Part 28
In the business of accounts, the first objects are, arrangement, perspicuity, and security. In all accounts of property, there are certain general rules which must be attended to, the chief of which are the following: 1st. Trust as little as possible to memory, but make memorandums of payments, receipts, bargains, agreements, &c. on the instant. 2d. Pay no money without receiving a proper discharge. 3d. Give up no security, lease, agreement, or other valuable property, without taking in return a written acknowledgement. 4th. Let all contingent, undecided, or uncertain transactions be forthwith entered, with every necessary remark, voucher, and reference. 5th. Post all the various transactions under their proper heads as soon as possible. 6th. Fold, label, date, and class all papers, the most valuable of which are to be deposited at the end of every year, in a secure place, with the date on the outside. Perhaps the two principal books necessary to be kept, are a DAY-BOOK or JOURNAL, and a LEDGER, with two other books, to be called the MEMORANDUM-BOOK, and GENERAL INVENTORY. A portable POCKET MEMORANDUM-BOOK will also be found to be convenient. Every servant in trust under the land steward ought to be provided with an account book appropriately ruled: this book should be examined and passed monthly by the steward and an abstract of it transcribed into his journal.
FORM OF THE JOURNAL.
_Journal belonging to the Right Hon. Lord Viscount A. X. Y. Steward. 1825._
_Dr._ _Cash_ _Cr._ +------+-------+-------------------------------++---+----+----++----+----+----+ | Date |Fol. in| || £ |_s._|_d._|| £ |_s._|_d._| | 1825.| Ledger| || | | || | | | |Jan. 6| |Agreed this day with R. P. to || | | || | | | | | | accept as a compensation for || | | || | | | | | | a Heriot, due on the death of || | | || | | | | | | his father, £30. || | | || | | | | | +-------------------------------+| | | || | | | | 17| |Rec^d. of C. L. for half year’s|| | | || | | | | | | rent, due at Christmas last || 25| 0| 0|| | | | | | +-------------------------------+| | | || | | | | 21| |Rec^d. of S. R. for one year’s || | | || | | | | | | rent in full, to do. || 75| 0| 0|| | | | | | +-------------------------------+| | | || | | | | 31| |Paid the following persons || | | || | | | | | | their bills:— || | | || | | | | | |T. M. saddler, as pr. bill to || | | || | | | | | | Xmas. || | | || 22| 5| 0| | | |W. R. Smith do. do. || | | || 29| 6| 0| | | | |+---+----+----++----+----+----+ | | | ||100| 0| 0| 51| 11| 0| | | | || 51| 11| 0| | | | | | | |+---+----+----+ | | | | | | Balance this month. ||£48| 9| 0| | | | +------+-------+-------------------------------++---+----+----+-----+----+----+
The journal, spoken of, should be kept as a book of reference for every transaction that occurs, and which is to be entered daily, precisely as it occurs; and if it be afterwards found necessary, is to be entered in the ledger as a distinct and separate account—from all others. This journal will, of course, include every cash transaction, and save the trouble of keeping a separate cash-book. The cash account may be posted regularly in the ledger, under a general head, bearing that title.
In the ledger will, of course, be opened an account with every tenant, and as a consequence with _Dr._ and _Cr._; also an account _Dr._ and _Cr._ of every article, the increase, decrease, and actual state of which, it is necessary to ascertain with precision.
The MEMORANDUM LEDGER being paged, and having an alphabet, is for the purpose of containing the head title of every memorandum of consequence, and pointing out the page, in the journal, where the particulars are to be found. This ought to be examined frequently, and the items that are become useless, marked out; those remaining unmarked, should, if numerous, be carried forward. The regular, or occasional deposits of leases, deeds, and other documents of importance, are invariably to be pointed out by a memorandum, as it may be of great import to successors and survivors.
From these original sources, transcripts may be made in any form required, for the use of the principal or lord. An account current of cash received and paid should be made out annually, half-yearly, or otherwise, to be examined, passed, and signed by the principal.
THE HOUSE STEWARD.
This is the most important officer in domestic establishments, and is seldom adopted except in the families of noblemen or gentlemen of great fortunes, by whom he is appointed as their _locum tenens_, not only to superintend such necessary business as, from their rank and condition, or other circumstances, they cannot undertake, but also to control and manage, generally, all the most important concerns of the household. It follows, therefore, that he ought to be a man of great experience in household affairs, steady and attentive in his conduct, and of approved principles and integrity. His character must be irreproachable and exemplary, that he may be regarded with confidence and satisfaction by his employers, and respected by those around him.
His chief business will be to hire, manage, and direct, and discharge every servant of every denomination. To appropriate to every domestic his proper and express business, and to see that it be done accordingly. He ought to make it a point never to take a servant without strict enquiry as to his moral character, orderly conduct, and abilities for his situation, nor ought he to withhold a fair character from any servant he discharges.
The House Steward, by the suavity of his manners, and equable deportment, has it in his power to sustain the reputation of his master in high estimation, and to make his whole household comfortable and happy.
For further hints respecting servants we refer to the Address to the _Mistresses of Families_, in the dedication, p. 10, 11, and 12; and to those given to the _Housekeeper_, p. 52, 53, and 54.
Ability to provide for the family in the best manner, is another qualification indispensably necessary in the _House Steward_. He is expected to be a competent judge of the nature and qualities of provisions, their comparative values, the best seasons for purchasing the several articles, and the cheapest and most economical markets or places to attend. The best way to go to market is with _ready money_; or to deal with tradesmen of probity, and to settle their accounts early and at regular and stated periods, but never to disappoint them, at the expected times, which makes his custom nearly equivalent to cash, and he will consequently be served with the best articles and on the lowest terms. A conscientious and honest discharge of his duty in this respect, will tend greatly to the satisfaction of his employers, and redound to his own credit. Other hints on the subject will be found under the head Housekeeper, p. 54 and 55; and directions for marketing, which may afford some hints, even to an expert and an adroit practitioner, may be found p. 75 to 88.
The abilities of the House Steward, as an accountant, are not required to be very considerable. He is merely to keep an account of monies received by him, on one page, and of monies paid or disbursed by him, on the opposite page; and these two pages being cast up, and the amount of one side being deducted from the amount of the other, will, if the account has been correctly kept, shew at once the exact balance, belonging to his employer, remaining in his hands. It will be the business of the housekeeper to examine, weigh, and compare the several articles, as they are brought in, with the tickets sent with them by the respective tradesmen, and these tickets, so examined and signed, will enable the Steward to check the tradesmen’s bills when brought in, previously to their being paid. An upright and trust-worthy Steward will discharge this part of his duty, as well as every other, with zeal, fidelity, impartiality, and integrity; bearing for ever on his mind this pleasing truth, that, “every man’s station is honourable or otherwise, as his own conduct makes it.”
Salary from 100l. to 250l. and upwards.
THE STEWARD’S ROOM BOY.
There is seldom a lad of this description kept, except in families where there is a house steward, or comptroller of the household, when the servant is appointed to attend on him, run on errands, carry messages, &c. He waits at table, or makes himself otherwise useful in the steward’s-room; trims the lamps that are in use below stairs, and cleans the servants’ boots and shoes. Wages from 8l. to 12l. per annum.
THE BUTLER.
At first rising, it is the duty of the Butler, where no valet is kept, to manage and arrange his master’s clothes, and carry them to his dressing-room, his boots and shoes being cleaned by the footman or under butler.
It is his proper business to see that the breakfast is duly set, the under butler or footman carrying up the tea urn, and the butler the eatables; he, or the under butler waiting during breakfast.[19] On taking away, he removes the tea-tray, and the under butler or footman the urn, cloth, &c.
The breakfast things being taken away, and the plate, &c. cleaned and put away under his directions, the Butler then gets his own breakfast with the housekeeper, unless the servants all breakfast together at an earlier hour.
If no valet is kept, he then attends in his master’s dressing-room, sets it in order, carries down his clothes to be brushed by the under butler or footman, and attends to every thing connected with his master’s clothes, linen, &c. or sees that what is wanted is done by others.
He now cleans himself to attend company or visitors at the door, which he is to answer, receive cards, deliver messages, &c.
At luncheon time, the cloth being laid by the under butler or footman, it is the duty of the Butler to carry in the tray, or arrange the table, and when there is company, he waits in the room assisted by the other servants.
If wine is wanted for the luncheon, it is his duty to fetch it from the cellar; and if ale, to draw or bring it up when wanted.
The keys of the wine and ale cellars are specially kept by him, and the management of the wine, the keeping the stock book, and also of ale in stock, or in brewing, are in his particular charge. This duty he generally performs in the morning before he is drest to receive company, and he then brings out such wine as is wanted for the day’s use. It is his duty to fine wine as it comes in the pipe, and to superintend the bottling, sealing it himself, and disposing it in binns so as to know its age and character. While these duties and those of brewing are in hand, he leaves the parlour and waiting duties to the under butler and footman.
Where no steward is kept, he pays all bills for wine, spirits, ale, malt, coals, and in general, all bills not in the housekeeper’s or kitchen department. Sometimes, also, he pays the other male servants.
At dinner time, the under butler or footman lays the cloth, and carries up the articles wanted, under the direction of the Butler, who gives out the necessary plate, kept by him under lock, and generally in an iron chest.
He sets and displays the dinner on the table, carrying in the first dish, waits at the side-board, hands wine round or when called for; removes every course, and sets and arranges every fresh course on the table according to his bill of fare, which is placed on the side-board for reference; and does not leave the dinner room till the dessert and wine have been placed on the table by him or under his direction.[20]
It is then his business to see that the plate, glasses, &c. are carried to the pantry, cleaned, and wiped by the under butler and footman, and the whole carefully put in their proper places.
Having taken his own dinner with the other servants out of livery, generally at one o’clock, he gets his tea while the family in the parlour are taking their wine and dessert, and in the mean time, the under butler or footman prepares the tea things for the parlour.
If the bell rings during the dessert, the Butler answers, and does the same for the remainder of the evening.
The under butler is now engaged in cleaning the plate and arranging the pantry.
The tea tray is carried up by the Butler, assisted by the footman; and in waiting at tea, the Butler hands round the cups on the tray, the footman assisting with the eatables. The Butler removes the tea-tray, and the footman the urn, &c. The footman carries in coals, but the Butler manages the candles.
When tea is made below, it is done by the housekeeper, but carried up and handed round by the Butler and footman.
If there is company, the refreshments, wine, ices, &c. are carried up by the Butler, assisted and followed by the footman.
When there is supper, the under Butler or Butler arranges the same, and it is managed like the dinner.
Slippers, dressing gown, night candles, &c. are carried up and disposed by the Butler.
After his master has gone to bed, he goes to his dressing-room, takes down such things as want cleaning or brushing, and gives them to the footman. He then looks over the plate, locks it up, sees that all the men servants are gone to bed, the doors locked, and windows fastened, and then retires to rest himself.
This business is strictly domestic, but he goes out to order things in his department, and he is sometimes employed abroad in any confidential business, to which the under servants are considered unequal.
The wages of regular Butlers, in large families, are from 50 to 80l. per annum; but in smaller families, from 30 to 50l. The perquisites, if he perform the duty of valet, are his master’s cast off clothes; and as Butler, he gets the pieces of wax candles, the second hand cards, compliments on paying tradesman’s bills, or Christmas boxes and wine for his own use. He finds his own clothes, washing, &c. and is expected to be genteel and clean in his person.
In all things connected with the establishment, he is supposed, when no steward is kept, to represent his master; and as various accounts are under his direction, he ought to be able to write a fair hand, and to be ready in the first rules of arithmetic. From this display of his duties, it will appear that his office is no sinecure; and as the good order and economy of an establishment depends much on the vigilance of the Butler, when no steward is kept, so a Butler who knows his duties, and performs them with zeal, integrity, and ability, cannot be too highly prized by judicious heads of families.
_To manage foreign Wines._
The principal object to be attended to in the management of foreign wine vaults, is to keep them of a temperate heat. Care must be taken, therefore, to close up every aperture or opening, that there may be no admission given to the external air. The floor of the vault should likewise be well covered with saw-dust, which must not be suffered to get too dry and dusty, but must receive now and then an addition of new, lest, when bottling or racking wine, some of the old dust should fly into it. At most vaults, in the winter, it is necessary to have a stove or chafing-dish, to keep up a proper degree of warmth. In the summer time it will be best to keep them as cool as possible.
_To Fit up a Cellar of Wines and Spirits._
Provide a good rope and tackling, to let down the casks into the vault or cellar, and a slide, ladder, or pulley for the casks to slide or roll on;
A pair of strong slings;
A pair of can hooks and a pair of crate hooks;
A block of wood to put under the pipes when topping them over in a narrow passage, or in casing them;
A small valinch to taste wine;
A crane, and a small copper pump to rack off;
Two or three gallon cans, made of wood;
A large wooden funnel;
Two or three copper funnels from a quart to a gallon each;
Two racking cocks;
Two wine bottling cocks;
A brace and various bits;
Two small tubs;
A square basket to hold the corks;
Two small tin funnels;
A small strainer;
Two cork screws;
Two or three baskets;
A wisk to beat the finings;
Three flannel or linen bags;
A strong iron screw to raise the bungs;
A pair of pliers;
Bungs, corks, and vent pegs;
Two frets or middle sized gimblets;
Some sheet lead and tacks to put on broken staves;
Brown paper to put round cocks and under the lead, when stopping leaks;
A staff with a chain at one end to rumage the wines, &c.
Shots and lead canister, or bristle brush, and two cloths to wash bottles;
Two large tubs;
Some small racks that will hold six dozen each;
A cooper’s adze;
An iron and a wooden driver to tighten hoops;
Two dozen of wooden bungs of different sizes;
A thermometer, which is to be kept in the vault, a stove or chafing-dish, to keep the heat of the vault to a known temperature;
A few dozen of delf labels;
A cup-board to hold all the tools;
A spade, two good stiff birch brooms, and a rake to level the saw-dust.
_To restore pricked British Wines._
Rack the wines down to the lees into another cask, where the lees of good wines are fresh; then put a pint of strong aqua vitæ, and scrape half a pound of yellow bees-wax into it, which by heating the spirit over a gentle fire, will melt; after which dip a piece of cloth into it, and when a little dry, set it on fire with a brimstone match, put it into the bung-hole, and stop it up close.
_Another Method._
First prepare a fresh empty cask, that has had the same kind of wine in it which is about to be racked, then match it, and rack off the wine, putting to every ten gallons two ounces of oyster-shell powder, and half an ounce of bay salt, then get the staff and stir it well about, letting it stand till it is fine, which will be in a few days; after which rack it off into another cask, (previously matched) and if the lees of some wine of the same kind can be got, it will improve it much.—Put likewise a quart of brandy to every ten gallons, and if the cask has been emptied a long time, it will match better on that account; but if even a new cask, the matching must not be omitted. A fresh empty cask is to be preferred.
This method will answer for all made wines.
_To rack Foreign Wine._
The vault or cellar should be of a temperate heat, and the casks sweet and clean. Should they have an acid or musty smell, it may be remedied by burning brimstone matches in them; and if not clean, rinse them well out with cold water, and after draining rinse with a quart of brandy, putting the brandy afterwards into the ullage cask. Then strain the lees or bottoms through a flannel or linen bag. But put the bottoms of port into the ullage cask without going through the filtering bag. In racking wine that is not on the stillage, a wine-pump is desirable.
_To manage and improve poor Red Port._
If wanting in body, colour, and flavour, draw out thirty or forty gallons, and return the same quantity of young and rich wines. To a can of which put three gills of colouring, with a bottle of wine or brandy. Then wisk it well together, and put it into the cask stirring it well. If not bright in about a week or ten days, fine it for use; previous to which put in at different times a gallon of good brandy. If the wine is short of body, put a gallon or two of brandy in each pipe, by a quart or two at a time, as it feeds the wine better than putting it in all at once. But if the wines are in a bonded cellar, procure a funnel that will go to the bottom of the cask, that the brandy may be completely incorporated with the wine.
_To manage Claret._
Claret is not a wine of a strong body, though it requires to be of a good age before it is used, and, therefore, it should be well managed; the best method is to feed it every two or three weeks with a pint or two of French brandy. Taste it frequently, to know what state it is in, and use the brandy accordingly, but never put much in at a time, while a little incorporates with the wine, and feeds and mellows it.
If the claret is faint, rack it into a fresh-emptied hogshead, upon the lees of good claret; and bung it up, putting the bottom downwards for two or three days, that the lees may run through it.
_To colour Claret._
If the colour be not yet perfect, rack it off again into a hogshead that has been newly drawn off, with the lees; then take a pound of turnsole, and put it into a gallon or two of wine; let it lie a day or two, and then put it into the vessel; after which lay the bung downwards for a night, and the next day roll it about.
Or, take any quantity of damsons or black sloes, and strew them with some of the deepest coloured wine and as much sugar as will make it into a syrup. A pint of this will colour a hogshead of claret. It is also good for red port wines, and may be kept ready for use in glass bottles.
_To restore Claret that drinks foul._
Rack it off from the dregs on some fresh lees of its own kind, and then take a dozen of new pippins, pare them, and take away the cores or hearts: then put them in the hogsheads, and if that is not sufficient, take a handful of the oak of Jerusalem, and bruise it; then put it into the wine, and stir it well.
_To make Claret and Port rough._
Put in a quart of claret or port two quarts of sloes; bake them in a gentle oven, or over a fire, till a good part of their moisture is stewed out, then pour off the liquor, and squeeze out the rest. A pint of this will be sufficient for 30 or 40 gallons.
TO RECOVER PRICKED FOREIGN WINES.
Take a bottle of red port that is pricked, add to it half an ounce of tartarised spirit of wine, shake the liquor well together, and set it by for a few days, and it will be found much altered for the better. If this operation be dexterously performed, pricked wines may be absolutely recovered by it, and remain saleable for some time; and the same method may be used to malt liquors just turned sour.
_To manage Hermitage and Burgundy._
Red hermitage must be managed in the same way as claret, and the white likewise, except the colouring, which it does not require. Burgundy should be managed in the same manner as red hermitage.
_To manage Lisbon Wine._
If the Lisbon is dry, take out of the pipe thirty-five or forty gallons, and put in the same quantity of calcavella, stir it well about, and this will make a pipe of good mild Lisbon: or, if it be desired to convert mild into dry, take the same quantity out as above mentioned, before, and fill the pipe with Malaga sherry, stirring it about as the other. The same kind of fining used for Vidonia will answer for Lisbon wines; or it may be fined with the whites and shells of sixteen eggs, and a small handful of salt; beat it together to a froth, and mix it with a little of the wines; then pour it into the pipe, stir it about, and let it have vent for three days; after which bung it up, and in a few days it will be fine. Lisbon when bottled should be packed either in saw-dust or leather in a temperate place.
_To manage Bucellas Wine._