tenderness of tone rather than its brightness of hue. Anyhow, you
may be sure that if we try to outdo Nature's green tints on our
walls we shall fail, and make ourselves uncomfortable to boot. We
must, in short, be very careful of bright greens, and seldom, if
ever, use them at once bright and strong.

On the other hand, do not fall into the trap of a dingy bilious-
looking yellow-green, a colour to which I have a special and
personal hatred, because (if you will excuse my mentioning personal
matters) I have been supposed to have somewhat brought it into
vogue. I assure you I am not really responsible for it.

The truth is, that to get a green that is at once pure and neither
cold nor rank, and not too bright to live with, is of simple things
as difficult as anything a decorator has to do; but it can be done,-
-and without the help of special material; and when done such a
green is so useful, and so restful to the eyes, that in this matter
also we are bound to follow Nature and make large use of that work-
a-day colour green.

But if green be called a work-a-day colour, surely blue must be
called the holiday one, and those who long most for bright colours
may please themselves most with it; for if you duly guard against
getting it cold if it tend towards red, or rank if it tend towards
green, you need not be much afraid of its brightness. Now, as red
is above all a dyer's colour, so blue is especially a pigment and an
enamel colour; the world is rich in insoluble blues, many of which
are practically indestructible.

I have said that there are not many tints fit to colour a wall with: