As a country cannot be governed without laws, neither can a household, and the mistress should be as absolute in her own house as a sovereign in her dominions. Order and regularity are the key-stones to comfort, and our housewife must carefully arrange and digest her scheme of government in the first place, and be always alive to any modifications which emergencies, or prudence, or circumstances, may call for. And she must _understand_ what she is about, or her scheme will be worthless; she must be able to teach, nay, to demonstrate upon occasions; she must be regular in her own habits if she would have those about her regular, neat in all that concerns herself, attentive to the details of housekeeping, economical, just, active, and considerate. She must neither hold the reins of government loosely and negligently, nor too sternly, but must quietly exercise a general and regular surveillance over every part of her house and household; and this can be done without tyranny, without vexatious interference, or ebullitions of temper. Let the servants once feel that this is her habit, and they will act accordingly; and if the place is good, conduct themselves so as to endeavour to please and keep it. And it is the interest, as well as duty, of every mistress, to make her servants comfortable, to see that they have a sufficiency of good food, that they are well lodged, that they have time to mend and wash their own clothes, nay, that they know how to do so, and do it. A mistress need never forget herself, or weaken her authority, or show any false indulgence; but in numberless ways she will have the opportunity of endeavouring to guide, to advise, and to benefit those dependent upon her; but she must be patient, if she would really do good. She must remember what may have been the early education, the trials and temptations, the experiences of those girls, and must not expect too much from them. As we have before said, she must hold the reins of government with a firm hand; she must not overlook neglect of duties, irregularities of conduct, want of order or cleanliness, or inattention to her commands; but she can notice these things quietly, without loss of temper, and when alone with the offender; she can also notice and praise neatness, attention, obedience, and such like, and not accept the good as mere matters of course, and only mark the evil. She should likewise endeavour to induce her servants, by example and precept, to be regular in attendance on religious worship, and make Sunday to them in some degree a day of rest instead of one of extra cooking and work, and have a supply of those excellent little works to lend them, which are published by the religious societies. While she inculcates economy in things relating to herself, she should try to induce them to save, to put by regularly a certain portion of their wages, and not be extravagant in clothes, but make and mend their things properly.