ow little young girls know what is
before them, when they enter married life!" Let the mother or teacher,
whose eye may rest on these lines, ask herself, if there is no cause for
fear that the young objects of her care may be thrown into similar
emergencies, where they may need a kind of preparation, which as yet has
been withheld.

Another reason for introducing such a subject, as a distinct branch of
school education, is, that, as a general fact, young ladies _will not_
be taught these things in any other way. In reply to the
thousand-times-repeated remark, that girls must be taught their domestic
duties by their mothers, at home, it may be inquired, in the first
place, What proportion of mothers are qualified to teach a _proper_ and
_complete_ system of Domestic Economy? When this is answered, it may be
asked, What proportion of those who are qualified, have that sense of
the importance of such instructions, and that energy and perseverance
which would enable them actually to teach their daughters, in all the
branches of Domestic Economy presented in this work?

It may then be asked, How many mothers _actually do_ give their
daughters instruction in the various branches of Domestic Economy? Is it
not the case, that, owing to ill health, deficiency of domestics, and
multiplied cares and perplexities, a large portion of the most
intelligent mothers, and those, too, who most realize the importance of
this instruction, actually cannot find the time, and have not the
energy, necessary to properly perform the duty? They are taxed to the
full amount of both their mental and physical energies, and cannot
attempt any thing more. Almost every woman knows, that it is easier to
do the work, herself, than it is to teach an awkward and careless
novice; and the great majority of women, in this Country, are obliged to
do almost every thing in the shortest and easiest way. This is one
reason why the daughters of very energetic and accomplished housekeepers
are often the most deficient in these respects; while the daughters of
ignorant or inefficient mothers, driven to the exercise of their own
energies, often become the most systematic and expert.

It may be objected, that such things cannot be taught by books. This
position may fairly be questioned. Do not young ladies learn, from
books, how to make hydrogen and oxygen? Do they not have pictures of
furnaces, alembics, and the various utensils employed in _cooking_ the
chemical ag