The herald., 1896-11-06
MANNERS OF MODERN WOMEN

No careful observer of modern man.
ners can affirm that, in respect to the at
titude which, as Macaulay says, has
been well defined as benevolence In
small things" and fair system of give
and take is nowadays generally OBJ
served between the sexes.
For the courtesy which the man rem
ders, as in duty bound, he has ceased to
look for any kind of reciprocity; for
the greater or lesser acts of service and
Decentralization by which he pays his
devoir at the feminine shrine he is
agreeable surprised IL he gets so much
as a word of thanks.
Yet. although these things are so, the
masculine complainants should not be
in too great hurry to decide that the
evil they deplore is conscious or even
an unconscious development of any
theory of female independence" That
1t is, indeed, nothing of the kind Is very
easily demonstrated. And the proof lies
in the patent and unquestionable fact
that Women-educated wOmen-thOugh
they may not be rude to men, are very
much ruder to one another This is no
doubt hard saying, but it expresses,
for all that, truth which is daily re-
ceiving illustration at all times and in
all places. 1t is not long since new and
more stringent regulations were found
lmperatiVely necessary for the main
tenance of order and decorum among
ladies attending her majestys drawing
rooms. Whatever amount Of exag-
gefation there may have been in the
stories of furious anteroom "scrim
mages,' of torn gowns, lost tempers
dlsheVeled hair and crushed bouuuets
whlch nave gained currency from time
10 time In connection with these func-
tions, their foundation in actual fact
admits of no dispute.
Precisely the same spirit NAV he seen
in operation by the observer of any
crowd of well-dressed women, no mat
ter What may be the occasion which has
called them together The fierce con-
tent1on for supremacy of place. the
reckless disregard of others rights, con-
Venience and physical feelings. the utter
selfishness and lack Of sensibility where
by those of the "gentler sex" display
tnelr gentleness to one another in such
circumstances are, unfortunately, only
too familiar Manners, in the cant of
day, are simply mot in it" with the de-
termination of the modern dame or dam
sci to be, metaphorically speaking, in the
front row and to keep others out of it.
TO take an example, one may learn a
good deal as to her respect for the laws
of polite consideration from her beha-
vior to smart weddings. whence she may
not infrequently be seen forcing her way
past officials, standing upon pew seats
to the entire obstruction Of the view
of those behind her and conversing
audibly during the progress of the SER
vice. Here, it is true, she has an oppor.
tunity of annoying and inconviencing
men as we'll as her own sex; but it is to
the latter that her rudeness is at all
times most readily and aggressively
displayed. 1t is in shops, perhaps that
the deficiencies of feminine manners are.
on the whole, exhibited as strikingly as
anywhere, for here there are not only
fellow purchasers with prior claims to
attention to elbow aside, but female as
sistants who can be harrassed and snub-
bed. 1t is to be feared that the cowardice
which dictates this treatment of infer
iors is also responsible for the absence,
between women of that restraint which
controls the relations of mutually unap-
preciative persons of the opposite sex.
Woman's insolence to woman, cannot,
Of course. be punished otherwise than in