The Ladies' Column.

Bruce Herald, Volume VII, Issue 650, 17 November 1874, Page 3

The Ladies' Column.

A LESSON FOR LA.DIES

The story goes that lat^y at one of those elegant country seats that adorn the banks of the Hudson above Newburg there was an exodus of the entire body of women servants, or, as it mitrht be " more noothin to the feelin's " to describe them, female employees. Whether the coachman was unpropitious, the footman false the mistress — we beg pardon, the lady — exacting, or there had been a visitation of those woes that so often harrow up the soul of our household help, rumor does not relate But whether they went away or were Bent away, they departed in a body, and left the house without a female to make a bed or to cook a dinner. But the lady, although left without help, proved not to be helpless, and Rhowed that «he was mistress not only of the house but of the situation. She had three daughters, one of whom was married and gone ; but the other two, fine well grown young women, were still at home. With these she immediately held council- such council as Jove was wont to hold with i the inferior gods — listening benignly, but deciding finally, the consequence of which was that, considering the core trials to which they had all been subject for years from the departed damsels and from the " likes of them," the three ladies undertook to do the whole work of the house — not a small one. The result astonished them all. The daughters worked of course, under the instruction and constant supervision of their mother. There were men animals within call to act as hewere of wood and drawers of water, aud

life at once became uospeakably lovely. That may, 'perhaps put the change rather strongly. But for confusion there was order ; for waste, economy ; *'or slighted work, thoroughness ; bfd>> and bed chambers became more attractive to the eye, and satisfactory to the body ; 'he meat was not over roasted; and all that. came* from butcher and grocer was consumed in one household ; and not in three or four. Moreover, the ladies were surprised at the shortness of the time in which they could eet through rheir work, and at the satisfaction they found in its cheerful performance. To them, thus engaged, the married daughter makes a visit ; and she, ready at first to compassionate their helpless condition, soon finds reason to change her tone. After the observation of a day or twc, she breaks out in a strain of mingled admiration and reproach, complaining to her mother that " she had never had any suc^ advantages as these, and that, if she bad, she would have been able to manage her household very much better," Sbe did not deem herself fortunate in escaping from home before she had been called upon to B weep a room or make a pudding; she saw, she felt that she had been wronged by being deprived of the instruction and the experience which had accidentally fallen to the lot of her younger Bwters We are telling of an incident that really occurred, and, we are sure, with substantial adherence to the frets of the case. We could point out the house in which all this happened ; but setting aside all questions of the violation of privacy, we mercifully refrain from causing two estimable and innocent young ladies to be beeieged by an army of marrying men It would tax the carrying capacity of all the railway and steamboat lines between New York and Albany to transport the masculine mob that would throng the avenue to their doors. — ' New York Times.' TTHAT A TTOMAN SHOULD BE. A woman should be elegant, not only in manner but in mind. Without mental taste, the fairest form disappoints and wearies It is the radiance that sets off every other charm, and sheds on each its appropriate hue. It is tint and proportion. Yet it is more easily understood than defined, and better felt than expressed. It is a great mistake to suppose that fashion ia a criterion of elegance. The modes of fashion are entirely conventional, and a>e oftun as ungraceful as they are capricious But breeding is quite a different thiog. It is without affectation aud without constraining. Tfc ig unobtrusive and unpretending. It is always self possessed and at ease ; for it knows its own place and its own re'ations Its courtesy is not offi ji<ms, nor are its attentions ever troublesome. Yet this quiet and ladylike deportment, though it seems to require no effort, is by no means an easy or common attainment. On the contrary, we often see women who have lived much in society very much deficient in this criterion of grace. ADVICE FOR MEN. Women have their faul's, it is true, and very provoking ones they sometimes are ; but if we would all learn, men and women, that certain virtues, which we all admire, are always coupled with certain disagreables, we might make, up our minds more easily to accept the bitter with the sweet. For instance, every husband, ye believe, delights in a cleanly, well-ordered house ; f~ee from dust, ppots, and unseemly stains; the painstaking machinery necessary to keep it so he never wishes to see, or seeing, too often forgets to praise. If then his wife, true to her feminine inslincts towards cleanliness, gently.reminds him, when he comes home, that he has forgotten to use the doormat before entering the sitting-room on a stormy day, let him reflect, before giving her a lordly, impatient, uogracious ' pshaw !" how the reverse of the picture would suit him — viz., a slatternly "easy" woman, whose appartments are a constant mortification to him in the presence of visitors. It is a poor return, when a wife has made everything fresh and bright, to be unwilling to take a little pains to keep it so, or to be properly reminded if forgetful on these points, upon which many husbands are unreasonably '•' touchy," even while secretly admiring the pleasant results of the vigilance of the good housewife. THE GIEL TO FIND. The true girl has to be sought after. She does nnt parade herself in show goods. She isnotfashionable. Generally sheisnot rich. But, oh ! what a heart she has when you find her? so large, and pure, and womanly When you see it you wonder if those showy things outside are women. If you gain her love, your two thousand are millions, She'll not ask you for a carriage nr a first class house. She'll wear pimple dresses, and turn them when necessary, with no vulgar magnificence to frown upon her economy. She'll keep everything 1 neat and nice in your sky-parlor, and give you such a welcome when you come home, that you'll think your power higher tban ever. She'll entertain two friends on a dollar, and aßtonish you with the new thought how little happiness depends on money. She'll make you love home (if you don't you're a brube), and teach you, how to pity while you scorn a poor fashionable society th(«,t thinks itself rich, and vainly tries to think itself nappy. Now, do not, I pray you, say any more " I can't afford to marry." Gro, find the true woman. And you can. Throw away that cigar, burn up that switch cane, be sensible yourself, and seek your wife in a sensible way. SCOLDING. A trial that will be watched " w j{; a great interest by henpeck^ ' nil3baadß is Boon to take pl^ce at Baltimore. A woman ot tdat city has been arres'ed on the charge of being a common scold. The laws of Maryland made no provision for vfe? puwpbmeut of such an offence, and

she is to be tried voder »he old -EngiUh common Jaw. Thia define* BU<b an offence aa common bar»a*ry, and provides, as one of the means of punishment, " boring a hole through the tongue.' AN ACTIVE WOMAN. Mrs Henrietta Hirsch field, tbe ce'e b rated deatist of Beriiu, is described as a delicately formed, refiued, beautiful woman. She has developed a wonderful strength in her small haud, extracting a firmly-set molar with a dexterity and precision uu^urpassed by any of her stronger brethren. But her greatest attraction lies in her mental and moral power. You cannot be with her a moment, says a correspondent, without feeling you are in the presence of a living being, a person instinct with power, courage, and the fulness and realisation of true life. She invigorates and tones you up like a cool bretze after a sultry day. Mrs Birschfield does not confine herself merely to the labors of her office, but prepares well. written articles for the magazines, instructing mothers in regard, to the care of children's teeth, and cleanliness and attention to the mouth, a duty but little practised in Germany. ME EUSKIN AT BAY. It is quite possible for the Bimpleßi workman or laborer for whom I write to understand what the feelings of a gentleman are, and share them, if he will ; but the crisis and horror of this present time are that its desire of money, and the fulness of luxury dishonestly attainable by common persons, are gradually making churls of all men ; and the nobler are not merely disbelieved, bat even the conception of them seems ludicrous to the ordinary churl mind ; so that, to take only so poor an instance of them as my own life — because I have passed it in almsgiving, not in fortune huutiog ; because I have labored always for the honor of others, not my own, and have chosen rather to make men look to Turner and Luini than to form or exhibit the skill of my own hand : because 1 have lowered my rents, and assured the comfort»b!e lives of my tenant*, instead of taking from them all I could force for the roofs they needed ; because I love a wood walk better than a London street, and would rather watch a seagull fly than shoot it, and would rather hear a thrush siug than eat, iv ; finally, because I never disobeyed ray mother, because 1 have bonortd all women with solemn worship, and i h-ive been kiud even to tbe unthauk'ul and the evil : therefore, the hacks of Englinb. art and literature wag their heads at me, and the poor wretch who pawns the dirty linen of his soul daiiy for a bottle of eour wine and a cigar taiks of the " t-ffcminaie seutimeutaiiiy of Kutskm." — '.Fora Clavigera.'