EDITOR'S TABLE. 



395 



human life and the earthly destiny of 

 humanity, there was not a reference to 

 the natural world as heing in its exist- 

 ing order an embodiment of Divine 

 wisdom, or entitled to the slightest 

 serious consideration. In fact, the 

 whole scheme of doctrine put forth was 

 impliedly based upon the old assump- 

 tion that Nature belongs to Satan, and 

 deserves destruction as the embodi- 

 ment of all sin. Dr. Brookes, of St. 

 Louis, discussed the doctrine of the 

 convention in relation to the fall of 

 Adam and the universal curse that it 

 entailed, saying, "From that day to 

 this the curse has smitten the old and 

 the young, the rich and tlie poor, the 

 king and the peasant, the philosopher 

 and the savage alike, and diffused its 

 virulent poison through the whole sys- 

 tem of Nature." 



It is clear that a great deal is yet to 

 be done before such enlightened opin- 

 ions as those of Prof. Henry become 

 accepted and assimilated in the religious 

 world ; and such conventions as this of 

 the Second Adventists are extremely 

 useful as indicating the amount of con- 

 scientious ignorance that has yet to be 

 overcome before the scientific truths of 

 Nature are even so much as recognized. 



IMPROVED DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 



The Princess Louisa received an ad- 

 dress from a deputation of the Ladies' 

 Educational Association of Montreal, 

 and they got from her a very sensible 

 reply. But what will the operators of 

 our fashionable girls' schools and of our 

 female colleges and normal schools say 

 to the closing observation of this royal 

 and court-bred lady, which was as fol- 

 lows: "May I venture to suggest the 

 importance of giving special attention 

 to the subject of domestic economy, 

 which properly lies at the root of the 

 highest life of every true woman ? " 

 This is a momentous truth; none the 

 more true, of course, because uttered 



by a princess, but perhaps some will 

 be induced to reflect upon it on account 

 of the distinguished source from which 

 it comes. For if what the princess here 

 says is correct, our schools for the edu- 

 cation of women are very far from what 

 they should be. Domestic economy, in 

 its full significance as a foundation of 

 the highest life of woman, happens to 

 be just the one particular thing which 

 our female boarding-schools, colleges, 

 and normal schools systematically avoid. 

 They learn languages, and history, and 

 algebra, and music, and many other 

 fashionable things, but the science of 

 domestic life and the art of home-mak- 

 ing find noplace in the feminine scheme 

 of studies. Here and there a little at- 

 tention is paid to it, but it nowhere 

 has the rank and importance which is 

 rightfully its due, and which this most 

 sensible princess claims for it. 



The term "domestic economy" has 

 been hitherto used in so narrow and 

 misleading a sense that there is con- 

 siderable prejudice in regard to it. Its 

 common implication is a mere improved 

 mechanical housekeeping, or domestic 

 drudgery made methodical, with a chief 

 view to economy in home expenditures. 

 The term has participated in the vul- 

 garity that attaches to the menial and 

 servile associations of the kitchen, so 

 that little books upon domestic econo- 

 my are thought the proper things to 

 put into the hands of cooks and hire- 

 ling housekeepers. But domestic econ- 

 omy, as something " which properly lies 

 at the root of the highest life of every 

 true woman," is a very different thing, 

 implying culture and intelligence in the 

 whole circle of home duties and re- 

 sponsibilities, and the consequent ren- 

 ovation and elevation of the domestic 

 sphere. This view happily begins to 

 be more clearly and widely appreciated. 

 "We have just read with great interest 

 a lecture on scientific housekeeping de- 

 livered by Mrs. Arthur Bate before the 

 Popular Science Society at Milwaukee 

 College, which explains in an admirable 



