The social economy of this time was entirely different to that of any previous period. Marriage in no way incapacitated a woman-servant from keeping her situation. Indeed, it had a contrary effect; most people preferring a steady-going married woman with responsibilities, to a flirty inexperienced maiden who might use her position in the household to wile away a heedless son, or a somewhat lonesome husband. As a rule, however, such an occurrence happened rarely; the marriage state was mostly a very happy one, and faithfully kept on both sides, for a high standard of morality ruled supreme.
Other factors supported this beneficent condition; for all being equal as breadwinners, and the number of the sexes equally balanced, a man deemed himself fortunate when he secured a good wife and did his utmost to please her.
On her side affection alone prompted her to marry; the unworthy motive of making marriage the means of obtaining a home of her own, no longer existed, as every parent trained his daughter equally as his son to hold a position of independence, by giving her a trade, or profession to follow.
Both humble and high-born possessed more or less practical knowledge of physiology; especially those branches dealing directly with health, and the functions of reproduction, which enabled women to fill more intelligently the positions of wife and mother.
It was appointed by Government that all persons should be taught the more important branches of this science in the public schools, as soon as they reached the age of twelve years together with the principles of social economy. It was considered a gross immorality on the part of parents to bring into existence a large family of children, whom they could not possibly rear with comfort to themselves, or with any degree of justice to their offspring.
But over and above the personal inconvenience of poor people being overburdened with children, the disadvantage of giving birth to large families was recognised by all from an economic point of view: for the world was becoming so thickly populated that it appeared obvious a difficulty would arise in providing foodstuffs for so many millions of human beings, notwithstanding the very material assistance the science of chemistry afforded in feeding the multitude.
All persons, therefore recognised the necessity of supporting legislative authority on this point, for being an intellectual people they saw it worked to their advantage from every point of view.
Inordinate reproduction interfered with a wife’s ability to supplement her husband’s income by following her own profession, and thereby making a very narrow income into an easy one.
In bygone days if the mistress of a public school entered the marriage state she entered the schoolroom no more; custom decreed that with marriage all bread winning ceased on her side, and her husband’s small income must suffice.
Of course the raison d’être of this custom was not far to seek, for her child-bearing duties, to which no limit was placed, would considerably interfere with those of her situation.