NEAT AND TASTEFUL WOMEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1838, 11 February 1887, Page 30

NEAT AND TASTEFUL WOMEN.

If beauty is to be desired in woman, how much more so is neatness ? Beauty "is a gift, and therefore cannot be possessed by all; but neatness is a virtue every woman ebb cultivate, if she so desires, and one she will cultivate if she be" wise. It is possible to win and retain love without a pretty face; but it is seldom the case that a gentlemau of any refinement and taste retains an ardent affection for aslatttrn.

.. Girls, do not be deceived ; your lover will not always be content to sit by your side and tell you your smiles are the stay of bis life; by-and-bye one of his most fervent utterances -will be, " Well, my dear, what have you got for dinner to-day?" awl disbelieve it as you will, scrag ends and 8 dirty tablecloth, a wife with an everlastingly tumbled head and grimy fingers soon taktf all the romance out of the most sentimental of men. Limited means is no excu;-e for untidiness. A naturally neat and tasteful woman will turn the most simpl> furnifihed house in.to a cosy, bright little house. H» rt we not seen this a thousand timeß? The spotless curtains, the snow-white boards, tke bright stove and blazing fire, the artistic arrangement of the vase of flowers, the neatlj spread table, and the. mistress herself, ii plainly, yet tastefully dressed crowning tb! whole. Some women have tho knack, not only of making " both ends, meet,", but « making them imeet in such a manner that no one detects the strain; -they beautifj everything that comes within .reach of theij hands; and, the hqsband, children, and friends breathe within the house as atmosphere of refinement, if not of Inxor) 1 ' Even poverty can wear a flower in & button-hole, though it cannot be gorgeously attired'; and the best of it is, the perfume H inhaled by those around. . " Thou shalt notcovet thy neighbour's wife" is a command hard to keep when a man's off" wife is a slattern, and his neighbour's wife' neat, bright, tasteful woman and an in^' 1 ligent companion. How can a woman exp^ a man to show any great delight when " enters her presence if • er hair, instead of D ft pretty locks he used in t heir courting da, 11 * w admire, is more likea birch broom than aflj 1 thing else ? Cap she expect him to clasp* bundle of rags in his arms and cay, "-*7 sweet I" or kisß the. hands that bear thetrac* of last month's blackleadiny?- How oflif

ft rhome if the' grate ifi 1 full dftieacl Ifeherf and the table -is- covered with dirty dishes, and every chair full of lumber ? He might be contented with such a state of things, certainly, if he were a man devoid of taste ; hat there are few men— very few— who are tied to an indolent, untidy woman who do not envy their more fortunate friends ; and if a husband is so patient as to endure the miseries inflicted on him by a tlriftless wife without resentment it is not,possible that his affection can retain the pride and pleasure he ba/i i" her wiien he knew uer a 9 a n &tty girl; for what girl, however naturally indolent, will not try to appear to the beat ad* vantage when she expects her lover % There, are, in every neighbourhood, women attract the notice of others by their tasteful, ladylike - appearance, See them where you will, somehow or other they look nice. " Oh," say the, women of such a one, ••she is extravagant;" but while they, with arms akimbo, are gossiping about her, her busy fingers are engaged. Then, when long before the day is over, they catch a glimpse of her, prettily dressed, it is, " She doe 3 nothing;" and yet, go to the house when you will, everything is done, and nicely done, too; and the lucky husband sits down to a well-cooked dinner, and as he draws his chair to the tire, does not fear that he must put on his shirt in the morning minu* button*, for " the baby has been that cross all day there was no doing anything." Cultivate the art of neatness. Cleanliness and tastefulness retain love if they do nor, win it. " I never think of my mother," I heard a woman say once, " but I see dark hair smoothly brushed from a face on which I never mnembor seeing a speck of dirt, and hands which, though grown hard with work, never retained a trace of it two minutes after the work was done." The women who like to keep everything round them fresh and bright are not the expensive wives. A man need not be afraid to marry the girl who will not go out until she has sewn the button on her glove or removed the spot from her dress, who reloops the curtains till they fall in graceful fold*, or gathers the freeh flowers for the mom ; but the girl who will pin on her own dress will think pins quite good enough for her husband ; and if Bhe is too indolent to replenish the fire for her own sake, believe me she will think dead ashes quite comfortable enough for others also, and if the reader, be he of the sterner sex does not believe me, try her.