Besides the chromos, which, when well selected and of the best class,
give the charm of color which belongs to expensive paintings, there
are engravings which finely reproduce much of the real spirit and
beauty of the celebrated pictures of the world. And even this does not
exhaust the resources of economical art; for there are few of the
renowned statues, whether of antiquity or of modern times, that have
not been accurately copied in plaster casts; and a few statuettes,
costing perhaps five or six dollars each, will give a really elegant
finish to your rooms-providing always that they are selected with
discrimination and taste.
The educating influence of these works of art can hardly be over-
estimated. Surrounded by such suggestions of the beautiful, and such
reminders of history and art, children are constantly trained to
correctness of tote and refinement of thought, and stimulated--sometimes
to efforts at artistic imitation, always to the eager and intelligent
inquiry about the scenes, the places, the incidents represented. Just
here, perhaps, we are met by some who grant all that we say on the
subject of decoration by works of art, and who yet impatiently exclaim,
"But I have _no_ money to spare for any thing of this sort.
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