A Treatise on Domestic Economy; For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School

a sharer in the joys, sorrows, plans, and pursuits, of all the rest. At the same time, frequent family meetings are sought; and the expense, thus incurred, is cheerfully met by retrenchments in other directions. The sacrifice of some unnecessary physical indulgence, (such, for instance, as the use of tea and coffee,) will often purchase many social and domestic enjoyments, a thousand times more elevating and delightful, than the retrenched luxury. There is no social duty, which the Supreme Lawgiver more strenuously urges, than hospitality and kindness to strangers, who are classed with the widow and the fatherless, as the special objects of Divine tenderness. There are some reasons, why this duty peculiarly demands attention from the American people. Reverses of fortune, in this land, are so frequent and unexpected, and the habits of the people are so migratory, that there are very many in every part of the Country, who, having seen all their temporal plans and hopes crushed, are now pining among strangers, bereft of wonted comforts, without friends, and without the sympathy and society, so needful to wounded spirits. Such, too frequently, sojourn long and lonely, with no comforter but Him who "knoweth the heart of a stranger." Whenever, therefore, new comers enter a community, inquiry should immediately be made, whether they have friends and associates, to render sympathy and kind attentions; and, when there is any need for it, the ministries of kind neighborhood should immediately be offered. And it should be remembered, that the first days of a stranger's sojourn, are the most dreary, and that civility and kindness are doubled in value, by being offered at an early period. In social gatherings, the claims of the stranger are too apt to be forgotten; especially, in cases where there are no peculiar attractions of personal appearance, or talents, or high standing. Such a one should be treated with attention, _because he is a stranger_; and when communities learn to act more from principle, and less from selfish impulse, on this subject, the sacred claims of the stranger will be less frequently forgotten. The most agreeable