There are very few chimneys that will not vent well if care is taken to make a proper draught, and not to choke the fire up with too much coal; very little should be put on at first, and more added as the fire burns up. The general practice of putting the cinders next the wood, is not favourable to lighting the fire quickly, or, with little wood; a few cinders may be thrown at the back of the fire, and the rest had better be carried down into the kitchen to be burned there, as small sharp-pointed pieces of fresh coal kindle much more easily than cinders. It is astonishing what a difference there will be, even in a very short time, in the appearance of a room where there is carelessness in lighting the fire; the curtains, the books, everything in the room, gets a soiled appearance, and is unpleasant to the touch. Can there be anything more disagreeable than to find one’s bed-room, at night, cold as a cellar, from the necessity of keeping the window open to the last minute to dispel the smoke which inattention at first has produced, and the smell of which still adheres to every article, instead of finding a warm room, a comfortable arm-chair turned towards a bright fire, a shining kettle singing a quiet tune, and a clean-swept hearth? Some housemaids have a habit of constantly turning the arm-chair away from the fire, and placing it against the wall, and though, morning after morning, they find it has been turned towards the fire, yet they never take the hint, unless an express order is given; and even then, such is the force of careless habits, that it is often not attended to, and they continue so long steadily turning the chair from the fire, that it appears as if they had made a secret vow against both warmth and comfort: an attentive servant, on the contrary, will make use of her own common sense, and will not always wait to be told. If the chair has been turned from the wall to the fire, she will continue to place it there; if more than once she finds the bed-quilt taken off and thrown aside, she will understand that it is found too heavy to be an agreeable covering, and will in future fold it off and leave only the light covering sheet on the bed; if a blanket is pushed down, then let her not carry it away altogether, as there may come a sudden change to cold, and much discomfort may be experienced, but let her leave it tucked in at the bottom of the bed, with the rest of the bed-clothes, and folded down in folds, leaving the end uppermost, so that in a moment the blanket can be drawn up again over the bed: it is vexatious when feeling chilly and half asleep, to find that the end of the blanket has been carefully folded in, and that one must be colder still, and broad awake, before there is a chance of finding it. Such observations may be thought trifling and too minute, but the neglect of many such trifles occasions much discomfort, particularly to those who may be only occasional guests in a family; they may be days in the house