Some young ladies rarely sit down to a piano in any house
but their home without complaining that the instrument is out
of tune. We have known a fair amateur, to whom this com-
plaint was habitual and never omitted, even when we know
that, to provide against it, the piano had really been tuned that
very day. The tuning of a harp immediately before playing
is sometimes a very tedious business. Would it not be well
for the harpist to come a little earlier than the rest and tune
the instrument previous to their arrival? And let the tuning
be deemed sufficient for a while, and not repeated more than
once again in the course of the evening, especially in the midst
of the first piece.
Unless a gentleman is himself familiar with the air, let him
not volunteer to turn over the leaves for a lady who is playing.
He will certainly turn them over too soon or too late, and
therefore annoy and confuse her. Still worse, let him not at-
tempt to accompany her with his voice unless he is an excel-
lent musician or accustomed to singing with he^
For the hearers to crowd closely round the instrument is
smothering to the vocalist. Let them keep at a proper dis-
tance, and she will sing the better and they will hear the bet-
ETIQUETTE. 59
ter. It is so rude to talk during a song that it is never done in
company; but a little low conversation is sometimes tolerated
in the adjoining room during the performance of one of those
interminable pieces of instrumental* music whose chief merit
lies in its difficulty, and which (at least to the ears of the un-
initiated) is rather a bore than a pleasure.
It is very old-fashioned to return thanks to a lady for her
singing or to tell her she is very kind to oblige the company
so often. If she is conscious of really singing well, and sees
that she delights her hearers, she will not feel sensible of
fatigue, at least till the agreeable excitement of conscious suc-
cess is over.
At a dancing party the ladies of the house decline joining
in it, out of politeness to their guests, till towards the latter
part of the evening, when the company begin to thin off and
the dancers are fatigued. Ladies who are strangers in the
place are, by courtesy, entitled to particular attention from
those who know them. A deformed woman dancing is a
"sorry sight." She should never consent to any such exhi-
bition of her figure. She will only be asked out of mere
compassion, or from interested and unworthy motives.
When a lady has the misfortune to have a crooked or
misshapen person, it is well for her to conceal it as much as
possible by wearing a shawl, a large cape, a mantilla, and on
no account a tight bodied dress.
Page 39
Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Some young ladies rarely sit down to a piano in any house but their home without complaining that the instrument is out of tune. We have known a fair amateur, to whom this complaint was habitual and never omitted, even when we know that, to provide against it, the piano had really been tuned that very day. The tuning of a harp immediately before playing is sometimes a very tedious business. Would it not be well for the harpist to come a little earlier than the rest and tune the instrument previous to their arrival? And let the tuning be deemed sufficient for a while, and not repeated more than once again in the course of the evening, especially in the midst of the first piece.
Unless a gentleman is himself familiar with the air, let him not volunteer to turn over the leaves for a lady who is playing. He will certainly turn them over too soon or too late, and therefore annoy and confuse her. Still worse, let him not attempt to accompany her with his voice unless he is an excellent musician or accustomed to singing with her.
For the hearers to crowd closely round the instrument is smothering to the vocalist. Let them keep at a proper distance, and she will sing the better and they will hear the better. It is so rude to talk during a song that it is never done in company; but a little low conversation is sometimes tolerated in the adjoining room during the performance of one of those interminable pieces of instrumental music whose chief merit lies in its difficulty, and which (at least to the ears of the uninitiated) is rather a bore than a pleasure.
It is very old-fashioned to return thanks to a lady for her singing or to tell her she is very kind to oblige the company so often. If she is conscious of really singing well, and sees that she delights her hearers, she will not feel sensible of fatigue, at least till the agreeable excitement of conscious success is over.
At a dancing party the ladies of the house decline joining in it, out of politeness to their guests, till towards the latter part of the evening, when the company begin to thin off and the dancers are fatigued. Ladies who are strangers in the place are, by courtesy, entitled to particular attention from those who know them. A deformed woman dancing is a "sorry sight." She should never consent to any such exhibition of her figure. She will only be asked out of mere compassion, or from interested and unworthy motives.
When a lady has the misfortune to have a crooked or misshapen person, it is well for her to conceal it as much as possible by wearing a shawl, a large cape, a mantilla, and on no account a tight bodied dress.