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Hints for the Household.

ONE of the elements of a happy home is a careful attention to courtesy. Family affection may be strong and devoted, but it is hard to realize it, when the manner is hasty, the speech sarcastic or fault-finding. We treat the stranger within our gates, the occasional guest, with consideration and politeness; we speak gently to him, consult his tastes and preferences, and endeavor to make him feel comfortable and at home. Why should we not try to make our children enjoy their home? They will not, unless they are made happy there. Try to avoid all unnecessary fault-finding, and especially abstain from it at meal-times. It tends to destroy the appetite, not only of the poor offender, but of all the rest of the family. Give a pleasant greeting to all in the morning, and at night, and when meeting at the table. Do not be stingy of kisses. It is better to put them at interest than to hoard them. Keep all sad depressing subjects in the background, and bring forward the cheerful and encouraging side of things. If you wish your little boy to be wellbred, treat him like a gentleman, and he will soon follow your example. Do not interrupt him when he is speaking, if you can help it, take an interest in his little plans, be patient when he seems stupid or naughty, and you will be repaid by his warmer affection.

EVERYBODY knows how weary and anxious it makes us to have sickness come. It would be a good plan to take a little trouble to prevent so serious a trouble. Remove decayed refuse from the premises, make sure that the wellwater is unpolluted by drainage, before waiting for typhoid fever to frighten you into doing it. Put warm stockings and flannels on the children when chilly, damp weather, or suddenly cold weather comes, without waiting for them to take cold. Be careful about the baby's diet when it is teething, and so avoid the ailments which threaten and often destroy life. Of course, no care can avert all dangers, but it is better to take a good deal of care of a well family, than still more care of a sick family.

LET us all resolve-First, to attain to the grace of SILENCE.

Second, to deem all FAULT-FINDING that does no good a SIN; and to resolve, when we are happy ourselves, not to poison the atmosphere for our neighbors by calling on them to remark every painful and disagreeable feature of their daily life.

Third, to practice the grace and virtue of PRAISE. Parents should look out for occasions to commend their children, as carefully as they seek to reprove their faults; and employers should praise the good their servants do, as strictly as they blame the evil.

IT is worth while to take pains to make children kind to animals. It trains them in qualities of great importance. If calves and chickens are raised on the farm, let the children take charge of some of them, being regular and faithful in feeding them, and gentle in their treatment. If no care of this sort is practicable, make children treat the cat and dog kindly, allow no teasing or harshness, and require them to be uniformly good-tempered with them. If they behave properly to animals, they are more likely to behave rightly to their brothers and sisters and playmates. If a boy is allowed to be brutal and harsh to the cows, the dog, the cat, he will make the worse husband and father,

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