George Eliot: " She was keenly alive to redress injustices their general status in the community. This, she effected by women improving their work — ceasing to be one of the most distinctly marked traits of her character that she particularly disliked everything generally asso- ciated with the idea of a ' masculine woman.' She was, and as a woman wished to be, above all things, feminine — 'so delicate with her needle, and an admirable musi- cian.' She was proud, too, of being an excellent house- keeper— an excellence attained from knowing how things ought to be done, from her earliest training, and from an inborn habit of extreme orderliness. Nothing jf!?:,., offended her more than the idea that because r. woman had exceptional intellectual powers, therefore it was right that she should ab- solve herself, or be absolved, from her ordinary household duties." " Happy the house in which character mar- ries, and not confusion and a miscel- lany of unavowable motives. Then shall marriage be a covenant to secure to either party the sweetness and honor of being a calm, continuing, in- evitable benefactor to the other." She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. PROVERBS xxxi., 19. MANNERS. Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy. Good manners are made up of petty sacrifices. I THINK Hans Andersen's story of the cobweb cloth woven so fine it was invisible, — woven for the king's garment, — must mean manners, which do really clothe a princely nature. Such a one can well go in a blanket, if he would. In the gymnasium or on the sea-beach his superiority does not leave him. But he who has not this fine garment of behavior is studious of dress, and then not less of house, and furniture, and pictures, and gardens, in all which he hopes to lie perdu, and not be exposed. Much ill-natured criticism has been directed on American manners. I do not think it is to be resented. Rather, if we are wise, we shall listen and mend. But in every sense the subject of manners has a constant interest to thoughtful persons. Who does not delight in fine manners ? Their charm cannot be predicted or over-stated. 'Tis perpetual promise of more than can be fulfilled. It is music and sculpture and pictures to many who do not pretend to appreciation of those arts. It is even true that grace is more beautiful than beauty. Yet how impossible to overcome the obstacle of an unlucky temperament, and acquire good manners, unless by living with the well-bred from the start; and this makes the value of wise forethought to give ourselves and our children as much as possible the habit of cultivated society. 'Tis an inestimable hint that I owe to a few persons of fine manners, that they make behavior the very first sign of force, — be- havior, and not performance, or talent, or, much less, wealth. " Manners are stronger than laws." 'Tis a rule of manners not to exaggerate. A lady loses as soon as she admires too easily and too much. In man or woman, the face and the person lose power when they are on the strain to express admiration. A man makes his inferiors his superiors by heat. Why need you, who are not a gossip, talk as a gossip, and tell eagerly what the neighbors or the journals say?

AI-modernized reading of the original text

George Eliot: " She was keenly alive to redress injustices their general status in the community. This, she effected by women improving their work — ceasing to be one of the most distinctly marked traits of her character that she particularly disliked everything generally associated with the idea of a ' masculine woman.' She was, and as a woman wished to be, above all things, feminine — 'so delicate with her needle, and an admirable musician.' She was proud, too, of being an excellent housekeeper— an excellence attained from knowing how things ought to be done, from her earliest training, and from an inborn habit of extreme orderliness. Nothing offended her more than the idea that because a woman had exceptional intellectual powers, therefore it was right that she should absolve herself, or be absolved, from her ordinary household duties." " Happy the house in which character marries, and not confusion and a miscellany of unavowable motives. Then shall marriage be a covenant to secure to either party the sweetness and honor of being a calm, continuing, inevitable benefactor to the other." She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. PROVERBS xxxi., 19. MANNERS. Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy. Good manners are made up of petty sacrifices. I THINK Hans Andersen's story of the cobweb cloth woven so fine it was invisible, — woven for the king's garment, — must mean manners, which do really clothe a princely nature. Such a one can well go in a blanket, if he would. In the gymnasium or on the sea-beach his superiority does not leave him. But he who has not this fine garment of behavior is studious of dress, and then not less of house, and furniture, and pictures, and gardens, in all which he hopes to lie perdu, and not be exposed. Much ill-natured criticism has been directed on American manners. I do not think it is to be resented. Rather, if we are wise, we shall listen and mend. But in every sense the subject of manners has a constant interest to thoughtful persons. Who does not delight in fine manners ? Their charm cannot be predicted or over-stated. 'Tis perpetual promise of more than can be fulfilled. It is music and sculpture and pictures to many who do not pretend to appreciation of those arts. It is even true that grace is more beautiful than beauty. Yet how impossible to overcome the obstacle of an unlucky temperament, and acquire good manners, unless by living with the well-bred from the start; and this makes the value of wise forethought to give ourselves and our children as much as possible the habit of cultivated society. 'Tis an inestimable hint that I owe to a few persons of fine manners, that they make behavior the very first sign of force, — behavior, and not performance, or talent, or, much less, wealth. " Manners are stronger than laws." 'Tis a rule of manners not to exaggerate. A lady loses as soon as she admires too easily and too much. In man or woman, the face and the person lose power when they are on the strain to express admiration. A man makes his inferiors his superiors by heat. Why need you, who are not a gossip, talk as a gossip, and tell eagerly what the neighbors or the journals say?

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