The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-11-22
Humanity of Servants.

|
From a contemporary we extract below
the article under this heading, thinking
that an application and improvements ofits
suggestions may be made by our Southern
Ladies. What is most admirable in them
is not their wealth or splendor, or even
their talents, but those feelings which rem
der them lady like and courteous.
! In the changed condition of domestic re-
acknowledging dependent on those whose
difference from themselves consists in not
having received the care and culture which
develope graces and prune deformities-a
would it not be record to their honor to
consider themselves not as detached in
dividuals, but as parts of whole whose
welfare should be deari The sensible read
er, of course, will understand, from the te-
nor, that the patrionymics introduced are
merely for the purpose of illustration. The
following is the article:
"There is a great deal of human nature
in the world" said Jacob Faithful, and it
is to be presumed that servants have their
| fair share of it. Housekeepers, however,
would seem unwilling to cOncede this; and
we should judge from the manner in which
many of them treat their dOmestlcs that
they regarded them as of an organization
entirely different from their own, with no
portion of that abundant human nature of
which Marryat's hero spoke.
Servants are ordinarily regarded by their
employers as SO many pieces OF mechanism
constructed to do certain quantity of work
Of particular kind, according to their es-
pecia; functions, whether as cook, nurse,
chamb Der maid, or waiter. There are iadiS--
pensable househould results to be accom-
plished daily. The beef must be roasted
and the potatoes boiled, the baby fed and
handled, the rooms swept and beds made,
the hall-door opened and table served, and
the Irish Bridgets and German Katerinas
are the machines provided to execute these
operations. Should they by chance show
any tendency to rest from work or diverge
from its object the ever-watchful super
intendent infers that the machinery is i'm
perfect, and rejects it. If Bridget, for ex
ample, should by hazard fancy that she was
human, and fall in love with some stray
Patrick, aud Katerina, under q similar de-
fusion, become conscious OF Il patriotic SEN
timent, and steal away with Herman to the
Schuetzenfest Or some other festive remlnd-
er of the father-land, they would be sure to
be condemned as worthless by many mis-
tresses of the household.
1t is astonishing how completely the hu
man nature of the servant is ignored by her
employer. The single pair OF stairs which
leads from the parlor to the kitchen would
seem to separate, it were, by an I'M
fashionable abyss the woman above from
the woman below. The former has no SYM
pathy for the feminine instincts of the lat
ter; She will not, in fact admit of their ex
istencc. The mistress, however conscious
of her own feminine tendencies and inciin-
ed to indulge them, will not recognize or
give any scope to such in her servant. The
former may cOquet, love and marry, and
will complacently regard herself rs fulfill
ing her vocation; the latter is forbidden
frtn
is denounced as trollop if she is caught
passing a stolen word to the baker or butch
cr at the back door. In England Il female
servant is always asked before she is en-
ployed whether she has any Followers"
BY =" followers" are meant sutors If the
poor creature confesses to this very natural
result of q pretty face or some other female
attraction she is condemned at once. This
cruel exaction of the servant woman that
she should neither love nor be loved is also
not unfrequently made in this country,
though differently expressed. "No visi
tors allowed,' is the usual form of the harsh
ordinance of our task mlstresscs.
The want of a due recognition of the
claims of the servant to human sympathy
is shown, moreover in the habitual reserve
of their mistresses. There is not only that
cold formality of relation which forbids any
warmth of attachment, but 4 studied avoid
ance on the part of the employer of all
knowledge of the intimate aud personal in
terests of the employed. Hence there is
complete ignorance and a consequent want
of mutual confidence. Fidelity can only
come from love, and love implies intimacy.
Mistrcsses, in fact, are not sufficiently init
mate with their servants. If they have
real dignity and Il personal superiority of
their own, they need not fear any degrada-
ton from q closer contact with their sub
ordinates, for the advantage of height will
only become more apparent by the oppor-
tunity of comparison with lowness.
A closer sympathy of the employer with
the employed is particularly important as
regards the servant in relation to children.
The education of the latter is greatly de-
] pendent upon the character of the domestic
with whom the child must be necessarily in
constant and close communion. By i'm
proving her servant the mother will find