lmost every young woman expects some
day to marry. Now, I ask, what sort of a fitting can a girl receive in a
shop for the serious business of homekeeping? The significance of this
word 'homekeeping' is not apparent at a glance. It means far more than
mere 'housekeeping' although the latter is one of its most essential
elements. A girl of sixteen is forced to earn her own living. She
chooses to go into a shop. Grant that she escapes contamination from the
influences heretofore alluded to; that her health bears up under
confinement, bad air, scanty food, and insufficient clothing--all of
which are experiences too familiar with women who labor at mechanical
employments;--when she reaches a marriageable age, and takes the
important step which is to 'settle her for life,' what is her condition?
The chances are that she has become the wife of some hardworking
mechanic, or man of scanty means, who cannot afford to keep a fine lady
in his domestic establishment. But she knows no more of the mysteries of
housekeeping than she does of the Latin kalends. She must keep a
servant, who will waste the common substance, and keep her husband's
nose perpetually at the grindstone, to the great wear of mutual comfort
and temper. And once more: There is far more of forecast in young men
seeking wives than they commonly get credit for. The neat, smart girl,
who works in the shop, _may_ get a good husband--the young woman who is
a notable, tidy, thrifty housewife, is _sure_ to be sought after.

I would add a remark upon another point. American girls are frequently
heard to say they would not object to going out to service could they be
'treated as one of the family.' No American girl who respects herself
need fear that in an American family she will fail to command respect.
It should be remembered that the rigid line which is drawn in most
families between mistress and servant, is not simply because such
relations exist, but because there is generally absolutely nothing in
common between them save sex alone; no community of nationality,
religious belief, intelligence--nothing which can excite mutual
sympathy, or move to homogeneity. The American girl who lives out at
service need not fear that she will occupy a position in all respects
corresponding to that occupied by the great mass of servants.

It is highly probable that we shall be able hereafter to procure many
valuable servants from the South. When freedom shall have taken the
place o