Plutarch tells us that Themistocles laughing at his own
son, who got his mother, and by his mother's means his father
also, to indulge him, said to the boy that he had the most
power of anyone in Greece : " For the Athenians command
" the rest of Greece, I command the Athenians, your mother
" commands me, and you command your mother." In the
same way it is easy to make a defective system of education
responsible for much of the existing drunkenness. First of all
we have a scheme of education which fails to provide instruc-
tion in a girl's domestic duties ; then we have the wife who
undertakes the task for which she has never been properly
trained ; next, instead of well-cooked and very much varied
meals, we have a conspicuous and a disastrous failure ; and
finally, we have the bread-winner driven to the public-house
— and happiness has left that home for ever.
But this is an old story, yet, unfortunately, it is a true
one; and it will continue to be true until a clearer per-
ception of what a domestic training should be is more
108 THE ART OF LIVmG IN AUSTRALIA.
unirersally recognised. I am sure that I do not exaggerate
when I say that millions of our English-speaking race are living
this life without the slightest glimmering of what domestic
content might be theirs. Surely the word " home " for the
artisan should signify something more than a place where he
is badly fed. Still, it is a solemn fact that no more concrete
definition of the word has ever been forthcoming. Now, such a
state of affairs cannot be excused on the score of expense, for
the crowning triumph of good Cookery is its very cheapness.
It has already been mentioned that the late Sir J.
Risdon Bennett did not think it beneath his dignity to
write a prefatory note to a Cookery Book. He has also
pointed out that Cookery is a subject which deserves more
attention at the hands of those who have the welfare of
temperance at heart. He believed that a knowledge of
wholesome Cookery would do much to make home happy ;
to keep the men away from dissipation and intemperance ;
and to make the children healthy and cheerful.
The same idea is expressed by Sylvester, who remarked
that Cookery should be most popular, because every indi-
vidual human being is directly interested in its success. As
he says, the real comfort of the majority of men is sought
for in their own homes, and every effort should be made to
increase domestic happiness by inducing them to remain at
home. And long, long ago a quaint old book, Markham's
Eiujlish Houseivife, published in 1637, contained the
idea in a nutshell, as the following quotation will show :
" To speak, then, of the knowledges which belong to our
" English housewife, I hold the most principal to be a
" perfect skill in Cookery. She that is utterly ignorant
" therein, may not, by the laws of strict justice, challenge
" the freedom of marriage — because, indeed, shee can per-
" form but half her vow — shee may love and obey, but shee
" cannot cherish and keepe her husband."
SCHOOL COOKEBY— INFLUENCE ON DAILY LIFE. 109
Page 78
Presented as published in 1893. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Plutarch tells us that Themistocles laughing at his own son, who got his mother, and by his mother's means his father also, to indulge him, said to the boy that he had the most power of anyone in Greece : " For the Athenians command " the rest of Greece, I command the Athenians, your mother " commands me, and you command your mother." In the same way it is easy to make a defective system of education responsible for much of the existing drunkenness. First of all we have a scheme of education which fails to provide instruction in a girl's domestic duties ; then we have the wife who undertakes the task for which she has never been properly trained ; next, instead of well-cooked and very much varied meals, we have a conspicuous and a disastrous failure ; and finally, we have the bread-winner driven to the public-house — and happiness has left that home for ever.
But this is an old story, yet, unfortunately, it is a true one; and it will continue to be true until a clearer perception of what a domestic training should be is more
universally recognised. I am sure that I do not exaggerate when I say that millions of our English-speaking race are living this life without the slightest glimmering of what domestic content might be theirs. Surely the word " home " for the artisan should signify something more than a place where he is badly fed. Still, it is a solemn fact that no more concrete definition of the word has ever been forthcoming. Now, such a state of affairs cannot be excused on the score of expense, for the crowning triumph of good Cookery is its very cheapness.
It has already been mentioned that the late Sir J. Risdon Bennett did not think it beneath his dignity to write a prefatory note to a Cookery Book. He has also pointed out that Cookery is a subject which deserves more attention at the hands of those who have the welfare of temperance at heart. He believed that a knowledge of wholesome Cookery would do much to make home happy ; to keep the men away from dissipation and intemperance ; and to make the children healthy and cheerful.
The same idea is expressed by Sylvester, who remarked that Cookery should be most popular, because every individual human being is directly interested in its success. As he says, the real comfort of the majority of men is sought for in their own homes, and every effort should be made to increase domestic happiness by inducing them to remain at home. And long, long ago a quaint old book, Markham's English Housewife, published in 1637, contained the idea in a nutshell, as the following quotation will show : " To speak, then, of the knowledges which belong to our " English housewife, I hold the most principal to be a " perfect skill in Cookery. She that is utterly ignorant " therein, may not, by the laws of strict justice, challenge " the freedom of marriage — because, indeed, shee can per- " form but half her vow — shee may love and obey, but shee " cannot cherish and keepe her husband."