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248 NEW THINGS.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
«^- Of Course Some Old Things Are Good: ...
In the matter of houses , we , the advocates for the moment of all
things new , have no fear of our cause . There surely cannot be much doubt as to the comparative value of the old and the new . The
old , with their small windows and low ceiling's , their perpetual smell of dry rot , and their unfailing population of rats , their funny little
steps that go up into one room and down into another , and trip you up convenience in all sorts , ventilating of unexpected shafts places hot-air . closets The new , gas , with and every a high scientific , service ,
, bath-rooms and gas stoves , with their handsome broad low chimneypiecesradiating fire-placesplate-glass windows , and " superior
, , decorations , " who would hesitate which to choose between them ? If only the new would give us more cupboardsand we could be
, always easy in our minds as to their probable time of duration ! But they are a little flimsytruth compels that admission ; and the
, smoke has an odd habit in many of them of creeping out about the skirting boards ; and sometimes the window frames warp , and
sometimes door panels crack . Yes , new houses are very delightful when they are solid ; but we cannot deny it , they have a decided and
. national tendency to be gimcrack . As with the house , so with the furniture . Not that we would cast a slight on venerable old
oakcertainly not , saving that it is often worm-eaten , and always a safe harbour for the Undesirable . Passing by these two facts , we have
nothing to say against its artistic beauty and quaint rare dignity . But the shapes of furniture—there at least we moderns have the
best of it . Look at our luxurious easy chairs , in place of those high abominations , stiff-backed , and rheumatic , which our grandmothers
forbade to our mothers as too effeminate and self-indulgent ; and compare the three-legged stools ( they were called " coppies " in our
dear old rugged northern county ) which were assigned to us as children , with the ottomans and _prie-dieus on which our rising
generation roll and scramble , soft and supple as so many leopard cubs . Those who sat bolt upright on the stiff-backed chairs , and dangled
their cold little feet mid-way from the three-legged stools , might be of a different race to these who lounge on modern couches , and
plunge themselves into the luxurious depths of modern hergeres . Yet it is a question not quite settled to our satisfaction , whether all
this beautifying of our daily lives , and rounding off the angles , is not somewhat disastrous to our rising generation ; and whether a slight
infusion of Spartan discipline and Spartan simplicity would not be a valuable element in our domestic conditions . The effeminate
fastidiousness of many of our youth is by no means a beautiful thing to contemplate , and we confess to a strong impulse towards the
horsewhip when we see young hopefuls lounging _full-length , on their mothers' sofas , or hugging themselves in the best
drawingroom easy chair . Let no son of ours dare the like in our presence ! In beds we have made what people call a " step in the right
direction . " Our light iron beds with spring mattresses , muslin curtains , or no curtains at all , and impossible to the Undesirable , are certainly V *"
248 New Things.
248 NEW THINGS .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), June 1, 1859, page 248, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01061859/page/32/
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