submissive and respectful. All near relatives, whether by blood
or marriage, are directed, whatever their feelings may be, 'to keep up
a kindly intercourse by letter, word of mouth, trifling presents, and
so forth, treating your husband or wife's connections in company as
you do your own, merely introducing a little more ceremony.' Those
newly-married couples who go into company to look at, dance with, and
talk to each other, are held up to ridicule, and advised to follow the
example of the English, who wisely remain secluded for a month, in
order to be surfeited with each other's society, and repeat
extravagantly fond epithets until they themselves feel the folly of
them; and their mothers or maiden aunts--who are now sometimes found
at large in France, since the practice of sending poor or plain girls
into convents has ceased to be so general--come under reproof.
'Consider, O ye affectionate-hearted women, that others feel no
interest in the children who to your eyes seem so perfect, and have no
inclination to act as inquisitors over their little talents and
accomplishments. Spare your friends the thousand-and-one anecdotes of
the extraordinary cleverness, vivacity, or piety of the little people
you love so blindly: do not excoriate their ears by making them listen
to recitations or the strumming of sonatos; or weary their eyes by
requesting them to watch the leaping and kicking of small stick-like
legs.' You only render your boys and girls conceited, and make them
appear positive pests to your visitors, whose politeness in giving the
praise you angle for is seldom sincere; and thus, by committing a
fault yourself, you force your friends to do the like in a different
way. 'But even this is better than finding fault with either children
or servants in the presence of strangers; this is such gross
ill-breeding, one feels astonished it should be necessary to take
notice of it at all, and to the little ones themselves it is
absolutely ruinous:' it makes them miserable in the meanwhile, and in
the end, careless of appearances, indifferent to shame.

I must leave out, or at least pass slightly over, a great deal which
sounds most strange to us, such as, the necessity of preventing
servants from 'sitting down in your presence, more especially when
serving at table;' permitting ladies to wear curl papers on rising,
but hinting that they should be hid under a cambric cap; and although
taking it for granted a lady would 'not pu