can remove. I know
that this is no easy task ; but at any rate you can do your
best, and the advice which I would give to any woman
150 ON HABITS AND MANNERS.
who is too poor or too overworked to do all that more fortu-
nate women are able to do, is : "Rid yourself first ot the
dirt, which is likely to be directly injurious to health ; that
is, keep your cellar clean, even if your windows go
unwashed ; wash your cooking utensils and keep your beds-
fresh at the expense of something of less importance; keep
your skin clean, even if your dress has to go dirty."
But, in truth, a person who really loves cleanliness will
be clean everywhere and at all times, and the first step in
advance is taken when you begin to feel that din in any
form is really unpleasant to you, and that to sit down in a
dirty room at a dirty table, to eat dirty food from dirty
dishes (which you know to be only too common a habit) is*
to you, actual misery. When you have learned to hate
uncleanliness, you will surely learn in one way or another
to be clean, and you will never be a good housekeeper until
you do hate uncleanliness in every shape and with all your
heart. The more closely you examine the work of any
woman who is a successful housekeeper, the more evident it
will become to you that, like the woman whom we have
been following through the duties of the day, she is orderly,
systematic and thorough in all her habits. The cleanliness,
as we have seen, is not superficial, but includes everything
that comes within her province; the work of each day is
arranged so that nothing is left to chance; her cooking is
ON HABITS AND MANNERS. 151
done by rule and not by ee guess ;" she studies to avoid
waste, and to make the most of her materials ; she knows
that the comfort of her household depends mainly upon her
thrift and industry, and she takes every means in her power
to find out and adopt the best way of doing all that she has
to do. And certainly there is no more honorable ambition
for most women than the ambition to be a good house-
keeper, taking that word always in its broadest and most
beautiful sense, the Bible sense, whose interpretation we find
in that wonderful description in the last chapter of Proverbs,
a description which should cheer and refresh the heart of
every woman who is trying to work well and earnestly :
" The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her.
. . . She will do him good and not evil all the days of
her life. She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly
with her hands Strength and honor are her clothing, and
she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth
with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth
not the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her
blessed ; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
A woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.''
152 ON HABITS AND MANNERS.
CHAPTER XXL
CARE OF THE SICK.
Page 68
Presented as published in 1888. 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
can remove. I know that this is no easy task ; but at any rate you can do your best, and the advice which I would give to any woman
who is too poor or too overworked to do all that more fortunate women are able to do, is : "Rid yourself first ot the dirt, which is likely to be directly injurious to health ; that is, keep your cellar clean, even if your windows go unwashed ; wash your cooking utensils and keep your bedsfresh at the expense of something of less importance; keep your skin clean, even if your dress has to go dirty."
But, in truth, a person who really loves cleanliness will be clean everywhere and at all times, and the first step in advance is taken when you begin to feel that din in any form is really unpleasant to you, and that to sit down in a dirty room at a dirty table, to eat dirty food from dirty dishes (which you know to be only too common a habit) is to you, actual misery. When you have learned to hate uncleanliness, you will surely learn in one way or another to be clean, and you will never be a good housekeeper until you do hate uncleanliness in every shape and with all your heart. The more closely you examine the work of any woman who is a successful housekeeper, the more evident it will become to you that, like the woman whom we have been following through the duties of the day, she is orderly, systematic and thorough in all her habits. The cleanliness, as we have seen, is not superficial, but includes everything that comes within her province; the work of each day is arranged so that nothing is left to chance; her cooking is done by rule and not by guess; she studies to avoid waste, and to make the most of her materials ; she knows that the comfort of her household depends mainly upon her thrift and industry, and she takes every means in her power to find out and adopt the best way of doing all that she has to do. And certainly there is no more honorable ambition for most women than the ambition to be a good housekeeper, taking that word always in its broadest and most beautiful sense, the Bible sense, whose interpretation we find in that wonderful description in the last chapter of Proverbs, a description which should cheer and refresh the heart of every woman who is trying to work well and earnestly :
" The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her. . . . She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands Strength and honor are her clothing, and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed ; her husband also, and he praiseth her. A woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.''
CHAPTER XXL
CARE OF THE SICK.