FEBRUARY 187 



wrote to a French friend for a holiday tutor. He also 

 was to be a lump of perfection. The Frenchwoman 

 wrote back : ' Je ferai tout mon possible, mais si je 

 trouve ton homme je l'6pouse.' 



A wit of fifty years ago used to say : ' I marry my wife 

 for her money, I engage my footmen for their looks, as 

 those are the only two things that can possibly be known 

 beforehand.' As is common enough with a cynical 

 remark, there is a good deal of truth in this. 



Now we come to what I consider to be one of the 

 greatest changes that has occurred of late years, viz. 

 the extreme facility for women getting employment with- 

 out any character at all; that is to say, without any 

 prying into the private conduct or personal characteristics 

 of any individual. For example, all shops and Stores, 

 laundries and many other houses of business, engage 

 their employes from their general appearance and the 

 account they give of themselves. If they do not do their 

 work, if they are insubordinate or unpunctual, they are 

 dismissed on Saturday night sometimes even without the 

 usual week's notice and without any reason being assigned. 

 This often appears a great hardship, but my point is that 

 one of the chief objections to domestic service is that 

 from the very start some sort of recommendation is 

 required from someone who is supposed to be in a 

 responsible position. I do not say this is not necessary, 

 but I do think the custom might be considerably relaxed, 

 with advantage to everybody. The usual characters 

 given are often clever skating on very thin ice, and 

 convey little real knowledge of the servant's faults or 

 merits. Servants, like other people, have undoubtedly 

 the defects of their virtues, and the wise way is to make 

 up our minds what we are prepared to give up. If we go 

 in for youth and good looks, we can scarcely hope for the 

 qualities we may expect to find in age and ugliness. In 



