This to many will be a hard saying, as it means leaving the higher employment of women to those who are most free from natural duties; that is, generally, to the unmarried, who for that very reason are in some ways the least understanding of our sex.

Mothers and fathers should never lose sight of the fact, as their daughters grow up, that confidence is only likely to begin when given first by parents to children, from the old to the young. Sympathy is not the consequence of confidences, but the magnet that attracts them; so by confiding in our children, we may fail to get their sympathy, but we are always able to give them ours.

I think that mothers might remind their sons and daughters, especially when they are grown up, how very much the old like receiving the attention of the young, and seeing that the young have no fear of them; for I do not doubt that, if young people really believed this, they would probably pay these attentions more often, with both advantage and interest to themselves. There is a great deal to be got out of the experience and memories of those much older than ourselves, if we can only make them realise how much we wish both to hear and to learn.

In the management of house and children, as in a larger rule, let us remember that liberalism is a frame of mind which has for its root the simple morality of doing unto others as you would they should do unto you.

It is a very doubtful question whether, in the houses of the fairly wealthy, the daughters can be of very much help to the mother, unless she herself finds that she has more than she likes to do, and apportions certain departments-such as housekeeping, card-leaving, writing notes, or gardening, etc. - to one or other of the daughters. The vague expectation in a mother that her daughter ought to help her, often results in a good deal of ordering about, a waste of time on the daughter's part, and that state of things generally which ends in friction. If a daughter is unusually unselfish, and constantly thinking how she can please and serve her mother, the result is that the daughter becomes a mere drudge, while the mother but half appreciates the sacrifice she has made of her life.

We often discover in families the ideal woman of family life. She is always willing to immolate herself on the altar of duty and unselfishness, unconscious of this at the time, because to serve others is her pleasure, and consequently for the moment the development of her own nature. That woman, especially if she has intelligence as well, fills a want in the world that everyone acknowledges and admires. But, unless the situation is carefully watched, she herself may discover too late that she has let her youth go by in the suppression of herself, and, without intending it, has ruined her own life. The one thing that is of vital importance is that the young should never be sacrificed to the old or the healthy to the unhealthy. Even if the mother and daughter work well together, there is hardly enough to occupy the time of two women, and divided rule never is satisfactory. It is a common view that housekeeping is rather an inferior employment for women, and only done well by the commonplace, who are devoted to it. I do not think this, though I quite admit that housekeeping is often very tiresome-or, rather, I would say wearisome-and every woman pines to get away from it now and then. Every head of a house-be she wife, mother, or daughter-has to do it, and no woman worth her salt likes to do a thing and do it badly. If it is badly done, it is a humiliation; when it is well done, it becomes a pride: and the approval of those we love is always a joy. Men differ, of course, very much in their appreciation of cooking and other housekeeping matters. When the man cares, though he scold, or sigh and look miserable when things go wrong, it is more stimulating to the woman than when he appears indifferent; but all men and most women appreciate a well-kept house, though I have heard there are some women who make such grievance over their duties that the man almost wishes they were left alone.

One of the most useful gifts in life is to be able to organise, command, and instruct others; to use, in fact, the materials under your hand, instead of doing everything yourself. Servants certainly do not respect those who do their work for them, and the irresponsibility of the situation only makes them careless and indifferent. On the other hand, it should be thoroughly realised that no one can depute to others the control of their expenditure without greatly increasing it.

In cooking, in dressmaking, in gardening, it is, so to speak, the scientific and aesthetic part which really ought to be done by the mistress of the house. She has time to study the books and newspapers; and if she really knows her work she will find no difficulty in teaching it.

Every generation is known to complain that servants have become useless and bad. I see no difference during my life-time; in fact, I should say that the proportion of good servants had increased, rather than the contrary. Of course, their customs and ways have changed with telegrams, posts, and railways, as have the habits of everybody else; and if any housekeeper has moments of depression, as we all have when things go cross, and thinks the world is going to the dogs, may I recommend a little study of eighteenth-century literature-above all, Boswell's 'Life of Johnson.'

The spread of education is often brought forward as a reason for the deterioration of servants. I must put in a protest against this. I never will believe it! On the contrary, Mill's definition of education will always remain true to me: 'The best employment of all the means which can be made use of for rendering the human mind, to the greatest possible degree, the cause of human happiness.'

It is essential, for the well-regulating of a house, that the orders to servants should be given early in the morning. Everything except flower-arranging ought to be got through in an hour. When people complain that housekeeping takes so long, it is either that they are ignorant and undecided, or that they are out of health, and come down very late in the morning, and things get out of order from being left to the servants for several days in the week.