What you
work, interrupted my sister, why you do not seem willing to undertake any
work; you will not wash nor scour; you cannot dress a dinner for company;
you are no needlewoman; and our little house of two rooms on a floor, is
too much for you. For God's sake what can you do? Madam, replied she
pertly; I know my business; and do not fear a service; there are more
places than parish churches; if you wash at home, you should have a
laundrymaid; if you give entertainments, you must have a cookmaid; if you
have any needlework, you should have a chambermaid; and such a house as
this is enough for a housemaid in all conscience.
I was pleased at the wit, and astonished at the impudence of the girl, so
dismissed her with thanks for her instructions, assuring her that when I
kept four maids she should be housemaid if she pleased.
Were a servant to do my business with cheerfulness, I should not grudge
at five or six pounds per annum; nor would I be so unchristian to put
more upon any one than they can bear; but to pray and pay too is the
devil. It is very hard, that I must keep four servants or none.
In great families, indeed, where many servants are required, those
distinctions of chambermaid, housemaid, cookmaid, laundrymaid,
nurserymaid, &c.
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