My Friends:
It is the duty of all persons, in every station of life, to practise that economy, which saves from waste, all the bounties2 of Providence3, and which contrives4 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 enjoyment5 of others.
And I think, generally, persons who are well off in the world, economize6 much better than the poor; because they have more knowledge to aid them in the choice and use of articles. And I think that persons who go to service, often practise very little good economy.
I will point out some of the ways in which [173]they waste much money. In the first place, they do not buy suitable dresses to work in. Dresses for work ought to be very strong and of fast colours, so that a working frock may last a great while, and yet retain a good colour. Now instead of this, they often buy common cheap calicoes, which cost as much time and money to have made up as any, and yet in a few weeks the colours will be washed out, and the stuff also soon be gone.
In buying a working dress, look for strong articles, which are of a dark colour and which will not fade badly.
In purchasing articles for dresses to wear to church, or for visiting, do not get light and expensive silks which soon soil, and become useless. In choosing a silk dress, especially a black one, which is apt to be injured by the dye, get several samples first. Then take these pieces and double them up and rub the edges of the creases7 against a carpet. You will find that some wear off much sooner than the rest, and the one that bears this trial best, will wear the longest.
You may be sure that every person of good [174]taste and good judgment9 will admire and respect you a great deal more, if you dress neat and plain, than if you put on fine and showy articles, that are suitable only for persons who have wealth. It is only persons of weak minds, or great ignorance of propriety10, who would admire such extravagant11 and showy articles, as I am sorry to see, often worn by persons who earn a dollar or two a week by the labour of their hands.
There is often much want of economy too, in regard to the making and mending of dresses. It is no difficult matter to learn to make a frock, and it saves a great deal of expense. To do this, get a mantuamaker to fit and baste12 a frock for you, and not to sew it. Then take this, and first rip out a sleeve, and iron it out, and cut out a newspaper pattern of it. Then baste up the sleeve and fit it just as it was before, except do not set it into the arm-hole.
Then rip out one half the back, and one half the fore13 body, iron them out, and cut out patterns. If the fore body has the outside gathered or pleated on to the lining14, cut out a pattern, both of the outside and lining. Notice [175]how deep the seams are, and prick15 them into the pattern, or make a crease8 to show where they should be. Restore the back and fore body to their places, and baste in the sleeve. Then take some cheap stuff, and cut out the sleeves and waist by these patterns, and fit them like the dress you are imitating, and make the skirt by the pattern also.
After this, you will find little trouble in making another dress by these patterns.
When sleeves begin to wear out, they are made to last much longer, by ripping out and changing them. So the skirt of a silk frock, will last much longer by ripping it from the waist, and moving it so that the front breadth goes to one side, and the places of all the breadths are changed. In doing this, the slit16 behind must be sewed up, and a new one made.
For under garments, buy unbleached cotton, which will gradually whiten, and lasts a quarter longer than the whitened. The best petticoats, for winter, are made by taking two old dresses and making a quilt. Never buy white flannel17 for common wear, unless you mean to colour it. This you can do very easily thus.
[176] Take a pound of cheap black tea, and a bit of copperas as big as a large hen’s egg. Put them to two gallons of water, and boil them three quarters of an hour in an iron kettle. Then strain it off, and clean the kettle thoroughly18. Then put the strained dye into it again, and after wetting the flannel in warm water, put it in and boil it fifteen minutes, lifting it up and stirring it often. Then rinse19 it several times in cold water, and it will be a dark lead colour. You can make a dove colour by adding water to this dye. Home-made flannel coloured thus, is good for under petticoats. Cotton and woollen stockings, coloured thus, are good for common wear. I advise you to knit coarse cotton for common wear in summer and woollen for winter. Coarse knit stockings last four times as long as any you can buy, and this saves much mending. When stockings are worn in the feet, they can be cut down and made over. Strong double-soled shoes should be worn, except in warm weather, and if you will be careful to change your shoes often, so as not to wear them long on the same foot, they will last much longer.
[177] It is a good plan to have a particular evening every week for taking care of your clothes.
Those who cook would do well to wear either a cap, or a square muslin handkerchief, put on for a turban, while cooking. The neatest persons in the world are liable to have hairs and dandruff fall from their heads, and this is the only sure way to keep such disgusting matters out of the food.
I think it probable that some of you for whom I write, will not like the advice I give about the quality of your dress. But I can assure you it is what I should do myself were I under the necessity of labouring for a support. And if I had a sister, or any friend in your situation, I should wish to have her follow this course. Good taste in dress is shown by accommodating our style of dress to our income, and when a domestic, who has not a hundred dollars a year, dresses like persons who have large incomes, every sensible and judicious20 person thinks it is foolish and in very bad taste.
Moreover, by using strong and durable21 articles you save money that you can lay up to [178]provide for your wants, if you should have a family of your own, or if you should be sick or aged22, and unabled to work.
Besides all this, it is the duty of every person to give something of their possessions to promote the comfort and welfare of others.
When our Saviour23 saw a poor widow casting two mites24 into the treasury25 which was to support religion, he commended her, even though it was the whole of her living.
The reason of this was that a benevolent26 spirit is of more value to us than treasures of silver and gold, and none are so poor as not to need to cultivate this spirit. Now a person who spends all she gets on herself, loses one chance to cultivate this generous and benevolent spirit, which is so precious in God’s sight, and so needful to our own best good.
I hope, therefore, you will feel a pleasure in economizing, that you may thus increase your means, not only of providing for your own future independence and comfort, but also that you may have something to give to relieve many, who are suffering for the want of the comforts of this life, and still more for want of [179]good hope of a better life to come. Give something then, every year, to promote both the temporal and spiritual good of your fellow creatures, and thus also secure the great benefit to yourself, which results from the exercise of a generous and benevolent spirit.
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1
economizing
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| v.节省，减少开支( economize的现在分词 ) | |
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bounties
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| （由政府提供的）奖金( bounty的名词复数 )； 赏金； 慷慨； 大方 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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contrives
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| （不顾困难地）促成某事( contrive的第三人称单数 )； 巧妙地策划，精巧地制造（如机器）； 设法做到 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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economize
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| v.节约，节省 | |
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creases
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| （使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的第三人称单数 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹 | |
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crease
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| n.折缝，褶痕，皱褶；v.(使)起皱 | |
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9
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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baste
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| v.殴打，公开责骂 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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14
lining
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| n.衬里，衬料 | |
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prick
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| v.刺伤，刺痛，刺孔；n.刺伤，刺痛 | |
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slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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rinse
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| v.用清水漂洗，用清水冲洗 | |
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judicious
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| adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的 | |
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durable
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| adj.持久的，耐久的 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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saviour
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| n.拯救者，救星 | |
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mites
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| n.（尤指令人怜悯的）小孩( mite的名词复数 )；一点点；一文钱；螨 | |
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treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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