Does the picture give you pleasure on looking at it? That is one good test of its worth. You may grow tired of it; your taste may outgrow it, and demand something better, just as the reader may grow out of Montgomery's poetry into Milton's. Then you will take down the daub, and put up a picture with a higher idea in its place. There may thus be a steady progress of art made upon the room walls. If the pictures can be put in frames, so much the better; but if they cannot, no matter; up with them! We know that Owen Jones says it is not good taste to hang prints upon walls—he would merely hang room papers there. But Owen Jones may not be infallible; and here we think he is wrong. To our eyes, a room always looks unfurnished, no matter how costly and numerous the tables, chairs, and ottomans, unless there be pictures upon the walls.
It ought to be, and no doubt it is, a great stimulus to artists to know that their works are now distributed in prints and engravings, to decorate and beautify the homes of the people. The wood-cutter, the lithographer, and the engraver, are the popular interpreters of the great artist. Thus Turner's pictures are not confined to the wealthy possessors of the original works, but may be diffused through all homes by the Millars, and Brandards, and Wilmotts, who have engraved them. Thus Landseer finds entrance, through woodcuts and mezzotints, into every dwelling. Thus Cruikshank preaches temperance, and Ary Scheffer purity and piety. The engraver is the medium by which art in the palace is conveyed into the humblest homes in the kingdom.
The Art of Living may be displayed in many ways. It may be summed up in the words,—Make the best of everything. Nothing is beneath its care; even common and little things it turns to account. It gives a brightness and grace to the home, and invests Nature with new charms. Through it, we enjoy the rich man's parks and woods, as if they were our own. We inhale the common air, and bask under the universal sunshine. We glory in the grass, the passing clouds, and the flowers. We love the common earth, and hear joyful voices through all Nature. It extends to every kind of social intercourse. It engenders cheerful goodwill and loving sincerity. By its help we make others happy, and ourselves blest. We elevate our being and ennoble our lot. We rise above the grovelling creatures of earth, and aspire to the Infinite. And thus we link time to eternity; where the true Art of Living has its final consummation.
INDEX.
ABERDARE, Lord, on loss by strikes
Advancement of self is advancement of society
Aiton, Dr., an example of thrift
Akroyd, Edward, founds Provident Society and Penny Savings Bank
and his workpeople
and Penny Banks
Ambition, use of
Amusement, meaning and use of
Arithmetic, necessary for domestic economy
Ashburton, Lord, on home economy
Ashworth, Messrs., and their workpeople
Author's mother, an example of thrift
Avarice, differs from economy
BACON, on limits of economy his improvidence Bargain-buying, bad economy of Baxendale, Joseph on punctuality and Pickford and Co. and railways his maxims Bewick, the engraver Bilston Savings Bank Brassey. T., on English work-men Brewster, D., on education Briggs and Son, and co-operation Bright, John, on the wages of the working classes Brutus, and usury Buchan, Earl of, an example of thrift Building Societies at Birmingham at Leeds at Padiham at Burnley Burnley, Building Society at Burns, and debt Byron, and debt
CAMPBELL, Dr., the missionary
Canova, humble origin of
Capital, the result of industry and thrift
advantage of, to workmen employed
Carlyle, T., on manufacturers
his letter to Whitworth
on public charities
Carrington, Lord, and Pitt
Cato, the elder, and usury
Chadwick, Edwin, sketch of his life
his Sanitary Idea
and Poor Law Inquiry
and the Sanitary Movement
and General Board of Health
on thriftlessness
Chantrey, F.
Charities, public
Christianity, its establishment
Civilization, and thrift
slow progress of
and healthy homes
Class, exclusiveness of
Cleanliness, must be taught
Cobbett, W., on Savings Banks
Cobden, R., on self-help
Cold, the parent of frugality
Comfort, and the art of living
Competition, use of
Cooking, good and bad
Co-operation, the secret of social development
and the middle classes
and working classes
Fishery
tin-mining
at Hull
at Leeds
at Rochdale
at Over Darwen
at Northampton
at Padiham, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds
and life assurance
and friendly societies
and factories
Corbett, J., on ignorance of domestic economy
Crallan, and lessons on thrift
Crossley, Francis, and Halifax Park
Crossley, John, sketch of his life
his wife
his work
DANTZIC, Duke of
Davis, John, on debt
Debt, evils of
sympathy with
and great men
Debtors, celebrated, Bacon, Pitt
Melville, Fox
Sheridan
De Retz, Mirabeau, Lamartine, Webster
Hunter, Vandyck
Hayden
Cowper, Marlowe, Greene, Peele
Lovelace, Butler, Wycherley, Fielding, Savage
Chatterton
Steele
Goldsmith
Byron
Foote
De Foe
Scott
Deeds, not words
Denison, Edward, on providence
on London poor
on thrift
on thrift in Guernsey
Derby, Lord, on progress
Derby Penny Bank
De Retz, Cardinal
Dirt, a degradation
Dolland, industry of
Donne, Dr., his charity and thrift
Donough, J., tombstone of
Dress, extravagance in
Drill, the magic of
Drink, money spent on
the Great Sin
and unhealthy homes
Duncan, H., and Savings Banks
ECONOMY, see Thrift
Education, power of
is capital
advantage of
in Germany
Elcho, Lord, on miners' wages
Elegance at home
Elliot, Sir G., and miners
England, one hundred years ago
English charities
English workmanship
Englishmen, industry and improvidence of
Extravagance, prevalence of
FAILURE, self-sought Farnham Penny Bank Fast living, tendency to Felkin, on workmen's savings Ferguson Charity, the Ferguson, the astronomer Flaxman, the sculptor Flowers, use of Foote, and debt Forster, W.E., on Lister Fox, Head, and Co., and cooperation Fox, C.J., and debt Franklin, B., on thrift of time on self-imposed taxes his industry Friendly societies defects of working of objections to improvement of Funerals, extravagance of