Household Papers and StoriesStowe, Harriet Beecher
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Household Papers and Stories
Stowe, Harriet Beecher
Didactic fiction; Home economics -- Fiction; Short stories
"In the first place, a home,--a neat, quiet chamber, quite as good as
she has probably been accustomed to,--the very best of food, served in
a pleasant, light, airy kitchen, which is one of the most agreeable
rooms in the house, and the table and table service quite equal to
those of most farmers and mechanics. Then her daily tasks would be
light and varied,--some sweeping, some dusting, the washing and
dressing of children, the care of their rooms and the nursery,--all of
it the most healthful, the most natural work of a woman,--work
alternating with rest, and diverting thought from painful subjects by
its variety, and, what is more, a kind of work in which a good
Christian woman might have satisfaction, as feeling herself useful in
the highest and best way; for the child's nurse, if she be a pious,
well-educated woman, may make the whole course of nursery life an
education in goodness. Then, what is far different from any other
modes of gaining a livelihood, a woman in this capacity can make and
feel herself really and truly beloved. The hearts of little children
are easily gained, and their love is real and warm, and no true woman
can become the object of it without feeling her own life made
brighter. Again, she would have in Marianne a sincere, warm-hearted
friend, who would care for her tenderly, respect her sorrows, shelter
her feelings, be considerate of her wants, and in every way aid her in
the cause she has most at heart,--the succor of her family. There are
many ways besides her wages in which she would infallibly be assisted
by Marianne, so that the probability would be that she could send her
little salary almost untouched to those for whose support she was
toiling,--all this on her part."
"But," added my wife, "on the other hand, she would be obliged to
associate and be ranked with common Irish servants."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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