It is said that the vi^ater in which potatoes have been boiled with
the skins on forms a speedy and harmless dye for the hair and eye-
brows. The parings of potatoes before cooking may be boiled by
themselves and the water strained off for use. Apply it with a fine
comb dipped in the water drawn through the hair, wetting it at each
stroke, till the head is thoroughly soaked. If the result is not satis-
factory the first time, repeat the wetting with a sponge, taking care not
to discolor the skin of the brow and neck.
COMP/NY IN THE HOME.
" Blest be that spot, where cheerful guests retire,
To pause from toil, and trim their evening fire;
Blest that abode, where want and pain repair,
And every stranger finds a ready chair."
?HE choice of friends and acquaintances is one of the
most important processes of the human will. I call it
a process rather than an act because it is a gradual
and often an unconscious growth of feeling. Acquaint-
ance ripens into friendship when there is that harmony
of feeling and tastes in which friendship has its basis. But some
persons are very well as acquaintances who are very undesirable as
friends. Care, but not suspicion, should guide us in our friendships.
But acquaintanceship easily passes into that familiarity which counts
for friendship. Yet in inward truth people are often very intimate
with one another and speak of and to each other as friends, old friends,
intimate friends, and dear friends, who are not friends at all, because
the unanimity which true friendship requires is wanting. Such
friendships are soon broken by a hasty word or an inconsiderate
act, and this shows their hollowness, for if the friendship be real,
accidents and little misunderstandings could not snap it.
There are two proverbs which pass current in the world, but which
will scarcely bear a strict examination. One is, that ".No man is a
hero to his valet de chambre;" the other is, that "Familiarity breeds
contempt." But if a man be really a hero he will be one in his night-
cap as well as in his wig. We may laugh at another person without
despising him or feeling any contempt for him. When the old-
fashioned camphine lamps first came into fashion, husband and wife
(314)
COMPANV IN THE HOME. 315
would sometimes look into each other's face and each exclaim to the
other : " Why, my dear, your face is all covered with black soot,"
and the answer would be: " Why, so is yours!" Each would have
a ridiculous appearance to the other, but it would be a mistake to say
that at such a comical situation they loved each other less, or had
less respect for one another. So the valet who swaddles up his old
master's feet and head when he has a bad influenza, and administers
his hot gruel and spirits of nitre, does not lose his respect for him
just because in that predicament he presents a woebegone and un-
heroic aspect. He is still the dear, kind master that he was when he
set forth equipped into the battle of life, and his valet followed him
with sword and baggage. The late Charles Kingsley used to say
that " Don Quixote " was the most pathetic book he ever read. He
must have meant that the true heroism and nobleness of the old book-
worm, crazed with stories of knight-errantry, had a pathos in them
which more than counterbalanced his ridiculous appearance and mis-
takes.
Page 205
Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
It is said that the water in which potatoes have been boiled with the skins on forms a speedy and harmless dye for the hair and eyebrows. The parings of potatoes before cooking may be boiled by themselves and the water strained off for use. Apply it with a fine comb dipped in the water drawn through the hair, wetting it at each stroke, till the head is thoroughly soaked. If the result is not satisfactory the first time, repeat the wetting with a sponge, taking care not to discolor the skin of the brow and neck.
" Blest be that spot, where cheerful guests retire, To pause from toil, and trim their evening fire; Blest that abode, where want and pain repair, And every stranger finds a ready chair."
THE choice of friends and acquaintances is one of the most important processes of the human will. I call it a process rather than an act because it is a gradual and often an unconscious growth of feeling. Acquaintance ripens into friendship when there is that harmony of feeling and tastes in which friendship has its basis. But some persons are very well as acquaintances who are very undesirable as friends. Care, but not suspicion, should guide us in our friendships. But acquaintanceship easily passes into that familiarity which counts for friendship. Yet in inward truth people are often very intimate with one another and speak of and to each other as friends, old friends, intimate friends, and dear friends, who are not friends at all, because the unanimity which true friendship requires is wanting. Such friendships are soon broken by a hasty word or an inconsiderate act, and this shows their hollowness, for if the friendship be real, accidents and little misunderstandings could not snap it.
There are two proverbs which pass current in the world, but which will scarcely bear a strict examination. One is, that ".No man is a hero to his valet de chambre;" the other is, that "Familiarity breeds contempt." But if a man be really a hero he will be one in his nightcap as well as in his wig. We may laugh at another person without despising him or feeling any contempt for him. When the oldfashioned camphine lamps first came into fashion, husband and wife (314)
would sometimes look into each other's face and each exclaim to the other : " Why, my dear, your face is all covered with black soot," and the answer would be: " Why, so is yours!" Each would have a ridiculous appearance to the other, but it would be a mistake to say that at such a comical situation they loved each other less, or had less respect for one another. So the valet who swaddles up his old master's feet and head when he has a bad influenza, and administers his hot gruel and spirits of nitre, does not lose his respect for him just because in that predicament he presents a woebegone and unheroic aspect. He is still the dear, kind master that he was when he set forth equipped into the battle of life, and his valet followed him with sword and baggage. The late Charles Kingsley used to say that " Don Quixote " was the most pathetic book he ever read. He must have meant that the true heroism and nobleness of the old bookworm, crazed with stories of knight-errantry, had a pathos in them which more than counterbalanced his ridiculous appearance and mistakes.