48 THE HOME, FARM AND 1UMXKSS CYrLOl'.KDIA. 



Nothing is better for the practice of the amenities of home than a 

 rigorous determination to dress for dinner. This does not mean that we 

 should l>e expensively or showily dressed, but that every member of the 

 family should appear clean and brushed, and with some change of garment. 

 A few minutes in the dressing room is not too much of a tax to even the 

 busiest man, and he comes down much refreshed to his meal. 



A lady hardly needs any urging on this point ; but, if any one does 

 need urging, it is certainly worth mentioning. 



Several years ago a growing family of boys and girls \vere taken by 

 their parents, who had experienced a reverse of fortune, to the neighbour- 

 hood of the oil-wells to live. It was about the time they were growing 

 up, and their mother was in despair as she thought of the lost opportunities 

 of her children. Nothing about them but ignorance. No prospect, no 

 schools, no anything. But in the depth of her love she found inspiration. 



Out of the wreck of her fortunes she had saved enough to furnish 

 parlour and dining-room prettily, and to buy a few handsome lamps. 

 Books were there in plenty, for old books sell for very little ; so she had 

 been able to save that important factor of civilization. 



Every evening her lamps were lighted and her dinner spread as if for a 

 feast ; and every member of the family was made to come in as neatly 

 dressed as if it were a party. The father and mother dressed carefully, 

 and the evening was enlivened by music and reading. 



She attended to their education herself, although not fitted for it by 

 her own training. She did as well as she could. She taught them to 

 bow and to courtesy, to dance, to draw, to paint, to play and sing ; that is, 

 she started them in all these accomplishments. In five years, when better 

 fortunes brought them to the city again, they were as well-bred as their city 

 cousins, and all her friends applauded her spirit. This was done, too, 

 with only the assistance of one servant, and sometimes with not even 

 that. 



It required enormous courage, persistence, and belief in the amenities of 

 home. How many women, under such doleful circumstances, would have 

 .sunk into sloveliness and despair, and have allowed their flock to run 

 wild, like the neighbouring turkeys ! 



There is great hope for country children who are surrounded by a 

 certain prosperity and agreeable surroundings. They see more of their 

 parents than city children can ; and perhaps the ideal home is always in 

 the country. Those small but cultivated Canadian villages, those inland 

 cities, those rural neighbourhoods, where nature helps the mother, where 

 the natural companionship of animals is possible for the boys, and the 



