"That I may yet enjoy thy vital ray !

Though transient be the hope, 'twill be most sweet,
Like midnight music, stealing on the ear,

Then gliding past, and dying slow away."

VIII. Do all you can to prevent sickness coming. All who desire healthy, happy, and bright homes must seek to be clean. Let no corners in the house escape your notice. Scrub out the drawers and shelves of every cupboard from time to time, to keep them sweet and wholesome. Notice the following suggestive hints:

1. Never neglect your cellars. The amount of sickness bred in cellars can never be accurately estimated, but there is no doubt that many mysterious cases of typhoid and scarlet fevers, rheumatism or ague, may be traced to the malarious effluvia emanating from these neglected corners. Old boxes, bins, and barrels, which have contained vegetable matter, meat, fish, &c., need thorough overhauling, because when standing in a dark corner they look empty. There may be enough poison left sticking to the sides and bottom to affect the health of the household. This work of cleansing is often left to women and boys. A man had much better make a thorough purification of the cellars. After all garbage is carried out, let the ceilings and walls be brushed with an old broom; and if this is done once a month, the atmosphere will be all the sweeter. Use plenty of lime, and in dry weather keep the doors and windows open a part of every day. Old tin and wooden ware, if not fit to be used, throw away. 2. Be careful of your bedrooms. A proper notion of decency should lead you to have bedrooms apart from living-rooms. You have to spend about a third of your life in a bedroom; it should, therefore, be clean, well ventilated, and as comfortable as your means will allow.

"Be not afraid of open windows and plenty of fresh air. Do not dread the former even in cold, frosty weather, and even prefer what are called 'draughts' to close warm rooms and a 'muggy' atmosphere. Far greater

numbers suffer from the effects of warm air than from cold,
and probably more than one-half the 'ills that flesh is heir
to' are caused by breathing impure air in closely-confined
rooms, at hot stuffy meetings, &c. Let the lungs have pure
and fresh air, as you would let the stomach have pure and
wholesome food, and prefer the temporary unpleasantness of
cold to the enduring ill effects of heat and bad air.
'The
more a person is out-of-doors the less easily does he take
cold,' while those who are afraid of going out-of-doors'
lest they should catch cold frequently catch it by going from
one room to the other, or by slight exposure, draught of air,
dampness, &c." Remember it is

"Better to hunt in fields for health unbought,
Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught!
The wise for cure on exercise depend,

God never made His work for man to mend."

It is astonishing also how many annoyances arise in homes from the neglect of little things-irritations by the creaking of a gate, the banging of a door, the grating of a hinge, the sticking of a lock, all of which might have been avoided by a drop or two of oil! Bolts, locks, hinges, bell-wire, cranks, &c., will act smoothly if they are oiled now and then, but if neglected the whole house will be disturbed by shaking of windows, banging of doors, creaking of the gate, which, in a time of sickness especially, will be found to seriously interfere with the comfort of the patient, and, in some cases, hinder the probabilities of recovery. Speaking of the kind of tact which is needful at such times one says:

"A woman possessed of the qualification of cleverness is seldom at a loss what to do; seldom gives wrong orders; seldom mistakes the right means of producing the end she desires; seldom spoils, or wastes, or mismanages the work she undertakes; never hurries to and fro in a state of confusion, not knowing what is best to be done first; and never yields to her own feelings, so as to incapacitate her from the service of others at any critical moment when her assistance may

be most needed. Her habitual self-possession is a positive good; her coolness, her promptitude, her power to adapt herself to circumstances, all give worth and dignity to her character in the estimation of others; while they afford peace and satisfaction to her own mind.”

3. The sick-room must be kept very quiet. All noise and bustle avoided, and every care taken to prevent sudden sound reaching and disturbing the invalid. Don't allow more than one in the room, and if you can help do without that one. There should be no gossiping or talking.

4. The fire should be stirred quietly. This can be done as a rule better with a piece of wood than with the ordinary poker. If it needs replenishing use your fingers to put the coal on, or lift it with a piece of paper, and place it gently on the fire.

5. Do not wear a rustling dress. Many a patient has been awoke out of a few moments' unconsciousness from pain by the thoughtless moving about of some one with a rustle. A soft light-coloured dress is the best for a sick-nurse.

6. Do not wear creaking boots or shoes. Get a pair of felt shoes or something soft to move about in.

7. The air in the room soon gets exhausted. A sick-room should be kept very sweet and airy, and there should never be a close smell in it; if the weather is warm enough, the door or window should be open: if cold, there should be a fire, and the chimney should never be stopped up.

8. It should be kept light and cheerful, and the use of bedcurtains abolished.

9. It should be very clean. All chamber vessels should be removed as soon as used, and if there is any bad smell, a little chloride of lime or disinfecting powder should be put into them; some should be kept in a plate under the bed.

10. The sick person's face, hands, and feet should be washed regularly with warm water and soap. The hair combed every day. Washing the face with warm water will often ease headache, and make a restless patient sleep.

Never be afraid of putting on clean sheets or clean bodylinen; they cannot give cold if well aired at the fire.

11. When a person lies long in bed, take great care that the back and hips are kept clean and dry. If any place looks red and tender, dab it twice a day with spirits of camphor. Arrange the pillows so as to take the weight off the tender parts. If the skin comes off, apply cold cream or spermaceti ointment.

12. Never give wine, gin, rum, or other spirits. Sick people always feel weak, but yet such things given as a rule only make them worse. You may generally give good broth or beef-tea with safety.

13. Never suffer yourself to get overtired or nervous. If y f you are told to leave the patient for rest or refreshment, do it. All may depend upon your strength lasting out.

14. Do not give way to unreasonable excitement by insisting to sit up night and day; to do so will be to break down and cause more trouble.

15. Do not refuse food because you do not feel to want it if you are to keep equal to the demands upon you, and not unfit yourself for the office of nurse, and seek to be calm, cool, strongly braced to meet every emergency.

16. No hand but the wife's should prepare food, &c., for a sick husband, or for your own child when young. The preparing of a spoonful of gruel may seem a very little matter, yet those who have had to stand by the sick-bed of one near and dear, and see the feverish palate relieved, the exhausted body refreshed, must bless the hand that did it.

17. While you are diligent in the use of all the means at your disposal, and realise most completely that it is woman's special work to soothe pain, to do all she can to alleviate suffering, to soften the discords of life, to solace the tired and worn spirit, to act as the gentle dew from heaven, in the silent, unnoted, and yet blessed influence on all around her, remember that after all, Life and Death are in the hands of God, and it is to Him therefore you should look for a blessing to rest upon your efforts if they are to succeed.

M

We

fear very many young people overlook what they promised to do when they were married, and therefore we think it wise to call attention to the exact words. Of the intended husband the following questions were asked:-"Wilt thou have this woman to thy wedded wife, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honour and