Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1855-10-03

Two LAWS FOR TUE LADIEs.-I. Before you
bow to a lady in the street permit her to de-
eide whether you may do so or not, by at
a look of recognition.
2. When your companion bows to a lady,
you should do the same. When a gentle
man DOW to a lady in your company, al.
ways bow to him in return.
Nothing is go i'll understood in America
those conventional laws of society, so well
understood and practised in Europe. Ladies
complain that gentlemen pass them by in
the streets unnoticed, when, in fact, the fault
arises from their own breach of politenes s.
1t is their duty to do the amiable first, for it
is a privilege which ladies enjoy of choosing
their W associates or acquaintance. No
gentleman likes to risk the being cut in the
streets by a lady through a premature sal
ute. Toomany ladies, it would seem, "don't
know their trade" of p%oliteness. Meeting
ladies in the streets whom one has casually
met in company, they seldom bow first and
when a gentleman never departs from the
rule of good breeding, except occasionally
by way of experiment, his acquaintance do
not multiply, but he stands probably char
ged with rudeness. The rule is plain. A
lady must be civil to a gentleman in whose
company she is casually brought; but agen-
tleman is not upon this to presume upon &C
craftsmanship the first time he afterwards
meets her in the street. If it he her will,
she gives some token of recognition, when the
gentleman may bow; otherwise, he must pass
on, and consider himself a stranger. No
lady need hesitate to bow to a gentleman,
for he will promptly and politely answer,
even if he has forgotten his fair ~saluter. None
but a brute can do otherwise-should he pass
on rudely, his character is declared, and
there is a cheap radiance. Politeness, or
good breeding, is like law-''the reason Of
things"
WOMEN WITHOUT WINE.-The following
passage, says the Peki6itioaist, from the
pen Of the celebrated William Cobbett, dis.
plays the vigorous good sense which almost
invariably marked his writings. The ques
!, ton deserves serious consideration by both
men and women-Do sots 'deserUe the fair ?
"A man that cannot pass an evening with
out drink, merits the name of a sot. Why
5 should there be drink for the purpose o
7 carrying on conversation ? Women stand
in no need of drink to stimulate them Il
Y converse and | have a thousand times ad
mired their patience in sitting quietly a
s their work, while their husbands are engage,
in the same room, with bottles and glasses
s before them, thinking nothing ofthe expense
o and still less of the shame, which the distinc
Q ton reflects upon them. We have to than
e the women for many things and particular
for their sober habits. Men drive them fror
the table, as if they said to them, You hav
had enough food is sufficient for you; bu
we must remain to fill ourselves with drinl
and to talk in language which your ear
ought not to endure When women al
getting up to retire from the table, men ris
in honor of them, but they take special cal
not to follow their excellent example. Ths
which is not fit to be uttered before woman
is not fit to be uttered at all; and it is nel
to a proclamation tolerating ~drunkenne'
and indecency, to send women from the tab
the moment they have swallowed their foo
The practice has been ascribed to q desire
leave them to themselves. But why shou
they be left to themselves? Their eonvers
ton is always the most lively, while the
persons generally are the most agreeable o
jects. No the plain truth is, that 1t is Il
love of the drink that sends women from Il
table and it is a practice which | have
ways abhorred. l like to see young me
especially, follow them out of the room, al
prefer their company to that of the sots W
are left behind.