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THE KITCHEN.
gaining her bread by honest means. To suspect all servants
of being thieves, or disposed to become so, merely because
they are servants, is as silly as it is unfeeling. 1 should ne-
ver hesitate to give my keys to a servant, when it happened
to be inconvenient to me to leave company, any more than
I should hesitate to intrust them to one of my own family;
but this act of confidence is far different in its effects from
that neglect which often proceeds from mere idleness, and,
while it proclaims a disregard of the value of property, is
the occasion of so much waste, and in the end proves as
ruinous to the employer as it is fatal in the way of example
to the servant.
   That "servants are great plagues" may be the fact; but 1
am, nevertheless, bold enough to assert that it is a greater
plague to be without them. When all the hardships which
belong to the life of a maid-servant are taken into considera-
tion (which I am afraid they very rarely are), the wonder is,
that the greater part of this class of persons are not rendered
less obliging and less obedient to the will of their employers,
and more callous to their displeasure, than we really find them.
                     THE KITCHEN.
   THE benefit of a good kitchen is well known to every
housekeeper, but it is not every mistress that is aware of
the importance of having a good cook.    I have seen
kitchens which appeared to be fitted tip with every conve-
nience, and certainly at considerable expence, which yet
failed to send forth good dinners, merely because the lady
of the house was not happy in her choice of a cook. I
do not in the least admire epicures, or epicurism; and
yet I would be more particular in the selecting of the
servant who is to perform the business of preparing tho
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