Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1889-05-23

O'Clock both actors an6 listeners may, II
they wish, be in bed and asleep. In a Ger
man household courtesy 10 elders and SUI
periOrs Is one OF the first lessons taught,
and among the youth teachers and pastors
are objects of reVerential regard In these
homes there is no disorder or untidiness
From their earliest girlhood mistress and
maid alike have been trained to habits OF
economy and OF methodical housekeeping.
| The German maid servant knows the de-
mRnds which her position implies and she
obeys them: the German mistress knows
the Mmit OF her husbands purse-stringS,
and she respects it. IL is the traditional
custom OF the country that every girl be
skilled in all housewifely ways before her
marriage. Nc people realize more
foreibly than these that order and intelli-
gent management in the domestic affairs or
life form the foundation stone of every
happy home. German men demand not
only that their wives should be fairly edu-
eated, but that they should be thoroughly
versed in all the mysteries of cooking
mending OF clothes, ironing, and in brief,
OF all forms of home making and home
keeping. IL is the custom even FOR princes
SEES 10 60 through a course OF cooking and
OF other practical household duties before
their marriage. and in some of the royal
families of south Germany we have known
il to he the daily custom of some of its
highest members TO visit the kitchen and
even 60 assist in the preparation Of some of
the dishes for the dinner. The mastery of
household arts gives 10 the German matron
a fine power. She seldom works with her
own hands, but she stands at the helm, sure
of resources ana of abilities, and the
domestic machinery moves on without fuss
and without friction.
Recently we read OF a divorce case pend
ing in one of the German courts in which
the only ground of complaint was that the
wife was not able to cook. This may be an
ultra case, but il is illustrative of the nation
al FaGnapt for hOIEaNvifplV n NJ m
German women have a materia medica of
their own, and German mothers generally
bring their children through the series of
colds and OF Illnesses incident TO childhood
with no other means than their own skillful
administration of teas" aided by skillful
home nursing, thus saving from doctor and
from apothecary many such sums as else
where are bestowed with the lavishness of
ignorance.
Doubtless there are aspects Immediately
affecting the condition of the women of Ger
many which might with advantage be
changed, but all life experiences combine TO
teach US the compensatory character OF the
stages OF human existence, and in the meas
ured progress of time these disadvantages
VIII probably gradually disappear and may
prove 10 have been the chosen conditions for
future security and efficiency.
IL one were asked 10 give resume OF
those features which constitute the charm
of German domestic life probably one would
naturalness which one everywhere sees in
dress, in pastimes, and in occupations and
after this successfully: the hearty recogni-
ton among German women of the fact that
economy is a factor about which nations
and individuals may think and talk without
loss of dignity or OF self-respect; the impera.
tive demand Of German men that the girls
whom they marry be proficient in house
wiley eXcellencies; the affection, often al
most childlike that exists for each other be-
tween members of the same family and be-
tween friends; the watc1fulncss which
German mothers exercise over the health
of their daughters the genuine delight
with which the simplest gifts are bestowed
and received and, crowning all, the idea
that home is a temple in which all family
festivals are 20 be celebrated and all pleas
ures shared-the place for the adornment
and refinement of which no accomplishment
can be considered to- costly.
The word gemuthlich is a word that is
heard almost hourly in German intercourse,
and represents one of the fundamental ele-
ments in German life, whether the latter be
considered under a social, political, or a
business aspect. With the sense of our
word comfortable it combines an added sig
niticance of kindly feeling, and in the de-
scription Of the German home life it be-
comes truly typical and representative.
For in these homes the atmosphere seems
permeated by human kindness and com
fortableness.-Elise j. Allen, in Chicago
fTiurae