on a Sunday, which men are tempted to do if
they have too much land. While mentioning
gardens, a word may be said on behalf of
cottagers' fruit and flower-shows, which improve
the people's care and knowledge about flowers
and good sorts of garden stuff.

In double cottages, the partition wall should
be of sufficient thickness to ensure quiet under
ordinary circumstances, so that neighbours do
not disturb each other. Wherever possible, a
porch should be built for shelter. One door,
unless a row of houses must be built (then a
back door is wanted), will be sufficient, and the
building will be all the warmer. The boards and
all timbers should be of well-seasoned wood
which will not shrink. Too much care can hardly
be taken to secure this; for which purpose the
boards should be sawn and kept in a dry place
till wanted; the longer the better. On estates
where cottage-building and repairs form a regular
annual item, this may easily be done. Cold feet
and rheumatism in the legs are, besides mice,
beetles, and crickets, common discomforts from
shrunk floors. The kitchen floor should be
boarded, and a good Yorkshire hearthstone at
the foot of a common fireplace, with boiler and
oven, will help to make a cheerful house.

If additional up and down stairs space be
required, the staircase may be built as an appendage
to the cottage. Access to be gained by a door
in the wall, above and below. The doors may,
if space is still further to be economised, be
made to slide in a groove, like the doors of a
coach-house. A little ingenuity in the construction
of the staircase (which would of course be
roofed in) will easily supply an ornamental feature
to the building as well as a necessary one.
An excellent cupboard under the stairs—and
how valuable cupboard room is in the eyes of the
poor!—is also available. Up-stairs the rooms
may be open to the roof, or only partly ceiled;
but such rooms are hot in summer and cold in
winter, and a ceiling is therefore desirable. There
should be at least one fireplace up-stairs, but let
it not be supposed for purposes of ventilation.
The first thing the farm labourer does when
placed in a model cottage, is to saw in two the
family bedposts, which he does with a very
melancholy air. The next is to stuff a bag of
straw up the bedroom chimney to keep the cold
out and prevent young birds from fluttering
down. In case of illness, when the fire up-stairs
is wanted, the bag is removed, but at no other
times, not even in the dog days.

If model houses must be tried, why do we
experiment only upon the industrial classes? I
don't object to experiments being tried on the
base and worthless; and I would offer no
opposition to model prisons, or any contrivance to
make rogues less happy in their residence. But
I think the opinion of the poor as good on the
point of domestic comfort in their cottages, as
that of their wealthier neighbours in great
houses. The village which has no model buildings
in it will yet be found to contain the
substantial comforts of old-fashioned country life,
and the additional, ones of the better times we
live in. I may be heretical, but, in common
bounds of law, I like to see the poor man doing
as he likes till he learns better. And I cannot
quit the subject without protesting against the
mischievous tendencies of the Small Tenements
Act, by which cottagers are excused payment of
rates. When the poor-law worked worse than
it does now, it was found difficult to collect the
rate. The Bumble of other days declared it was
impossible, and, waxing warm, out of love to
the poor, swore it was cruel to make them pay.
Times are changed, and the farm labourer would
pay his proportion as readily as the farmer. The
immoral effects of this sort of legislation may be
traced among the rural poor, who consider
themselves mere serfs, to be provided with lodging
in a cottage while able to work, and accommodation
in the union when past work. The feeling
of mutual dependence and fellowship between
rich and poor is thus damaged, and each party is
the worse for its corruption.

DRAWING A BADGER.

"ORDER to sail at eight for Messina, in the
Kertsch, with stores," growled Frank Wilcox,
with whom I was dining at the club at Malta.
He flung the missive across to me with unmitigated
disgust.

"' England exp——'"

"Bosh!" returned Lieutenant Wilcox. " In
my humble opinion, England never knew how
much she did expect till Nelson told her. In
revenge, she sets no bounds to her anticipations.
The Terrible must be precious hard up in the
matter of holystones, if I'm only allowed two
hours' notice. Duty's duty, but, dash my
buttons! let us dine!  Waiter, bring the wind."

The waiter executed this weird office by
presenting the hourly weather-card, adding, as he
did so,

"Dead calm, sir, since five."

"They'll have to tow us well out. I shouldn't
wonder if the admiral escorted us in person,"
said Frank. "This Kertsch—confound the old
tub!—is his peculiar darling. Hang it, George,
we must postpone the chess, unless—eh—ha
—unless, I say——But no, of course you
wouldn't——"

"Wouldn't what?"

"Go with me, you know! Ha—ha—ha!"

"With the greatest pleasure."

"Nonsense, old boy!"

He extended his honest hand. I returned the
pressure.

My preparations were soon complete, and I
was on board the Kertsch, in harbour, at a
quarter before eight. She was a schooner, of
little more than a hundred tons. She had
been built at Valetta for a gunboat during the
Crimean war, with a twin-sister, now the
admiral's yacht; but, fortunately for our enemies,
was not completed in time to take part in the
struggle. Perhaps this had preyed upon her
spirits, and induced that premature old age
which seemed to affect every plank, beam, and