The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No 3, September 1864: Devoted To Literature And National PolicyVarious
History
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No 3, September 1864: Devoted To Literature And National Policy
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century -- Periodicals
This is surely cowardly and wrong. This great question, which is really
so engrossing that it is more talked of in the family circle than any
other--this profound and intricate problem, upon the solution of which
the comfort, happiness, and thrift of every household in the land depend
more than upon almost any other--surely demands the most careful study,
and the deepest solicitude of the reformer and philanthropist. The
subject just now is receiving considerable attention in England, and the
journals and periodicals of that country have recently teemed with
articles setting forth the miseries with which English households are
afflicted, owing to the want of good servants. But, unfortunately, from
none of these has the writer been able to extract much assistance in
preparing an answer to the only practical question: How are the evils
of domestic service to be remedied? I quote, however, an extract from a
recent article in _The Victoria Magazine_, in order to show how far the
complaints made in England of the shortcomings of servants run parallel
with those of our own housekeepers. It is to be noted that the writer
confessedly holds a brief for the servants. If the facts are fairly
stated, the relation between a servant in an English family and her
employer differs widely from the like relation with us;
'The prizes in domestic service are few, the blanks many. Ladies
think only of the prizes. Needlewomen and factory girls, when they
turn their attention to domestic service, see the hardworked,
underfed scrub lacking the one condition which goes far to
alleviate the hardest lot, that of personal liberty. People who
have never known what it is to be subject to the caprices of a
petty tyrant, scarcely appreciate this alleviation at its true
value. They expatiate upon the light labors, the abundance, the
freedom from anxiety which characterize the lot of servants in good
places, with an unction worthy of Southern slaveholders. What more
any woman can want they cannot understand. They think it nothing
that a servant has not, from week to week, and month to month, a
moment that she can call her own, a single hour of the day or
night, of which she can say, 'This is mine, and no one has a right
to prescribe what I shall do with it'--that, in most cases, she has
no recognized right to invite any one to come and see her, and
therefore can have no full and satisfying sense of home--that many
mistresses go so far as to claim the regulation of her dress--that
even in mature age and by the kindest employers she is treated more
as a child to be taken care of than as a responsible, grown-up
woman, able to think and judge for herself. These are substantial
drawbacks to the lot of the pampered menial.... These complaints of
the readiness of servants to leave their places are based on the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account