er spinsters,
not unfrequently with Frenchified names; such, for instance, as
'Mesdames Puerdon's Seminary,' the lady's real name being Martha (or,
if you please, Patty) Purton, and a deformed relative completing
the Mesdames: the 'Misses de la Porte,' (whom nature had made simple
Porter), and no great catch to obtain either: the 'Misses Cox's
preparatory school for young gentlemen of an early age,' all seem
to bespeak the poverty, false pride, and affectation of the owners.
Notwithstanding the fine denominations given to some of these learned
institutions, such as 'Bellevue Seminary'--'Montpeliere House'--'Bel
Retiro Boarding School,' &c. &c.

"To such artifices as these are two classes of females compelled to
resort, namely, reduced gentlewomen and exalted tradesmen's daughters,
who disdain commerce, and hate the homely station which dame nature had
originally intended them to move in. Such ladies (either by birth or
adoption) prefer the twig to the distaff, the study to the shop, and
experience more pleasure in walking out airing with their pupils, taking
their station in the front, frequently gaudily and indiscreetly dressed,
than to be confined to the counter, or the domestic occupations of the
good old English housewife of former times.

"Such ladies are frequently to be met with on all the Greens and
Commons, from dirty Stepney or Bethnal, to the more sumptuous Clapham or
Willisdon. Some of them are so occupied with self, that the random-shot
glances of their pupils at the exquisites and the dandy militaires about
town, do not come within the range of their notice, while others are
more vigilant, but often heave a sigh at the thought that the gay and
gallant Captain should prefer the ruddy daughter of a cheese-monger, to
the reduced sprigs of gentility which they consider themselves.

~~366~~~ "At all events, many of these ladies,and worthy ones too, are
placed, _par force_ of poverty, in this avocation, unsuited to their
abilities, their hearts, their habits, or their former expectations. The
government of their young flock is odious to them, and although they may
go through the duties of their situation with apparent patience, it is
in fact a drudgery almost insupportable; and the objects nearest the
governess's heart--are the arrival of the vacation, the entrance-money,
the quarter's schooling, and a lengthy list of items: the arrival of
Black Monday, or a cessation of holidays, brings depressed spirits, and