RESPONSIBILITIES OF MOTHERS.

The appeal along the whole line is to those mothers who, either from original training or acquired aptitude, are competent to judge and to teach. The nature of the appeal is to their good sense, so as to bring up their daughters that they may, in every emergency that may occur to them, be able to make the most and the best of whatever home may fall to their lot. Whether that lot be high or low, the advantage will be almost equally great, the differences being only relative and of varied application.

HOMELY INDUCEMENTS.

More especially does it behove those mothers, the prospects of whose daughters can only point to getting their own living, to consider and act upon the advisability of doing all in their power to induce their daughters to look forward to domestic service as a deliberate choice. In preceding pages we have pointed out most of the alternatives-the few prizes, the multitude of blanks. Every profession and every trade swarms with anxious competitors; all are over-full; nothing short of exceptionally great ability, and that, as yet, untried, can hope for distinction or for success of more than an ordinary character. And, inasmuch as it is inevitable that every girl should look forward to being a wife and a mother, let it not be forgotten that that cannot be ignored, and that when that time comes, no knowledge of a profession or trade can compensate for ignorance and incapacity in the domestic sphere, where the anchor of the lives of all of us must be cast at best; and, as we have briefly seen, what a sorry anchorage that proves when there is no solid bottom of household knowledge to hold on by.

CERTAINTY OF GOOD EMPLOYMENT.

Domestic service is the one occupation that holds out the certainty of good employment for those who have industry and intelligence enough to turn it to account. Many of those who most rail at servants, and lament their incapacity, are never tired of lampooning them, and holding them up to ridicule as destitute of grammar, discretion, and honesty. This is carried so far that it amounts to a tacitly accepted dictum, that it is presumption in a servant to talk grammatically, or to pretend to that discretion which may possibly place her above her mistress; or to lay claim to the abstract honesty which might place the City merchant or member of the Stock Exchange, who is her master, in an embarrassing position by comparison. But the days of these lampooners must inevitably cease. Amongst the better class of servants there has been great improvement of late years; and every girl who has been well trained, and is really qualified for the position of a good servant, has a boundless choice only limited by her power of observation; and can, if discreet and wise, command her own terms, good living and good wages, far exceeding in value the probable earnings of any trade and most professions.

SERVANTS' WAGES AND SAVINGS.

Servants' wages, though running to comparatively so little money, of course

include board and lodging, and therefore turn out far better in the end than wages that seem-but only seem-much higher when stated in money only. This is true with reference to wages of £10, or a little over; and that it comes out practically as good as it does in theory, is proved by the large proportion of money deposited in savings' banks by domestic servants, who are the most numerous of any class availing themselves of those institutions. It does not end there. In the higher ranks of domestic employments of late years, wages have advanced very much, and are still advancing, so that £30, £40, £50, and various higher wages up to £100 a year, are amongst the prizes that may fall to superior ability; and wages far short of any of those sums may be made the basis of competence in after life, only seldom attained to by following a mere mechanical occupation, which, indeed, requires far less utelligence than that of a good servant in a position of trust.

GOOD TRAINING.

As to what constitutes good training for such a career, nothing but experience can fully decide. Whatever the experience may be, it can scarcely fail to be strengthened by reference to books on the subject, of which Ward and Lock's "Thrift Book" is the most varied and comprehensive extant, including, as it does, elaborate and varied details concerning every home duty that choice or necessity can impose upon anyone, whether mistress or servant.

CLEANLINESS AND ORDER.

It may suffice to add here that household excellence may be summed up in two words cleanliness and order. The former extends from the person to the humblest adjunct of the kitchen or the scullery; the latter includes neatness and systematic arrangement of time and everything else. With regard to cookery, when everything in the way of theory has been said and done, the climax of excellence cannot be reached without scrupulous cleanliness at every stage. With regard to order, it is the one faculty in a housekeeper that crowns the edifice of excellence. Knowledge and industry will be all in vain without such systematic government as will secure everything being done at the right time and in the best way, so that everything may be accomplished so as to leave a good balance of well-earned leisure wherein to appreciate the true comfort and blessing of home, which wholesome leisure is the best guarantee for the cultivation of thrift in everybody, and especially in girls.

GIRLS IN FACTORIES AND WORKSHOPS.

Particulars of the legal restrictions upon the employment of girls are included under the head of "Thrift for Women and "Thrift for Boys!" the law being alike for the young of both sexes.

THRIFT FOR

FOR WOMEN.

DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF WOMEN.

It is impossible to reflect upon thrift, with reference to women, without calling to mind the fact that there are in this country more females than males, and that the disproportion is getting greater rather than less. From this point of view, therefore, it is of the utmost importance that women should have in their own hands the means of getting a living, when it is known that so many are debarred from all prospect of having their living provided for by others.

UNMARRIED WOMEN.

In this country, there are always girls and women of whom it may be said that it is impossible they can ever be married. Fortunately for all parties, no one can say what may be the fate, in this respect, of any individual. Beauty is not the sole attraction for men; on the contrary, it is probable that those who are not strikingly beautiful succeed in securing the happiest conjugal associations; for beauty that excites conspicuous observation is by no means an unmixed good to its possessor; and common observation proves that the most ordinary-looking woman may become one of the bestloved and most affectionately respected of wives. This being so well known, it becomes every girl, and especially every woman, to cultivate those personal and mental qualities that are calculated to command universal approval and admiration-cleanliness and neatness of person; intelligence and goodtempered disposition. These are the primary qualifications for obtaining general esteem, and the surest foundations for worthy and abiding affection. Whether a woman is destined to become a wife and mother, or to remain for life in what may be truly called, in comparison with thousands, single blessedness, the qualities we have indicated are the most likely to promote happiness in either sphere; and while the wholesome cultivation of the person and the intellect can never fail to conduce to the enjoyment of life when single and independent, they are the most likely precursors of that favourable change of condition to which the majority so properly aspire.

One thing may be confidently said to all single women: they should firmly resist inducements to marry in haste. If they do, it is more than likely that they will have to repent during as prolonged leisure. The young and the

thoughtless may think that such is only old folks' talk, and that it is all a chance, and so forth; but such a way of viewing the matter is only a shallow, ignorant excuse for being foolish. Impetuosity can rarely be excused on any occasion, least of all with reference to marriage. It is one of those things, of all others, that needs a certain degree of moral restraint, which, under the circumstances, is such wholesome discipline as everyone, especially when young, is all the better for. This is not to be taken to imply that courtships should be extremely long, all that is required being sufficient time to test the reasonable constancy of the parties, as it is essential there should be time for both parties to make up their minds on the merits of the case.

Unfortunately, marriage is not always decided upon the merits of the parties, but upon the demerits of the circumstances. Girls and young women, in domestic service, or otherwise, are prone to exaggerate the trials and endurances to which they are subjected, and too many of them are induced to seek, in a hasty or ill-considered marriage, escape from a state of things under which they are impatient and often unreasonable. Let them accept the assurance that in every condition of life there are trials and endurances, and that it is the height of folly to suppose that incurring the great responsibility of marriage is necessarily an escape from the comparatively small responsibilities which young people generally regard with a microscopic eye, while suffering from blindness concerning those which they are disposed to accept in preference. The true virtue, in such cases, is to make a merit of successfully contending with, and voluntarily enduring present trials, as the best preparation for trials to come; which none can entirely escape and which generally get heavier, not lighter, as life advances.

Deliberately and patiently waiting is,the exercise of a great virtue. In the humblest and smallest emergencies, as well as in the loftiest and greatest, it implies true nobility of character. The practice of voluntarily waiting for the most ordinary gratification is the best preparation for its enjoyment. That which is not worth waiting for is not worth having; and this is more true of marriage than of anything else: the man or the woman who is not worth waiting for is not worth having.

The circumstances of life are so infinitely varied that no rule can be laid down that can be considered universal. But the rule of waiting long enough to prove, by reflection and experience, that an intended marriage is wise is a good rule, and should not be lightly set aside under the impression (generally erroneous) that one's case is exceptional.

Whatever may be the circumstances; whether the waiting is for days, weeks, months, or for years, or, may be, for ever; the best way of utilising the time is to study and practise thrift in all its bearings. Whether future life proves to be one of marriage or of the single state, thrift is the best possible introduction to it, always bearing in mind that time and industry, and cheerful attention to work or business mean so much money sooner or later; and that every penny wisely saved when young often makes a difference of a pound when old.

RIGHTS CONCERNING PROPERTY.

Every single woman of twenty-one, with reference to personal property and civil rights, is on a legal equality with a man.

Landed property, however trifling in value, when it passes other than by will, goes wholly to a brother, however young, as against a sister or sisters; but, if there is no brother, such property is equally divisible between the sisters, whether two or more.

Personal property, when it passes other than by will, goes equally to sisters and brothers alike.

Acquired property of a single woman, whether it be landed or personal, is solely at her own disposal, as if she were a man.

Single women who are householders are entitled to vote at all school-board, municipal, and other local elections, but not at parliamentary elections.

In all criminal proceedings, single women have the same powers and rights of prosecution as if they were men.

Debts of all kinds owing to single women are recoverable by them as if they

were men.

LIABILITIES.

Contracts of all kinds by or with single women are as binding as if made by or with men.

Debts are recoverable from single women as if they were men.

Householders being single women are liable for rents, rates, and taxes as if they were men.

Single women are liable in all criminal cases as if they were men.

RESTRICTIONS.

Women, whether single or married, are not entitled to serve on juries or to vote at parliamentary elections.

They are debarred from working in any manufacturing trade except as permitted by the Factories and Workshops Acts.

WOMEN IN FACTORIES AND WORKSHOPS.

The laws relating to Factories and Workshops include, amongst many other things, very complicated provisions for restricting the time during which women may be employed, as shown in the following extracts from the Consolidated Act.

DEFINITION OF WORKING WOMEN. For the purposes of the Factory and Workshop Act, a girl becomes a woman at the age of eighteen years.

DEFINITION OF WORKING YOUNG PERSONS. A young person is one of either sex, of the age of fourteen years and under the age of eighteen years; but

When a child of thirteen has acquired a certificate of education up to the required standard in that behalf, such child is entitled to be regarded as a Joung person.