Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1871-09-27
From Hearth and Home.
The LADY" Who Does Her Own Work.


America is the only country where there is
class Of women known as ladies who do their /
own work. By lady" we mean a woman
Of education, cultivation and refinement, Of
liberal tastes aud ideas who, without any |
material additions or changes would be rec
ognized as a lady ia any circle.
When the colonists first came to this coun- /
try, Of however mixed ingredients their ranks |
may have been composed, and however im-
bued some Of them may have been with aris- |
tocratic ideas the discipline Of the wilderness |
soon brought them to democratic level. The
gentleman felled the wood for his log cabin
side by side with the plowman Of the old
world So, in the domestic circle, mistress
aud maid, living in a log cabin together, be-
came companions, and sometimes the maid,
as the more physically accomplished took
precedence of the mistress.
1t was natural and unavoidable that chill
dren should begin to work as early as they
were capable. The result was an intelligent
generation Injured to labor by necessity, aud
forced to resolve the problems Of labor. Then
we're to be seen families of daughters, hand
some and strong rising each day TO their in-
door employment alert aud cheerful, one to
sweep, another 10 make the fire, third to
prepare the breakfast for the father and broth
ers. They spun, they wove, they did all man
ner Of neede-work. A BRIDE in those days,
had sheets and table-cloths Of her own weav-
ing, with counterpanes, curtains, aud covers
wrought in divers embroidery by her own aud
/ her sisters hands
Even in late years these habits Of life char
acterized the majority of our rural popula-
tion. They still prevail in large aud respec-
table class, especially in the West, though
perhaps these selfhelpers are not as happy in
perfect satisfaction and a conviction Of the
dignity aud desirableness Of their lot as were
those Of former days.
However dignided, however invigorating,
however really desirable are the habits Of life
involving daily physical toll, there is a con-
slant tendency toward cvading il, or bearing
its weight with sullen dlscontented murmurs.
One might venture to say that there are at
least, to speak very moderately, hundreds Of
houses wherein these words will be read and
discussed, where there are no servants except
the ladies of the household, We might say,
f also, that many Of these households are not
inferior in cultivation and elegance to many
which enjoy the ministration Of domestics
furthermore that these same ladies find quite
f as much time for reading, writing, drawing
, aud fancy work, as the fashionable heads OF
, families otherwise conducted. We are quite
certain that they would be found on au aver
4 age in the enjoyment Of better health, anC
more Of that sense of capability and vitality
G which gives confidence in ability to look calm
e ly at life, and meet it with cheerful courage.
t We want hardy sef.belief and selfrespect
b. a willingness to face with dignity the actua
e facts and necessities of our situation in life
n This, after all, suggests the worst and mos
dangerous feature of the case.
Y Except in cases where it is really necessary
i how absurd it is to be weighed down with tn,
n task of keeping many servants, and in pre-
!, serving peace among them! One strong mat
d Of all work, who, from good treatment, intel
e ligent assistance, and the force Of example
h comes to take hearty interest in the comtor
n of the household, is worth half a dozen Of tn
@ listless " kitchen boarders" that intest tn
American homes of to-day. No sensible o
J. refined woman wants to be called upon frC
l. quently to settle quarrels between her inval
N liable cook and her Indispensable chamber
Of maid, because cook, on the strength of know
" ing how 10 get up state ulnnersi anu 10 man
ii age all sorts OF mysteries which her mistre'
10 knows nothing about, asserts the usual priv
iego of spoiled fayorte to insult the latte
ID with impuuity, and rule with rod of ro
y over the house.
Of Only when a mistress knows how to coo
dinner can she truly be mistress in her ow
n. house. She who can at once put her ow
SIS trained hand to the machine in any spC
as where a hand is needed, never comes to
as the slave Of servants.
st 1t is said that women who have been az
be customed to doing their own work becom
,e. hard mistresses. They are certainly le'
open to imposition they can speak and nc
he with authority in their own houses and ther'
at fore are less afraid to exact what is justl
re their due, and less willing to endure impert
wn pence and unfaithfulness. Their general O.
ire ror lies in expecting that any servant eve
na will do as well for them as they will do Il
a 7 themselves, and that an unframed, undlsc
ate plined human being ever can do housewor
les or any other work with the neatness an
en-, perfection of person of trained intelligenc