-Pierre, by which his
sentimentalism, sufficiently strong by nature, was exaggerated
instead of repressed: (16) and he became the victim of tears,
affectation, and improvidence, all his life long. It almost
savours of the ridiculous to find Lamartine, in his 'Confidences,'
representing himself as a "statue of Adolescence raised as a model
for young men." (17) As he was his mother's spoilt child, so he
was the spoilt child of his country to the end, which was bitter
and sad. Sainte-Beuve says of him: "He was the continual object
of the richest gifts, which he had not the power of managing,
scattering and wasting them--all, excepting, the gift of words,
which seemed inexhaustible, and on which he continued to play to
the end as on an enchanted flute." (18)
We have spoken of the mother of Washington as an excellent woman
of business; and to possess such a quality as capacity for
business is not only compatible with true womanliness, but is in a
measure essential to the comfort and wellbeing of every properly-
governed family. Habits of business do not relate to trade
merely, but apply to all the practical affairs of life--to
everything that has to be arranged, to be organised, to be
provided for, to be done. And in all these respects the
management of a family, and of a household, is as much a matter of
business as the management of a shop or of a counting-house.
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