members of others in different places, so that
the stranger of respectability in a foreign capital
may be enabled to carry his passport into society
about with him, and not be obliged to worry
ambassadors and their secretaries, to whom he
may be personally unknown, for introductions
which it is often as delicate a matter to give as
to refuse?

HINT THE FOURTH.

Of all the expensive things in a modern
English house of the ordinary class, perhaps
carpets are the dearest; in case of removal they
become almost useless, and have to be sacrificed
at any price that can be got for them, because
having been cut and measured for one room,
perhaps of a peculiar shape, they are useless in
any other; for if the pattern could be matched,
which it often cannot, a bit of bran-new carpet
sewn on to a bit not so new, would be out of
harmony, and tell a story which the pride of
poverty would rather were concealed. The
Persian and Turkish system of carpeting rooms
is infinitely better, and prettier than ours.
The Persian carpets, especially those from
Resht, are exquisitely beautiful. Their colours
are brighter, the designs prettier, and they are
far more durable than European carpets. They
are made in strips usually between two and
three yards long, and about one yard in breadth,
to go round the sides of a room, with a square
carpet of any size preferred for the centre.
They do not require to be nailed or fitted, and
a sufficient number of them will of course carpet
any room, however large or small. They have
a very rich and grand appearance, too. In
summer they are easily taken up, beaten,
rolled and put aside by a single man-servant;
and in the hot weather why should we not
more generally imitate continental custom by
painting or polishing our floors? Floors painted
or polished look far prettier in July sunshine
than any carpets, which are then mere fusty
traps to catch dust, harbour insects, and retain
bad smells. Everything has its use and its
seasons. The use and the season of carpets
are not in the summer-time. Where it is
impossible to paint or to polish the floors of a
house, the employment of oil-cloth will be found
good economy in summer, and far cleaner.
Oil-cloth, too, of charming patterns, may now be
bought very cheaply, and it keeps a room
delightfully cool and fresh.

HINT THE FIFTH.

Let us go back from Persia to Russia.
Nothing strikes a modern traveller so strongly
as the fact that Europe, and even the whole
world, is gradually becoming one great society
very closely knit together. I have met people
in the heart of Central Asia perfectly aware of
all the recent gossip and scandal which, a
generation ago, would hardly have been known beyond
the best-informed society of London and Paris.
The intercourse between nations becomes daily
closer and more complicated.

I remember a few years ago conversing with
an eminent London solicitor on the prospects of
a war between England and France. "The
world," said he, "has never yet seen a
misfortune which would be so widely felt. I have
clients who are married to French men and
French women. I have clients who hold French
funds, securities, houses, lands. French
contracts, wills, interests of all sorts and kinds
are mixed up with ours—a war between us
would be a dreadful thing."

All professional celebrities now speedily
acquire a world-wide repute. The author, the
man of science, the artist, the statesman, now
appeal to the whole world, and everything and
everybody worth knowing is known to all.
Never perhaps in the history of mankind was
the knowledge of foreign countries, their laws,
customs, and language, so widely necessary.
Never did travel form so essential a part of
liberal education.

But travel, to be really useful, must begin
early in life, and at a time when young men
cannot be always trusted alone, while it is only
the very rich who can afford the expense of
travelling tutors. The Russian government has
perceived this, and, I am informed, has recently
appointed to Paris and Rome a functionary of
remarkable utility. His employment is that of
director of the studies of such young Russians
as are sent to the schools and colleges of France
for the completion of their education. He is
there to give them advice and counsel in case of
need; to see, as far as possible, that they do
not get into scrapes; and to communicate with
their parents and guardians, who may also refer
to him whenever needful. Allowances may be
paid through him; college fees and proper
expenses learnt correctly and paid; youths recalled
home, or placed, when wild, under proper care
and superintendence. Might we not employ
such functionaries with advantage in all the
great capitals of Europe, and such university
towns as Bonn and Heidelberg, which are
frequented by young Englishmen? Or might
not a special attaché with such duties be added
to our embassies and large consulates? Students
being required to present themselves to him
when desired to do so by their parents or
guardians; and he making regular half-yearly
reports respecting their progress, in the style of
our own public schoolmasters, that their friends
might know if their time were well employed.
Many a parent might be saved a sore heart by
such means, many a wild young lad—now
wasting his time on billiards, and wrecking his
health with fiery drinks or worse—might thus be
trained and fostered into an honest and useful
man.

HINT THE SIXTH.

Russia gives us as good a hint for the
management of our feet as for the management of
our heads, and very serviceable things much
used there and little known in England, are
double boots, coming up just above the ankle
and outside the trousers. Being made easy,
they enable a person who has walked through
muddy streets to enter a house with perfectly
clean feet and trousers, so that he neither soils