"And he, I'm sure, is doubly blest, "Is adding folly to our pain." The other day I entered a house where the gossip was in its glory, and the poor baby began to cry.-Sweet cake was sucked, and wine was tuned into it, no twitching, no little means that the child could use, nor all the repulses nature could devise, could induce the gossip to take the little sufferer home for proper food, but any thing or nothing would and must do for the present. My good wife had the invention of taking up one thing and putting it immediately in the place of another, but as she had neither patience nor industry, nor thought to put them in their place again, every thing was compelled to do for the present. The clothes thrown in heaps, the spots, dust, or lint upon them, and when they are wanted they are lost, or dirty, or broken for the present, or the time is spent for the present in search of something she had in her hands, but a few minutes before. She walks about, calls and inquires, "Betty, what have you done with my shawl?" a thousand things have their usual toss for the present. Marching over the room again," Marjory, have you been in my room?" "No ma'am," (you must you hussy) "have you seen my shawl?" "I have not been in the room ma'am." "The shawl must be somewhere, you must have seen it." At length it is discovered (for in her attempt to throw it like dirt off her shoulders, some way and any how in the room,) it accidentally hung behind, and accompanied her every step with profound silence. "How different the ancient Matron, To the modern Slattern." Again I ventured to call, " my dear we are waiting!! "Well what have you done with my parasol ?" Nothing at all." "But it must be somewhere." "That I do not dispute," "I cannot find it, and I cannot go without it." What must be done for the present; will this do, thought I; the loss of this small portion of time appears trifling for the present. But slatterns incur such losses every day, and the loss of such little scraps of time ruins our journey, and determines many a man's fortune. A woman that loses half an hour in the morning to find the tinder-box, and half an hour in the afternoon to find what she had misplaced the day before, and half an hour in the evening in carelessness or gossiping, has lost an hour and a half in the day, and ten hours and a half in the week-how many in a month, in a year. Suppose each hour is worth a penny; this is losing a tenth part of our time, and a tenth part of my income. I began to see and feel it is the slut and sloven's way to ruin. I admit genteel people who have no afternoon have remedied in some degree one part of the evil.* The other day *The other day when Mr. Laytub, and Mr. Wiseall quarrelled over a bottle of wine, and duelled with the fist, the indictment for the assault was filed for the afternoon, but Mr. Wiseall brought in a shoal of most respectable witnesses, fully to prove that the assault could not possibly take place in the afternoon, for it is morning until dinner, and afterwards evening. I ordered the shoe-black to tie my strings on one side of my shoes, lest they should stray like the parasol, but for the present, slipping on my shoes to walk in the garden, I trod upon one trailing string with the other foot, tore my shoe, broke my nose, sprained my wrist, cut my hand, by falling upon the frozen earth, and for the present had to plaister; but the string certainly was secure, and what was unconceivably more painful than my fall, I saw that I could not thrive for want of care, order, and method. Tho' I do not blame my wife in this painful affair, yet I may exclaim, "How thick my woes increase!" It was no small part of my trouble to live under a daily conviction, that a neat wife does business quick, and thoroughly keeps things in order, without half the labour that a slattern employs, whose inventive faculty is forever employed to put things out of order. So that if the shoes are used, they are directly made clean, if wet, dried, prepared for use, put in their place, and when they are wanted, they are ready. But dirty shoes and kettles, thrown into a dark damp corner, mould, or are E 66 unfit for use when they are wanted, or they cannot be found. John, what did you do with my walking shoes," I hant had them Sir, Russel had them last."" Russel, did you take my shoes ?" "Yes Sir," let me have them." "They are dirty and mouldy Sir;" it will take half an hour to dry and clean them." What! there is but a quarter of an hour and I must be at the exchange, or miss a good bargain, forfeit my word, and; lose my honour! So you see and I feel how things do for the present-the company waits for me, I am fidged. It is in vain to scold, for they will only; retort, the lady of your choice says every day, things will do for the present. Alas! Alas! where will my sorrows end! The rain will come before I can' start. To buy another pair of shoes for the present, there is not time, and if there was, it would only be to have two pair dirty and mouldy in place of one! for the present. Now if I proposed any reformation at Christmas, or the begining of the new year, to number the cup boards and closets, and print the name! of the articles upon the doors in letters good for dim eyes, and each forfeit for the present, to cure the vice; no says my |