I Went Into One Of The Discreet
Matrons' Residences; And, Perhaps, May Give But An Indifferent Idea
Of Her Discretion, When I Say That She Allowed Me To Go Into The
Bed-Rooms.
If you want to ascertain the inner ways or habits of
life of any man, woman, or child, see, if it be practicable to do
so, his or her bed-room.
You will learn more by a minute's glance
round that holy of holies, than by any conversation. Looking-
glasses and such like, suspended dresses, and toilet-belongings, if
taken without notice, cannot lie or even exaggerate. The discreet
matron at first showed me rooms only prepared for use, for at the
period of my visit Lowell was by no means full; but she soon became
more intimate with me, and I went through the upper part of the
house. My report must be altogether in her favor and in that of
Lowell. Everything was cleanly, well ordered, and feminine. There
was not a bed on which any woman need have hesitated to lay herself
if occasion required it. I fear that this cannot be said of the
lodgings of the manufacturing classes at Manchester. The boarders
all take their meals together. As a rule, they have meat twice a
day. Hot meat for dinner is with them as much a matter of course,
or probably more so, than with any Englishman or woman who may read
this book. For in the States of America regulations on this matter
are much more rigid than with us.
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