yours. Her mind may be finer than yours if she had enjoyed the
privileges of governess, and school, and finishing masters as you
did when a girl. Down deep in the current of her nature may be a
refinement and delicacy of feeling which is not natural to 3'ourself
In point of fact, if the relative circumstances of birth, money, and
education had been changed, the mistress and the maid might oc-
cupy each other's positions.
" When Adam delved, and Eve span,
Where was then the gentleman?"
But this does not change existing facts. A contract is a contract,
and both parties are bound by it. Service may not be one's choice,
but when accepted it should be faithfully performed. The person
who accepts it may have an inner consciousness of being worth}' of
a higher vocation, but, as a rule, those who have a right to this feel-
ing are those who will discharge best whatever duties they under-
take. Bad servants prove by their unfaithfulness that they are not
worthy of a higher trust.
One great cause of the discontent of servants is the false idea that
there is something degrading to one's self-respect in the service of
others. But if this were so, no man or woman in the world would
be self-respecting, because all of us, from the highest to the lowest,
are dependent on one another. A prince or a president is more de-
pendent on his servants than they are upon him. To "suckle fools
and chronicle small beer" is a position of immense responsibility.
No kind of honest work is degrading, and faithful servants are the
salvation of the world. If every woman wore silks, who would wear
home-spun? If every one rode in her carriage, who would walk
on foot? If vve all sat in the drawing-room, who would attend to
the kitchen ?
" If wishes were horses, beggars would ride,"
but who would feed the horses and keep the stables in order?
There is nothing mean in the service of others. It is the servant
who can degrade the service, not the service the servant. Those
80 THE hearthstone; or, life at home.
who would climb the ladder of life must go up step by step. Yet
many who accept domestic service in this country seem to think
that the whole United States ought to go out to meet them when they
land from Ireland, or Germany, or Norway, or Sweden, and put rings
on their fingers and bells on their toes. The women expect to see
the shores lined with unfortunate bachelors whom the 'native female
population does not suffice to provide with wives. The emigration
societies of the old world aid in spreading this delusion, and single
women think themselves as much in demand here as potatoes were
in Ireland in the days of famine. The spinster of uncertain age
thinks she has only to set her foot on American soil to be wooed
and won, before she has even had time to unpack her baggage, by a
well-to-do farmer who will conduct her to a farm well tilled, which
only needed her presence to make a home of it. She has yet to
learn that wives and of the very best quality are among the native
productions of the American soil. It is they who have made our
wilderness to "blossom as the rose."
Page 46
Presented as published in 1883. 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
yours. Her mind may be finer than yours if she had enjoyed the privileges of governess, and school, and finishing masters as you did when a girl. Down deep in the current of her nature may be a refinement and delicacy of feeling which is not natural to 3'ourself In point of fact, if the relative circumstances of birth, money, and education had been changed, the mistress and the maid might occupy each other's positions.
" When Adam delved, and Eve span, Where was then the gentleman?"
But this does not change existing facts. A contract is a contract, and both parties are bound by it. Service may not be one's choice, but when accepted it should be faithfully performed. The person who accepts it may have an inner consciousness of being worthy of a higher vocation, but, as a rule, those who have a right to this feeling are those who will discharge best whatever duties they undertake. Bad servants prove by their unfaithfulness that they are not worthy of a higher trust.
One great cause of the discontent of servants is the false idea that there is something degrading to one's self-respect in the service of others. But if this were so, no man or woman in the world would be self-respecting, because all of us, from the highest to the lowest, are dependent on one another. A prince or a president is more dependent on his servants than they are upon him. To "suckle fools and chronicle small beer" is a position of immense responsibility. No kind of honest work is degrading, and faithful servants are the salvation of the world. If every woman wore silks, who would wear home-spun? If every one rode in her carriage, who would walk on foot? If we all sat in the drawing-room, who would attend to
the kitchen ?
" If wishes were horses, beggars would ride,"
but who would feed the horses and keep the stables in order?
There is nothing mean in the service of others. It is the servant who can degrade the service, not the service the servant. Those
80 THE hearthstone; or, life at home.
who would climb the ladder of life must go up step by step. Yet many who accept domestic service in this country seem to think that the whole United States ought to go out to meet them when they land from Ireland, or Germany, or Norway, or Sweden, and put rings on their fingers and bells on their toes. The women expect to see the shores lined with unfortunate bachelors whom the 'native female population does not suffice to provide with wives. The emigration societies of the old world aid in spreading this delusion, and single women think themselves as much in demand here as potatoes were in Ireland in the days of famine. The spinster of uncertain age thinks she has only to set her foot on American soil to be wooed and won, before she has even had time to unpack her baggage, by a well-to-do farmer who will conduct her to a farm well tilled, which only needed her presence to make a home of it. She has yet to learn that wives and of the very best quality are among the native productions of the American soil. It is they who have made our wilderness to "blossom as the rose."