278 POT-POURRI FROM A SURREY GARDEN 



away. I came back to the various houses to which I had 

 been accustomed with a sigh of despair ; but the first step 

 towards progress must always be discontent with what 

 one has and with one's own ignorance. It has sometimes 

 been a sorrow to me to see, in the Oxford Street shop, 

 that even Mr. Morris did not keep up entirely the high 

 and simple standard of his early years. He has some 

 golden rules in the lecture called ' The Beauty of Life,' 

 perhaps the truest and most concise of which is one that 

 none of us really act up to : ' Have nothing in your houses 

 that you do not know to be useful or believe to be 

 beautiful.' What would happen to the great mass of 

 modern wedding-presents if we really carried out this 

 rule ? Mr. Morris preaches the sternest simplicity, and 

 I must say, as a mental effort, I think we ought to try 

 and agree with him ; though rooms, to my mind, should 

 look warm and comfortable, and simplicity had better 

 consist in an absence of rubbish than in a diminution of 

 comfort. Mr. Morris goes on to explain what he means 

 by a simple sitting-room : ' First, a bookcase with a great 

 many books in it; next, a table that will keep steady 

 when you write or work at it ; then several chairs that 

 you can move, and a bench that you can sit or lie upon ; 

 next, a cupboard with drawers; next, unless the book- 

 case or the cupboard be very beautiful with painting or 

 carving, you will want pictures or engravings such as 

 you can afford only not stop-gaps, but real works of art 

 on the wall ; or else the wall itself must be ornamented 

 with some beautiful and restful pattern. We shall also 

 want a vase or two to put flowers in, which latter you 

 must have sometimes, especially if you live in a town. 

 Then there will be the fireplace, of course, which in our 

 climate is bound to be the chief object in the room. 



f That is all we shall want, especially if the floor be 

 good ; if it is not as, by the way, in a modern house it is 



