And, first, it must be distinctly understood that it is not
necessary, or in the least degree desirable, that an educated
woman should waste the best years of her life in scolding and
petty supervision. Life holds higher duties, and it is indubi-
table that friction and over-zeal is a sure sign of a bad house-
keeper. But there is an appreciable difference between the
careworn Martha vexed with many things, and the absolute
indifference displayed by many Indian mistresses, who put up
with a degree of slovenliness and dirt which would disgrace a
den in St. Giles, on the principle that it is no use attempting
to teach the natives.
They never go into their kitchens, for the simple reason
The Complete Indian
that their appetite for breakfast might be nuirred by seeing
the khitmutgdr'^ using his toes as an efficient toast-rack
{fact)-, or their desire for dinner weakened by seeing tlie
soup strained through a greasy pngri.
The ostrich, who, according to the showman, ides is
head in the sand and thinks as ’e cant see no one, as nobodij can t
see ’e,” has, fortunately, an exceptional faculty of digestion.
With this remark we will leave a very unpleasant subject.
Easy, however, as the actual housekeeping is in India, the
personal attention of the mistress is quite as much needed
here as at home. The Indian servant, it is true, learns more
readily, and is guiltless of the sniffiness with which Mary Jane
receives suggestions, but a few days of absence or neg ect
on the part of the mistress, results in the servants falling
into their old habits with the inherited conservatism of dirt
This is, of course, disheartening, but it has to be faced s
necessary condition of life, until a few generations of training
shall ha4 started the Indian servant on a new inlientance of
habit. It must never be forgotten that at present those mis-
tresses who aim at anything beyond keeping a ® ‘
in the minority, and that pioneering is always
The first duty of a mistress is, of course, to be able to
give i itehSihle orders to her servaiits ; thei^fore it is nece.
Lrv she sho”.ld lean, to speak Hindustan,. No^e
woman would dream of living, say, for twenty jeais ii
Gennany, Italy, ot France, “SVe
anv rate to learn the language. She would, in ^t, teel
that by neglecting to do so she would write herself down mi
ass It Sid be^vell, therefore, if ladies in India were o
ask themselves if a difference in longitude increases the lati-
tude allowed in judging of a woman s lect
earr'Sd “t ‘ ‘S, 1. 1' te ’Ce" to hurnl^l^^nestlo.r
riirir^istbe doner Certahdy, there i^t
very little to which we can appeal in the a\e g
lervant, but then, until it is implanted by training, theie is
1 The object “^his book being to en^^^^
lately unacquainted decided on adhering through-
housekeeping at once, the , j nt used will be the
out to purely phonetic spelling. Ihe only aco
circumflex.
Housekeeper and Cook 3
Page 3
Presented as published in 1898. 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
A modernized reading is not available for this page yet. You are seeing the original text.
And, first, it must be distinctly understood that it is not
necessary, or in the least degree desirable, that an educated
woman should waste the best years of her life in scolding and
petty supervision. Life holds higher duties, and it is indubi-
table that friction and over-zeal is a sure sign of a bad house-
keeper. But there is an appreciable difference between the
careworn Martha vexed with many things, and the absolute
indifference displayed by many Indian mistresses, who put up
with a degree of slovenliness and dirt which would disgrace a
den in St. Giles, on the principle that it is no use attempting
to teach the natives.
They never go into their kitchens, for the simple reason
The Complete Indian
that their appetite for breakfast might be nuirred by seeing
the khitmutgdr'^ using his toes as an efficient toast-rack
{fact)-, or their desire for dinner weakened by seeing tlie
soup strained through a greasy pngri.
The ostrich, who, according to the showman, ides is
head in the sand and thinks as ’e cant see no one, as nobodij can t
see ’e,” has, fortunately, an exceptional faculty of digestion.
With this remark we will leave a very unpleasant subject.
Easy, however, as the actual housekeeping is in India, the
personal attention of the mistress is quite as much needed
here as at home. The Indian servant, it is true, learns more
readily, and is guiltless of the sniffiness with which Mary Jane
receives suggestions, but a few days of absence or neg ect
on the part of the mistress, results in the servants falling
into their old habits with the inherited conservatism of dirt
This is, of course, disheartening, but it has to be faced s
necessary condition of life, until a few generations of training
shall ha4 started the Indian servant on a new inlientance of
habit. It must never be forgotten that at present those mis-
tresses who aim at anything beyond keeping a ® ‘
in the minority, and that pioneering is always
The first duty of a mistress is, of course, to be able to
give i itehSihle orders to her servaiits ; thei^fore it is nece.
Lrv she sho”.ld lean, to speak Hindustan,. No^e
woman would dream of living, say, for twenty jeais ii
Gennany, Italy, ot France, “SVe
anv rate to learn the language. She would, in ^t, teel
that by neglecting to do so she would write herself down mi
ass It Sid be^vell, therefore, if ladies in India were o
ask themselves if a difference in longitude increases the lati-
tude allowed in judging of a woman s lect
earr'Sd “t ‘ ‘S, 1. 1' te ’Ce" to hurnl^l^^nestlo.r
riirir^istbe doner Certahdy, there i^t
very little to which we can appeal in the a\e g
lervant, but then, until it is implanted by training, theie is
1 The object “^his book being to en^^^^
lately unacquainted decided on adhering through-
housekeeping at once, the , j nt used will be the
out to purely phonetic spelling. Ihe only aco
circumflex.
Housekeeper and Cook 3