"As soon as you come into the room to your parents and relatives, bow, and stand near the door till you are told when to sit." "Never sit down till you are desired, and then not till you have bowed, and answered what was asked of you." "When in the room with your parents and relatives, never slip out privately, for that is mean and unhandsome." "If you have sisters or brothers it is your duty to love them: they will love you for it and it will be pleasing to your parents and pleasure to yourselves." "Be ready to give them anything they like, and they will give you what you desire." "Will they?" said Norah, with bitter sarcasm; for Norah, as I have said, is the nursery drudge. "If you think they are cross to you, be silent and gentle: and if that does not make them kind, complain to your father, mother, and relatives." "Never revenge yourself, for that is wicked; your relatives will always take your part, when you behave with quietness." If the child has been allowed to become human and individual, it is no less true that the parents and relatives have lost their godhead too. At the time of this book, parents could make no mistake, and every child had to be like every other child. No wonder that anthropomorphism crept in: it began with the first child; it began with Cain. Ever since then, God has been merely a larger man and a father. But as fathers, under the new régime, become more companionable (as I see them becoming every day), this old ideal must weaken, for God will smile again--or rather will begin to smile. The contrast between the unimaginative joylessness of these counsels of perfection and the laughter with which they were received brought home to one with curious vividness the difference, not only between the children of a hundred and fifty years ago and to-day, but between the parents too. Where the old parent admonished, the modern parent jokes. A kind of light banter has become the language of fathers and children in place of the ancient minatory formality. Next came "Behaviour at Meals":-- "Nothing shows the difference between a young gentleman and a vulgar boy so much as their behaviour in eating." "Sit patiently till the company are helped, and you will not be forgotten." "Do not ask till you see the company are all helped: then if it happens you have been forgot, you will be served." "Whatever is given you, be satisfied it is good, and desire no other." "In eating fruit, do not swallow the stones, but lay them and the stalks on one side of your plate, laying one of the leaves that came with the fruit over them." "Mightn't they see who they were going to marry?" Winifred asked. "Never regard what another has on his plate: it looks as if you wanted it." "When you drink, bow to some one of the company and say Sir or Madam." This set them all shouting. "Chew your meat well before you swallow it; but do this decently, without making faces." "One for you, Sam," said Winifred.