These are my sentiments, in general, upon the ornamental; of the merely fashionable you already know my opinion.  Not that this most fitful dame has no rights that deserve respect, but her feeble light is a black spot in the radiance of real fine art.  When you can give no other reason for liking what you like than that Mistress Fashion approves, beware! beware!—­trust her not.  The time will come when you will wish even the modest handmaiden Economy had blessed it.  And if a thing is really beautiful, what difference whether it was introduced by Mrs. Shoddy last spring, or by Mrs. Noah, before her husband launched his fairy boat?  Nor is fine art unattainable, even in the door-casings.  It does not imply fine work.  The size, shape, and position of the doors and windows, and the relative proportions of the work about them, is the first thing to be studied.  Then have a care that such mouldings as may be needed are graceful, and you cannot go far wrong.

You propose to finish with “hard” wood, and ask my opinion.  It depends:  if it’s the hardness you want, should recommend lignum-vitae and ebony; if the wood, economy would suggest that white-pine, and certain other softer sorts, be not overlooked.  To answer according to the spirit of your inquiry, I should say, by all means (if you do not mind the cost) use wood instead of putty.  With all respect for white paint and striped paint and all other kinds of paint, there is nothing more enduringly satisfying than the natural tint and grain of the different kinds of wood suitable for building, of which we have such great variety in style and color, from the overestimated black walnut, to the rarely used white-pine,—­rarely used without having its natural beauty extinguished by three coats of paint.  What I wish to say is, that finishing your woodwork without paint does not, necessarily, require the said wood to be of the kinds commonly called “hard.”  Any wood that is not specially disposed to warp, and that can be smoothly wrought, may be used.  Those you mention are all good; so are half a dozen more,—­the different kinds of ash, yellow-pine, butternut, white-wood, cherry, cedar, even hemlock and spruce in some situations.  There are several important points to be religiously observed if you leave the wood, whatever the variety, in its unadorned beauty.  It must be the best of its kind; it must be seasoned to its inmost fibre; it must be wrought skilfully, tenderly cared for, and, finally, filled and rubbed till it wears a surface that is not liable to soil, is easily cleaned, resists the action of moisture, and will grow richer with age.  Hence, I say, by all means finish with unpainted wood, if you are not afraid of the expense, and yet paint and varnish are good, and putty, like charity, covereth a multitude of sins.  Nothing protects wood better than oil and lead, and by means of them you have unlimited choice of colors, in the selection and arrangement of which there is room and need for