fixed and the various articles purchased to make the party realise that it was a feast of fat things. Among other articles which had been sent home from the various tradesmen was a fine large turkey. As it lay on the table before them, and they were discussing where each article should be placed when cooked, the wife innocently asked-"My dear, what shall we do with this?"

"Why, roast or bake it, I suppose," he replied.

"Well, I never saw one done, and don't know how to begin."

"Oh, it will be all right if we roast it. I can help to baste it as it turns in front of the fire while you are attending to the other things. You must begin some time, and this is a good thing to start with."

"Yes, if I only knew how to start

"By-the-bye, my dear, it just occurs to me that when my mother roasted a turkey she always stuffed it.'

"Stuffed it! why whatever with ?" she asked.

Something green, but I don't know what."

"If that's all I'll soon manage it."

So she put on her bonnet and shawl, and went to the greengrocer's, and bought a cabbage and stuffed it with it. Perhaps you may say she was rather " green." No doubt she was, but no greener than thousands who pride themselves upon their ignorance of domestic qualifications for home duties. There are thousands of so-called fine ladies who have a perfect horror of anything like handicraft-they have reduced their hands to the condition of mere fins or flippers, which can neither hold nor grasp anything. They feel ashamed to have hands capable of being used or put to a good use. They are simply useful as glove-stretchers, or pins to hang rings on for exhibition.

God help the homes of England if such creatures are to be the future wives and mothers! We would rather meet with a wife who can illustrate in her experience the oldfashioned style of things when it was said

"Show me the wife that's on the watch
For every little rent or scratch,
And cures it with a timely patch
Before you know it;

Simonides, a

She's the woman fit to match
A lord or poet."

Greek poet who lived very early, we are told, in Grecian history, is known as an author of the oldest piece of satire extant, and, among other things, he used this power of satire on the female sex. He tells us that the gods formed the souls of women out of those seeds and principles which compose several kinds of animals and elements; and that their good and bad dispositions arise in them according as such and such seeds and principles predominate in their constitutions. The slut, the scold, the sluggard, the cunning, the variable, the morose, the vain, the ill-favoured, and the industrious are all traced back to their original prototypes. . . . . The tenth and last species, he says, "were made out of the bee; and happy is the man who gets such a one for his wife. She is altogether faultless and unblamable. Her family flourishes and improves by her good management. She loves her husband, and is beloved by him. She brings him a race of beautiful and virtuous children. She distinguishes herself among her sex. She is surrounded with graces. She never sits among the loose tribe of women, nor passes away her time with them in wanton discourses. She is full of virtue and prudence, and is the best wife Jupiter can bestow on man."

III. The best of Wives studies tidy habits. Every husband, however dirty may be the nature of his employment, likes to see his wife a picture of neatness. Amid the dust and dirt of his daily life, he looks to the time when he will be able to leave it all behind him, and enter a tidy, clean home. It is, therefore, a moral duty of every wife to make herself beautiful and tidy in all lawful ways. Resist with all your energy the slightest rising of that spirit which would lead you to say, "Oh, anything will do for

him." On the contrary, cultivate the desire to be on the look-out to remove all blemishes out of the way, and to have everything which is bright and cheerful in its place. Just as it is the duty of the husband to provide you with a home, so also is it your duty to seek to adorn it with all the graces of taste so as to make it a model of cleanliness, cheerfulness, good order, and neatness. A wife without neatness, a room or home without order, a household without management, is sure to result in misery. Nothing done at the right time, and nothing to be found in the right place, will end of necessity in confusion and wretchedness to yourself and all around you. Never let it be said of you that you are a SLATTERN either in yourself or in your home. Study to do everything neatly and as well as you can. Keep a sharp look-out against any habit of slurring over. Take heed to your ways so that they are cautious, careful, and considerate. Like all other habits they grow with cultivation, or become difficult to perform if neglected. Let your husband's good wishes prompt you at all times to be ready to please him. You will then experience the result of his approbation in many ways. To have his smile, to hear his hearty approval, will amply repay you for your efforts. It is worth much to hear a husband say :-

"I love to see thy gentle hand
Dispose, with modest grace,

The household things around thy home,
And each thing in its place.'

"And then thy own trim, modest form
Is always neatly clad;

Thou sure dost make the tidiest wife
That ever husband had.

"No costly splendour needest thou

To make thy home look bright;
For neatness on the humblest spot
Can shed a sunny light."

"Ye wedded dames, this hint descry,
Nor blame the friendly part;
The slattern makes the husband fly,
While neatness charms his heart."

It is a real treat to enter the home of a tidy wife. The house may be ever so humble in appearance both inside and outside, but the moment you enter you can see traces of a tidy woman's hand and ways everywhere. You can tell it by the manner the blind of the window is drawn up, or the way a flowerpot is set in the window. Indeed, there is all around evidence that she has studied the little things of home life, and seeks to make the best of them. Yes, the secret all lies there-seeking to make the best of things the best of the little room, the scanty furniture, the food, the raiment-indeed, it is a study how to get the most out of the least. Here lies the source of the air of comfort you see around such a home. This is the result of attention, care, and effort. Oh, seek thus to beautify every room, and make your home teach all who enter it, how much can be done when the heart is rightly disposed, for if the heart be right it will make the home right.

IV.-The best of Wives is ever anxious to do all she can to promote her husband's comfort.

"I will tell you the secret of our happy married life," said a gentleman of threescore and ten. "We have been married for forty years; my bride was the belle of when I married her, and though I loved her for herself, still a lovely flower is all the lovelier poised in an exquisite vase. My wife knew this, and, true to her genuine refinement, has never, in all these forty years, appeared at the table or allowed me to see her less carefully dressed than during the days of our honeymoon. Some might call this foolish vanity; I call it real womanliness. I presume I should not have ceased to love her had she followed the example of many others, and, considering the everyday life of home necessarily devoid of beauty, allowed herself to be careless of such small measures as dressing for her husband's eye; but love is increased when we are proud of the object loved, and to-day I am more proud of my beautiful wife with her silvery hair and gentle face, than of the bride