638 HOME AND HOUSEHOLD. 



table. The very bric-a-brac and furniture should speak of her 

 refinement and tastes, instead of the depth of the family pocket- 

 book. Furniture may be substantial and inexpensive, and at the 

 same time possess those home-like attractions which are so cap- 

 tivating to average humanity. 



It is said that furniture is the story of the race, from sump- 

 tuous Egypt down through the Dark Ages ; and it may be 

 interesting to note the result of some research in this direction. 

 The Greeks perfected Egyptian suggestions and ideas, but seem 

 to have produced nothing new. They lived largely in public 

 temples, theatres, groves, and porticos. Holding their women 

 in slight esteem, and having little home life, they expended their 

 wealth and energies on public sculpture, paintings, architecture, 

 caring little for home arts and comforts. With their artistic 

 ideas, their articles of domestic furniture were perfect, but few 

 in number. The Romans paid more .attention to household 

 arts, and the position of woman was somewhat advanced ; but 

 they borrowed their ideas of household articles from the Greeks, 

 as they, before them, borrowed from the Egyptians. The first 

 chair was a thing of state, and doubtless was developed from the 

 Egyptian throne. At the downfall of Rome, whatever house- 

 hold art had accomplished went with it. The barbarians de- 

 stroyed nearly everything, and the industrial arts no longer 

 existed in the Western Empire. All there was of convenience, 

 comfort, or splendor came from the East. Silks, spices, gems, 

 ivory, and smaller articles of furniture, reached the West and 

 Middle Europe, at first through Egypt, and afterward through a 

 commerce established between the pilgrims who visited Jerusa- 

 lem, and the Arabs who visited Mecca. Some writers have 

 intimated that this trade, and the profits from it, had much to 

 do with the zeal with which pilgrims sometimes undertook this 

 long and perilous journey. Down through the Dark Ages, every 

 lord of a castle was a sovereign, liable at any time to be obliged 

 to yield to stronger forces. If he went abroad, he was uncertain 

 of his ability to return, and his home was a kind of fortress. At 

 this period, his furniture consisted of little else than chests, 

 which, in the castle, served as seat, bed, table, and treasury ; 

 and if he was overpowered by an enemy, his valuables were 

 hastily packed in the chest and easily moved. 



