"Now you will observe that in this description of the perfect economist, or mistress of a household, there is a studied expression of the balanced division of her care between the two great objects of utility and splendor: in her right hand, food and flax, for life and clothing; in her left hand, the purple and the needlework, for honor and for beauty.... And in private and household economy you may always judge of its perfectness by its fair balance between the use and the pleasure of its possessions: you will see the wise cottager's garden trimly divided between its well-set vegetables and its fragrant flowers: you will see the good housewife taking pride in her pretty tablecloth and her glittering shelves, no less than in her well-dressed dish and full store-room: the care will alternate with gayety; and though you will reverence her in her seriousness, you will know her best by her smile."--"Political Economy of Art" (1857), pp. 10-13.[149] FOOTNOTES: [147] Mr. Stopford Brooke's article was a review of Mr. Ruskin's "Lectures on Art" delivered at Oxford, and then recently published. In a note to the present letter the Editor of the Magazine stated Mr. Brooke's regret "at having been led by a slip of memory into making an inaccurate statement." [148] See the 1873 edition of the "Crown of Wild Olive," p. 30, § 27. [149] See "A Joy for Ever" (1880), pp. 7-9. [From "The Times," October 24, 1862.] _OAK SILKWORMS._ _To the Editor of "The Times."_ SIR: In your excellent article of October 17, on possible substitutes for cotton, you say "it is very doubtful whether we could introduce the silkworm with profit." The silkworm of the mulberry tree, indeed, requires a warmer climate than ours, but has attention yet been directed to the silkworm of the oak? A day or two ago a physician of European reputation, Dr. L. A. Gosse, was speaking to me of the experiments recently made in France in its acclimatization. He stated to me that the only real difficulty was temporary--namely, in the importation of the eggs, which are prematurely hatched as they are brought through warm latitudes. A few only have reached Europe, and their multiplication is slow, but once let them be obtained in quantity and the stripping of an oak coppice is both robe and revenue. The silk is stronger than that of the mulberry tree, and the stuff woven of it more healthy than cotton stuffs for the wearer; it also wears twice as long. This is Dr. Gosse's report--likely to be a trust-worthy one--at all events, it seems to me worth sending you. I remain your obedient servant, J. RUSKIN. GENEVA, _Oct. 20th._ MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. VI. LITERARY CRITICISM. THE PUBLICATION OF BOOKS. 1875. A MISTAKEN REVIEW. 1875. THE POSITION OF CRITICS. 1875. COVENTRY PATMORE'S "FAITHFUL FOR EVER." 1860. "THE QUEEN OF THE AIR." 1871.