together, without once taking the trouble to remove it, till, when taken up by some one, her negligence is discovered by the line of dust which surrounds each article. Where books in a book-case require dusting, one shelf only should be emptied at a time, and the books placed on the floor (after the carpet has been lifted) in exactly the same order as they stood in the book-case; the shelf should then be washed, and the books taken up, one by one, dusted, and restored to their former places, as soon as the shelf is thoroughly dry; care should be taken not to replace them while the slightest dampness remains. The rooms having been all cleaned, and the doors carefully shut, the stairs must now be swept down, beginning from the attic story. The long brush called the Turk’s head, should be used first, to sweep away the cobwebs from the ceiling and corners, and to dust down the walls; the bannisters must be brushed between all the rails with a bannister-brush, and the hand-rail washed over and well rubbed up. The hand-rail should always be polished with French polish that oil may not be required, as almost every person who goes up stairs lays a hand upon the rail of the bannisters, and it is difficult to rub the oil off sufficiently to prevent its being unpleasant to the touch: wherever oil is used too great care cannot be taken to rub it completely off. A lady was heard to complain, that a set of books which had recently been sent home, beautifully bound, were all found, soon after, to be spotted with oil; on inquiry being made, it was discovered that the housemaid, wishing to make everything look particularly bright in the drawing-room, for expected company, had washed the table over with oil, and, after very slight rubbing, had exercised her taste by putting all the best bound books round in a circle upon it, with a bullfinch in its gilt cage in the middle. This setting out of drawing-room tables with all the best-bound books had better be avoided; a small stand of books on a table, or a few scattered up and down, together with writing-desks and work-boxes, give a look of freedom and comfort to a room which it is very agreeable to see; but to find a table set out with a couple of books, splendidly bound, at each corner, the bible and prayer-book, in velvet, with their gold clasps, very probably opposite to a couple of volumes of Shakspeare and Lord Byron, and sacred poetry at the alternate corners: to see these books put out in January, 1850, to remain till January, 1851 (unless the family should remove for a time into the country), is a melancholy picture of the general literature of the inmates.