, 1877-02-02

Many ladies whose time is we'll en-
..lovei in the necessary duties and de-
ri Of domestic life. whose families
src large and whose income is limited,
AMI Il i hard 20 bestow many hours in
. veek 20 visiting or receiving visits.
perbaps they may be teaching the
,-o1nger children. OF supervising the
io.sons Of the elder Ones; writing. max
inc M accounts. marking or mending
linen cutting out or manufacturing
clothes. or, in short, making every min
,,e of the day available for work Of
come kind, in a thorough, honest house
vifely manner. They may be kindly,
-epial women, and delight in society,
INT will not neglect their domestic du-
Ties. What are they 10 do when a loud
knock at the door announces n visitor ?
n NAV be an intimate friend, but quite
AZ likely mere acquaintance; which
aver II be, she must be denied. Friends.
however welcome, are at times an inter
rnption. and the good housewife cannot
ofT6rd TO offend them, neither does she
for one instant desire to do so. Say Not
AT home " is the order given to the SER
want. the cards sare duly put into her
hand. and the visitor walks or drives of.
If a housewife says she is engaged" to
a visitor who calls at an inconvenient
moment-thus departing from the time
honored custom for conscience sake
the caller will retire in most aggrieved
state of mind, with determination not
TO 20 again after such rebuff; and un-
less the delinquent housewife allays the
irritation of her friend by speedy re-
turn call, with a meek explanation, a
eoolness will supervene, and the ae-
nuaintance may be considered at an end.
There are butfew who possess the moral
courage to give any answer but the one
in question so few that their numbers
might be counted. Those who decide
for themselves that it is acting on
right principle to speak plainly on all
occasions. and teach others to do so as
far as lies in their power, are looked up
on as whimsical, peculiar, and in fact
not fit to visit in civilized society. Call
ers who are perfectly aware, from sun
dry signs best known to the initiated,
that the friend whom they desire to see
is actually in her house, will go away
quite satisfied with the stereotyped ''Not
at home" "We wonder" they think,
why she could not see us?" but that is
all, and they walk contentedly from the
house. How curious it is that the word
engaged" should convey an offensive
meaning to callers, while, on the other
hand, it is the only practical form OF de-
clining an invitation when we cannot
state. the real ground Of refusal. En-
gagged" would seem to explain simply
enough the inability Of a housewife to
receive her friends, and no other ex-
preston does it half so we'll. Now, we
can hold that no fiction is harmless
when it is intended to pass for fact; and
there is yet another far greater evil aris-
ing from this white lie than any hitherto
touched upon. What can be its moral
influence on onr servants when they are
told to use it in our behalf? How can
we expect servants to be open and up
right in their confuct to us when they
see US stoop to petty excuses such as
these? How can we urge upon them
to state the plain unvarhished truth on
all occasions and beg them to acknowl-
edge at once and without prevarication
abreakage, failure or accident of any
kind, in simple, straightforward man
ner, when we, their mistresses, demean
ourselves to the utterance Of false
hood? We have heard of domestics,
possessed of niger principle and supe-
Nor intelligence to most of their class,
actually declining to follow the conven-
tional method Of rejecting caller. and
refusing to say Not at home" Why
should people be offended when they
are told we are engaged ?" 1t simply
comes to this: Ladies would rather re-
ceive an untruthful reply than accept
veracious excuse. Ought this state
Of things to continue among enlighten-
ed, educated women?
UNDERGROUND cellars, such as were
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