Mrs. R. After all the receipts and information which you have given me, there is one which you have not touched upon yet, which, perhaps, is of more importance than all the rest, it is the management of servants.

Mrs. B. You are right, my dear, it is of great importance, and more so than many of us imagine, as for myself I do not consider that I am a good manager, being perhaps of too forgiving a disposition; but there is one good quality which I possess which makes up for the want of others, that is exactitude; by enforcing this it causes all to know their place, and perform their work.

Mrs. R. But what surprises me is to see everything so well done and clean with so few servants; you seem to have but two maid servants, the cook, house-maid, and coachman.

Mrs. B. Yes, that is all, and I generally find that they are enough for the work, unless I have a dinner party, and then of course, as you know, I have extra men; but I will tell you how I pass the day, and then you will be able to judge.

We are what are called early risers, that is, Mr. B. is obliged to leave home every week day at twenty minutes past nine; our breakfast is on the table at half-past eight; the breakfast parlor having previously been got ready, as the servants rise at seven. We are, when we have no visitors, our two selves, the three children, and the governess. The children, in summer time, have had a walk before breakfast, but before leaving their room they uncover their beds, and if fine open the windows, if a wet morning about two inches of the top sash is pulled down. The servants get their breakfast at the same time as we do, as we require hardly any or no waiting upon, everything being ready on the table. In a former letter I told you what was our breakfast some years since when in business, now we have placed on the table some brown bread, rolls and dry toast; the butter is in a glass butter-dish, and the eggs are brought up when we have sat down to table. The urn is placed on the table, as I make my own tea and coffee; the cocoa is made down stairs.

You will perhaps be surprised when I say that I make the coffee for breakfast myself, but I have done so for some little time past, having found that when made in the kitchen it never came up twice alike, but now we always have it delicious.

I lately purchased a coffee-pot which enables me to do it in the very best manner, with no more trouble than I have in making the tea. I mentioned it in my receipts for coffee, and said it was invented by a Mr. S., which letter was inserted by mistake instead of C. which it ought to be. It is called Carey’s Hecla. It makes the very best coffee at one short operation, and is so contrived as to produce it almost boiling hot; in fact, never permitting the great mistake of boiling the coffee itself at all.

Mr. B. generally leaves home in the brougham, which returns in time for me; in case I should be going out, he then goes in a cab or omnibus. Whilst we are at breakfast, I generally consult Mr. B. what he would like for dinner, and if he is likely to invite any friend to dine with him; the fishmonger has previously sent his list and prices of the day. I then write with a pencil on a slip of paper the bill of fare for the nursery dinner, luncheon, should any be required, and our dinner, which I send to the cook. At ten o’clock I go down stairs into the kitchen and larder, when the cook gives me her report, that is everything that is required for the next twenty-four hours’ consumption, including the servants’ dinner, which report is filed in the larder and made to tally with the week’s list, for I must tell you that the week’s consumption of all things that will not spoil is had in on the Saturday, on which day the larder is properly scoured out, and everything put again into its proper place, there being bins for all kinds of vegetables, &c. The larder is generally kept locked, the cook and I only having keys, because it is in fact a larder, and not, as in many houses, full of emptiness; this occupies about half an hour, during which time the chambermaids have been attending to the bed-rooms and drawing-room, &c. If I go out or not, I always get my toilet finished by twelve o’clock; I thus have one hour to write notes, or see tradesmen or my dressmaker, and Monday mornings check and pay my tradesmen’s accounts, and to dress. If I stop at home, I amuse myself by reading, or going to see the children in the nursery, or sometimes go again into the kitchen and assist the cook on some new receipt or preparation, and often have several calls; during the course of the morning the two maids scour out alternately one or two of the rooms, according to size, except on Wednesdays, when one of them is otherwise engaged.

Mr. B. arrives home at twenty minutes to five, and at half-past five we dine: the cloth is laid, and everything prepared as if we had company; it may be a little more trouble for the servants; but when we do have any friends they find it less trouble; besides it is always uncertain but what Mr. B. may bring somebody home with him, and it prevents slovenly habits; the two maids, with the exception of Wednesdays, are always ready to attend on us. I never allow the coachman to defile our carpets with his stable shoes; all his duties in the house are—the first thing in the morning to clean the knives and forks for the day, for enough are kept out for that purpose, clean the boots and shoes, and those windows the maids cannot easily get at, and assist in the garden if required. Many have made the remark to me, that as you have a male servant why not have him wait at table. I reply that the duties of the stable are incompatible with those of the table, and if he does his duty properly he has enough to do. The servants dine at one, and have tea at quarter to five, by which time the cook has everything ready, all but to take it from the fire, and the maids the dining-room ready. The nursery dinner is at the same hour; after dinner, should we be alone, we have the children and the governess down; if we have company we do not see them; they go to bed at a quarter to eight, and we have tea and coffee at eight; the governess comes and passes the rest of the evening with us; eleven is our usual hour of retiring, before which Mr. B. likes his glass of negus, a biscuit, or a sandwich, which is brought upon a tray.

Mrs. L.—What you have described to me is all very well, yet I am certain, that if I go and try to do the same to-morrow, I shall not succeed; how is it that you have everything in its place, and I never hear a word said to the servants?

Mrs. B.—It is because they all know their duties, and if they should in any way neglect them, I think of the maxim, bear and forbear, for none of us are perfect, and I take an opportunity when I may be alone with them to tell them quietly of their faults. Some mistresses will go into the kitchen and be angry with them before the other servants; the consequence is, that as soon as her back is turned they all begin to laugh. A ridiculous incident of this kind occurred the other evening at Mrs. G.’s. We missed her out of the drawing-room just before tea, and it appeared that her young boy Fred, followed her; whilst we were at tea he was very communicative, as children sometimes will be (l’enfant terrible), and said, “We have been having such fun in the kitchen.” On inquiry he said, “My mother has been down stairs scolding Jane, and I hid myself behind the door; and when my mother had gone up, Betsy the cook spoke and moved her hands just like mamma; it made us all laugh so, it was such fun.” I need not tell you it was no fun for Mrs. G., who looked rather annoyed. We should ever remember, that we have our feelings, and should also think that others have theirs; and I think it is as much the mistress’s fault when anything goes wrong in the house, as the servants’. I only lose my servants when they get married, or from ill health, and the only thing that I find bad, is, that they quarrel amongst themselves, but should this occur thrice with the same two, I dismiss them both. I am certain, that if you teach your servants to take care of themselves, they are certain to take care of you. I continually hear Mrs. M. complaining of changing her servants, and that seems to be her sole occupation. Poor thing, she has no children, and nothing to occupy her mind, and without occupation the mind becomes diseased, and the least action throws it into fever. Mrs. N. complains of the extravagance of her servants; it is her own extravagance, or, more properly speaking, her want of management which causes all; but this I really think, that if everybody were more cautious in receiving and giving characters to servants other than what they are, we should not hear the continual complaint we do, when often assembled in the drawing-room after dinner, when, perhaps, some dear old lady complains of the education given to young people of the present day, and that, in time, there will be no such thing as servants. To some extent I am of her opinion, and consider that the education given by all classes to their children, is a great deal more ornamental than useful. I would rather see the child taught some of the accomplishments of housekeeping, than that she should be considered as the mere ornament of the drawing-room. I think it is the bounden duty of every mother, where the income of the husband may be dependent on trade or profession, to give her children that education which even the most adverse of circumstances may call upon them to assume. Look at the advertisements which appear in the public press every day!—Young girls offering themselves as governesses, to be remunerated by their board; whereas, if they had been educated with a knowledge of some useful employment, they would have made good ladies’ maids or housekeepers, or useful wives to tradesmen.