Best Parlors

(jDyPitlipnfitps Almost PTcry Amprican honso possesscs ono of thoso droadful altan, erected to what uuknowH goddess it is impossiblo to gucss. It ig a Bogy, before trhom from time to time people burn ras in ohandeliers ot' fcartol design; - to wbom are ctb&lcatetfcfftgTïirtt carpeta, impossíble oil jMuntings, furniture toogurgeons tor tomín. n il;y and shrouded thorofrom by customary Holland. Musty smells belong to this Deity, stiffnuss. angles, absence of sunliirlit. Tko visitor, entering, sees written abore ïHe portal : " Who enten here abandons - oonvorsation." Wha.i is there to talk about in ; room dark as the Domdaniel, exeept where nw erack hi iv relnutiint tthuttcr reveáis a stand of iras ilou-trs ondel gl&ss, and .a din-.ly descried hostess, whoevidentlywaits only your departuro to extinguish that solitary ray P The Toiee instinctively hosfaea : tlic mimi finds itself barren of ideas. A few dreary commonplaces are exehangod, thon a lise, a rustió, toe door is gamed and the light ï the blessed sun : you glanec up in passing - flap goes the blind, inner darknegs is again rosuraed, Bogy has it all his own wny, and you thank your stars that yon have done your duty by tho Browns for at least a twelvemonth ! And yet, upon this dismal apaitfnent, which she hates and all her acquaintunees Sute, poor Mrs. Brown has lavished time and moncy enough to niako two rooms charining. For ugly things cost as ïmieh as pretty ones, - olten more. And cosí ly ngliness is as Mrs. JSrown wöüld teil yon "Lreat responsibility to take cate of." What with the carpvt whieh mustn't get fadel, the niirrors whieh nmstn't get flyspecked, the gilding whioh mustn't be tómish'ed, thero is notbing for it but to shut the room up tf) darkness and all dull Tnfluences. And as families are like flies vm1 wil! fidUw tho sun, the domestic life ctmies to be led ánywhere rather than io the best parlor, nii'l the " taboö" wbioh Mrs. Brown proclaims is i :isily enforced. And yet this very Mrs. Brown is quick ?i' recognize tho diffeience whon in other people's homes she is shewn a cosy and pleasant room. She sits on a ehiut sofa in her vrlvet and eimine, and glances half enviously at tbc tinted wivlls hug ■with phqtographs, at the sparlcling little flrfl in the grate, the windows gay with mui Bad green things, the book-cases and ifcbTes Itwded with volumes. " How I admire an open tire," she says. " But dosen't it make a great deal of dust? And your plants, too - 1 can't t hink liow you nrake them grow so wel] in ;t parlor." " A little Crotón and plenty of sun is all the secret," she is told. " Oh, but how dreadfully faded your carpet must get," she goes on. " Such quautitics of books, too. Well, I should like to have such things ! " It does not occur to the good lady that ibr the price of ono of those useless niirrors which eost lnr such anxiety and rubbing with chainois-skiu, a choico company of poets, philosopheig, and sages eould be won to sit forever at her sido, mformin with their wisiiojii. Ov tli.it. fbr a tithe of the same her fireless grate would sparkle with Cannel coul for a ■winter long. Her_ furniture, her carpets, the dnllness of lier homo, are enenmbrances which phe bears willingly and would not be without. And peoplo having the right to live pretty much as they please, so long ns they viólate r.o law of the land, it would matter little, except that there are so many Browns and so many best parlors, that society is seriously affected thereby. For a System which nocessitates great and troublesome changes in fiimily arrangement wheuever a guest comes, tends to narrowness and inhospitality. If the covers must be taken off the furniture, the plated spoons go up stairs and tho silver ones come down, the best china be lifted from a top shelf, upon the arrival of each friend, be sure that friand will seldoin arrive. Ouly whcrv what Mrs. Stow! calis " a good liberal average " is established as a rulo over all houses, will hearty interchange of social courtesie3 begin, and tho communioH of frienda, face to face, be regarded as a pleasure rather than ,-t toil. To those of u %tík luwe been tasting the suraaaer in tUe sweotr breadth and freedom of the country, our homes will seem dull and straitencd enough as we re-enterthem. Now is the time, bofore tiïe oibSTiabitual seales Wind our eyes, to look about with anointtd visión, and seo how these homes caiw be brightened and broadened - BMldb more Hke that lovely out-döor home to whieh Nature wlcornes eaeh new-comer. Above all, let us cast out the " Best Parlor." To the sacred enclosure onco called by that name, let us bring our daintier tasks of lotter-writin;;, needle-work, study. Let the walls ie beautifiod with every simple ornament withinour reaeh - the windows opencd to receive the sun, and vines and roses set to catch iis shilling. And over tho door once sacred to " Bogy " let us write " Welcome." And so the last hadow of the Bogy will depart, und our homes be very homes indeed, u Fi-om turret to foundutionstone." - Home and Socüli, in Scribner'sfor Octolen.