and removed at others, that we bow on meeting acquaintances, etc. This way of putting it robs the word of half its horror.

Her

Her name? Oh, dear me, to be sure Mrs. Edmund Russell. Her nation? American. art? The art of art.

Good-by!

FANNIE EDGAR THOMAS.

THE FULFILMENT OF THE LAW.-There is no branch of human work whose constant laws have not a close analogy with those which govern every other mode of man's exertion. Exactly as we reduce to greater simplicity and surety any one group of these practical laws, we find them passing the mere condition of connection or analogy, and becoming the actual expression of some ultimate nerve or fibre of the mighty laws which govern the moral world. However inconsiderable the act, there is something in the well-doing of it allied to the noblest forms of manly virtue-the truth, decision, and temperance we regard as honorable conditions of spiritual being have a derivative influence over the works of the hand and action of the intellect.-Ruskin.

WHAT A STOUT WOMAN MUST NOT WEAR.-The stout woman is always asking what she shall wear. Now these are some of the things she should not wear: She should not wear a tailor-made suit fitting her figure closely; it brings out every pound of flesh for the benefit of the looker-on. She should not wear a rosette at her belt, either at the back or front; it makes her look thicker through. She should not wear a lace or ribbon ruff about her neck, though the soft feather one is permissible if it have long ends. She should not wear a short skirt; it gives her a queer, dumpy look that is specially undesirable. She should not wear her hair low on her neck; it should be high and arranged with great smoothness, though it need not look oily. She should not wear a string of beads about her neck, rings in her ears, or, if her fingers are short and fat, many rings on them.

COMPLIMENTS which we think are deserved we accept only as debts, with indifference; but those which conscience informs us we do not merit we receive with the same gratitude that we do favors given away.

"Decorative art is at once the seed and the fruit of all great art."-Frederic Shields.

CHAPTER XXI.

IVORY AND GOLD.

The relation of objects-A copper dining-room-Complexion and wall-paper-A study in harmony-Frieze of magnolias-Painted portières-A new simplicity.

EDMUND RUSSELL, who is to set sail for England shortly, has taken up his residence in Brooklyn for a time, in order to complete a work of interior decoration in the house of a Brooklyn citizen. Two rooms have been treated by him, one in gold and ivory and the other in copper and pale, warm brown. The parlor has been tinted —walls and ceiling-in a not very positive white (the last attenuation of gray with a suspicion of green in it), and this is mottled with gold, flecked lightly and loosely over the surface. A broad frieze, separated from the rest of the wall by a thin strip of moulding, is adorned in a large, free, simple style, with leaves and blossoms of southern magnolia grandiflora and conventionalized suns à la Japonaise. The color throughout is kept light and refined, and the decoration is easy

The

and unforced. In the room adjoining, where a pale tint of copper is used as a background and is overlaid with dashes of bronze powder of strong copper tint, the frieze decoration is a succession of pine boughs, lightly fringed with their needles, and striking upward diagonally in brisk and angular growths. Above the large sideboard is a boldly-executed panel, representing magnolia blossoms and their heavy, polished leaves, with much brown in their stems and shadows. first room seems suffused with a tender light, that clears and softens the complexions of its occupants by emphasizing the delicate flesh tints, while the second room has a suggestion of warmth, cheer. It would make a good diningroom, and is, perhaps, intended for one. Between the two hang silken portières painted with lilies. The lilies are not painted on the silk in oils that are disposed to spread and look greasy around the edges, nor in water-color that looks weak and is in danger of removal in the process of wiping off stains with damp cloths, but in aniline dyes laid on with water-color brushes, and instantly becoming part of the very texture of the fabric. This is a bold experiment, and should not be tried except by experienced draughtsmen and colorists, for a false line or a spot of false color is there to stay, and might spoil the entire portière. The gold and copper used in flecking over the walls are merely two shades of the common

bronze powder that is purchasable in all sorts of tints and is easy of application.

The

Mr. Russell's decorations are a new departure, not toward a merely greater simplicity, but a higher simplicity. Our houses have become so "cluttered up," to use the housewife's phrase, and so few have the gift of massing and arrangement whereby the tone of a room is maintained, and not converted into discord, that this reaction toward simplicity is one that appeals to the best taste for countenance and support. scheme of decoration adopted in the instances above described can be nullified by the introduction of things that have no affinity to it in form or color. The delicate gold and ivory of the parlor is injured by the heavy blacks and browns of the doors and window-casings; it can be completely spoiled by red and green carpets, gorgeous Turcoman portières, plush furniture in red and blue with walnut and ebony foundations, pictures in walnut frames or surrounded with shadow boxes, crazy-quilt tidies on the chair-backs, and vivid cloths and scarfs for the tables. Everything in the room should be light and delicate in color. Water-colors in pale gray mats and gold frames or white frames would be better on the walls than oil-paintings, unless the latter were represented by vaporous Corots or high-keyed Fortunys; furniture not of the Renaissance shapes, because they were affected and weak but

of the colors employed by upholsterers of the Renaissance epoch, would be more fitting than objects in dark woods; the curtains should be of Madras, with creamy tints, rather than cold and starchy-looking lace; the rug or carpet, while a little stronger suggestion of stability and substance is permissible under foot, should be of small pattern and delicate color. A room like this is one of the few that will bear a marble fireplace and mantel, though tile would serve a better purpose. Whatever bric-à-brac is distributed should be in pale shades of yellow or rose. A few peachblow vases would not upset the color equilibrium. In the dining-room more positive color is not only admissible, but necessary, in order to match the browns and reds of the copper and terra-cotta tints. Black walnut can be endured there, but cherry and ripe oak are better, and more play and liberty can be given in the choice of pictures, portières, carpets, and ornament than in the parlor. There is, perhaps, in such cases a temptation to go to excess, and to overload the apartment with objects that are of intrinsic value and beauty. The room bears such treatment better than a light one. If strong reds are introduced, the complexions shown against them are apt to suffer. "I know a house," said Mr. Russell, "with a red room that gives the whole family the color of raw beef. They are rather highly-colored people--high livers, probably-and the strong