THE HAMILTOiSr ASSOCIATION. 85 



methods that seem to me to be neglected, in fact they are mainly to 

 be found in this class. 



The domestic class therefore being so important in my estimation, 

 it will be advisable for me perhaps to explain what I mean, and it is 

 this : The class which provides that finish and, at the same time, that 

 good foundation for a first-class education, which are to be only had 

 where the parents are able and willing to not only impart the first rudi- 

 ments, but when it is deemed advisable to send the children to school, 

 maintain a careful supervision of the lessons taught in school, while 

 at the sametime they areconstantly imparting information in branches 

 which only can be properly taught at the home fireside. Here I 

 would revert to my garden simile, for as in an old fashioned flower 

 garden there are many sweet flowers such as were to be found in the 

 gardens of our grandparents, such as it is apparently impossible for 

 professional gardeners to rear, so there were many lessons that our 

 parents learnt from their parents and we ourselves may have learned 

 in a measure, but which we do not seem able to have either the time 

 or ability to impart to our children, and it is useless to look to our 

 schools for instruction in them. 



However, I am reminded here of an apparent injustice I am 

 doing our good friends, the members of the Y. W. C. A., and more- 

 over, this reminder is made the more forcible because it has the 

 support of my allegory. Within the last few years, amongst flower- 

 loving people, there has been a demand for some of the oldfashioned 

 flowers, such, for instance as sweet peas and cornflowers, and the 

 florists have accordingly attempted with varying success to supply 

 the demand. In the same way there is now also an appeal made for 

 instruction in domestic arts, and the matter has been brought very 

 forcibly to the attention of the Board of Education by the Y. W. C. 

 -A., but I have grave doubts whether the training that these ladies are 

 so anxious and willing to give would equal that received in the old 

 school, the home. Many a joke is made about the. comparisons 

 made by young husbands between their wives' cooking and that of 

 their mothers, the contrast being in favour of the latter ; and certainly 

 our parents and grandparents had much skill in this respect that 

 could never be achieved in our best equipped modern school of 

 manual training, and the same may be said of housekeeping in 

 general. 



