that venerable
and sacred time when 'Adam delved and Eve span,' and who, forsaking
holy home haunts, wage war against nature on account of the mistake
made in their sex, and clamour for the 'hallowed inalienable right'
to jostle and be jostled at the polls; to brawl in the market place,
and to rant on the rostrum, like a bevy of bedlamities. Now when I
begin to read, listen, and tell me frankly, whether when you both
make up your minds to present me, one a sister, the other a daughter,
you will select your wives from among quaint Evelyn's almost obsolete
type, or whether you will commit your name, affections, wardrobe,
larder, pantry and poultry to a strong-minded female 'scientist,' who
will neglect your socks and buttons, to ascertain exactly how many
_Vibriones_ and _Bacteria_ float in a drop of fluid, and when you
come home tired and very hungry, will comfort you, and nobly atone
for the injury of an ill-cooked and worse-served dinner, by regaling
your weary ears with her own ingenious and brilliant interpretation
and translation of _AElia Laelia Crispis!_ Here is my old-fashioned
English damsel, meek as a violet, fresh as a dewy daisy, and sweet as
a bed of thyme and marjoram. 'The style and method of life are quite
changed, as well as the language, since the days of our ancestors,
simple and plain as they were, courting their wives for their
modesty, frugality, keeping at home, good housewifery, and other
economical virtues then in reputation. And when the young damsels
were taught all these at home in the country at their parents'
houses; the portion they brought being more in virtue than money, she
being a richer match than any one who could bring a million, and
nothing else to commend her. The virgins and young ladies of that
golden age put their hands to the spindle, nor disdained the needle;
were obsequious and helpful to their parents, instructed in the
management of the family, and gave presage of making excellent wives.
Their retirements were devout and religious books, their recreations
in the distillery and knowledge of plants and their virtues for the
comfort of their poor neighbours, and use of the family, which
wholesome diet and kitchen physic preserved in health. Then things
were natural, plain, and wholesome; nothing was superfluous, nothing
necessary wanted. The poor were relieved bountifully, and charity was
as warm as the kitchen, where the fire was perpetual.' Now, if Regina
were only my child