1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



251 



But closely allied with the mistaken license 



allowed to children in matters like the above 

 is the disposition to laugh at. and thereby to 

 encourage, all traits of singularity, oddness, 

 or ail'ectation which children may exhibit, as 

 marks of genius which ought not to be re- 

 pressed. Of all the dangerous errors into 

 which parents can fall, this, in our opinion, is 

 the worst. For nothing so soon hardens into 

 second nature as juvenile eccentricity ; and 

 few things are more injurious to success in 

 life than marked oddities of manner and ges- 

 ture when they reach the point of grotescpie- 

 ncss. The majority of the world agree with 

 Mr. Peter INlagnus ; they don"'t see the necessi- 

 ty of originals. And what is more, so many 

 "originals" are only sham ones after all. That 

 is to say, their singularit)' is merely a bad habit 

 which they can't shake otF, and it is only very 

 partially innate. When you see a child doing 

 anything unlike other children, anything queer, 

 surprising, or uncouth, however comic or how- 

 ever clever it may seem, never laugh at or 

 applaud it. Children naturally very self-willed, 

 and with real natural peculiarities, can soon be 

 broken of such tricks, if treated with absolute 

 indifference. But once let the idea find its 

 way into their brains that such sallies, naughty 

 though they be, are regarded as marks of 

 genius, and the mischief is done. 



To come back to the point from which we 

 started — the management, namely, of young 

 children — there is one thing to be laid down : 

 let there be no divided rule in a house. Don't 

 kt the children see th.at the father means one 

 thing and the mother another in their bringing 

 up. They see the difference, if it exists, in a 

 moment ; and when they do, farewell to all 

 wholesome parental inHuence. Husbands and 

 mothers may talk too freely before their chil- 

 dren, forgetful of their rising intelligence. 

 And, indeed, nothing is more 'connnon than to 

 get a M'ink from the head of the house, im- 

 plying that you are to be on your guard before 

 Johnny or Tommy, who is listening open- 

 mouthed to your witty narrative, while he him- 

 self the next moment will offend against his 

 own precautions in the most barefaced manner 

 by jjlunging headlong into your domestic con- 

 troversy, in which, to speak metaphorically, 

 knives are freely used on both sides. — Mac- 

 millau's Magazine. 



TO YOUNG HOUSEKEEPEKS. 



Be satisfied to commence on a small scale. 

 It is too common for young housekeepers to 

 begin where their mothers ended. Buy all 

 that is necessary to work skillfully with ; adoi-n 

 your home with all that will render it comfor- 

 table. Do not look at richer homes, and cov- 

 et their costly furniture. If secret dissatis- 

 faction is ready to spring up, go a step farth- 

 er and visit the homes of the suffering poor ; 

 behold dark, cheerless apartments, insufficient 

 clothine: and absence of aU the comforts and 



refinements of social life, and then return to 

 your own with a joyful spirit. You will then 

 be prepared to meet your husband with a 

 grateful heart, and be ready to appreciate the 

 toil and self-denial which he has endured in 

 the business world to surround you with the 

 delights of home, and you will co-operate with 

 him in so arranging your expenses that his 

 mind wiH not be constantly harassed lest his 

 family expenditures may encroach upon pub- 

 lic payments. 



Be independent ; a young housekeeper nev- 

 er needed greater moral courage than she 

 does now, to resist the arrogance of fashion. 

 Do not let theA.sandB.s decide what you 

 shall have, neither let them hold the strings 

 of your purse. You know best what you can 

 and ought to afford. It matters but little 

 what people think, provided you are true to 

 yourself, to right and duty, and keep your ex- 

 penses within your means. — Bund New York- 

 er. 



GABDENLNQ AS "WOMAN'S "WORK, 

 This has long seemed to me an employment 

 in which women would not oidy gain health 

 and strength, but in which the most modest 

 and retiring might find a congenial occupation, 

 and the products of which are never depre- 

 ciated because raised by a woman. A peck of 

 peas has a certain market value, not depend- 

 ent upon the hands which raised them. A 

 woman who works on pants receives fifty cents 

 a day, not on account of the amount or qual- 

 ity of her work, but because she is a woman. 

 A man engaged upon the same garments re- 

 ceives ^2 a day, not because of the amoiint or 

 qnality of his work, but because he is a man. 

 It is doubtless true that, in very many cases, 

 the man does his work better than the wo- 

 man ; but it is not less true that, in a major- 

 ity of cases, the difference in price grows out 

 of the difference in sex. So of the school. 

 A m.ale teacher receives $1000 a year, not be- 

 cause his moral influence is better, not be- 

 cause the pupils learn more, but because he is 

 a man. A woman teaches a similar school, 

 and receives $400, not because of the inferi- 

 ority of her moral influence in the school, not 

 because the pupils learn less, but because she 

 is a woman. Now, happily, all this is avoided 

 in gardening. A man who would sell a beet 

 is not obliged to put on a label, "raised by a 

 man, ten cents," and upon another, "raised 

 by a woman, four cents," but the article 

 brings its market value. This is a great ad- 

 vantage, and one affording a special gratifica- 

 tion to women of spirit. Besides, gardening 

 is an occupation requiring very httle capital, 

 and, except in the fancy departments, com- 

 paratively little training. Near any of the 

 cities a woman can earn more ujjon a half 

 acre of land, with four months' work, than 

 she can earn by sewing twelve months, say- 

 ing nothing of the healthfulness of gardening. 



