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, irritable1, proud, indolent and ambitious, can never be happy. Give her wealth and leisure, and beauty, and high standing2 in society, and a superior education, and all the comforts and luxuries that wealth secures, and yet she will be discontented and unhappy. She will always find some [70]one richer, or handsomer, or better educated, or more admired than herself. She will always find something about her different from what she wishes, that will make her fretful and irritable. This, with her pride and selfishness, will lead people to dislike and talk against her, so that while she is longing4 for love and admiration5, she will receive dislike and detraction6, and this will mortify7 and vex8 her. She will be too indolent to find employment to occupy her mind, and thus time will hang heavy, and life will become a burden—a constant scene of disappointment and trouble.
But change this woman’s character, and make her gentle, kind, and obliging to all around her; make her active, industrious9, neat and orderly; give her that piety10 which influences the mind to be self-denying and benevolent11 to others, contented3 with our lot, and cheerful and resigned to all that God appoints, and such a woman will be happy in any circumstances.
Let such a one become a domestic, and she will go around, kindly12 and patiently ministering to the wants of all in the house, keeping [71]every thing comfortable and in order, and giving kind words, and tender sympathy to the troubles of others. Such a one will be loved and respected by all, and will constantly be receiving expressions of good will, esteem13 and affection. Her time, filled up with useful and benevolent deeds, will glide14 along, as on angels’ wings; while looking forward to Heaven as her sure and happy home, all the little troubles of life will seem light, and all its comforts will be doubled in value.
If, then, our happiness depends so much on the character we form, when we calculate the advantages of any situation, we should take into account the influence it will have on our character. Now there are some respects in which I think the situation of domestics very favourable15 to the formation of a good character.
In the first place, it is a situation in which persons form a habit of submitting their will to the will of another, with readiness and cheerfulness. You will always find that children who are never governed, and who therefore never learn to give up their wills readily and cheerfully, generally grow up to be forward, [72]imperious, headstrong and reckless. They go out into a world where nobody will indulge and humour them as their parents have done. On the contrary every body is looking out for their own rights and interests, and none are disposed to put up with their imperious airs and selfish demands. In consequence of this, they are always getting into trouble, always irritated, always discontented. If they had been trained to give up their wills to others cheerfully and readily, in early life, half these troubles would have been escaped.
Besides this, we must remember that both in this life and forever, we have got to learn to be happy in giving up our wills to the Great Maker16 and Father of all, and the more we are trained to submission17 of the will, the easier this first and greatest of all duties will become.
A person, then, who goes into a family and agrees, for a suitable compensation, to do the work, under the direction of those who hire, is in a state of constant training, which has a most beneficial tendency in preparing for future life, both here and in another world. Such a person will find it far easier to give up [73]to her fellow creatures and sincerely to pray, “Not my will but thine be done,” than one who never has been subjected to any such control.
It has often and truly been said, that those only know how to command, who have learned to obey. In proof of this, we always find that none make such hard masters, or such severe and unreasonable18 parents, as those who have never practised the duty of subordination themselves. In this happy country, domestics have as fair a prospect19 as any class of persons of becoming heads of a family, when others will have to be controlled by them. And nothing so efficiently20 prepares them for such a station, as having been themselves placed in the position which a domestic holds.
Another very great advantage gained in domestic service is, learning how to perform all the work of a family in a proper manner. A female domestic has a chance to observe how the mother governs children, and to take warning by her mistakes, and profit by her good example. She has a chance to be with children, [74]and to learn how to manage their little faults, and bear with their follies21.
She learns the proper modes of cooking food, of arranging a house, of taking care of furniture, and of doing all the various kinds of work which in future life she must either do herself, or else direct others to do.
She learns various modes of economizing22, and of systematizing work. She acquires a habit of taking care of others, and of providing for their comforts and wants, so as to qualify her for these benevolent services when she has a family of her own.
She also has an employment that is healthful, because it demands a great deal of exercise, most of it within doors, and not in any way injurious. She also has regular daily business, and is obliged to be industrious—and a habit of industry is one of the truest sources of contentment and happiness.
Besides this, a domestic is brought into contact with a great variety of tempers, and learns to accommodate, and to govern her temper and tongue as she never could do without this kind of trial.
[75] A domestic, too, is in a situation in which she is, all the time, called on to give up her own ease and time to promote the comfort of others, and this tends to make the duty of self-denying benevolence23, more easy to learn. This is the great duty which Jesus Christ came to teach us by his precepts24 and example, and the more we can imitate him in this, the more we shall be prepared to serve and enjoy him in that world where he has gone, and where he invites us to prepare ourselves to come, by imitating him.
It thus appears that if a domestic is ever to be married, she is going through exactly the best training possible, to prepare her to conform her will and wishes to those of her husband, to train up her children well, and to become a neat, industrious and economical housekeeper25. If she is not to be married, she is forming a character that is best calculated to raise up around her, in the families where she labours, sincere and valuable friends, who will make her old age easy and respectable. And whatever may be her future earthly lot, she is under the best kind of training to make [76]her a submissive, benevolent and self denying Christian26, and thus to fit her for her eternal home.
I will now show some of the reasons why the employment of a sempstress, a shop girl, and a factory girl are inferior in advantages and respectability to that of a domestic.
In all of these employments, a young woman has only one thing to do, from morning to night, and the kind of work she does in no way tends to improve her character, or to prepare her for domestic life. She is not constantly doing various kinds of work, under the direction of another, thus learning patience, submission, diligence and faithfulness. She is not learning how to economize27, or keep house, or take care of children. She is not acquiring a habit of ministering to the wants and comforts of others. In most cases she has a sedentary employment, that keeps her from the exercise and fresh air, so needful to good health. She is thrown out of the circle of family friendships, and the safe asylum28 of domestic life, and is often brought into contact with selfish and vicious persons, whose influence tends to injure [77]her tastes and morals, and in many cases to blast her reputation and character forever. In general, she cannot have as much time as domestics can gain, to take care of her clothes, or to read, and thus improve her mind.
I have known cases, where young girls have left the place of a domestic in a good family, to go to shops or manufactories, who, after the trial, have returned with broken down health, to mourn over those influences, which had done even more evil to the mind, than had been inflicted29 on the body.
If I had a young sister, who must earn her own support by the labor30 of her hands, I would first look for a place for her as a domestic in a kind, well educated and Christian family, as the safest, the happiest, the most useful place I could find.
And I should consider the sedentary, homeless employment of a sempstress, or the still more dangerous and injurious employments, of the shop or manufactory, as every way inferior in advantages and respectability. And I trust a time will come, when all those most interested in the matter, will view this subject in the same light.
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1
irritable
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| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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3
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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4
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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6
detraction
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| n.减损；诽谤 | |
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7
mortify
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| v.克制，禁欲，使受辱 | |
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vex
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| vt.使烦恼，使苦恼 | |
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industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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11
benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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12
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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13
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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14
glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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15
favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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16
maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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17
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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18
unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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19
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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efficiently
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| adv.高效率地，有能力地 | |
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21
follies
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| 罪恶，时事讽刺剧； 愚蠢，蠢笨，愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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22
economizing
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| v.节省，减少开支( economize的现在分词 ) | |
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23
benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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24
precepts
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| n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
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25
housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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26
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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27
economize
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| v.节约，节省 | |
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28
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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29
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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