made him a present of a silver buffet
weighing a thousand marcs. At this period schools existed in Paris
sanctioned by the government, when the pay for each scholar was so
contemptible that they must have been for the use of the middle
classes, whose means were very confined; they were called _Petites
Ecoles_ (Little Schools), and paid a certain sum for having the
privilege to teach; the number in the reign of John was sixty-three, of
which forty-one were under masters, and twenty-two under mistresses. In
some of the streets of Paris it was the custom to have two large doors
or gates, which were closed at night, and the names of several streets
still bear evidence of that practice, as the _Rue des deux Portes_; the
_Rue des Deux-Portes-Saint-Jean_, _des Deux-Portes-Saint-Sauveur_, etc.

During the reign of John, about 1350, a poem appeared, which contained
advice as to the conduct ladies ought to observe who wished to act with
propriety, and as my fair countrywomen are generally willing to _listen_
to good counsel, no matter how remote the period from which it is
derived, I cannot resist giving them the benefit of some of the
recommendations of the sapient poet to the Parisian belles, some of
which are certainly highly commendable. The verses were written by a
monk, whose name I have forgotten.

"In walking to church never trot or run, salute those you meet upon the
way, and even return the salutations of the poor; when at church it is
not proper to look either to the right or the left, neither to speak nor
to laugh out loud, but to rise to the Gospel and courteously make the
sign of the cross, to go to the offering without either laughing or
joking, at the moment of the elevation also to rise; then kneel and
pray for all Christians; to recite by heart her prayers, and _if she can
read_, to pray from her psalmody.

"A courteous lady ought to salute all in going out of church, both great
and small.

"Those whom nature have endowed with a good voice ought not to refuse to
sing when they are asked.

"Cleanliness is so necessary for ladies, that it is an obligation for
them to cut their nails.

"It is not proper for a lady to stop in passing the house of a
neighbour, to look into the interior, because people may be doing things
that they do not wish others to know.

"When you go and visit a person, never enter abruptly, nor take any one
by surprise, but announce your coming by coughing.

"At table, a lady should