attendance upon divine service was to pray and
not to chatter. Courtesy was recommended in all of the relations of
life; and when the time came that she was sought in marriage, she was
told not to look upon her suitor with scorn, whoever he might be, nor
to keep the matter a secret from her friends. She was not to sit close
to him, because "synne mygte be wrought," and a slander be thereby
raised, which, she is informed, is difficult to still. She was
counselled, when married, to love her husband and answer him
meekly; she was to be well mannered, not to be rude, nor to laugh
boisterously--or, to give it as it is expressed in the poem, "but
lauge thou softe and myslde." Her outdoor conduct also was regulated
for her. She was not to walk fast, nor to toss her head, nor to
wriggle her shoulders; she was not to use many words, nor to
swear, for all such manners come to evil. She was to drink only in
moderation, "For if thou be ofte drunke, it falle thee to schame." She
was to exercise due discretion in all of her relations with the other
sex, and to accept from them no presents. She was herself to work and
to see that those under her were kept employed; to have faults set
right at once, keep her own keys, and to be careful whom she trusted.
If her children gave her trouble and were not submissive, she must not
curse or scold them, but "take a smert rodde, and bete them on a rowe
til thei crie mercy." Besides all these enjoinments, she was impressed
with the duty of benevolence, and was to act as physician to all those
about her.

The position of woman at this time was clearly defined. Certainly the
woman of the middle classes had taken her proper place in society. She
did not disdain to look after the affairs of her establishment, nor
was this regarded as in any way derogatory to her dignity; and this
was also true of women in the highest rank. It is said that, as a
rule, the husband and wife were in full accord, and confided in one
another upon terms of equality. The wife was careful of her charge at
home, and heedful of her husband's purse; she generally made her own
as well as her children's clothing, if the material were to be had.
No wife of to-day could show greater solicitude for the comfort and
well-being of her husband than did Dame Paston, the wife of John
Paston, who in 1449 wrote to her husband a letter from which we may
extract the following: "And I pray you also, that ye be wel dyetyd of
mete and drynke, fo