utmost extent of their pecuniary means; and they are also enabled to do this with a certain appearance of taste, because to that class of persons who supply the requisite articles of dress and furniture, it has become their study to ascertain what is most approved in the highest circles, as well as what is most ornamental and becoming in itself. And thus individuals who have but little taste themselves, may easily supply their deficiency by consulting what are called the first tradespeople, or those who sell to the highest purchasers. How much more exquisite, then, must be the good taste, and delicate feeling, of her who has no such assistance to call in; who expends but little money upon the entertainment of her friends, in order that she may see them the oftener, and with a less painful tax upon her household; but who is still able so to conduct her household arrangements, that while there is no distressing appearance of excessive preparation to alarm her guests, an aspect of elegance and comfort is thrown over the most familiar things, so as to convey the idea of her family affairs being always conducted in strict accordance with the principles of taste of that taste which consults the beauty of fitness and order, and which permits no extravagance or excess to interfere with the perfect harmony of its arrange ments. Here, then, we see the value of having made good taste one of the studies of early life; for when the cares and anxieties of a household, added to the actual occupations of the mistress of a family, press upon the sometimes over-burdened wife, she will find little time, and perhaps less inclination, to enter into any abstruse calculations upon these points; and hence we too frequently see among married women, a deterioration of character in this respect; for where one single woman is careless and slovenly in her appearance or habits, there is reason to fear we might find many in the married state, who might justly be suspected of having lost their regard for those embellishments which depend upon the exercise of good taste. In pursuing the subject of domestic management, we are again struck with the importance of speaking of things by their proper names; for by some strange misnomer, those women have come to be generally called good managers, who put their whole souls into the business of providing for the mere bodily exigences of every day; and thus the more refined, and sometimes the more intellectual, who have no idea how many good principles may be exemplified in the proper regulation of a household, have imbibed a sort of distaste for good management, as if it necessarily belonged exclusively to the province of the ignorant, or the vulgar-minded. Managers, indeed, those household torments may be, who live perpetually in an element of strife and discord, where no one who valued their own peace would wish to live with them; but good managers they certainly are not. It is not, therefore, in absolute bustle and activity, nor yet in mere cleanliness, order, and punctuality, that the perfection of domestic management consists; for where the members of a household are made to feel that they pay too dearly, by the loss of their peace and comfort, for the cleanliness, order, and punctuality of the mistress, all claim on her part to the merit of good management must be relinquished. It is most difficult, however, to be sufficiently solicitous about such points of observance, and not irritated by the neglect of them in others. Hence it is often said that illtempered servants are the cleanest and most orderly; because the exactness and precision which regulate their conduct, produce in unenlightened minds, a tendency to exact the same from others; and where this is impossible to be effected, produce a petulance and dissatisfaction which obtain for them the character of being ill-tempered; while an opposite disposition, careless of order, cleanliness, or punctuality, obtains sometimes with great injustice the merit of being good-tempered, simply because any deviation from these points occasions to such a mind no disturbance whatever. It has appeared to me ever since I was ca of the richest and best concocted food, to repay the wretched family where such a manager presides, for what must be endured through the course of any single day? No-let me live in peace, is the natural demand of every human heart; and so far as relates to our cookery, and our carpets, we are happily all able to do this. We must, therefore, settle it in our minds, that whatever excellences may be attained in the preparation of food, the care of clothing, the arrangement of furniture, or the general order of rooms, that can never be called good management, which fails to secure peace, and to promote happiness. pable of extreme annoyance or extreme enjoyment from such causes, that the perfection of good domestic management required so many excellences both of head and heart, as to render it a study well worth the attention of the most benevolent and enlightened of human beings. For when we consider the simple fact, that it comprehends-nay, is mainly dependent upon the art of giving to every thing which comes within the sphere of practical duty its proper weight, and consequently its due share of relative importance, we see at once that it cannot be within the province of a common or a vulgar mind consistently to do this, more especially as there must not only be the perception to find out, and the judgment to decide upon things generally, but the good feeling-and here is the great point-to make that subservient which is properly inferior. Thus all selfish consid-high degree of tenderness and affection, strong erations must be set aside, all low calculations, all caprice, all vanity, all spite. And in how many instances do all these, with a multitude of other enemies to peace and happiness, mix themselves up with what people persist in calling good management, but which from this lamentable admixture, makes nobody like such management, or wish to be where it prevails! Perhaps it has occurred to not a few of us to see one of these reputed good managers, bustling about a house from one apartment to another, peeping into corners, throwing open closets, emptying drawers, with a countenance which bid defiance for the time to every gentle or kindly feeling; and calling to one person, despatching another, or enumerating the misdeeds of a third, with a voice which even in its distant and unintelligible utterance, had the bitter tone of raking up old grievances, and throwing them about like firebrands on every side. And then the bursting forth of the actual eruption, where such a volcano was perpetually at work! The fusion of heated and heterogeneous particles into one general mass-the outpouring indiscriminate and vast-the flame, the smoke, the tumult! what is there, I would ask, in the absence of harmless dust, or in the presence Not that I would undervalue the care of the body, so far as tends to preserve health, and ensure cheerfulness; or, what is still more important, so far as serves to evince a evidence of which may sometimes be conveyed through this channel, when no other is open. It is the supreme importance attached to these cares and anxieties, which prevents such a system of management being properly called good. In order to maintain general cheerfulness, and promote happiness throughout your household, it is essential that you cultivate within your own mind, a feeling of contentment with your home, your servants, and your domestic affairs in general, remembering that nothing which occurs to you in this department is the result of mere chance, but that all your trials, as well as your enjoyments, are appointed by a kind Providence, who knows better than you can know, exactly what is ultimately best for you. It is consequently no more a deviation from what you ought to be prepared to expect, that your servants should sometimes do wrong, that your plans should be thwarted by folly and perverseness, or that your house should be old and inconvenient; than that the blossoms in your garden should occasionally be blighted, or that a shower should fall at the moment you had fixed for going out. Yet, to maintain this desirable cheerfulness through all circumstances, is certainly no easy task, unless both health and temper have been carefully attended to before marriage; for when the former fails, it is but natural that the animal spirits should fail too; and defects of temper if long indulged, so as to have grown into habit, will, in the general conduct of domestic affairs, be able to infuse a taint of bitterness into the kindest endeavors, so as effectually to defeat the best intentions. How necessary is it, therefore, for all women to have learned to manage themselves, before undertaking the management of a household, for the charge is both a serious, and a comprehensive one; and however inexperienced a wife may be, however helpless, uncalculating, and unequal to the task, she no sooner takes upon herself the duties of a mistress, than she becomes, in a great measure, responsible for the welfare of every member of the family over which she presides. And not only is this her situation in the ordinary course of things, but on all extraordinary occasions, she must be at the same post, ever on the alert, prompt to direct, and ready with expedients suited to every emergency that may occur. In cases of illness more especially, though the more laborious duties of the sick-room may with propriety be deputed to others, there can be no excuse for the mistress who does not make it her business to see that proper attention is paid to the directions of the doctor, as well as to the ventilation of rooms, and all those other means of alleviating pain, or facilitating recovery, instead of which, inexperienced nurses are so apt to substitute notions and nostrums of their own. But beyond the care of the patient, that of the nurse also devolves upon the mistress of the house, to see that her wants are properly supplied, that a judicious distribution of her time is made, so as to allow of a reasonable portion of rest; or, if wearied out, to take care that her place is supplied, so that none may have to complain of hardship or oppression. And here we may observe by the way, that this kind of care and consideration be stowed upon those who habitually bear the burden of domestic labor, constitutes one of the strongest bonds which can exist between a mistress and her servants; besides rewarding her, in many instances, by a double measure of their gratitude and their faithful ness. If the mistress of the house, as is not unfrequently the case with kind-hearted women, should take charge of the patient herself, it then becomes her duty not to act so entirely from the impulse of feeling, as to neglect her own health. I mention this, because there is a kind of romantic devotion to the duties of the sick-room, more especially where the sufferer is an object of interest or affection, which carries on the young nurse from one day of solicitude to another, without refreshment, without rest, and without exercise in the open air, until nature being completely exhausted, she herself becomes a source of trouble, and an object of anxiety and care. By this apparent generosity, the kindest intentions are often frustrated; while the household of such a mistress will necessarily be thrown into alarm and disorder, at the very time when it is most important that order and quiet should be maintained throughout. To those who please themselves with the idea that such romantic self-devotion is the extreme of generosity, it may appear a cold kind of reasoning to advocate the importance of self-preservation, by frequently taking exercise at short intervals in the open air. Yet, I own I am one of those who prefer the kindness which lasts, to that which expends itself in sudden and violent effort; and I would, therefore, strongly urge upon the wife not only to attend to such means of prolonging her own usefulness, but to see that the nurse employed under her direction does the same. Nor is it only in such cases as that already described, that married women are apt to neglect the best means of maintaining cheerfulness, and preserving health, two blessings which they above all other persons have the most reason to estimate highly. Not that I would insinuate an idea of any culpable ne glect of the employment of doctors, or the use of medicines. I believe this can scarcely be charged upon the wives of England, as a general fault. But I have known some women almost entirely neglect all kinds of exercise in the open air, either because they were too busy, or it tired them too much; or, for that most amiable of all reasons, because their husbands were absent, and they were too dependent to walk alone. And thus, from the very excess of their affection, they were satisfied, on a husband's return, to be weary, listless, dispirited, and altogether incapable of adding to his enjoyment, whatever he-happy man that he must be, to be so tenderly beloved!-might add to theirs. ment, or inducing them by persuasion or argument to make some different distribution of their time. And where symptoms of indisposition do appear, how beautiful is that display of affection in a wife, who can put aside all her own little ailments for the more important consideration of those of a husband; who can bear without a murmur to have her domestic affairs at any moment deranged, so as may best suit his feelings or his health; and who can make up her mind with promptness and cheerfulness, even to accompany him from home, at any sacrifice of her own comfort and convenience! How precious then is the health and the ability to do this, and to do it with energy, and perfect good-will-how much more precious than the childish fondness to which allusion has already been beside him in his illness, or to neglect the exercise necessary for her own health, because, forsooth, she could not walk without him! But fortunately for the character of woman, and may we not add, for the patience of man, there are happier methods of proving the existence of affection than that which is exhibit-made, which would lead her to sit and faint ed by the display either of an excessive and imprudent self-devotion, which effectually defeats its own object; or a weak and childish dependence, which is nothing better than a sort of disguised selfishness. In accordance with deeper and more chastened feelings of regard, is that system of careful but quiet watchfulness over the general health of a husband, or a family, which detects every symptom of indisposition, and provides against all unnecessary aggravation of such symptoms by any arrangement of domestic affairs which can be made so as to spare an invalid, or prevent the occurrence of illness. I believe that nothing tends more to the increase of those diseases classed in popular phraseology under the head of bilious, which prevail so extensively in the present day, than long fasting, with heavy meals at the close of the day. Where fashion is the root of this evil, it is to be supposed that the sufferers have their own reward; at all events, a mere matter of choice, it would be impertinence to interfere with; but in the case of those husbands whose business calls them from home during the greater part of every day, surely something might be done by the wife, to break through this habit, either by supplying them with intermediate refresh Nor let it be imagined from the familiar and apparently trifling nature of the instances adduced in relation to the subject of domestic management, that the subject itself is one of little moment. Necessity compels the selection of only a few cases from the mass of evidence which might be brought to prove how many important principles may be acted upon in the familiar transactions of every day. The woman of naturally restless and irritable temper, for instance, who, without controlling her own feelings, would effectually destroy the peace of every member of her household, may by habits of self-government, and by a kind and disinterested regard for the happiness of those around her, so far restrain the natural impetuosity of her character, as to become a blessing instead of a torment to the household over which she presides; while the tender and affectionate wife, who would fondly and foolishly waste her strength by incessant watching over a husband, or a child, may, by the habit of making impulse subservient to judgment, preserve her health for the service of many a future day, and thus render herself, what every married woman ought to be the support and the comfort of in vain to urge others to do what they see that her whole household. We see here, although the instances themselves may appear insignificant, that in these two cases are exemplified the great principles of disinterested kindness, prudence, and self-government. And thus it is with every act that falls within the sphere of female duty. The act itself may be trifling; but the motives by which it is sustained may be such as to do honor to the religion we profess. And we must ever bear in mind, that not only do we honor that religion by engaging in public services on behalf of our fellow-creatures, or for the good of our own souls; but by restraining evil tempers, and selfish dispositions, in the privacy of our own domestic sphere; and by cherishing for purposes of practical usefulness, those amiable and benevolent feelings, which are not only most endearing to our fellow-creatures, but most in accordance with the perfection of the Christian character. In turning our attention again to the prac tical part of female duty, as connected with domestic management, that important study which refers to the best means of economizing time and money, is forcibly presented to our notice. Having dwelt at considerable length upon the subject of economy of time in a former work,* I shall not repeat the arguments there made use of to show the importance of this great principle of good management; but simply state, that if essential before marriage to the attainment of intellectual or moral good, and to the welfare and comfort of those with whom we are connected; it becomes doubly so when the mistress of a house has not only to economize her own time, but to portion out that of others. In this, as in all other cases where good influence is made the foundation of rightlyexercised authority, the married woman must not forget that example goes before precept. Whatever then may be the trial to her natural feelings, she will, if actuated by this principle, begin the day by rising early; for it is * The Daughters of England. we have not either the strength, or not the inclination to do ourselves. Besides which, there is little inducement for servants or other inferior members of a family to rise early, when they know that the business of the day will be delayed by the mistress herself not being ready; while, on the other hand, if prepared to expect that she will be up early herself, there are few who could be so unaccommodating as to thwart her wishes by not endeavoring to be ready at the appointed time. Nor is there any thing depending upon ourselves which tends more to the proper regulation of the mind, as well as the household, than the habit of rising early-so early as to have time to think, as most persons do in the morning hours, clearly and dispassionately; when, free from the disturbance of feeling so often excited by contact with others, the mind is at liberty to draw its own conclusions, from a general survey of the actual stata of things, uninterrupted by any partial impressions received through the medium of the outward senses. Thus it often happens, that in the early morning we are brought to serious and just conclusions, which we should never have arrived at, where the actual circumstances which gave rise to our reflections, were transpiring beneath our notice, or had the persons most intimately connected with such circumstances been present during the formation of our opinions. The morning, then, is the time for reviewing the actions and events of the previous day, and for forming, for that which has commenced, a new set of plans, upon the convictions which such a calm and impartial review is calculated to produce. The morning is the time for gathering our thoughts together, for arranging our resources, and for asking with humble reverence that Divine assistance, without which we have no right to expect that the coming day will be spent more satisfactorily than the past. Such are the higher advantages derived from habits of early rising, but there are also practical duties to be attended to by all mar |