de of treatment often shows clouds and veins equal in beauty to the
choicest woods. The cost of such a finish is greatly less than that of
the old method; and it saves those days and weeks of cleaning which
are demanded by white paint, while its general tone is softer and more
harmonious. Experiments in color may be tried in the combinations of
these woods, which at small expense produce the most charming
effects.

As to paper hangings, we are proud to say that our American
manufacturers now furnish all that can be desired. There are some
branches of design where artistic, ingenious France must still excel
us; but whoso has a house to fit up, let him first look at what his
own country has to show, and he will be astonished.

There is one topic in housebuilding on which I would add a few words.
The difficulty of procuring and keeping good servants, which must long
be one of our chief domestic troubles, warns us so to arrange our
houses that we shall need as few as possible. There is the greatest
conceivable difference in the planning and building of houses as to
the amount of work which will be necessary to keep them in respectable
condition. Some houses require a perfect staff of housemaids: there
are plated hinges to be rubbed, paint to be cleaned, with intricacies
of moulding and carving which daily consume hours of dusting to
preserve them from a slovenly look. Simple finish, unpainted wood, a
general distribution of water through the dwelling, will enable a very
large house to be cared for by one pair of hands, and yet maintain a
creditable appearance.

In kitchens one servant may perform the work of two by a close packing
of all the conveniences for cooking and such arrangements as shall
save time and steps. Washing-day may be divested of its terrors by
suitable provisions for water, hot and cold; by wringers, which save
at once the strength of the linen and of the laundress; and by
drying-closets connected with ranges, where articles can in a few
moments be perfectly dried. These, with the use of a small mangle,
such as is now common in America, reduce the labors of the laundry one
half.

There are many more things which might be said of "our house," and
Christopher may, perhaps, find some other opportunity to say them. For
the present his pen is tired and ceaseth.

XII

HOME RELIGION

It was Sunday evening, and our little circle were convened by my study
fireside, where a crackling hickory fire