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the richest materials on what will be either rococo or spoiled by cheap imitations by the time it is finished. To people who dearly love novelty and to be on the very crest of the fashionable wave, these mutabilities of taste may be attractive; but those who merely wish to have their houses comfortable for themselves, and sufficiently correct not to offend the views of refined people, must find something disheartening in the money they expend year after year on what affords little or no satisfaction at the time, and soon turns out to be an error of judgment. How many people buy simply what is essential for the comfort of their households and put the surplus, be it only seventy-five or a hundred dollars a year, into the purchase of books? Yet all sorts of books, old and new, profound and wise, witty and bright, lying close at hand, needing but to be opened and read to give companionship, variety, and instruction to the passing hour, have far more to do with diversifying and enlarging the perception and taste than all the decorations that a general ransacking of the ages and climes can furnish. Yet very few people even of substantial means expend regularly a hundred dollars on books during a year. It would not occur to a person of taste to borrow or hire a plaque for a week or a month in order to enjoy its beauty. But even the enthusiastic reader of a book is indifferent to its possession, and will make use of almost any expedient rather than expend a few shillings on the purchase of it. Yet for making life many-sided and of real worth, the easy acquisition and possession of books is of the highest importance. L. W.

An authoritative statement comes from England that the game of croquet—for so many years superseded by lawn tennis and archery—is coming into favor again. This is good news for those who like gentle exercise out of doors in pleasant weather, and who have found summer a listless season since croquet was dropped. Few people, even in the most beautiful places, can be perfectly happy with the dolce far niente. Taking walks in that flabby state of mind and body induced by the enervating weather is a melancholy pastime: not everybody can ride and drive to their heart's content, and the consequent stagnant circulation and dyspepsia result in an ennui that makes the "long, long summer day" a sort of mockery. Lawn tennis and archery were not brought forward as substitutes for croquet, but were revolutionary in their tendencies. They are young people's games, and croquet had become the resource of the delicate, the stout, the elderly. A mild valetudinarianism had begun to pervade the croquet-ground, and all sorts of queer and depressing costumes were to be seen among the pleasure-seekers; rubber overshoes were a common precaution against dampness, and any jauntiness of general effect was jeopardized by the wraps and mufflers assumed by the delicate elderly young lady who was afraid of toothache. Hence the croquet-grounds became tennis-courts or were given over to archery, and those unhappy ones who could not bound over the turf like gazelles and meet the flying ball with extended racket, or draw a long bow skilfully, were out of the running. The situation may have been a pathetic one for the unlucky lovers of croquet who found their occupation gone, but it probably did not so impress the revolutionists. These were enchanted with games the joys of which were undimmed by the presence of elderly people, who "had their own ideas," lost their temper, and dressed in a way that was altogether hideous. Young people always resent the idea that their seniors need amusement. The fact is, nevertheless, that the only amusable people are those who have passed their early youth. The young, with their intense self-consciousness, are excited, absorbed, or bored, as the case may be, but have no idea of taking a moderate satisfaction in the pursuit which presents itself at the time. They have nevertheless had their chance of being happy in their