"At dinner, at supper, at morning, at night,
Give thanks unto God."
As soon as dinner is over, the servants are again set to work, and he very humanely adds,
"To servant in seikness, see nothing ye grutch,
A thing of a trifle shall comfort him much."
Many precepts, strictly economical, then follow, in which the huswife is directed to save her parings, drippings, and skimmings for the sake of her poultry, and for "medicine for cattle, for cart, and for shoe;" to employ the afternoon, like a good sempstress, in making and mending; to keep her maids cleanly in their persons, to call them quarterly to account, to mark and number accurately her linen, to save her feathers, to use little spice, and to make her own candle.
The business of the evening commences with preparations for supper, as soon as the hens go to roost; the hogs are then to be served, the cows milked, and as night comes on, the servants return, but none empty-handed, some bringing in wood, some logs, &c. The cattle, both without and within doors, are next to be attended to, all clothes brought into the house, and no door left unbolted, and the duties of the evening close with this injunction:
"Thou woman, whom pity becometh the best,
Grant all that hath laboured time to take rest."