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Show ENGAGEMENT TIME. Much married misery might be prevented pre-vented if only women would understand under-stand that an engagement, though less sacred and binding than marriage, has its own duties, which ought to be conscientiously con-scientiously and faithfully performed. Our great-grandmothers in this, as in most phases of domestic life, can instruct in-struct us by their examples, for they were guided by sound common sense. When one of these old-time girls became be-came engaged, all the spinning wheels were at once put to work and thev were not allowed to rest till a roodlv stock of linen, mainly the bride-elect's own handiwork, was stored away in the family presses to wait the wedding day. She fulfilled literally the description descrip-tion given in the Book of Proverbs of the wise woman: "She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She layeth her hands to the spindle and her hands hold the distaff." j j In the great-grandmother's ' young I days the engaged girl took care to study the art of cookery, and to learn all those housewifely arts in which her mother excelled, and in which she knew she must become past mistress, if she would rule her husband's house effi- ; ! ciently. If her baking did not at first j turn out satisfactorily she would per- j severe till it did. and she practiced making jellies and conserves in the still loom till her culinary feats were the wender and admiration of her girl , friends. And while her hands were thus j occupied she was learning to estimate the sacr?dness and the responsibility j of married life a lesson often left nowadays to the unguided intuition of the inexperienced girl. The engagement time is the time for ! preparation, and it ought to be no mere iii.ua.y, uUl uiic ui me uusiest times in a woman's life. She is then about to enter a new sphere of duties, and she ought to prepare herself for them. It is highly important that she should then become thoroughly efficient in all sorts of domestic work, for, though her hus-. hus-. band may be a man of affluence, with a number of servants, still it will be j necessary for her to understand all the details of housekeeping, or she can never expect to be really mistress of her household. One of the mistakes of engaged girls generally is to leave the preparation of the trousseau until so late that the last weeks before the marriage are perfectly per-fectly miserable from the rush and hurry that are inevitable in order to have everything ready by the time it will be needed. Those garments over which fashion has little or no influence can be made up early, and ample time will then be left, for trimming them with the dainty l&.ces and embroideries so dear to a woman's heart. If she has ' leisure the bride-e.'ect can then employ her nimble fingers in making pretty I sofa cushions, dainty doyleys and other I trifles to make her rew home pretty. j Above all, let her in her busy mo- I ments and in her hours of relaxation I consider earnestly the importance of the life which she is about to enter, and the part which she is destined to play in it. This should not be that of a dependent who gives nothing, or of a worshiped goddess, but she should be her husband's fellow worker and best friend, sharing his life with him for J weal or for woe, and striving in all i ways to be his loving and helpful companion. com-panion. A mistress ought not merely to find fault when any work is- not done properly, prop-erly, but she should be able to show-exactly show-exactly how it ought to be done, if. she is io iiavi iue Hiiimji uucuicntc duu respect of her servants. A woman who ic-. content to know nothing of housekeeping, house-keeping, but to trust entirely to her servants, may be an employer of labor to a very large extent, but she is never really mistress of her own house, and, instead of ruling as it is her right and duty to do, she is generally ruled by servants. Here are four things that every mother should teach her children: They should learn that there are very many things in the world that they are not allowed to eat, know or possess until they are older. They should never be allowed to speak mockingly or laugh at sacred things. They should learn- prompt and unquestioning oDeaience to those in authority over them. They should never be allowed to treat animals ani-mals cruelly or with indifference to their pain. |
