And the lady who values her
porcelain, that most exquisite product of the peace and
thorough-breeding of China, so highly, should take the hint, and
remember that unless the fragrant herb of wit, sweetened by kindness,
and softened by the cream of affability, also crown her board, the
prettiest tea-cups in the world might as well lie in fragments in the
gutter, as adorn her social show. The show loses its beauty when it
ceases to represent a substance.
Here, as elsewhere, it is only vanity, narrowness and self-seeking,
that spoil a good thing. Women would never be too good housekeepers
for their own peace and that of others, if they considered
housekeeping only as a means to an end. If their object were really
the peace and joy of all concerned, they could bear to have their cups
and saucers broken more easily than their tempers, and to have
curtains and carpets soiled, rather than their hearts by mean and
small feelings. But they are brought up to think it is a disgrace to
be a bad housekeeper, not because they must, by such a defect, be a
cause of suffering and loss of time to all within their sphere, but
because all other women will laugh at them if they are so.
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