes are, perhaps, -more indispensable in preparing work for a single firing, as it is very -difficult to lay repeated washes over one another; the under-tint comes -up so readily, especially when it is not thoroughly dry. The same place -must never be passed over by the brush twice in immediate succession, -as the under-tint will certainly come up, and the blot caused in the -painting will be difficult to rectify. It is of no use to attempt it -while it is wet. Work on some other part, and then go over it, or first -dry it in the oven. - -Some of the tube-colors may require to be rubbed down after being -taken from the tubes. This will be especially necessary in the case -of the carmines and the whites. A horn or ivory palette-knife should -be used with these colors, as well as with the blues, and all colors -containing no iron. Mixtures of colors on the palette may be rubbed -down occasionally, or mixed with the brush before using, to prevent -them from separating themselves into their component parts. - -Too much turpentine should not be taken into the brush when it is to be -charged with color. Dip it into the turpentine, and remove the surplus -moisture by drawing the brush over the edge of the vessel containing -it before taking up the color from the palette. The tint may be tried -first on the edge of the plate. Surplus color or moisture may be -removed by touching the brush upon a muslin rag, which should always be -at hand for the purpose of wiping the brushes. - -After using, the brushes should be washed in alcohol. The bottle -containing it should be kept tightly corked, as it evaporates very -quickly when exposed to the air. Care must be taken that no drops of -the alcohol drop upon the painting, as it will immediately remove the -colors from the surface. When the large brushes are cleaned after -being washed in the alcohol, the hairs should be spread apart, and the -fingers passed lightly over them until they are dry; otherwise the -hairs may stick together in drying, and the brush be rendered unfit for -use. Washing in alcohol will prevent the turpentine used in painting -from injuring the brushes, as it would if allowed to remain in them. -The tube-colors should be preserved from heat as far as possible. - -We have taken these rules, partly from personal experience, partly -from the best manuals, and the china painter can _begin_ on them. But -a few lessons from a master are very valuable, and the best of all -teachers--patience--will help the young and inexperienced better than -any written directions. - -We would like to say a few words more on the all-important subject of -firing. “The Amateur’s Miniature Kiln,” now sold by the Decorative Art -Society, and by the patentee, Miss N. M. Ford, Port Richmond, New York, -enables the amateur to fire small articles of decorated china with -perfect success. If near a large city, it is better to send the plaques -to a large establishment where they are in the habit of baking them. - -The amateur has to make up her mind to a great many failures at -first, but after the accomplishment is somewhat conquered, it is an -inexpensive and delightful addition to Home Amusements. - -No one should, however, attempt to paint upon china who does not know -first how to draw. The hand should be skillful on paper before it -touches the flat brush; for the outlines, while seemingly coarse, must -be very expressive, and very certain. - - - - -XVII. - -ARCHERY. - - -Fashion has again brought round as one of the Home Amusements this -pretty and romantic pastime, which has filled the early ballads with -many a picturesque figure. Now on many a lawn may be seen the target -and the group in Lincoln green. Indeed, it looks as if Archery were to -prove a very formidable rival to Lawn Tennis. - -The requirements of Archery are these: First, a bow; secondly, arrows; -thirdly, a quiver, pouch, and belt; fourthly, a grease-pot, an -arm-guard or brace, a shooting glove, a target, and a scoring card. - -The bow is the most important article in archery, and also the most -expensive. It is usually from five to six feet in length, made of a -single piece of yew, or of lance-wood and hickory glued together back -to back. The former is best for gentlemen, the latter for ladies, as -it is better adapted for the short, sharp pull of the feminine arm. -The wood is gradually tapered, and at each end is a tip of horn, the -one from the upper end being longer than the other or lower one. The -strength of bows is marked in pounds, varying from twenty-five to -thirty pounds. Ladies’ bows are from twenty-five to forty pounds in -strength, and those of gentlemen from fifty to eighty pounds. One side -of the bow is flat, called its “back”; the other is rounded, called -the “belly.” Nearly in the middle, where the hand should take hold, it -is lapped round with velvet, and that part is called the “handle.” In -each of the tips of horns is a notch for the string, called the “nock.” - -Bow-strings are made of hemp or flax--the former being the better -material; for though at first they stretch more, yet they wear longer -and stand a harder pull, as well as being more elastic in the shooting. -In applying a fresh string to a bow, be careful in opening it not to -break the composition that is on it. Cut the tie, take hold of the eye, -which will be found ready worked at one end, let the other part hang -down, and pass the eye over the upper end of the bow. If for a lady, it -may be held from two to two and a half inches below the nock; if for a -gentleman, half an inch lower, varying it according to the length and -strength of the bow. Then run your hand along the side of the bow and -string to the bottom nock. Turn it round that, and fix it by the noose, -called the “timber noose,” taking care not to untwist the string in -making it. This noose is simply a turn-back and twist without a knot. -When strung, a lady’s bow will have the string about five inches from -the belly, and a gentleman’s about half an inch more. The part opposite -the handle is bound round with waxed silk, in order to prevent its -being frayed by the arrow. As soon as a string becomes too soft and -the fibers too straight, rub it with beeswax, and give it a few turns -in the proper direction, so as to shorten it, and twist its strands a -little tighter. A spare string should always be provided by the shooter. - -The arrows are differently shaped by various makers, some being of -uniform thickness throughout, while others are protuberant in the -middle; some, again, are larger at the point than at the feather-end. -They are generally made of white deal, with points of iron or brass -riveted on; but generally having a piece of heavy wood spliced on to -the deal between it and the point, by which their flight is improved. -At the other end a piece of horn is inserted in which is a notch for -the string. They are armed with three feathers, glued on, one of which -is of a different color from the others, and is intended to mark the -proper position of the arrow when placed on the string, this one always -pointing from the bow. These feathers properly applied give a rotary -motion to the arrow which causes its flight to be straight. They are -generally from the wing of the turkey or the goose. The length and -weight of the arrows vary, the latter (in England) being marked in -sterling silver coin, and stamped on the arrow in plain figures. It is -usual to paint a crest or a monogram or distinguishing rings on the -arrow just below the feathers, by which they may be known in shooting -at the target. - -The quiver is merely a tin case painted green, intended for the -security of the arrows when not in use. The pouch and belt are worn -round the waist, the latter containing those arrows which are actually -being shot. A pot to hold grease for touching the glove and string, -and a tassel to wipe the arrows, are hung at the belt. The grease is -composed of beef-suet and wax melted together. The arm is protected -from the blow of the string by the brace, a broad guard of strong -leather buckled on by two straps. A shooting glove, also of thin tubes -of leather, is attached to the wrist by three flat pieces ending in a -circular strap buckled round it. This glove prevents that soreness of -the fingers which soon comes on after using the bow without it. - -The target consists of a circular mat of straw, covered with canvas -painted in a series of circles. It is usually from three feet six -inches to four feet in diameter. The middle is about six or eight -inches in diameter, gilt, and called the “gold”; the next is called -the “red,” after which comes the “inner white,” then the “black,” and -finally the “outer white.” These targets are mounted on triangular -stands at distances apart of from fifty to a hundred yards--sixty being -the usual shooting distance. - -A scoring card is provided with columns for each color, which are -marked with a pin. The usual score for a gold hit or the bull’s-eye is -9; the red, 7; inner white, 6; black, 3; and outer white, 1. - -To bend the bow properly the bow should be taken by the handle in the -right hand. Place one end on the ground, resting in the hollow of the -right foot, keeping the flat side of the bow, called the back, toward -your person. The left foot should be advanced a little, and the right -placed so that the bow can not slip sideways. Place the heel of the -left hand upon the upper limb of the bow, below the eye of the string. -Now, while the fingers and thumb of the left hand slide this eye toward -the notch in the horn, and the heel pushes the limb away from the body, -the right hand pulls the handle toward the person, and thus resists -the action of the left, by which the bow is bent; and at the same time -the string is slipped into the nock, as the notch is termed. Take care -to keep the three outer fingers free from the string, for if the bow -should slip from the hand, and the string catch them, they will be -severely pinched. If shooting in frosty weather, warm the bow before -the fire, or by friction with a woolen cloth. If the bow has been lying -by for a long time, it should be well rubbed with boiled linseed-oil -before using it. - -To unstring the bow, hold it as in stringing, then press down the upper -limb exactly as before, and as if you wished to place the eye of the -string in a higher notch. This will loosen the string and liberate the -eye, when it must be lifted out of the nock by the forefinger, and -suffered to slip down the limb. - -Before using the bow, hold it in a perpendicular direction with the -string toward you, and see if the line of the string cuts the middle of -the bow. If not, shift the eye and noose of the string to either side, -so as to make the two lines coincide. This precaution prevents a very -common cause of defective shooting, which is the result of an uneven -string throwing the arrow on one side. After using it, unstring it; and -at a large shooting party, unloose your bow after every round. Some -bows get bent into very unmanageable shapes. - -The general management of the bow should be on the principle that -damp injures it, and that any loose floating ends interfere with -its shooting. It should, therefore, be kept well varnished, and in -a waterproof case, and it should be carefully dried after shooting -in damp weather. If there are any ends hanging from the string, cut -them off close, and see that the whipping in the middle of the string -is close and well fitting. The case should be hung up against a dry -internal wall, not too near the fire. In selecting your bow, be careful -that it is not too strong for your power, and that you can draw the -arrow to its head without any trembling of the hand. If this can not be -done after a little practice, the bow should be changed for a weaker -one. For no arrow will go true if it is discharged by a trembling hand. - -If an arrow has been shot into the target or the ground, be particularly -careful to withdraw it by laying hold close to its head, and by -twisting it round as it is withdrawn in the direction of its axis. -Without this precaution it may be easily bent or broken. - -In shooting at the target, the first thing is to nock the arrow; that -is, to place it properly on the string. In order to effect this; take -the bow in the left hand, with the string toward you, the upper limb -being toward the right. Hold it horizontally while you take the arrow -by the middle, pass it on the under side of the string and the upper -side of the bow, till the head reaches two or three inches past the -left hand. Hold it there with the forefinger or thumb while you remove -the right hand down to the nock. Turn the arrow till the cock-feather -comes uppermost, then pass it down the bow, and fix it on the nocking -part of the string. In doing this, all contact with the feathers should -be avoided, unless they are rubbed out of place, when they may be -smoothed down by passing them through the hand. - -The body should be at right angles with the target, but the face must -be turned over the left shoulder, so as to be opposed to it. The feet -are to be flat on the ground, with the heels a little apart, the left -foot turned toward the mark. The head and chest inclined a little -forward, so as to present a full bust, but not bent at all below the -waist. - -Draw the arrow to the full length of the arm till the hand touches the -shoulder, then take aim. The loosing should be quick, and the string -must leave the fingers smartly and steadily. The bow-hand must be as -firm as a vice--no trembling allowed. - -The rules of an Archery Club are usually these: - -That a “Lady Paramount” be annually elected. - -That there be a President, Secretary, and Treasurer. - -That all members intending to shoot shall appear in the uniform of the -club. That a fine shall be imposed for non-attendance. - -That the Secretary shall send out cards at least a month before each -day of meeting, acquainting the members with place and hour of meeting. - -That there shall be four prizes for each meeting--two for each sex; the -first for numbers, the second for hits; and that no person shall be -allowed to have both on the same day. A certain sum of money is voted -to the Lady Paramount for prizes for each meeting. - -That in case of a tie for hits, numbers shall decide; and in case of a -tie for numbers, hits shall decide. - -That the decision of the Lady Paramount shall be final. - -That there shall be a challenge prize of the value of ---- dollars, and -that a commemorative ornament be presented to winners of the challenge -prize. - -That the distance for shooting be sixty or one hundred yards, and that -five-feet targets be used. - -The dress of the club to be decided by the Lady Paramount. - -The expenses of archery are not great--about the same as lawn -tennis--although a great many arrows are lost in the course of the -season. Bows and other paraphernalia last a long time. Sides are chosen -as at lawn tennis, and the game grows on one. The lady archers are apt -to feel a little lame after the first two or three essays, but they -should practice a short time every morning, and always in a loose waist -or jacket. It will be found a very healthy and strengthening pastime. - -We must not judge of the merits of ancient bowmen from the practice of -archery in the present day. There are no such distances now assigned -for the marks as we find mentioned in old histories or poetic legends, -nor such precision, even at short lengths, in the direction of the -arrow. - - “The stranger he made no mickle ado, - But he bent a right good bow, - And the fattest of all the herd he slew, - Forty good yards him fro; - _‘Well shot, well shot,’ quoth Robin Hood_.” - -Few, if any, modern archers in long shooting reach four hundred yards, -or in shooting at a mark exceed eighty or a hundred. But archery has -been since the invention of gunpowder only followed for pastime. It -is decidedly the most graceful game which can be practiced, and the -legends of Sherwood Forest, of Robin Hood, Maid Marian, Little John, -Friar Tuck, and the Abbot carry us into the fragrant heart of the -forest, and bring back memories which are agreeable to all people who -have in them a drop of Saxon blood. - - - - -XVIII. - -AMUSEMENTS FOR THE MIDDLE-AGED AND THE AGED. - - -We can not but notice, as people go on in life--when, as Lord Mansfield -said, “The absence of pain is pleasure, just as in youth the absence of -pleasure is pain”--that the quiet corner by the fire, or the seat at -the library-table with the shaded lamp, and a quiet game or two when -reading has fatigued the eyes, becomes almost necessary. - -Of all the means of cheating a succession of dull evenings of their -tedium, perhaps that little invention called a “Solitaire” board--which -is simply a board pierced with thirty-seven holes, which are nearly -filled with thirty-six pegs--has proved itself the most eminently -successful. It was invented, it is said, by a French Jesuit, in Canada, -to help him through the long Canadian winter evenings, and it has -proved to be a boon to mankind. - -One peg takes another when it can leap over into an empty hole. To get -all off but one peg is nearly impossible, but it can be done. - -Then comes “Merelles,” or “Nine Men’s Morris,” which can be played on -a board, or on the ground, but which finds itself reduced even to a -parlor game. This, however, takes two players. - -“American Bagatelle,” which can be played alone, or with an antagonist; -Chinese puzzles, which are infinitely amusing; and all the great -family of the sphinx known as puzzles--are of infinite service to the -retired, quiet, lonely people for whom the active business of life -is at an end. The guessing of arithmetical puzzles, the solution of -enigmas, and the solution of a paradox--these amuse many an evening. - -We may give one of these old things as an example. It is called “The -Blind Abbot and his Monks,” and is played with counters. Arrange eight -external cells of a square so that there may always be nine in each -row, though the whole number may vary from eighteen to thirty-six. - -A convent in which there were nine cells was occupied by a blind abbot -and twenty-four monks, the abbot lodging in the center cell, and the -monks in the side cells, three in each, giving a row of nine persons on -each side of the building. The abbot, suspecting the fidelity of his -brethren, often went out at night and counted them, and when he found -nine in each row the old man counted his beads, said an Ave! and went -to bed contented. The monks, taking advantage of his failing sight, -contrived to deceive him, so that four could go out nightly, yet leave -nine in a row. How did they do it? - -The next night, emboldened by success, the monks returned with four -visitors and then arranged them nine in a row. The next night they -brought in four more belated brethren, and again arranged them nine -in a row; and again four more. Finally, when the twelve clandestine -brothers had departed, and six monks with them, the remainder deceived -the abbot again by presenting a row of nine. Try it with the counters, -and see how they so abused the privileges of a conventual seclusion. - -Then try quibbles--“How can I get wine out of a bottle if I have no -corkscrew, and must not break the glass or make any hole in it or the -cork?” - -The telling of a good story well should be encouraged. The _raconteur_ -can be the most delightful of all household blessings. A mother who -can tell a story well by the nursery fire is a potent force; and -the one who will light up the winter evening by telling stories of -adventures--the simplest every-day ones in the street--the little -journey, even the round of shopping, becomes very much of a treasure. -Some ladies commit to memory the stories of Hans Christian Andersen; -Grimm, the fairy-story maker; Charles Kingsley’s short stories, -Ouida’s “A Dog of Flanders,” or the poems of Dr. Holmes, or some -other benefactor of mankind, and tell these stories and poems in a -sort of unpremeditated way by the library-table. This is a charming -accomplishment. Some people have the gift of improvising, and will -tell a very good bit of ghost story in a very gruesome manner for the -entertainment of those who enjoy the night side of nature. - -But this talent should never be abused. The man who in cold blood -fires off a long poetical quotation at a dinner, or makes a speech -in defiance of the goose-flesh which is creeping down his neighbors’ -backs, is a traitor to honor and religion, and he deserves the death of -a Nihilist. It is only when these extempore talents can be used without -alarming people that they are useful or endurable. - -We might make our Christmas holidays a little more gay in this country. -We might read and study up all the old English and the German customs, -beyond the mistletoe, the tree, and the rather faded legend of Santa -Claus. There are worlds of legendary lore which would help us to make -this time-honored festival even more lively and gay and amusing than it -is. We have not yet reached the English jollity at Christmas. - -The supper-table has, as an American home festival, rather fallen into -desuetude. We sup out, but rarely have that informal and delightful -meal which once wound up every evening devoted to Home Amusement. -Mrs. Elizabeth Montague, in her delightful letters, talks about the -“whisk and the quadrille parties with a light supper” which amused the -ladies of her day. We still have the “whisk,” but what has become of -lansquenet, quadrille, basset, and piquet, those pretty and courtly -games? - -Playing-cards made their way through Arabia from India to Europe, where -they first arrived about the year 1370. They carried with them the -two arts, engraving and painting. They were the _avants coureurs_ of -engraving on wood and metal, and of printing. - -Cards early began to be the luxuries of kings and queens, the necessity -of the gambler, and the consolation of those who innocently like games. -Piquet, a courtly game, was invented by Étienne Vignoles, called _La -Hire_, one of the most active soldiers of the reign of Charles VII. -This brave soldier was an accomplished chevalier, deeply imbued with a -reverence for the manners and customs of chivalry. Cards continued from -this time to follow the whim of the court and to assume the character -of the period through the regency of Marie de Medicis, in the time of -Anne of Austria and of Louis XIV. The Germans are the first people -who essayed to make a pack of cards assume the form of a scholastic -treatise. The king, queen, knight, and _knave_ tell of English manners, -customs, and nomenclature. - - - - -XIX. - -THE PARLOR. - - -That is a poorly-furnished parlor, think some people, which has not a -chess-table in one corner, a whist-table in the middle, and a little -solitaire-table at the other end near the fire, for grandma. People who -are fond of games stock their table drawers with cribbage boards and -backgammon, cards of every variety, bézique counters and packs, and the -red and white champions of the hard-fought battlefield of chess. - -Mrs. Frances Anne Kemble, one of the most gifted of women--whose -recollections would, one would think, be the most attractive book -which one could read--is devoted to card solitaire. Every evening she -describes herself as spending an hour or two over these combinations. -This is not to be confused with the game of peg solitaire. - -Whist! Who shall pretend to describe its attractions? What a relief it -is to the tired man of business who has been fighting the world all -day, to the woman who has no longer any part in the gay and glittering -pageant of society! What pleasure in its regulated, shifting fortunes! -We all have seen that holding the cards--even the highest ones--does -not always win the game. We have noticed that with a poor hand somebody -wins fame, success, happiness. We feel the injustice of that long suit -which has baffled our best endeavors. Whist is a parody on life; we -play our own experience over again in its faithless kings and queens. -The knave is apt to trip us up on the green cloth as on the street. We -are simply playing the real over in shadow. - -The great passion for gambling is no doubt behind even the game of -Boston, played for beans. We all like to accumulate, to believe that we -are Fortune’s favorite. What matter if it be only a few more beans than -one’s neighbor? The principle remains the same. - -So long as cards do not lead to gambling, they are innocent enough. -Indeed, they are a priceless boon to eyes which can no longer see to -read; to those who must get rid of time; to those who are ill, weary, -or unfortunate. We always wonder at seeing the young take to them; it -seems as if they could do so much better; but the sight of a parlor, -warm, well lighted, with its games going on in every corner, is not -a disagreeable one. Especially should the young ladies of the family -look to this arrangement, and see that everything is comfortable for -papa’s game of whist, bézique, or cribbage. They do not know how great -a necessity it may be to him--what a relief, what a consolation! - -As for Chess, the devotee of this heavy, remorseless game has no -further need of our help or sympathy. To any one who likes to puzzle -his brain over the fantastic skips of the Knight or the prodigious -descent of the Castle, we can offer no suggestions except that he may -be left undisturbed. - -As for Music, one can hardly say anything which has not been said about -its transcendent powers in assisting at every Home Amusement. The -family circle which has learned three or four instruments, the brothers -who can sing part songs, are to be envied. They can never suffer from a -dull evening. Even the musical absurdities of Kindergarten choruses are -to be commended, and the German mimicry of all the instruments. What a -blessing to a family is the man who can sing comic songs, and who also -does not sing them too often! - -It is well, where it can be done easily, to allow young boys to sing -in church choirs; to train their voices, and be with musical people; -to learn choruses, chants, etc. In that way Arthur Sullivan began, -that benefactor of his species, the author of “Pinafore.” What has -_not_ “Pinafore” done to help along the musical education of our young -people? How it has been sung in country towns! How church choirs have -taken it up! How popular, innocent, sweet it is! - -Now, in our musical home training we may not make an Arthur Sullivan, -but we shall certainly add to the sum of innocent enjoyment; and it is -a delightful fact that if there are six or seven children in a family, -one of them is apt to have a good voice, one a talent for the piano, -and generally all can be taught to play and sing a little. Sometimes -there are rarely gifted, great musical organizations in all the sons -and daughters, which is a supreme blessing. For there is not only Home -Amusement in it, but a certainty of making a good living, if fortune -frowns and makes work necessary. - -The only deep shadow to the musical picture is the necessity of -practicing, which is _not_ a Home Amusement; it is a home torture. -If only a person could learn to play or sing without those dreadful -first noises and those hideous shrieks! But, since these are not to -be avoided, some one in the family must have the tact to arrange them -well, and to have the hours of the various students so placed that -there need not be a perpetual tinkle-tinkle, or something worse. - -The season of early spring and summer! Oh! what sounds come through the -first open casement! How dreadful is that _appoggiatura_! how fearful -that badly-played waltz! Is it possible that yon violinist will ever be -Maurice Dengrémont? And yet it is by these hard chromatic steps that -all have mounted the heavenly stairs of melody. - -No young lady should sing in public--that is, before a party of -friends--until she can sing _well_. In these days, when amateur -cultivation has reached a high point, let everybody say to herself, -“Am I sufficiently advanced to give pleasure by my singing?” and let -her modestly abstain from singing if she finds that, after hearing her -once, her friends do not press her to sing again. There is, perhaps, -nothing so foolish as for a woman to persist in singing in her own -parlor when she is not a thoroughly good vocalist. No one can get away -from her there. They must suffer. Still, if birds _can_ sing, they -should sing. Nothing is more disagreeable than to have to urge a person -to sing. The possessor of a voice is always a very rare and much to -be envied person, and a certain amiability in singing becomes such a -person very much. - -All young ladies who have been taught the piano should have some pieces -learned, and be able to play for the amusement of the home circle. -Especially should they be able to play for dancing. A few waltzes are -very convenient. They often help off a dull evening wonderfully. The -person who plays should be willing occasionally to be made use of. Are -we not all made use of at times? Is not the good talker in perpetual -request? The _raconteuse_--is she not begged to tell that story over -and over again? Does not the wit find himself invited out to dinner to -amuse the company? And are they not all, if amiable, glad to perform -their part? Surely the pianist should be as amiable! - -Reading aloud is one of the most common of Home Amusements, and one -of the best. It is a pity, however, that our women, especially, -do not cultivate elocution a little, so that they may read aloud -intelligently. There is no prettier accomplishment. A lady at -a watering-place, who can read a poem or story well, is always -surrounded. The sweet voice, the correct accent, the air of -intelligence--all give the author a great help, and Longfellow never -wrote a prettier stanza than this: - - “Then read from the favored volume - The poem of thy choice, - And lend to the rhyme of the poet - The music of thy voice.” - -But, when the favored volume and the poem have to be filtered through -a nasal accent and an uneducated drawl, we feel that the poet has -been vilified, and his gold and silver turns to dross. Every woman -especially should remember the fable of the girl whose lips dropped -pearls and diamonds, who was so much more agreeable as a friend and -acquaintance than that other damsel whose lips dropped toads and -vipers. The latter, evidently, had never taken lessons in elocution. - -We have a certain national vice in pronunciation and in accent which we -ought to correct. A moment’s listening to the English accent will soon -teach us to pronounce with a more melodious finish. We need not hug -ourselves with any vainglorious national conceit. We do _not_ speak as -well as our English cousins. - - - - -XX. - -THE KITCHEN. - - -We began at the garret, and we are now at the kitchen. So our readers -may learn that we are on the home-stretch, and shall be through very -soon. If we have wearied them, let them bear with us but a little -longer, and then, on our faithful steed, whom they shall find at the -kitchen door, they shall ride off and never be troubled with us any -more. - -A model kitchen is every housekeeper’s delight. In these days of tiles -and modern improvement, what pretty things kitchens are! - -The modern dairy, with its upright milk-pans, in which the cream -is marked off by a neat little thermometer; the fire-brick floor; -the exquisite range, with its polished _batterie de cuisine_; every -brilliant brass saucepan, seeming to say, “Come and cook in me”; every -porcelain-lined pan urging upon one the necessity of stewing nectarines -in white sugar; every bright can suggesting the word “conserve,” which -always makes the mouth water; every clatter of the skewers, saying, -“Dainty dishes, dainty dishes, come and make me! Come and make me!” All -this is quite fascinating to an amateur. - -No pretty woman--did she but know it--is ever half so pretty as when -she is playing cook. The clean, white apron, the neat, short cambric -dress, the little cap, the fair bare arms--does the reader remember -Ruth Pinch and the beefsteak-pie? A lady should make the desserts in -summer sometimes. Such ice-cream, such glorified Charlotte Russe, such -cakes, such delicate apple-pies, such creams and jellies as fall from a -lady’s fingers--these are ambrosial food! - -There is among certain women a great passion for the cleanly part of -household work. The love of a dairy has grown to be a favorite task -with many a duchess. In our country, where ladies are compelled to put -a hand, perhaps once too often, to the household work, owing to the -inefficiency of the servants, this is _not_ ordinarily considered the -most thoroughly amusing of Home Amusements. To cook a heavy dinner in -warm weather, to wash dishes afterward--this is sober prose, and by a -very dull author. But the poetry of house-work, the rose hue o’er our -russet cares--this can be classed as a Home Amusement. - -In the early morning we can imagine a lady going into her neat kitchen -to prepare the desserts for the day, and finding it very agreeable. She -will set her well-flavored custard away in the ice-chest with a serene -knowledge of how good it will be at dinner, and place her compote of -pears securely on a high shelf, away from that ubiquitous visitor -the cat, who has in most families so remarkable and irrepressible -an appetite. She can take a turn at the milk-pan, and skim off the -cream herself if she pleases. It will be much thicker if she does. -It is a not unpleasant duty to steal into the kitchen ten minutes -before dinner, to see to it that the roast birds are garnished with -watercresses, that the vegetables are properly prepared, that the -silver dishes are without a smear. All this sort of attention makes -good servants, and very good dinners. - -It is often one of the Home Amusements for a party of girls to try -their hand at clear-starching. Statira, indeed, does not like this; but -they should learn to flute their own ruffles. Who knows but they may -marry an army officer, and go to Nebraska? - -All sorts of fine washing and ironing, all sorts of doing up of lace, -of renovating old silks, etc., may be made into Home Amusements, -if done cheerfully, and in the right spirit. The modern embroidery -requiring pressing, the many modern accomplishments of lace-making, -_appliqué_, etc., lead a young lady into the kitchen, and she can -derive a vast deal of amusement from this room, if she chooses. - -One of the holiest of duties is to learn how to cook for the sick. This -requires a great deal of patient talent, and it is a sufficient reward -if we can see the beloved convalescent tasting our arrowroot and sago, -and good beef-tea and jelly, with approbation. - -Among Home Amusements, how many reckon the jolly party assembled -to make the wedding-cake? Susan and Sarah shall stone the raisins, -Charlotte and Clara shall beat the eggs, Louisa shall slice the citron, -Matilda, who has a judicial mind, shall weigh! Then all shall stir, and -who shall be the one to get the ring? - -The baking is momentous. Mamma had better be consulted here. And then -the great question of the icing! Oh! how anxious! The mince-pies -require another season of deep thought and much very stringent -stirring. The excellent brandy, the dash of orange curaçoa, must be -poured out by the lady, else why is it that ever after the mince-pie -seems to lack that inspiriting and hidden fire? We read that there is -many a slip between the cup and the lip! - -The modern elegant devices by which strawberries, violets, and -orange-blossoms are candied in sugar, effect a Home Amusement for -dainty-fingered girls; and since the establishment in Boston of a -cooking club, at which each young lady is to contribute some article of -her own cooking, we see signs of a revival in all branches of the great -art of cookery which is most encouraging. It was a notable old maxim -among Puritan mothers that every wife should know how to make bread, -and, perhaps, it has not died out yet. - -Looking at the subject broadly, every thoroughly accomplished woman -should know how to do everything, from making a soup up to a cup of -tea--the Alpha and the Omega of cookery. - -In the matter of flavoring, the colored race have us at a great -disadvantage. Any old colored cook can distance her white “Missus” -here. This highly-gifted race seem to have a sixth sense on the subject -of flavors. The rich tropical nature breaks out in reminiscences of -orange-blossoms, pineapple, guava, cocoanut, and Mandarin orange. -Never can the descendants of the poor, half-starved, frozen exiles -of Plymouth Rock hope to achieve such custards and puddings as these -Ethiops turn out. And as to the juicyness of their fried oysters and -their inimitable terrapin, who has ever approached them? It is as if -a luxurious and tasteful, beneficent power had left us, when we were -given what we proudly call a “higher intelligence.” Who would not -exchange all the cold mathematical supremacy in which we glory for that -luscious gift of making pies and puddings _à ravir_? - - - - -XXI. - -THE FAMILY HORSE, AND OTHER PETS. - - -Standing at the kitchen door, all ready for the most timorous to drive, -is the most important minister to the Home Amusements--the family -horse. He is a beast of burden, no doubt. There is but little Arab -steed left in him, if, indeed, there ever was much. He is a plodder, -a patient, much put-upon beast. The boys can harness him, the girls -can drive him. He is allowed to take out grandma--when she consents to -be driven, and isn’t afraid of the railroad train, and does not think -that it is going to rain. The baby, when he takes his first adventurous -journey down the village street, is put in state and in blankets behind -the family horse. No one is afraid of Blossom. No one likes to whip -him, because if he were whipped, what antics he might give way to! - -Blossom is an exceedingly inappropriate name. Dried Leaf would be far -more descriptive. Still Blossom is adhered to, because the suggestion -that he was once young, and that really he is frisky, in his silent -way, is still a delightful legend in the family. - -Blossom, who is an intelligent old beast, knows perfectly well how -utterly weak and imbecile the whole family are about him. So he will -never do anything but walk and trot very gently, because he knows -that no one dares to whip him. Once a young cousin, who had none of -the family reverence for Blossom, did give him a few cuts on his -exceedingly smooth, fat sides. Blossom had the presence of mind to -stand up on his hind legs, frightening mamma nearly to death; and she -mentioned, in Blossom’s hearing, that “he never was to be whipped -again, because he really had a great deal of fire in him, and would not -brook whip or spur!” - -“I remember, dear,” she says, “your father says that he heard, when he -bought him, that he came of very proud stock.” - -It has been noticed that when papa wishes to catch the train Blossom -can go as fast as anybody. - -Blossom is a great pet, and he has that instinct of a good family -horse--he stops when anything is wrong. Once, when the harness broke, -Blossom, instead of running, stopped short, and saved the lives of -the whole family. He has a quick ear for a coming railway train, and -never has balked going up hill. The girls feed him with sugar, and take -their first ride on his dear, safe, hard old back. The boys have had -imaginary jousts with neighboring knights, urging him in the lists. He -has been put through all the sports of the middle ages, has Blossom, -and probably he distrusts the institution of chivalry. Still, he likes -the boys, and does all that a phlegmatic temperament and an indomitable -laziness will allow in the way of a spirited and impulsive charge. - -There _are_ persons whom Blossom dislikes; one is the spinster sister, -Miss Caroline, who drives him with many a whirrup, and “get up,” and -“g’lang,” and has a nervous twitch to her hand, and a distrustful and -uncertain temper with the whip. Miss Caroline nags Blossom, as she has -nagged everything and everybody all her life, and Blossom resents her -absence of repose and confidence by starting wildly to right and left -as he goes down the village street, appearing to make for a distant -fence when she is endeavoring to guide his nose toward the gate of the -parsonage. Indeed, the village wit says that if he sees only the back -of the family carriage he can tell that Miss Caroline is driving, as he -watches that respected vehicle describing parabolas and angles as it -wobbles down the street. - -When mamma drives, Blossom goes in a slow, stately, but dignified -manner, and, although he imposes upon her good-nature, and does not -put forth any mile-in-three-minutes style, yet he shows a due respect -for himself and her. When the girls drive him, he, feeling through -the reins a little of the ichor of their young blood, becomes almost -vivacious, and goes almost half as fast as he can go. When papa drives, -he feels a strong hand behind him, and actually gets there. - -Every family should have as many animals as possible. Dogs of every -breed and variety--especially big ones, and good ones, like mastiffs -and Newfoundlands, and a few little ones to play with. Cats and -kittens, if they like them, rabbits, goats, pigeons, lambs, peacocks, -etc., and as much live-stock as can be accommodated about the place -should be there. These four-footed friends, especially dogs, are -indispensable in the country. What attachments one forms for them! How -dreary the hour when they die! Perhaps, then, we wish that they had -not been so intimate, so dear, so loving, so trustful. The walk, the -ramble, the quiet seat on the piazza--all, all must be endeared by the -silent friendship of the dogs. - -There is sometimes a want of harmony among the pets. Carlo must be shut -up while Flirt is at large, and the parrot must be kept away from the -pigeons. The parrot can take care of herself as to the cats; but how -about the canaries and the blackcap? Eternal vigilance is the price of -liberty, and the only safety of slavery. - -And yet these enforced duties: do they not fit the boys for the cares -of government? Do they not tell the future politician what he is to do? -Are they not, after all, a part of that great education which Home, -and only Home, can give us? - -We shall have few friends so faithful as Blossom, few who will impose -upon us so gently, and who will really impose upon us to our advantage. -We shall have few such friends as Carlo and Flirt, who love us, faults -and all; who never ask what wrong we have committed, or how unworthy -we are, but who are, without doubt, the most flattering of worshipers, -loving us simply because we are _ourselves_. How few love us for that, -and that alone! - - - - -XXII. - -IN CONCLUSION. - - -In looking over our list of Home Amusements--the private theatricals, -the tableaux vivants, the brain games, the fortune-telling, the making -of screens, the painting of fans, etc.; the games at cards, the -etching, the lawn tennis, the dancing, the garden party, the window -gardens, the birds, the picnics, the plaque-painting, the archery, the -parlor and the kitchen--we can only feel how much we have left out. -Why have we not spoken more fully of the library, with its quiet and -respectable arm-chairs, its green table, its shelves filled with those -silent friends who never desert us, its paper-cutter, its wood-fire, -its latest magazine, its quiet, and the heavy curtain dropped at -evening? How did we happen to so slight this delightful room, wherein -so many of the best amusements of home are always arranging themselves? -Perhaps because the story told itself, and we did not need to tell it. - -How could we have forgotten the quest for green apples and -choke-cherries in the spring, or the subsequent repentance? the -bird-snaring and nesting? and in summer the search for wild flowers? -the attempts at making an herbarium? the berry-picking? the nutting -in the fall? that cracking of butternuts by the winter fire? that -arrangement of the autumn-leaves? - -Simply because the record of Home Amusements is endless. It is almost -all of life which is worth remembering. - -But we can not leave the reader here, particularly if that kindly -personage be a young lady, without congratulating her upon the age in -which she exists. She finds vastly more to amuse her in her home-life -than her mother or her grandmother did before her. They were content -to receive once a month “The Lady’s Book,” with a few hints as to -lace-work, worsted-work, patterns for the embroidering of slippers -or sofa-cushions. A new suggestion for embroidery on white cambric, -or, through a friend in some great mart of fashion, the cut pattern -of an article of dress--think of that, ye who get the fashions by -telegraph. Dress itself was a crude thing compared to what it is now. -There was not even at Newport the slightest approximation to the luxury -of to-day. A “London-made” habit, for instance, was almost unknown. -There was no “riding to hounds,” no skating rink, no casino; there -were quiet dinners, and very many “Germans,” but they were conducted -inexpensively, at the hotels almost universally. - -Of course, New York and Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, offered -an exciting life to the prominent and fashionable women of the day for -a few weeks of the season. But the long life at home of the rank and -file, the severe winters, during whose rigors the ardent and ambitious -and pleasure-loving were shut up for months behind four dreary walls, -were not illumined by patterns of artistic fancy-work from South -Kensington, or by the delightful knowledge of china painting. No -ingenious boy or girl thought of cutting or carving in wood beyond the -vulgar whittling, which all good housekeepers condemned. The elderly -lady sat about with her knitting--very plain knitting at that. The -crochet-needle had not then begun that endless chain which has since -united our vast continent in a network of elaborate tidies, and covered -our babies with delicate flannel Josies, or given us, for the head -and neck, the softest of wraps. The sewing-machine had not begun its -prodigious march down our long seams. People did much “plain sewing,” -but knew not of artistic curtains made of cheesecloth, or of unbleached -muslin elaborated into Roman scarfs--a singular marriage, by the way, -of Lowell and its looms with the Eternal City, all of which they know -now. - -Young ladies had not then been taught to draw and paint artistically, -sincerely, as they are taught to-day. The education in music was -infinitely less thorough. It was an age when the person who aspired -to the accomplishments had much to contend against. There were but -few railroads which penetrated to the remote villages; and it must be -confessed that life had its dull evenings. - -But around the one astral lamp which then shed its uncertain rays upon -the family circle there were the same elements of which human society -is now composed, and there was one amusement present whose absence we -now sometimes have to regret. We refer to that lost art of conversation -which has, it would seem, departed from our busy last half of the -nineteenth century. Indeed, it has left the whole world, if we can -believe Cornelius O’Dowd, Mrs. Stowe, and Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, and -even some French writers. Mrs. Stowe, in one of her books of early New -England life, referring to the art of conversation, speaks feelingly -of the change. Young ladies were driven by the very dullness of their -lives to be readers of good books. There were many admirable historical -scholars and Shakespeareans among the New England girls of a past -generation. They read Milton and John Bunyan, and the early essayists -and poets. Their novels had been written for them by Walter Scott and -Miss Austen, and they were an education in themselves. - -And conversation, such as we do not hear often, lighted up those -long winter evenings. Perhaps, too, this very quiet and dullness was -helping to forge the armor of some heroine who was to take her part -in civilizing the West. Certainly it made some great women. However, -as we take account of what little we may have lost, we are very -grateful for all we have gained. Our present civilization rubs out -individuality, no doubt. Life is smothered in appliances. - -What is called the higher education of women, and the very superior -culture now possible, may not have yet made a race of good talkers, but -it has undoubtedly made an army of thinkers. - -It certainly has helped to fill the country with refined and happy -girls, who have no reason to complain of repression. It would seem -almost impossible to find now the repressed, morbid, undeveloped, and -crushed natures which a gloomy religion and a lingering of Puritan -prejudice made almost too common in early New England. Many of those -women still live, and have found expression in literature to tell us -how devoid their homes were of amusement. - -The world is not filled with geniuses, or with those fortunate people -who can evolve an amusing life from out of the depths of their inner -consciousness. We may, therefore, be very grateful for every innocent -amusement. Indeed, we may be very grateful that amateur concerts, -little operettas, cantatas, musical clubs, are now common, and that -the performers, young ladies of all ranks and classes, are admirably -trained in music; that in decorative art industries they are no longer -novices, but deserving of the higher name of artist. - -All these better developments of the mind and power of each inmate can -not but render home interesting, gay, cheerful, happy, blessed. - -And all the Home Amusements should be made, or studied to be made, the -amusements of the whole. - -No pursuit or pleasure can be carried on in the best spirit without -being in some measure unselfish if it conduces to the amusement of -home. Thus the indulgence of a favorite taste may have the beauty of -philanthropy in it, if it is made to help along the cheerfulness of -home. - -There are some trades which are solitary and exclusive. Authorship -is one of these; and perhaps the author is not always a very amusing -inmate. But the actor in the private play, the clever and ready wit -who makes the charade lively, the musician, the embroideress, the -fortune-teller, the good partner at whist, the clever amateur cook, and -the artistic member--these can all add to Home Amusements. - - THE END. - - -FOOTNOTE: - -[A] This was the invention of a poor poet named Dulot, who found rhymes -for other poets. - - - - -_ADVERTISEMENTS._ - - - Artistic Wall Papers, - - ON HAND AND MADE TO ORDER BY - - [Illustration] - - FR. BECK & CO., - - At their Factory, corner Twenty-ninth St. and Seventh Ave., - - NEW YORK. - - COLORS of CARPETS and DRAPERIES MATCHED. - - THE ENTIRE WORK OF INTERIOR DECORATION - DONE UNDER OUR SUPERVISION. - - Ceiling Decorations a Specialty. - - -APPLETONS’ HOME BOOKS. - - Appletons’ Home Books are a Series of New Hand-Volumes - at low price, devoted to all Subjects pertaining - to Home and the Household. - -_NOW READY_: - - BUILDING A HOME. Illustrated. - HOW TO FURNISH A HOME. 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