to have been
written for a decorous, rather strait-laced generation, if we compare
it with our own.

Mothers-in-Law

Mothers-in-Law are the mothers for whom there is no law, no justice,
no sympathy, nor yet that share of fair play which an average American
is willing to grant, even to an open adversary. Every petty punster,
every silly witling, considers them as a ready-made joke; and the
wonder and the pity of it is that abuse so unmerited and so long
continued has called forth no champions from that sex which owes so
much to woman, in every relation of life.

The condition of mother-in-law is one full of pathos and self-abnegation,
and all the reproach attached to it comes from those whose selfishness
and egotism ought to render their testimony of small value. A young man,
for instance, falls in love with a girl who appears to him the sum of
all perfections,--perfections, partly inherited from, and partly
cultivated by, the mother at whose side she has lived for twenty years.
She is the delight of her mother's heart, she fills all her hopes and
dreams for the future; and the girl herself, believes that nothing can
separate her from a mother so dear and so devoted.

While the man is wooing the daughter, this wondrous capability for an
absorbing affection strikes him as a very pretty thing. In the first
place, it keeps the mother on his side; in the second, he looks
forward to supplying this capability with a strictly personal object.
At this stage his future mother-in-law is a very pleasant person, for
he is uncomfortably conscious of the Beloved One's father and
brothers. He is then thankful for any encouragement she may give him.
He gladly takes counsel with her; flatters her opinions, makes her
presents, and so works upon her womanly instincts concerning love
affairs that she stands by his side when he has to "speak to papa,"
and through her favor and tact the rough places are made smooth, and
the crooked places plain. Until the marriage is over, and the
longed-for girl his wife, there is no one so important in the lover's
eyes as the girl's mother.

Suddenly all is changed. When the young people return from the
bridal trip there is a different tone and a different atmosphere.
The young husband is now in his own house, and spreading himself like
a peacock in full feather. He thinks "mamma" too interfering. He
resents the familiarity with which she speaks to _his_ wife. He
feels as if her speculation a