If so--you know then, what it is to be a lady and what not. You know
that it is not to go, like the daughters of Zion in Isaiah's time, with
mincing gait, and borrowed head-gear, and tasteless finery, the head
well-nigh empty, the heart full of little save vanity and vexation of
spirit, busy all the week over cheap novels and expensive dresses, and on
Sunday over a little dilettante devotion. You know, I take for granted,
that whatever the world may think or say, that to be that, is not to be a
lady.
For you know, I take for granted, what that word lady meant at first.
That it meant she who gave out the loaves, the housewife who provided
food and clothes; the stewardess of her household and dependants; the
spinner among her maidens; the almsgiver to the poor; the worshipper in
the chapel, praying for wild men away in battle. The being from whom
flowed forth all gracious influences of thought and order, of bounty and
compassion, of purity and piety, civilizing and Christianizing a whole
family, a whole domain. This it was to be a lady, in the old days when
too many men had little care save to make war.
Pages:
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441