LECTURES AND ESSAYS. 51S 



twice over. Yet he declares that it was not true, as the lady might fairly 

 have inferred, that he had embellished his conversation with the Huma 

 daily during that whole interval of years. On the contrary, he had never 

 once thought of the odious fowl until the recurrence of precisely the same 

 circumstances brought up precisely the same idea. He ought to have been 

 proud of the accuracy of his mental adjustments. 



To help to furnish seed and food for thought is one object of this institute 

 and of its humbler relatives, the farmers' clubs and literary societies, that 

 are springing up so numerously throughout the country. Another object 

 is to provide a place where we can display and compare the various thought 

 plants we have reared. To be able to do this in a spirit of friendly emula- 

 tion, untouched by envy or prejudice, is a triumph of social as well as men- 

 tal culture. 



Other benefits arising from these societies are the breaking down of the 

 spirit of caste, too prevalent even in country neighborhoods, and moderating 

 the rigor of social requirements in some desirable ways. Said a lady in my 

 hearing not long since, " I think one good thing that our society has done 

 is the bringing us acquainted with people not belonging to our church or 

 our immediate social circle whom we would not otherwise have known, and 

 whose acquaintance we have found both pleasant and profitable." Then the 

 little picnic suppers indulged in by these societies, restricted to plainness 

 by good sense and a regard for the means and convenience of all, have been 

 so enjoyable that people have realized their advantage over more elaborate 

 entertainments for all ordinary occasions. Indeed, even fashionable society, 

 so called, is becoming sensible upon this point. Says a lady who has been 

 all her life " in the swim," " It is not nearly so much work to entertain now 

 as it was 15 or 20 years ago ; why, in those early years of my housekeeping I 

 didn't think I could give a little tea party and do with less than four or five 

 kinds of cake, but now no more than two kinds is thought allowable, and to 

 provide but one is not considered at all shabby." Truly straws show which 

 way the wind is blowing. So when riches have been attained by reducing 

 our desires to our means, method arranged that shall allow thought culture 

 the best possible scope, there need be no fear that the "higher education" 

 should unfit anybody for the duties of life. It is not learning but the lack 

 of learning and what learning does for the whole being that does this. The 

 end of thought is to correct all defects that thought reveals, and, however 

 high our aspirations may soar, however wide our thought explore the earth 

 or the heavens, we shall not float away on a cloud, but, steadied by a ballast of 

 common sense and practical duties, keep our feet firmly planted on the earth. 



PIN MONEY. 



BY MRS. ALLEN DUNN. 



Read at the Brooklyn Institute, February 15, 1889. 



How should the farmer's wife provide herself with pin money, is a ques- 

 tion thac has vexed farmers' wives greatly, and is far from being settled. 



Various are the devices tried. There is the poultry. How many women 

 start out in the spring with glowing visions of the money they will make 

 raising poultry, but only to meet with disappointment at every step. We 



