and to have that spirit of kindness that she will be willing to do it, and sure that the favour will be returned. And besides, Lucy, if a woman spends years in nothing but cooking, when she has a family of her own how will she know how to take care of her house, take care of her children, make their clothes, &c.? or, if she spends ten years in the nursery, she will not know how to cook her husband's dinner. My girls all get married after a while; and I wish that, while they are serving me, they should have that sort of education that will enable them to make their own homes prosperous and happy."
"That's very kind of you, ma'am—but does not changing works so make a great deal of confusion?"
"No confusion arises, Lucy, from your being my chambermaid this summer and my seamstress next winter—to be sure, I must teach you to sew well, but the next year that will prove a great gain to us both. No, Lucy, confusion in families arises from ignorance, bad temper, jealousy, and disobligingness; never, I believe, from being well qualified to perform any office, and willing to serve in it "[1]
"I am sure you will find me willing, Mrs. Hyde,
- ↑ In those countries where the whole life is passed in servitude, the principle of a division of labour is not so objectionable. It is certainly most convenient to the employer. He who devotes all his mind and the whole of his life to making the hinges of a watch will make them more accurately than he who constructs the whole watch. But if by any chance the hingemaker is ejected from that department, he is good for nothing. An accomplished English servant is always found inferior for the service of an American family to a well-brought up American domestic, whose faculties are thoroughly developed by our miscellaneous service.
