DUTIES OF A WIFE AND MOTHER.

13

It would require nothing less than a female revolution to establish a new system on the ruins of old prejudices; yet common sense declares that the large and influential middle classes of England would certainly be benefited by the introduction of a custom so much more rational than the laborious observance which seems to have no more useful results than a collection of printed scraps of pasteboard.

CHAPTER II.

Sunday visiting-The servants' Sabbath-Wages of servants-Auctions-Lumber-rooms-Marketing-Tea, coffee, &c.-To choose meat, fish and poultry, butter, vegetables, and fruitCoals-Precautions against fire.

WHATEVER may be the habits of visiting and the convenience of the establishment, we would seriously deprecate all Sunday visiting or receiving visits. It is the servants' holiday, and the day set apart for a healthy rest from the cares and toils of the week. It is by the will of God, and the glad consent of the Christian world, that one day in seven all men should have rest to recruit the powers of the body, and leisure for prayer, for meditation, and the cultivation of piety.

Let every mistress of a family give her orders for Sunday on the previous day, that, as much as possible, everything may then be made ready; and these orders should be arranged with the spirit of reverence and charity which the occasion demands.

There is many a hard-worked man of business who rarely has the opportunity of dining with his family except on Sunday. In this case the considerate wife, however pious she may be, will not think she fulfils her duty if she places before her husband a dinner of cold meat. But a little contrivance may lighten the toils of the cook, and permit each servant to attend at least one service at church, and have also time for reading, and such recreations as are not inconsistent with the reverence due to the day.

Cleaning knives, brushing shoes and coats, and dusting rooms, may all be well effected on Saturday night. The vegetables may be prepared, the pastry made, and the meat made ready for cooking. A little aid, in a small

establishment, should also be given to assist the servants on Sunday morning by the mistress and children of a family. It should be understood that all should exact less attendance, and do little unusual offices, that the servants may feel the blessing of the Sabbath.

On the subject of the treatment of servants it is difficult to enter, lest we should be tempted to say too much; but we may venture to observe that a great cause of the petty miseries of domestic life arises from the absurd expectation of meeting with an infallible servant. If every lady would content herself with keeping a balanceaccount of good and ill in the qualifications of her servants, and be satisfied when the preponderance was in favour of the good, we should not hear so many complaints of bad servants. Human nature, in all ranks, is full of imperfection, and it is well to follow the Divine rule, to do unto others as we would they should do

unto us.

A harsh, hasty, or unjust word will rankle in the mind of a servant, and make her desire to change her situation, though it may possess many advantages. Unvaried firmness, with gentleness of manner, and a due regard to their feelings, constitute the good breeding which is recognized, respected, and valued by servants.

If you have any cause to complain of a servant, never speak immediately: wait a day or two, some explanation or apology may be offered in the meantime; and, at all events, you will have time to reflect on the nature of the offence, and if you must then reprove her, it will not be under the influence of anger. Always avoid sarcasm in your lecture, and let it be private. There can be no greater imprudence than to reprove one servant in the presence of another.

It is the duty of every woman so to arrange her time that she may have leisure to visit the poor and needy; and so to order her household that something may always be spared from the larder or the wardrobe, to feed and clothe proper objects of compassion.

To facilitate this duty, an afternoon should occasionally be set apart when mistress, servants, and children should be employed in making up old garments to be in readiness for any case of distress; and by impressing carefully on the servants the duty of wasting nothing, much may be put aside daily to make good and wholesome meals for those who have neither means, time, skill, nor perhaps health, to cook for themselves.

It looks well to see the servants of a family dressed neatly, and, if it can conveniently be arranged, uniformly. The proper and becoming dress for all servants is neat, good, printed cotton, which washes well; lilac or brown are the most serviceable colours. Nothing looks so tawdry as a black cap; white muslin caps are the most suitable, and the cook especially should have her hair brushed smooth, and covered. White linen aprons should always be worn for cooking and for making beds. Checked or coarse brown linen are more fitted for cleaning.

A kind and conscientious mistress will impress on her servants the duty of saving part of their wages, and endeavour to persuade them to leave small sums in her hand, or place them in a savings' bank.

The wages of a cook rise, according to merit, from twelve to twenty or thirty pounds; a housemaid can have from seven to fourteen pounds; and a good laundrymaid more than the housemaid. Any one of these servants, properly directed, may not only assist her relations, but save half her wages. And, no sooner is a servant in possession of twenty or thirty pounds in a savings' bank, than the spirit of independence, and the pride of property will induce her to cultivate economic habits. No servant makes so thrifty a wife as she who has, by the practice of economy, saved a small sum from her

wages.

Servants and mistresses alike should beware of expending their money in cheap bargains. The itinerant merchant who frequents the door with marvellously low

priced shoes or caps, is usually not only a pilferer of stray spoons or forks, but an impostor, who dupes the unwary victims to purchase articles which fall to pieces the first time they are worn.

A still more dangerous practice for a woman, in any station of life, is to frequent auctions. In the first place it is an improper waste of time; in the next, the spirit of opposition, or the fallacious notion of buying a cheap bargain, too frequently leads her to fill her rooms with furniture which was not needed, and which is rarely found to answer the expectation formed of it.

To make room for these bargains, some of the old furniture is probably consigned to a lumber-room, which is generally a receptacle for litter, dust, and waste, and should never be tolerated in a well-regulated house. If furniture is not likely to be useful, it should be sold to a broker or given away. If carpets, blankets, or any other things which are not in use have to be put away, they should be rolled or folded, and placed in clean closets or presses where they will receive no injury.

It is a prudent and almost indispensable practice for every woman of moderate income to go to market herself to make her purchases. She must, in the first place, take the opportunity of learning the market price of every article she buys, then endeavour to get a good article for the money, but never expect to get good articles for inferior prices. Tradesmen soon become acquainted with the practices of any one who is in the habit of haggling to buy goods cheap, and fix their prices in proportion.

Good Congou tea, at present four shillings or four shillings and sixpence a pound, is the cheapest, and, if bought of a respectable dealer, the least likely to be adulterated. Green tea is costly, is frequently deleterious from the mode of preparation, and is consequently much going out of use.

Coffee should always be bought unground: a hand-mill is of small cost, and the time is well spent in securing