DECEMBER 145 



outward expressions of feeling that can exist between 

 civilised human beings. To take the trouble to find out 

 what somebody really wants ; to be struck by something 

 beautiful, and to know to whom to give it ; to supply a 

 real want to those who cannot afford it for themselves ; 

 to give anything, however trifling, as a remembrance — 

 all these are the gentle sweeteners of life, and need none 

 of those goading reminders which come with the return 

 of anniversaries. And to come to the more selfish aspect 

 of the question. Instead of the callousness, and almost 

 fatigue, in consequence of receiving a great number of 

 presents at once, is there not a delight that lasts through 

 life, until we are quite old, at suddenly receiving a sym- 

 pathetic and unexpected gift ? 



A great many people use holly and evergreens at 

 Christmas -time to stick about the room in empty vases, 

 round pictures, etc. But they hardly ever take the 

 trouble to peel their stalks and put them in water, 

 though — especially with holly — this makes all the dif- 

 ference as regards the retaining of its freshness; and if 

 arranged in a glass, not too thickly, it looks much more 

 beautiful, and does not acquire a dusty, degraded appear- 

 ance before New Year's Day. I cannot bear to see the 

 poor evergreens shrivelling in the hot rooms. We used 

 to have hardly any Holly berries in the garden here, but 

 by judicious pruning in February we now get quantities 

 of a very fine kind. 



One of my many correspondents wrote : ' If you are 

 interested in the lighting of country houses, I can recom- 

 mend the acetylene gas which our gardener makes for us. 

 We have used it for over a year, and find it quite charm- 

 ing — a brilliant light, delightful to read by, cool, clean, 

 and harmless to silver, flowers, and clothes, and safe, so 

 faras our experience goes. Ours is the "pure acetylene," 

 made by Raol Picket's patent, and not the explosive kind.' 



