gives is advice which, founded upon experience
and reflection, we cannot reject without injury. Let us borrow a few
passages from the conversations in which Mrs. Mansfeld figures:--

"Many marriages, my friends, have begun like the dawn, and fallen like
the dark night. Why? Because after the marriage-feast is over, husband
and wife have forgotten to be as agreeable to one another as they were
before it. Seek, therefore, to please reciprocally; but in doing this
have God always present before your eyes. Do not lavish all your
tenderness to-day; remember that in marriage there is a to-morrow and a
day after to-morrow. Keep some wood for the winter fire, and remember
what is expected of a married woman. Her husband must be able to count
upon her in his home; it is she to whom he must entrust the key of his
heart; his honour, his household, his welfare are in the hands of his
wife.

"Be to thy husband, my dear daughter, like the rays of the sun which you
see among the trees; allow thyself to be guided by him, render him happy
and thou thyself wilt be happy, and thou wilt understand what there is
of good in life; thou wilt become of value in thine own eyes, before
God, and before men."

To housewives and housekeepers she gives some shrewd, sensible
counsel:--

"It is only at intervals that you should make a general survey of the
household; this keeps servants respectful, and things orderly. If you
set the clock going in proper time, it afterwards goes alone, and you
have no need to be always ticking like a pendulum. Remember this, my
dear daughter, some mistresses are too restless with their bunches of
keys; they run about the kitchen and the pantry, but it is time lost; a
woman will do well to take care of her household with her head rather
than with her feet.

"Some mistresses are always at their servants' heels, by which nothing
is gained.

"Servants also ought to have some liberty and calm. We must not muzzle
the mouth of the ox who treads the corn. Let thy people be responsible
for what they do; hold them strictly to every tie of heart and honour;
give them richly that which comes back to them. The labourer is worthy
of his hire. But three or four times a year, and always unexpectedly,
swoop down upon them like the Last Judgment; examine every corner and
recess; make a noise like thunder, and strike right and left at the
fitting moment--this clears the house for many weeks!"

There is nothing sensational or ro