“A very good rule would be, to have nothing to eat, in a farmer’s or mechanic’s house, that the mistress did not know how to prepare and to cook; no pudding, tart, pie or cake, that she did not know how to make.  Never fear the toil to her:  exercise is good for health; and without health there is no beauty.  Besides, what is the labor in such a case?  And how many thousands of ladies, who idle away the day, would give half their fortunes for that sound sleep which the stirring housewife seldom fails to enjoy.

“Yet, if a young farmer or mechanic marry a girl, who has been brought up only to ‘play music,’ to draw, to sing, to waste paper, pen and ink in writing long and half-romantic letters, and to see shows, and plays, and read novels;—­if a young man do marry such an unfortunate young creature, let him bear the consequences with temper.  Let him be just.  Justice will teach him to treat her with great indulgence; to endeavor to persuade her to learn her business as a wife; to be patient with her; to reflect that he has taken her, being apprized of her inability; to bear in mind, that he was, or seemed to be, pleased with her showy and us less acquirements; and that, when the gratification of his passion has been accomplished, he is unjust, and cruel, and unmanly, if he turn round upon her, and accuse her of a want of that knowledge, which he well knew, beforehand, she did not possess.

“For my part, I do not know, nor can I form an idea of, a more unfortunate being than a girl with a mere boarding-school education, and without a fortune to enable her to keep domestics, when married.  Of what use are her accomplishments?  Of what use her music, her drawing, and her romantic epistles?  If she should chance to possess a sweet disposition, and good nature, the first faint cry of her first babe drives all the tunes and all the landscapes, and all the imaginary beings out of her head forever.

“The farmer or the tradesman’s wife has to help earn a provision for her children; or, at the least, to help to earn a store for sickness or old age.  She ought, therefore, to be qualified to begin, at once, to assist her husband in his earnings.  The way in which she can most efficiently assist, is by taking care of his property; by expending his money to the greatest advantage; by wasting nothing, but by making the table sufficiently abundant with the least expense.

“But how is she to do these things, unless she has been brought up to understand domestic affairs?  How is she to do these things, if she has been taught to think these matters beneath her study?  How is the man to expect her to do these things, if she has been so bred, as to make her habitually look upon them as worthy the attention of none but low and ignorant women?