42 THE HOME, FARM AND BUSINESS CYCLOPEDIA. 



careless person. Exactly ! " Did \ve but remember." Yes ! To think, 

 to remember, to consider the claims of all about us, particularly at home, 

 is the beginning of " the amenities." 



One should be particular about paying small debts to members of the 

 family. Tom borrows car-fare from Dick and forgets to return it. Sarah bor- 

 rows a dollar from Louisa and forgets to return it. Then come recrimina- 

 tions and strife. There should be, in the first place, an effort to avoid bor- 

 rowing. Nothing is so good for children as to give them a small money 

 allowance, and to insist upon its lasting. It teaches them economy and 

 thrift. If this is possible, then instruct them in the impropriety of bor- 

 rowing and the necessity of prompt payments. Of course this is all a part 

 of the theory of respecting the rights of others. We are none of us too old 

 or too perfect to be beyond instruction in this matter. 



And, in the education of the young, parents should encourage individu- 

 ality. They should not try to smoothe off their children to a dead level 

 of uniformity. If Flora can draw, put a pencil in her hand and encourage 

 her. If Lucy can write, give her plenty of foolscap. If Bob wants to go 

 to sea, let him strive to fit himself. If Arthur is a natural orator, bring 

 him up for the law. If Charles is devotional, strive to fan the flame which 

 may make him a preacher. If Herbert has a tendency to save his pennies, 

 try in the first place to make him philanthropic, so that he will not end in 

 being a miser ; but let him be educated to business. If Peter shows a de- 

 cided taste for art, by all means cultivate it. We need artists in Canada, 

 and they are no longer struggling visionaries. 



Our education of girls tends chiefly toward making them admirable 

 figures in society, and to a certain extent this is right. But, if she has 

 nothing behind that worldly training, the young girl is apt, after a short 

 worldly experience, either to violently react and to hate it all ; she either 

 grows morbidly sensitive to opinion, or she stagnates into conventionality 

 either of which extremes should be avoided. There is no sadder sight 

 than to see our young women growing up with no high aims or thoughts 

 to guide them. Society is her power. She is the future regenerator, the 

 preserver of society. If her aims are high and pure, society will be high 

 and pure. 



The sudden accession of wealth should not make people less well-man- 

 nered. The pursuit of wealth is no doubt very destructive to good man- 

 ners ; but when it is won, as it now is by so many on this continent, should 

 it not bring back all those amenities, as we are bringing back the brocades, 

 the bureaus, the old clocks, and the carved mantelpieces of our Canadian 

 forefathers ? We are beginning to find out that they built better 



