520 THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
for lUomett, 
CONDUCTED BY MISC RAY CLARK. 
SKETCHES OF GERMAN LIFE. 
BERTHA A. ZEDI WINKLER. 
THE NOBILITY AS IT IS. 
There is now an old nobility and a new no¬ 
bility. The former live in the prestige of 
ancestors and mellowed titles, the latter have 
either money or merit to sustain them in the 
jealously guarded ranks. Patrician descent 
is still everything, and the farther you can 
trace back your pedigree, the less will your 
idiocy, poverty or general depravity be no¬ 
ticed. Yet, worth, ability and talent must 
necessarily sustain this institution as well as 
every other. It must have an infusion of 
new blood once in a while, to admit which it 
must first be enriched with titular honors. 
So a military aspirant, who has distinguished 
himself in the last war, or a civilian who has 
served his country in any department of 
learning and science, gets dubbed a knight of 
the old chivalry. But such is the prejudice 
against plebeian blood that ho must be high in 
royal favor if a Doble’s lofty condescension 
does not tell him that he is not born in the 
purple. If he has courage aud ignores all the 
squibs of a baroness aud the humiliating ob¬ 
servance of her saloon etiquette, they will 
conclude that nature made a mistake in plac¬ 
ing him among plebeians and fortune corrected 
it when she brought him to his right sphere. 
Such a man was never meant for a subject, 
and silence aud respect follow his fearless 
glance. But if he buys their favor, woe to 
him! he may go buy it to the end of his life. 
The nobility have wonderfully long memories 
at the banquets of a receut upstart. While 
they gulp his wine and masticate the offer¬ 
ings of conciliating hospitality, there is al¬ 
ways some one to refer to the good old days 
of chivalry with regret. 
The women are exercised upon the same 
subject. While their alien hostess is busied 
for their pleasure and entertainment, the talk 
is all about ancestry, crests and old family 
jevvels and silver from the days of the great 
Charlemagne, until the poor hostess contem¬ 
plates in confused, timid silence, her own 
bran new escutcheon, silver still shining 
with tell-tale newness, and offers more coffee 
to quiet her conscience. She knows her high 
guests are poor and thinks nothing but gener¬ 
ous hospitality can offset the crime of intrud¬ 
ing her bourgeois form among the shades of 
ancient chivalry. Shades they are, indeed, in 
character and physical substance. Their 
casties have dwindled down to miserable 
villas, or to a suite of rooms in the Imperial 
City, where they swarm as bureau-crats and 
hungry office-seekers. 
Most pitiable does this pride of aristocracy 
seem when it looks down with contempt upon 
working people, trades people, and the like, 
while its own hands are busied in secret to 
earn a livelihood! I have seen a young noble 
blush to the roots of bis hair upon being dis¬ 
covered, by a lot of military comrades, em¬ 
ployed at the desk of a merchant. He kept 
his horse and went out sporting with the gar¬ 
rison offiers, and then at intervals, kept books 
to keep up appearance. Keeping up appear¬ 
ance, pride, in one word, is their curse and 
ruin. They will sell daughters and sisters to 
the richest bourgeois bidder, because they 
cannot perpetuate the ancestral name, and 
give their sons with the aid of a rich son in-law, 
a military education and a start along the 
highway of the old aristocracy. Thus is this 
caste perpetuated aud nourished,—no longer 
by the glories of conquest and the possession 
of lands, but by the arts of advantageous 
mesalliances, and the patronage of royalty. 
The whole bagatelle of nobility is built on 
the foundation of somebody else’s industry. 
The king is still all powerful; and, himself a 
noble, gathers around him as many of his 
kind as the country can possibly support. 
From this high patronage the smaller fry gets 
its lustre. They may scarcely know where the 
next day’s meal is to come from, they may 
have no more of its ancient feudal spirit than 
a peasant, if he can write a “con” before his 
name, be belongs to the nobility, which 
means, be is among those who rule, which 
means, ho j age, from those who are ruled. 
Those who have had even only newspaper 
glimpses of Caroline Bauer’s account of King 
Leopoldt’s character and life, and of her own 
cousin, Barou Stockmar, his trusty confidants, 
can form an idea of the thorough rottenness 
that prevails under the tinsel covering of the 
nobility and of the common people’s pander¬ 
ing to the vices of the great ior a little lustre 
of their name. Stockmar gave his niece to 
the Prince, consented and was privy to a 
morganatic marriage, and considered himself 
and his duped relative highly honored by the 
transaction. Meanwhile, the Prince posed 
before the public as widower and mourner 
for bis deceased wife Charlotte, in order to 
keep possession of his revenue from England. 
All the ancient pride and spirit of the nobil¬ 
ity seems to have gone over to the women, 
and with them it is transformed into a more 
modern, sensible kiDd of chivalry. A great 
many scorn to sell themselves to soma rich 
burgher for the maintenance of a scapegrace 
brother in the ranks of the nobility, or to keep 
up the appearaDceof a baronial establishment 
at her parental home. If they caunut perpet¬ 
uate the family name, they argue they can¬ 
not disgrace it. So they engage openly in all 
manner of work for their maintenance. Num¬ 
bers come over to America every year to 
study medicine and dentistry; while the ranks 
of governesses, teachers and other genteel 
employments are well filled by them. So, 
while chivalric knights have dwindled dowu 
to loungers, fortune hunters and parasites of 
woman’s industry and honor, chivalry’s fair, 
champion their own cause with much more 
credit to their titled names. 
BOWS AND COLLARS. 
Ladies of every age are desirous (or should 
be) of looking well. It is a'special gift to know 
just where aud how to put on a bow, or bou¬ 
quet, for it to have the most graceful effect. 
Anybody can put on a bow, but what of the 
effect ? A friend of ours has this gift, aud she 
is proverbial for the bewitching angles in 
which she attaches these simple additions to 
her costume. They are perhaps in the same 
place that one who may be uext her wears 
hers, but the one will be a graceful, loosely 
tied bow, of a delicate shade of ribbon, while 
the other is made stiffly, with both ends ex¬ 
actly even, and the loops too, and it seems to 
have been cut out with a die, it is so hard in 
the outlines and so flat on the surface. This 
is a very small matter, but what woman does 
not know that a few bows of ribbon sets off 
what might be otherwise a plain dress ? Let 
us try and cultivate the “art” of tyingand ar¬ 
ranging ribbon bows just because if we will 
wear them it pays to make ourselves look as 
well as we can. Another addition to the 
Fig. 359. 
toilettes of young people is the fancy collar or 
throatlette, perhaps they might be better 
styled. There is no particular rule as to how 
they should be made, for there is plenty of 
room for a display of taste in the making. If 
it is for a white or cream colored dress, white 
pearl or wax beads should be used; and, of 
course, only white or black beads or bugles are 
suitable for them any way. There should be 
a collar eut to fit the neck and lined with stiff 
crinoline if she who is to be the wearer has a 
long neck; and if not, something more pliable 
should be used as a lining, for if it is made too 
stiff it will crease or bend. Cover this with 
the color suitable for the dress it is to accom¬ 
pany and then put on the heads in a design of 
some kind, only let it be one which will cover 
the material well. Then the bottom can be 
made of the beads in points or scallops. Nar¬ 
row ribbon, used as in cut No. 359, has a stylish 
effect. Either of these are very easily made 
and are a dressy addition to one’s toilet. Try 
it, our young friends, who live far from a city 
and so cannot go into the stores and make a 
selection, and we are quite sure you will like 
them if you make them prettily. c. 
IS LIFE WORTH LIVING? 
Such was the question asked me not long 
ago by a youDg friend, whom I had known 
only through the medium of correspondence. 
Her ambitious hopes had been thwarted, aud 
like mauy another brave untried soul, she 
stood appalled at the first bitter test of that 
stern teacher Experience. In replying, how 
I longed for the tongue of an angel, the pen 
of iron with which Job would fain have writ¬ 
ten; that I might help her to see how worthy 
of living is a true life. Does not every bird 
aud flower, each charmed season and each lov¬ 
ing face that looks up at us tell us that life is 
worth liviug? Our first outlook upon the re¬ 
sponsibilities of life is too often viewed through 
the glass of self, and though rainbow colors 
surround the present, if we patiently plod 
along, even though very slow, we shall truly 
find the enjoyable paths furtter on, even 
though clouds mingle with the sunshine. Each 
heart best knows its own discouragements and 
cannot always measure the hight and depth 
of the aspirations of the few who succeed in 
life. Then it is wrong to say our life is blighted. 
The farmer’s wife thinks she has the most 
weary round of drudgery imaginable—and 
when we look at the work aloue, it is marvel¬ 
ous what the majority of country women ac¬ 
complish in the way of physical toil. 
One pair of hands perform the service 
of laundryman, cook, dairyman, seam¬ 
stress, housekeeper, nurse, mother aud 
ofteu gardener. One who is inclined 
to look on the dark side may trans 
form mole hills into mountains while 
thinking of the seemingly endless 
round of burdens for the coming year, 
week or day. But “Love lightens 
labor,” so we may see man}’ a health}-, 
happy woman performing this task 
uncomplainingly. 
Why is it. then, that one faints at her 
task, and the other goes singing to her 
work? The principal difference in the 
majority of cases is the manner in which she 
views her toil. One calls it drudgery, the other 
calls it a ministering service. One looks upon 
the churn and cream jar, when she enters the 
dairy, only to fret about her weariness; the 
other is cheered by the babble of the spark¬ 
ling spring, and says: “Now I shall read and 
rest while churning.” One looks at the long 
line of snowy clothes, thinking what weary 
hours have made them so; the other notices 
the bright contrast of hlue sky aud green grass, 
and congratulates herself that her clothes are 
so white, and hanging out so early—no thought 
now of the labor required to have this so; that 
is a past burden, and then she moves on to 
others. 
There are weary women in shops, 
factories, offices, and counting houses 
who would gladly exchauge places with 
their country sisters; so that from the 
bright sunshine, the clear air, the 
peaceful fields, and broad expanse of 
sky, they might receive rest and in¬ 
spiration. But circumstances, which 
they cannot easily overcome, have 
placed them where they are, and is it 
not best to be hopeful aud trustful? 
Try to banish the shadows and scatter 
that rising cloud by resolving to do our 
best,so that we may be able to say: "Our lines 
are cast in pleasant places.” If our work is not 
pleasant, and we cannot change our lot, let us 
study to become content with what we have. 
Yes; our lives are worth the living; and it 
depends upon ourselves how much of true 
worth we can be credited with by our friends; 
for the great truth is stated in: “No man 
liveth unto himself, and no man dieth unto 
himself.” We all have an influence; whether 
our modesty permits us to allow this or not, 
and when life shall close wo will then kuow 
how much of it was for good aud how much 
for evil. emma o. btout. 
As the sunshine comes down to sleep 
in the cups of the lily and violet, so 
does God’s love come to give warmth, 
fragrauce and beauty to human hearts. 
As the rose opens to J une, so does the 
soul unfold to the wooing of Christ’s 
love, and diffuses an aroma so delicious 
around it, that men cannot help but 
know the presence of a sweetness and 
purity not their owu. 
> ♦<- 
Shall wornau whose soul is stirred 
to its depths by the terrible evil of 
intemperance, work only in the silence of her 
own home, if she may lift up a voice or cast 
a ballot that shall be r« factor in the great work 
of overthrowing the destroyer of homes, the 
Abaddon that goes to and fro in the earth 
seeking victims for the abyss? What ri#ht 
sacrifice can be too great if it will save our child¬ 
ren, our homes and our country ? 
ZEA MAYS. 
Fig. 358. 
Fig. 360. 
A 08 4 
C. M., Hanover, Ind.—I f a young gentle¬ 
man asks the privilege and is allowed to ac¬ 
company a young lady home from church 
should he thank her or she him? 
A ns. —The person who asks a favor of an¬ 
other and is granted it, is the person under 
obligation and who should return thanks. 
Thus, iu the above case, the gentleman should 
thank the lady: but if the gentleman accom¬ 
panied the lady heeause she would otherwise 
have to go aloue. when she would be afraid 
and unprotected, it would become an act of 
gallantry, placing the lady under obligation^, 
when she most assuredly should return thanks 
to the gentlemau. 
Domestic Ccottom^ 
CONDUCTED BY EMU-Y MAPLE. 
HOUSEKEEPING ON PUGET SOUND. 
MARY WAGER-FISHER. 
IV. 
I asked the mistress of the tall Chineseserv- 
ant one day, (she had been near 30 years on 
this coast) how it came about that the people 
who are supposed to have such an antipathy 
to the Chinese, were first led to employ them 
in their homes and particularly in that most 
important part, the kitchen. She replied: “It 
began in San Francisco and was the outcome 
of necessity. There were a good many Irish 
and foreigu girls there who endeavored to 
control wages, and they formed leagues or 
societies, through which they supported serv¬ 
ants out of employ uutil they could force 
from employers an exorbitant- wage. Those 
w ho had places would rob their employers of 
small quantities of sugar, Hour, tea, etc. etc., 
to keep up the supplies of the leagues, uutil 
things came to such a pass that employers, 
from sheer necessity—for the work had to be 
done—liegan to try the Chinese.” 
It must not be inferred that the Chinese, as 
a rule, make the ideal servants. They differ 
quite as much as people of other nationalities, 
and their habits depend very largely upon 
their training. I kuow women who would do 
without a servant before employing a China¬ 
man, just as there are people why will not have 
“colored” help. Particularly in families where 
there are young children and growing girls, 
there is an aversion to employing Chinese. 
But, all in all. the Chinese form the best help 
to be had on this coast, and from the great 
number of housekeepers with whom I have 
talked, lam convinrtd that the outcry against 
the Chinese is chiefly of masculine origin. 
Restriction of immigration is undoubtedly a 
pUgctUaneou.s 
Free of charge. A full size cake of Ivory Soap 
will be sent to any one who can not get it of their 
grocer, t f six two-eent stamps, to pay postage, are 
sent to Procter <fc Gamble, Glncinuati. Please 
mention his paper. 
