The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1858-05-20
Nnhing far the gaDies,
LETrERs TO YOUNG WOMEN
D. TIMOTHY TTTcoMB.

Al.tIF LUIutS dL hlAS EANoShS N~y - '~~-
fcre with its acquisition, but the fact that
il is essential should lead you to subor
dinate to it those which are not We
hear a great deal about the laziness of the
present generation of girls. | think the
accusation is unjust. Girls who acquire
. really good education now, accomplish
msch more genuine hard work than those
In the good old times, who onl Y learned
to read aud write, and occupied most OF
their time in the kitchen and the dairy.
Nothing that can be called education can
be achieved withogt great labor; and IN
my opinion, the principal reason why
good houseRifery IS so much neglected,
as an accomplishment, is, that the time Is
90 much occupied in study. Laziness is
very apt to come with wealth, and there
pre- undoubtedly great many more lazy
girls now than hfty years ago. They are
certainly very undesirable article to have
about, and pity the poor fellow who gets
pne Of them for companion; but say
eaud!dly that | DO not think there are
more naturally lazy girls in the world
than usual.
You expect, one of these days, to be
the mistress Of a house. Your comfort
and happiness, and the comfort aud hap
pincss Of your husband, will depend very
nuch upon your ability to order that
house we'll. Ifyour companion be in hum
bic circumstances, you will very likely be
obliged to do the most of your work your
self. In this case thorough knowledge
81, and taste for, housewifery will be very
pecessary to you. If you marry man
Of competence or wealth, knowledge Of
good housewifery is quite as essential to
sou as if you were required to DO your
own work The expenses Of your house
will be large or small, as you are q good
or bad housekeeper. If you do not
know how to do the work Of the house ;
if you have no practical knowledge of all
the Offices and economies of an establish
ment, you will be dependent. So far from
being the mistress Of your house, you will
be only It's guest. Your servents will
eircumvent you, they will cheat you, they
will make you miserable. If they do not
perform their work properly, through
willfulness or ignorance, you cannot tell
them better. You will scold them for
things which you cannot tell them how to
mend; you will be unjust, and you will
not keep them. Many a really good ser
want is constantly suffering from griev-
auces growing directly from the Ignorance
Of her mistress. Unless you are willing
to take up for life with boarding house
"a place for people to vegetate iu-you
,nust be good housewife. 1t matters
not whether you arc rich or poor. You
need practical knowledge of cookery, Of
the laundry, of the prices and qualities
of provisions, of chamber work--of eve.
sything that enters into the details Of
home life.
Of course, if you have no mother who
is capable of teaching you these things
you are in measure excusahle for not
learning them. pity family of girls
whose mother is know-nothing and L
do-nothing. I do not blame girls for not
wishing to put themselves under the tut
tion of the cook and the maid work
But even when you find yourselves under
Disadvantages like these, you cannot af
ford to become woman without knowing
something of the homely utilities Of life
Your own aptness of mind-your own
good sense and ready ingenuity-wil
give you a clue to the mysteries which
practice will ultimately make plain. Your
comfort, your independence, your reputa
tion, your husbands respect for you, de-
pend SO much upon your ability to keep
house we'll that | cannot leave the sub
iect without insisting upon the import
ance of your learning to do it while you
have chance. There are few higher
compliments that can be paid to a young
wsman, than that she is an excellent
house-keeper. There is no reputation
which will more thoroughly tend to con,
firm young woman in the esteem Of
young men, or more forcibIy commend
her to their esteem than that of being
acquainted, practically, with the details
of the kitchen and economies of house
keeping.
This naturally introduces me to dis
cussion of the benefits of physical indus
try, and the assumption of regular house
bold duties. There is no better relief tc
study than the regular performance Of
special duties in the house To feel that
pne is really doing something every day
that the house is the tidier for ones eff
forts, and the comfort of the family en-.
hanced, is the surest warrant of content
aud oheerfulneas. There is something
about this habit of daily work-this reg
plar performance of duty-which tends
70 regulate the passions, to give calmneSs
and vigor to the mind, to impart healthy
tone to the body, and to diminish the de.
sire for life in the street, and for resort
to gossipping companions. Were | as
rich as Cresus, my girls should have
something to do regularly, just as soon a:
they should become old enough to dc
anything. They should, in the first