"The elegant and accomplished Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who figured in the fashionable, as well as the literary, circles of her time, has said, that 'the most minute details of household economy become elegant and refined, when they are ennobled by sentiment;' and they are truly ennobled, when we do them either from a sense of duty, or consideration for a parent, or love to a husband. 'To furnish a room,' continues this lady, 'is no longer a commonplace affair, shared with upholsterers and cabinet-makers; it is decorating the place where I am to meet a friend or lover. To order dinner is not merely arranging a meal with my cook; it is preparing refreshment for him whom I love. These necessary occupations, viewed in this light, by a person capable of strong attachment, are so many pleasures, and afford her far more delight, than the games and shows which constitute the amusements of the world.' "Such is the testimony of a titled lady of the last century, to the sentiment that may be made to mingle in the most homely occupations. I will now quote that of a modern female writer and traveller, who, in her pleasant book, called 'Six Weeks on the Loire,' has thus described the housewifery of the daughter of a French nobleman, residing in a superb chateau on that river. The travellers had just arrived, and been introduced, when the following scene took place. "'The bill of fare for dinner was discussed in my presence, and settled, _sans facon_,[I] with that delightful frankness and gayety, which, in the French character, gives a charm to the most trifling occurrence. Mademoiselle Louise then begged me to excuse her for half an hour, as she was going to make some creams, and some _pastilles_.[J] I requested that I might accompany her, and also render myself useful; we accordingly went together to the dairy. I made tarts _a l'Anglaise_,[K] whilst she made confections and _bonbons_,[L] and all manner of pretty things, with as much ease as if she had never done any thing else, and as much grace as she displayed in the saloon. I could not help thinking, as I looked at her, with her servants about her, all cheerful, respectful, and anxious to attend upon her, how much better it would be for the young ladies in England, if they would occasionally return to the habits of their grandmammas, and mingle the animated and endearing occupations of domestic life, and the modest manners and social amusements of home, with the perpetual practising on harps and pianos, and the incessant efforts at display, and search after gayety, which, at the present day, render them any thing but what an amiable man, of a reflecting mind and delicate sentiments, would desire in the woman he might wish to select as the companion of his life.'" FOOTNOTES: [I] Without formality, or useless ceremony. [J] Rolls of paste, or pastry, or sugarplums. [K] According to the English fashion. [L] Nice things or dainties, such as sweetmeats. CHAPTER XII. ON DOMESTIC MANNERS.