HOUSEKEEPING A BRANCH OF SCIENCE. 81

‘

“ You know my husband was in
00mfortable pecuniary circumstances
When 'we first began housekeeping,
a"d Iwas able to command all the
assistance [thought necessary. While
my mind was occupied with pleasant
tlloughts of the romance which I cou-
81dared my first attempt at house
management in the city would afford,
I fOund it daily annoyed by the disa-
Qeeable accompaniment of petty de-
tails, and found I was becoming
unhappy, because even the minutia:
l“mired my actual and constant in-
8P‘iction. I called all the philosophy

Gould master to my aid; set myself
Planning in what way I might turn to
“{Oount these seeming disadvantages,
Wlthout allowing them to deteriorate
1'0111 my happiness. Iwas determined
my peace should not be destroyed
from this cause, and that I would at
once actually acquaint myself so
f'horoughly with every thing pertain-
mg to family comfort, that I might
Perform all with care, alacrity, and
mdepfindence. Not pleading guilty,
as one of our lady authoresses relates,
to the ignorance of a certain wife who
1"flfloved from New York city to a

.Wp In the far west, and, not being
w‘lllng to acknowledge her want of
Bklll, tied her arm in a sling, and sent

_the woman who was her nearest
u.e‘ghbm‘; thus exciting her compas-
3‘0'1 for her predicament, requested

9"  go through with the process of
making and baking bread, because
' 9 Was so unfortunately incapacitated
to d? It herself. The will was not
Wanting, and thusl succeeded better
thin I. had anticipated, whilel found

.aslmprovin ever da ' and was
de“(shied to fingd theylessdn’s my be-
0ved mother had given me in days

one by, were not entirely forgotten.

t first, as by the frequent departure
0f“ help,” I was often left to perform
‘1! the work of my family alone, or
With Very indifferent assistance. I
felt Often disposed to indulge in fretful-
"938 and discouragement, if all did
“0t turn out well. This I was aware
W88 wrong, and that that religious

 

 

principle was not worth much, which
would not sustain us under one trial
as well as another; and I felt espec-
ially these petty trials of temper
should be subjugated by it. I came
to the determination I would, as far as
possible, transform these disagreeables
into agreeables; this I partially ac-
complished—not by one act of the
will, but by many and constant tri-
als, united with those necessary aids
which every good housekeeper must
bring into requisition, if she would
go on her way rejoicing. One of
these must be patience, equaling that
of Job; another the love of order, in-
cluding the valuable adage “a place
for every thing, and every thing in its
place; ” another, not putting off until
to-morrow what should be done to-
day, nor giving place to an indolent
disposition, by which every depart-
ment of a house will soon become
confusion, more apparent than that of
Babel. I resolved to inspect the
rooms, closets, and cellars of my do-
main often, and determined for my
peace, all should wear the appearance
of strict order; so far, much was at-
tained, but in the practice of cookery
what blunders I made ! How morti-
fying my unsuccessful experiments!
which very often were entire failures.
In my first attempt to bake in the
brick oven, imagine my chagrin, when
bread, cakes, and pies were drawn
therefrom as black as a coal; in my
second essay, all was equally spoiled
by being underdone. I would not
yield to discouragement, but tried
again. My third attempt turned out
all right, and ever since 1 have escaped
all difficulty in the department of
baking, either in a brick or stove
0V8".

“Oh! if young ladies,” continued
my friend, “ would be convinced how
much pcrplexity they would save
themselves in after life, by 8“ 30‘
quaintance with domestic manage-
ment, they would not be so'infilfl‘erent
to the acquirement, until It 18 forced
upon them by necessity. Let them
conceive the real satisfaction they ,