ght-colored satine firmly tied in, and
matching the ribbons which were drawn through the bordering interstices
of the chair. A small table, another chair, a footstool, and two or
three simple pictures on the walls, along with wash-stand and bureau,
completed the furnishing of a room that instantly attracted and
delighted the beholder. But the impression above all others that the
room gave was of perfect purity and sweetness and health; and this was
due to the beautiful tidiness and cleanliness everywhere apparent.
Wash-stand and bureau were in perfect order, with their white mats,
clean towels, and every accessory of a refined lady's toilet. The wide
deep closet was filled with the appurtenances of a young lady's
wardrobe, but was strikingly neat and attractive. Shoes and slippers
were laid neatly in a certain place on the shelves; articles of clothing
that are usually difficult to dispose of in an orderly manner, all had
an appropriate place, and so neatly and tidily was everything arranged
that one felt sure the purity and order extended to the most secret
recesses of every place in the room. There was no danger in any
direction of coming upon anything that was not in keeping with the room
of a refined and delicate young girl. The drawers of bureau and
wash-stand, as I happened to have opportunity to observe them, were as
sweet and clean and orderly as the rest of the room. I felt better
acquainted with the character of that young girl after two days
occupation of her beautifully kept and appointed room than a year of
ordinary acquaintance would have given me.

And while I am on the subject of an orderly and daintily kept room, let
me tell you that the modern bane of order and neatness in a house is too
many trivial and useless things, intended perhaps for ornament, but
confusing to the eye, offensive to good taste, and more effective for
catching dust than for anything else. The multiplication of cheap
picture-cards, wall-pockets, brackets, and all sorts of little useless
knicknacks, has helped on this confusion, till one is almost tempted to
regard them as nuisances. A few of these ornamental trifles, arranged
with an eye to a certain unity of design, may do very well; but, as
William Morris, the great apostle of true decorative art in England, has
said, "Better pure empty space than unworthy and confusing ornament."
You may have heard it related of the great naturalist, Thoreau, that he
made a collection of stones