A woman, whether married or single, who has the
management of a household thrown upon her hands,
becomes an employer of labour, and the questions which
on a large scale threaten the peace of society, affect, in
one shape or another, the well-being of every home.
She spends money for the advantage of others, and if in
a position to spend largely, her example will tell favour-
ably or unfavourably upon those ever-recurring questions
of allowable or criminal luxury, of remunerative or un-
remunerative expenditure, of the real character of sav-
ing and of extravagance ; and the habits' formed by
young people growing up under her guidance in right
or wrong associations on those points, will affect the
whole tenor of their lives and their subsequent influence
on society. It is futile, indeed, to imagine that it suf-
fices for a father to be wise on subjects such as these ;if
he be counteracted by the ignorance or the frivolous
habits of the mother, his views will go for very little.
They may be recalled in later years, but the opinion
that will have the strength of motive in early youth will



HIGHEE EDUCATION OF -WOMEN 87

be that which, bound up with feeling, as home-bred
opinions generally are, has grown up insensibly from
a powerful association almost unconsciously formed.
