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LETTERS TO PERSONS WHO ARE ENGAGED IN DOMESTIC SERVICE.
LETTERS TO PERSONS WHO ARE ENGAGED IN DOMESTIC SERVICE.
BY MISS CATHERINE E. BEECHER. NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY LEAVITT & TROW, 194 Broadway . MDCCCXLII. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1842, by JOHN F. TROW, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New-York....
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TO AMERICAN LADIES.
TO AMERICAN LADIES.
My Countrywomen : Will you aid me in an attempt to benefit a most useful, a most important, and yet a much neglected portion of our fellow citizens? I can accomplish little without your aid; with it, I trust much may be done. Have you ever heard any instructions from the pulpit addressed to the class for whom I now write? Have you ever read a printed sermon, or a tract suited and designed to instruct Americans of this class, on the topics presented in this book? Have you not felt how important i
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A Story.
A Story.
Once there was a ship which sailed with a large company on board. There were the captain, the officers, and the sailors, and a company of soldiers. There was also a large number of gentlemen and ladies, and there were several families of children, returning from school to their parents, with the persons who had the care of them. There was also a number of servants to the gentlemen and ladies. After they had been some time at sea, a dreadful storm came on, the ship sprung a leak, they all got int
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LETTER II.
LETTER II.
A conversation between the clergyman and a domestic. My Friends : In my former letter I told you how the good minister succeeded in persuading the shipwrecked company to adopt the rules given in the Bible, and the comfort and prosperity that followed this course. I also told you that the minister was requested by the company to spend all his time in visiting every part of the estate, to converse with all who were disposed to be discontented, or indolent, or unsubmissive to the rules. I will now
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LETTER III.
LETTER III.
Difficulties experienced by the shipwrecked company, and how these were remedied. My Friends : In the following letter I shall tell you of some trouble that these shipwrecked persons met, in following out their new plan of life. After they had spent several months in doing up the work which past neglect had made needful, and after the harvest was gathered in, the good minister found many evils coming upon them, for want of enough work to keep them all busy. Idleness is the parent of a thousand e
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LETTER IV.
LETTER IV.
The manner in which this story illustrates the state of things in this country. My Friends : I will now point out some respects in which you will see that the people of this nation are situated very much like the shipwrecked travellers. In the first place then, we have received from God, that great and benevolent King over all, a noble country, filled with an abundance of all kinds of treasures. And the two conditions on which we enjoy it are, first, that we shall take care of ourselves, and do
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LETTER V.
LETTER V.
Reasons for regarding the station of a domestic as honourable and respectable. My Friends : The preceding letters were designed to give you some general views of the state of things in this country, and of the station which you are called to occupy. I will now point out reasons for regarding your station and employment as honourable and respectable. It is sometimes the case that persons will speak of the place of a domestic as the humblest and least desirable of any; and some young girls will go
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LETTER VI.
LETTER VI.
The reasons why the station of a domestic is not regarded as so honourable as it really is. My Friends : It is probable that, while reading the previous letter, you have thought to yourselves, but why, if domestics are so honourable in station and office, are they not regarded so? Why are they not treated with honour and respect? Why is their situation spoken of as one of the lowest and least honourable? I will point out some of the reasons for this. One reason is, the remains of aristocratic no
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LETTER VII.
LETTER VII.
Reasons why the station of a domestic is a desirable one, and superior to that of a sempstress, a shop girl, or a factory girl. My Friends : I will now point out some of the reasons for considering your situation in life a desirable one, and far superior in advantages to many employments usually regarded as more respectable. To understand this properly, we must bear in mind that our happiness, here and hereafter, depends chiefly on the character which we form. A woman that is selfish, irritable,
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LETTER VIII.
LETTER VIII.
The importance of raising the respectability of the station of a domestic, in public estimation, and the mode by which it can be done. My Friends : I have in previous letters shown, that the station of a domestic is honourable and respectable; and that it is a far more desirable situation than that of many deemed superior to it. I have also shown some of the reasons why it is not regarded as so honourable and respectable as it ought to he. I now wish to point out some of the reasons why it is ve
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LETTER IX.
LETTER IX.
On the duties of subordination. Rules of the Bible. Respectful manners the mark of a lady. My Friends : I have shown that the chief way in which the station of a domestic is to be raised in public estimation, is by raising the character of those who occupy this situation. I have shown also, that it is by the formation of a right character, that we are to secure true happiness both in this and in a future life. You will therefore understand the propriety of my attempting to point out the course w
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A Story.
A Story.
Once there was a very good king, and he had a large residence at some distance from his court. At this residence there was a large household of servants, whose business it was to keep it in constant readiness, so that whenever the king wished, he could go there and find every thing in order. Now these servants were very apt to be careless and negligent of their business, and often became so engrossed in their own amusements, that they forgot entirely the business they were placed there to do. In
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LETTER XI. ON HEALTH.
LETTER XI. ON HEALTH.
Importance of health to domestics. Modes by which they injure health. My Friends : Much of the ill health among persons in your employment is entirely needless. You have employments, usually, that tend to strengthen the constitution and maintain firm health, and as a class you have far more health and strength than those who do not labour. Now, good health is the greatest of all blessings, for without it, no matter how many other blessings we have, we cannot enjoy life. Many and many a woman in
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LETTER XII. ON DRESS, MANNERS, AND LANGUAGE.
LETTER XII. ON DRESS, MANNERS, AND LANGUAGE.
Dress should be conformed to means and to occupations. Rules of good manners. My Friends : I have shown you, in a former letter, that the chief reason why so much difference is made, between domestics and other members of the family, is their deficiencies in education, dress and manners. If domestics were universally well educated and well bred, and if they paid a proper attention to their dress and persons, then parents would feel that their example would be useful instead of injurious to child
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LETTER XIII.
LETTER XIII.
Trials of domestics and remedy for these trials. Fault-finding. Want of comforts and conveniences, &c. My Friends : Every situation in life has its peculiar trials, and it is wise beforehand, to understand what our trials must be, and what is the best way of meeting them. God did not put us into this world to find enjoyment by gratifying all our desires, but he intended that we should form such a character , as will enable us to feel happy in giving up our will and wishes to him and to o
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LETTER XIV. ON ECONOMY.
LETTER XIV. ON ECONOMY.
Economy a duty of all. Modes of economizing. My Friends : It is the duty of all persons, in every station of life, to practise that economy, which saves from waste, all the bounties of Providence, and which contrives to make every thing useful last as long as possible. The rich have a right to buy more expensive, and more numerous articles, than the poor, but they have no right to waste any thing ; for what they do not use themselves they should save for the comfort and enjoyment of others. And
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LETTER XV. ON THE CARE OF CHILDREN.
LETTER XV. ON THE CARE OF CHILDREN.
Patience very needful. Offering rewards. Never shame children for their faults. Never deceive them. Set an example of honesty and modesty. My Friends : I wish you could realize the great influence which you always must exert over the character and welfare of children, for then what I am now going to write, would secure a deep interest in your minds. Children are creatures of imitation and sympathy, and they always feel and act very much as those do about them. Thus they are daily forming their t
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LETTER XVI. ON COOKING.
LETTER XVI. ON COOKING.
My Friends : There are plenty of receipt books in this country, that direct as to the kind of ingredients for food, and as to the proper quantities; but no knowledge of receipts can ever make a good cook. The great art of good cooking is taking care . Take care that your fire is not too hot, nor too low—that your oven is not too hot, nor too cold—that your bread is not too much raised, nor too little; that your mixtures have not too much, nor too little of any particular ingredient.—It is care,
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Rules for setting Tables.
Rules for setting Tables.
1. Lay the table rug square with the room; the right side up , and smooth and even. 2. Set the table square with the room, and see that the leaves and legs are properly fixed, so that all will stand firm, and then put on the table cloth smooth and even, so that the creases will run straight across the table. 3. For breakfast and tea , set the waiter on square , put the cups and saucers in front, and the sugar and slop bowls, and cream cup the back side. Put a sugar spoon, or tongs, by the sugar
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On clearing Tables.
On clearing Tables.
Always wipe the salt spoons and lay them beside the salt dishes in the cupboard. Also cleanse the mustard spoon. Fold the napkins neatly and lay them up in good order. When all the dishes are removed, fold up the table cloth so that it shall double in the same creases as were ironed in, and lay it away smoothly....
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On waiting at Table.
On waiting at Table.
Always have a clean apron on, and your hands clean, and your hair in order, when waiting on table. Stand on the left side of the lady of the house, and always go to the left side of a person waited on. In removing covers, be careful to turn them wrong side up before bearing them away, so as not to spill the steam on the table cloth, or on the dresses of those at table. In pouring out water, never fill the tumbler higher than an inch from the top. It is not considered good manners when waiting on
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On Washing and Ironing.
On Washing and Ironing.
Success in washing well, depends very much on the abundant use of water, and it is very important to employers, who are anxious to have their clothes well washed, that they provide easy modes of getting water and of heating it. In the work of mine on Domestic Economy, which I have before alluded to, is a plan by which, at a trifling expense, water can be raised, conducted about, and heated with far less labor than is commonly used....
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Common mode of Washing.
Common mode of Washing.
Assort the clothes and put the white ones in soak over night, as it loosens the dirt. Next day, wash the fine clothes first, and then rub them again in a second suds, turning all wrong side out. Put them in a bag and boil them half an hour, and no more. Then rinse them in a plenty of water and throw them into the bluing water. The nicest washers use two rinse waters before the bluing water. Starch those to be stiffened, and bang them out. Then wash the common white clothes, then the calicoes, th
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Soda Washing.
Soda Washing.
This mode saves just one half the work done by the common mode. Make the soap thus: Boil six pounds of common soda with six pounds of bar soap in thirty quarts of water two hours. Then let it grow cool, and set it away for use. In washing, put one pound of this soap to each pailful of water. After soaking the white clothes in lukewarm water over night, boil them in this mixture one hour and no more , or they will be injured. Then take them into a tub of cold water, and proceed just as you do in
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On Sprinkling, Folding and Ironing.
On Sprinkling, Folding and Ironing.
Wipe the dust from the ironing board or table. Take lukewarm water and sprinkle all the articles, laying the coloured ones separately and the fine ones by themselves. Turn each article right side out. Fold and roll each piece separately, putting the fine ones in a towel and laying all in a basket, separating the white and coloured ones by a towel. Do not let the coloured clothes be damp long, but wait till you can iron them as soon after folding as will answer. Shake, stretch and fold the sheets
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Other Kitchen Work.
Other Kitchen Work.
Be careful to keep your sink in order by frequent scalding. Keep a slop pail at hand to receive all refuse matter. Always keep a kettle of warm soft water over the fire. Be very careful to wash dishes properly, as this is a matter very often done amiss. I will tell you how those persons do this kind of work, who are ranked as the best domestics. In the first place, they always keep a good supply of dish cloths. They have at least three in daily use, one for dishes that are not greasy, one for gr
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Care of Lamps.
Care of Lamps.
This matter demands far more care and neatness than is generally bestowed. This is the way I have seen it managed by those most neat and careful. An old waiter is provided to hold all the articles used, the oil pot has a small turned-up nose that will not drip and is set on a plate, the wick yarn is kept in a basket and sharp scissors are kept for trimming. Great pains is taken to keep all the articles free from oil, and the rags and towels used are frequently washed and changed. After all the l
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On the Care of Parlours and Chambers.
On the Care of Parlours and Chambers.
In sweeping the nicest parlours, it is common to cover the tables, books, sofas and chimney ornaments with old sheets. Then cleanse the fireplace and hearth and jambs. Then sweep the carpet. It saves a carpet very much to have a very large flat tin dust pan, with a handle a yard long, fixed straight up, so it will stand alone. This can be moved about without stooping, and much of the dirt swept into it with the broom, instead of sweeping all across the carpet. This saves much dust as well as wea
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To make a bed.
To make a bed.
Open the windows, lay off the bed covering on two chairs at the foot, and let the bed air some time before making it. When ready to make it, shake the feathers from each corner into the middle, then take up the middle part and shake it well, then push about the feathers and turn the bed over. Then push the feathers so as to make the head a little higher than the foot, and the sides as high as the middle part. Then put on the bolster, and then the undersheet so that the marking shall be at the he
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LETTER XVIII. The Way to be Happy.
LETTER XVIII. The Way to be Happy.
My Friends : Before concluding this little book, I will attempt to make one thing plain to you, which often puzzles many minds. From the pulpit, and in many other ways, you are often urged to become religious. And this duty is spoken of in a great variety of ways, so that there is a perplexity and difficulty in knowing exactly what it is that you are urged to do. You are sometimes urged “to become religious,” to “become pious,” to “become Christians;” at other times you are told, that you must “
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