Does it not seem poor
economy to pay servants for letting our muscles grow feeble, and then
to pay operators to exercise them for us? I will venture to say that
our grandmothers in a week went over every movement that any gymnast
has invented, and went over them to some productive purpose too.
The first business of a housekeeper in America is that of a teacher.
She can have a good table only by having practical knowledge, and tact
in imparting it. If she understands her business practically and
experimentally, her eye detects at once the weak spot; it requires
only a little tact, some patience, some clearness in giving directions,
and all comes right.
If we carry a watch to a watchmaker, and undertake to show him how to
regulate the machinery, he laughs and goes on his own way; but if a
brother-machinist makes suggestions, he listens respectfully. So, when
a woman who knows nothing of woman's work undertakes to instruct one
who knows more than she does, she makes no impression; but a woman who
has been trained experimentally, and shows she understands the matter
thoroughly, is listened to with respect.
Let a woman make her own bread for one month, and, simple as the process
seems, it will take as long as that to get a thorough knowledge of all
the possibilities in the case; but after that, she will be able to
command good bread by the aid of all sorts of servants; in other words,
will be a thoroughly prepared teacher.
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