Wise counsellors and practical preachers who advocated “retreats,” and knew the world, addressed themselves directly to the girls and sought to touch the chord of self-interest. The grave Jean Raulin,[97] from the eminence of one of the most fashionable pulpits in Paris, reasoned with them somewhat as follows: “To wed a widow, well and good! There is no fuss, no golden ring, no benediction, but withal it is a marriage: whilst with a counterfeit young maid presenting herself at the altar—! Ah! fair ladies, guard your purity to the very hour of your espousals, whether you be earthly or spiritual brides! That is the precious treasure you must at all costs save, and for many reasons: because of human frailty, according to the words of the 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians, ‘We have our treasure in earthen vessels’; because of its inestimable value, according to the words of Ecclesiasticus, chapter xxvi., ‘There is no price worthy of a continent soul’; because of the irreparability of the mischief, according to the words of St. Jerome, ‘God can do all things save restore a lost virginity.’” Many could not help regretting the free country life, and fancied that fidelity to a more rigorous system of education would have yielded better results. Of a truth it would have been better to make women frank creatures of passion than coquettes or mere worldlings. But an honest glance at the life of rural folk was enough to assure the observer that utilitarianism does not elevate the manners. Yes, seen from a distance, the ways of country folk seem compact of smiles and caresses, love and candour: pigs and cows meet in the meadow or at the fair; lovers too meet, at church, at a dance, after those winter parties so hotly denounced by the preachers, nay, every morning and evening if their hearts bid them; and they can exchange little presents, meet to scrape the fiddle or twang the guitar, without anyone finding fault, save perhaps a rival with whom they are quits for a few rounds at fisticuffs, or at most a thrust with a knife. A fashionable young girl, you may be sure, would not be horrified at the exchange of a few good swashing blows for her; she is apt to regard life as too tame. It remains to discover whether to reduce life to its primitive simplicity is really to elevate it. The idealists thought not. CHAPTER V THE HUSBAND AND THE VARIOUS WAYS OF SLIPPING HIS YOKE