ncludes mamma. The bargain is fair.
He has signed, and he honours his signature. Besides, he has a
consolation, that of knowing that his mother-in-law will give his wife
plenty of good and useful advice on housekeeping, teach her economy,
and be ever ready to come to her help in times of need.

I know very little of private life in America, but I know, at all
events, the supremacy of woman in social and family life, and,
therefore, I should feel inclined to suspect the American mother-in-law
to be as unpopular as the French one. The most striking point of
resemblance between America and France is the way in which women treat
men and are treated by them.

Was it not in America that I heard the following story? A man enjoyed
the possession of a beautiful and loving wife and a very uncongenial
mother-in-law. The latter fell ill, and her daughter went to nurse her.
At last the husband one day received the following telegram: 'Mother
dead; shall we have her embalmed, cremated, or buried?' The husband
wired back: 'Do the three; take no chance.'

How like the following, which is French: A man loses his wife. As the
funeral is about to leave the house he is ushered into the first
mourning-carriage. His mother-in-law is there. 'I cannot, I will not go
in that carriage!' he exclaims. 'My mother-in-law is in it.' 'But you
must,' he is told; 'you are the husband of the corpse.' 'Must I?' he
says. 'Well, if I must I will, but it will spoil the whole thing.'

I have always wondered how it is that men so much complain of their
mothers-in-law and that women so seldom do. Poor, dear little women!
They do have mothers-in-law, too--mothers-in-law to find fault with
their housekeeping, and to remind them that before they married their
sons were attended at home by most devoted sisters. The mother-in-law
of a man, no doubt, is often in the way. You sometimes wish she was not
there, but with a little diplomacy you can manage her, and even get rid
of her.

I recommend the following plan; it proved a big success with a friend
of mine. A short time after his marriage his mother-in-law arrived and
installed herself in his house. My friend welcomed her, and lavished
the most assiduous attentions upon her. He was not a church-goer; he
went to church, and insisted on carrying the excellent lady's books of
devotion. When a walk was taken, it was to her he offered his arm.
'Your mother is old,' he said to his wife, 'and so kind, too! I am
getti