THAT grand old Saxon word, HOME, has for ages hold a peerless place wherever the English lan-guage is spoken. And thus do we find it, under every zone, embalmed in song, cherished in the memory, and enshrined in the heart!

Too much, therefore, can scarcely be said on such a theme, nor too devoted a service rendered to such a cause. And knowing as we do how largely, in this country, Home Life influences both the individual and the State, we come to present the offering of Our Tribute in the imperishable form of a book, for the acceptance and appreciation of a Home-loving people!

The object of this, our labor, is to link - as in a marriage tie - this venerable and comprehensive word "home" with that other word of classic mold, but of modern application, - "adornment." And with the whole-hearted enthusiasm of "match-makers" we sincerely hope and believe that they will be found to be not "unequally yoked."

We are of the opinion that no attempt at "an alliance" of this nature has ever before been so wisely planned and so successfully consummated. It only remains, therefore, for us to bid a universal welcome to the Bridal!

The homes of the past have been as redolent of virtue and affection as can be claimed for those of our own day; but the age has advanced in all those accessories which give to modern life its charm, and for a "Home" now to be without its "Adornments" would be a return to a primitive condition that would ill accord with the scale and quality of social existence everywhere around us.

The volume here presented comprehends and supplies, in its completeness, this felt need eminently more than any hitherto offered to the public. The departments it covers embrace the whole domain of "Home and its Adornments," from the most enlightened, cultivated, and reliable sources possible.

Under the firm belief that "a thing of beauty is a joy forever," we have reason to expect that our Home Life will become radiated with a brighter glow, from the Alliance of Adornment with Domesticity; while the influence of such elements, acting as a Kindergarten, will daily and hourly impress on both young and old its "Object-Lessons" of instruction with ever softening and refining influences.

Economy, which holds so prominent a place in our modern household administration, finds a most signal recognition in the work here presented. Recipes of great practical value, are lavishly scattered among its pages; while the Useful, as well as the Ornamental, has in each Department received the most particular attention.

"The least said, the soonest mended," is a well-known proverb; and though we have no reason to fear "a breakage" among any of the numerous articles for use or ornament cabineted within the binding of this volume, yet we would on no account exhaust the reader's patience with a long Preface. Every new venture expects the favoring breeze of popularity to carry it safely into port. And if our numerous friends will only be kind enough to judge of this work by its merits, we shall then have no fear for the results.

THE PUBLISHEES.