Curiosa: The Well-Rounded Young Gentlewoman

[nebroadwe]

From Letters of a Village Governess by Elizabeth Bond (1814):

Young Cecelia to her aunt Elizabeth: "What a number of things you know."

"No: my knowledge is not very extensive; but a little girl like you must think so, because you have a great deal to learn. I hope you will be fond of reading, that is to say, in moderation."

"What do you mean by moderation?"

"I mean, that you should not sit all day reading, as some girls of my acquaintance do: you should divide the day. Moderate people neither eat too much, sleep too much, read too much nor work too much. A girl that throws aside her needle for her book becomes quite ridiculous; that is to say, a girl in the middle ranks of life; women of fortune have the happy privilege to spend their time as they please."

And, of course, Cecelia subsequently learns to beware the dangerous pastime of novel-reading, which causes persons "in the middle ranks of life" to develop ideas above their station and plunge themselves and their families into scandal, bankruptcy and rustication. The horror! The horror!