To be happy at home , is the ultimate result of all
ambition ; the end to which every enterprise and
labour tends , and of which every desire prompts
the persecution. It is indeed at home that every
man must be known by those who would make a
just estimate either of his virtue or felicity ; for
smiles and embroidery are alike occasional, and
the mind is often dressed for show in painted
honour and fictitious benevolence. Johnson
4M
CHEERFULNESS IN A WIFE
A cheerful temper — not occasionally , but habitu-
ally cheerful — is a quality which no wise man
would be willing to dispense with in choosing a wife .
It is like a good fire in winter , diffusive and genial
in its influence , and always approached with a
confidence that it will comfort and do good. Atten-
tion to health is one great means of maintaining this
excellence unimpaired , and attention to household
affairs is another. The state of body which women
call bilious is most inimical to habitual cheerfulness ;
and that which girls call having nothing to do , but
which I should call idleness , is equally so. I have
always strongly recommended exercise as the first
rule for preserving health ; but there is an exercise
in domestic usefulness which , without superseding
that in the open air , is highly beneficial to the health
of both mind and body , inasmuch as it adds to
other benefits the happiest of all sensations , that of
having rendered some assistance or done some
good. Let me entreat my young readers , if they
feel a tendency to causeless melancholy , if they are
afflicted with cold feet and headache , but above all ,
with impatience and irritability , so that they can
scarcely make a pleasant reply when spoken to, —
let me entreat them to make a trial of the system
I am recommending — not simply to run into the
kitchen and trifle with the servants, but to set about
doing something that will add to the general comfort
of the family, and that will , at the same time,
relieve some members of the family of a portion of
daily toil. I fear it is a very unromantic con-
clusion to come to, but my firm conviction is, that
half the miseries of young women, and half their
ill tempers might be avoided by habits of domestic
activity. mrs. ellis
415
The road to home happiness lies over small
stepping-stones . Slight circumstances are the
stumbling-blocks of families . The prick of a pin ,
says the proverb , is enough to make an empire
insipid. The tenderer the feelings , the painfuller
the wound. A cold , unkind word checks and
withers the blossom of the dearest love , as the most
delicate rings of the vine are troubled by the faintest
breeze. The misery of a life is born of a chance
observation. If the true history of quarrels ,
public and private , were honestly written , it would
be silenced with an uproar of derision.
JESSE
Tender-hearted stroke a nettle ,
And it stings you for your pains ;
Grasp it like a man of mettle ,
And it soft as silk remains.
5 Tis the same with common natures :
Use 'em kindly , they rebel ;
But be rough as nutmeg-graters ,
And the rogues obey you well. aaron hill
The sweetest fruit may often pall the taste
While sloes and brambles yield a safe repast.
BLACKLOCK
We live in deeds , not years ; in thoughts , not
breaths ,
In feelings , not in figures on a dial.
We should count them by heart throbs. He most lives
Who thinks most, feels the noblest , acts the best.
BAILEY
416
Page 123
Presented as published in 1914. 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
To be happy at home , is the ultimate result of all ambition ; the end to which every enterprise and labour tends , and of which every desire prompts the persecution. It is indeed at home that every man must be known by those who would make a just estimate either of his virtue or felicity ; for smiles and embroidery are alike occasional, and the mind is often dressed for show in painted honour and fictitious benevolence. Johnson
4M
CHEERFULNESS IN A WIFE A cheerful temper — not occasionally , but habitually cheerful — is a quality which no wise man would be willing to dispense with in choosing a wife . It is like a good fire in winter , diffusive and genial in its influence , and always approached with a confidence that it will comfort and do good. Attention to health is one great means of maintaining this excellence unimpaired , and attention to household affairs is another. The state of body which women call bilious is most inimical to habitual cheerfulness ; and that which girls call having nothing to do , but which I should call idleness , is equally so. I have always strongly recommended exercise as the first rule for preserving health ; but there is an exercise in domestic usefulness which , without superseding that in the open air , is highly beneficial to the health of both mind and body , inasmuch as it adds to other benefits the happiest of all sensations , that of having rendered some assistance or done some good. Let me entreat my young readers , if they feel a tendency to causeless melancholy , if they are afflicted with cold feet and headache , but above all , with impatience and irritability , so that they can scarcely make a pleasant reply when spoken to, — let me entreat them to make a trial of the system I am recommending — not simply to run into the kitchen and trifle with the servants, but to set about doing something that will add to the general comfort of the family, and that will , at the same time, relieve some members of the family of a portion of daily toil. I fear it is a very unromantic conclusion to come to, but my firm conviction is, that half the miseries of young women, and half their ill tempers might be avoided by habits of domestic activity. mrs. ellis
The road to home happiness lies over small stepping-stones . Slight circumstances are the
stumbling-blocks of families . The prick of a pin , says the proverb , is enough to make an empire insipid. The tenderer the feelings , the painfuller the wound. A cold , unkind word checks and withers the blossom of the dearest love , as the most delicate rings of the vine are troubled by the faintest breeze. The misery of a life is born of a chance observation. If the true history of quarrels , public and private , were honestly written , it would be silenced with an uproar of derision.
JESSE
Tender-hearted stroke a nettle ,
And it stings you for your pains ;
Grasp it like a man of mettle ,
And it soft as silk remains.
5 Tis the same with common natures :
Use 'em kindly , they rebel ;
But be rough as nutmeg-graters ,
And the rogues obey you well. aaron hill
The sweetest fruit may often pall the taste While sloes and brambles yield a safe repast.
BLACKLOCK
We live in deeds , not years ; in thoughts , not breaths ,
In feelings , not in figures on a dial.
We should count them by heart throbs. He most lives Who thinks most, feels the noblest , acts the best.
BAILEY