The Servant's Behaviour Book

This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design. This conduct manual for young maidservants speaks in the voice of an experienced mistress, blending firmness with practical advice on how to succeed in respectable households. It argues that manners, self-command, and careful speech matter as much as skill, helping a servant earn trust, better places, and higher wages. At its core is a strict lesson in restraint: speak little, answer briefly, and never mistake a mistress's kindness for permission to grow familiar. Through vivid examples of talkative maids such as Mary, Rose, Lucy, and Anna, the book contrasts tiresome chatter with the quiet dignity of proper behavior. It warns against unnecessary conversation with employers, children, fellow servants, tradespeople, or guests, especially in drawing rooms, nurseries, hallways, staircases, and other places where voices carry. Servants are urged to use respectful titles like "Sir," "Ma'am," and "Miss," to avoid noisy movement, awkward gestures, and overfamiliar speech, and to stand, sit, enter, and withdraw with calm precision. In every setting, the lesson is the same: deference, silence, and tact are the marks of good breeding and the path to advancement.