aim high and believe himself capable of great things. "Too much
modesty," she says, "is a languor of the soul, which prevents it
from taking flight and carrying itself rapidly towards glory"--a
suggestion that would be rather superfluous in this generation.
Again, she advises him to seek the society of his superiors, in
order to accustom himself to respect and politeness. "With
equals one grows negligent; the mind falls asleep." But she does
not regard superiority as an external thing, and says very
wisely, "It is merit which should separate you from people, not
dignity or pride." By "people" she indicates all those who think
meanly and commonly. "The court is full of them," she adds. Her
standards of honor are high, and her sentiments of humanity quite
in the vein of the coming age. She urges her daughter to treat
her servants with kindness. "One of the ancients says they
should be regarded as unfortunate friends. Think that humanity
and Christianity equalize all."

Her criticisms on the education of women are of especial
interest. Behind her conventional tastes and her love of
consideration she has a clear perception of facts and an
appreciation of unfashionable truths. She recognizes the
superiority of her sex in matters of taste and in the enjoyment
of "serious pleasures which make only the MIND LAUGH and do not
trouble the heart" She reproaches men with "spoiling the
dispositions nature has given to women, neglecting their
education, filling their minds with nothing solid, and destining
them solely to please, and to please only by their graces or
their vices." But she had not always the courage of her
convictions, and it was doubtless quite as much her dislike of
giving voice to unpopular opinions as her aversion to the