comfort and happiness to others cheered her spirits, so she at once began a new plan of life. I have not time to tell you how in her daily walks she speedily made acquaintance with the villagers, sympathised in their troubles, obtained work for some from her rich neighbours, lent useful books to others, and encouraged the women to make their homes cheerful, and clean, and comfortable, so that their husbands should not leave them for the public-house. By her influence with the Squire, one or two disorderly ale-houses were put down, and only such as kept early hours were allowed in the parish.

What Mrs. Jones did to improve the girls' school, will, I think, please my young readers best; so I will tell them that a little kitchen was added to the school-house by her advice, and this proved a great benefit to parents as well as children. Although many of the gentry were subscribers, yet the school had fallen into neglect for want of looking after. It was not in Mr. Simpson's way to see if girls were taught to work; this is ladies' business, and very necessary it is if poor girls are to be useful women. Mrs. Jones, and her willing counsellor the Vicar's housekeeper, went every Friday to the school-house; and the mothers of the children were allowed to come, if they wished it, to learn the best way of mending and altering their clothes. Mrs. Jones often obtained a gown or frock from her friends, which, by contrivance, made up tidy dresses for the children, so that ere long the appearance of these little ones was greatly improved; for whenever a tape broke, or a button came off, it was immediately replaced, and every tear was quickly mended, the mothers knowing that when Friday came a close examination would be made of all the clean clothes which every child carried to the school on that day. During the winter also, the mother or eldest daughter of each family came once a-week to learn how to dress one cheap dish.

One Tuesday, which was cooking-day, who should walk into the school for the first time in his life, but the Squire of the parish!

"Well, Mrs. Jones," said he, "what good are you doing here? What are your girls learning and earning? What manufactures are you teaching them? Where is your spinning and your carding?"

"this is not a manu

"You know, sir," said Mrs. Jones, facturing county, so that when these girls are women they

will not be much employed in spinning: however, we do teach them a little of it, and still more of knitting, that they may provide themselves with stockings, by employing the odds and ends of their time in these ways. But we really are carrying on a very valuable manufacture, I assure you."

"What can that be?" said the Squire.

"To make. good wives for the working men," said she, smiling. "We are teaching these girls the art of industry and good management. It is little encouragement to an honest man to work hard all the week, if his wages are wasted by an extravagant slattern at home. Most of these girls will probably become servants to the rich, and wives to the poor: to such, the common arts of life are of great value."

"What have you got on the fire, Mrs. Betty?" said the Squire; "for your pot smells as savoury as if Sir John Temple's French cook had filled it."

Betty told the Squire that it was soup, and offered him a basin of it; he relished it so much after his walk, that he begged the receipt might be given to his own cook, which Mrs. Jones promised should be done, saying, that she and Betty had collected a great variety of useful and economical receipts, which they had made alternately every Tuesday, and that the women, after seeing them made, could then dress such at their own homes. "I take home a part for my own dinner," said Mrs. Jones, "and the remainder I give to each in turn; and I hope I have opened their eyes to the great mistake they had got into, that we think anything is good enough for the poor. Now I do not think anything good enough which is not clean, wholesome, and palatable, and what I would not cheerfully eat myself if my circumstances required it.”

As Mrs. Jones has kindly favoured me with a copy of her receipts, I shall give my readers the benefit of them in my next lesson, called "Cottage Cookery."

I. A. C.

COTTAGE COOKERY.

Ir is sad to think that so many honest, hard-working families live on bread and cheese, or bread-and-butter and potatoes, three days out of every four, because, as they say, they can afford nothing better. Now we will show the well-intentioned poor, that by good management they can procure a warm nourishing dinner or supper every day in the week at less expense than their cold, comfortless bread and cheese. And first, about going to market. When the good wife goes out to buy, she must have money in her pocket, and she can then go at what time and to what place she pleases; for with ready money she will not only get well served, but save twopence or three-pence in every shilling she lays out; and if she go towards the close of the market, both meat and vegetables may be got at a lower price. Many a time have we seen a little girl belonging to one of the always poor, such as we have been often told "do not taste a bit of meat from one week's end to another." Just as the father comes home to dinner, the child would be running to the shop for a loaf of bread and a bit of cheese, all of which would be eaten by the family before the cravings of hunger were satisfied. Now a good managing wife could provide a meatpudding or savoury stew for the same money. Every working man requires, and ought to have, one if not two good warm meals a day. If the man cannot leave his work to return home, so that he may have a warm dinner, let him always find a hot supper: it is one of the greatest comforts a labouring man can have after a hard day's work, and one of the greatest attractions to his home is to sit down to a clean hearth, with his wife and family, to a cheerful warm meal.

Grey-Pea Soup is very nourishing and nice if made exactly in the following way: The day before you want this soup, wash one quart of grey peas quite clean, and lay them in an earthenware pan to soak with three quarts of soft water. Then wash clean two-pennyworth of fresh meat bones, which you can buy of any butcher; put them into a saucepan with three quarts of water over a moderate fire till they boil, and then set the saucepan, closely covered, by the side of the fire, and keep it simmering four hours longer.

Then strain the liquor off into an earthenware pan, and set it by in a cool place till next day.

Next morning take a saucepan that will hold six quarts, and pour in all the peas and the water in which they have been soaked. Take off the cake of fat which you will find settled on the bone liquor (to melt down into dripping), add the clear liquor to the peas, clean well and slice thin onepennyworth of carrots, and put the pot on the fire to boil. Clean, and cut small, four leeks or onions, and fry them gently in some of the fat which you skimmed off, till they become brown; put a teacupful of the broth into the fryingpan and stir it well, then empty the frying-pan into the soup-pot, add a bunch of herbs and a little bruised celeryseed, and let all stew together for three or four hours, or until quite soft. Next strain the soup through a tin colander, and rub the peas through with a wooden spoon till you have got all the goodness through, and leave only the skins of the peas behind; season the strained soup with a little pepper and salt to your taste, and put it over the fire to get quite hot, but not to boil, and it will then be ready.

The bones, if you live in a town, you can sell; but if you live in the country, and have a garden, they will be very useful as manure if broken into small pieces.

To clarify Fat or Dripping.—When you take off the top of the liquor, sprinkle upon it half a teaspoonful of salt, and put it into a basin with a cupful of water by the side of the fire until it is thoroughly melted, just stir it about a little, and set it by to cool. Then you can take off the cake of nice clean dripping from the top, just pare off the under side, and it will be fit for use.

A Sheep's Head and Pluck has made many a poor family four dinners; and it will be sold cheaper if you buy the whole together.

1st. Soak the head all night in cold water, after well washing it in warm water.

2d. Put it in the pot with six quarts of water, a bunch of turnips, three onions or leeks, and herbs; boil slowly for two hours, then add half a pound of Scotch barley. This will make two dinners, either by eating the head with potatoes one day and the broth the next, or dividing equally half head and two quarts of the Scotch broth.

3d. Parboil the lights, and skim carefully; take them up and cut them small, with chopped leeks, and boil or stew

with half a gallon of sliced potatoes: will do for a large family.

4th. Cut up the liver, heart, and melt, in slices; wash a pound of rice, put it in a baking-dish with the slices of meat, season it with pepper and salt, and add water enough, and send it to the oven to bake. The cost of the four dinners will be,

So that for 74d. a day a family, consisting of a man, wife, and seven children, can have a warm, wholesome, nourishing, and savoury meal: surely, bread, butter, and cheese for so many mouths cannot be bought for less money.

Half an Ox-head is also economical food: it will cost about 1s. 6d. The meat can be all cut off, and the bones will, with vegetables, rice, or Scotch barley, make excellent broth some of the meat can be salted for a few days; the rest stewed or baked with potatoes.

Tripe. A pound of tripe simmered in half a gallon of water, with a bunch of leeks, may be had for 5d.; and the liquor, saved till the next day, may make savoury a dish of potatoes, or with a pint of peas make pea-soup: or, for a still cheaper dinner, make with vegetables and oatmeal to thicken.

A savoury Stew. A pound of shin of beef (or ox-head)

cut up, and fried a little with one oz. of dripping, and three onions in a saucepan; then pour over it three pints of water, and add three ounces of Scotch barley: when it has simmered about two hours, take up a cup of the broth and thicken it smoothly with a tablespoonful of flour or oatmeal, season with a few dried herbs rubbed to powder, a little pepper, salt, and allspice; put it back, and stir the whole together; cover the stewpan close, and simmer for half an hour longer. If potatoes are required, they should be boiled in a separate pot.