80 SOCIETES DE DIMANCHES.
tion ; but where luxury does not prevail,
riches are less pernicious in their effects.
The richest citizens in Geneva live in so
unostentatious a manner, that they can
allow all their children to live as well as
themselves ; and though the death of the
parent may increase the nominal wealth
of the children, it can add little or nothing
to their domestic comforts, or to their
consideration in society.
The societies called sociétés de Dimanches
have been correctly described by Dr.
Moore ; I shall therefore briefly state, that
they still exist on the same footing as
formerly, but not to the same extent. The
parents, soon after their children are born,
and sometimes before, endeavour to arrange
with the parents of other children, nearly
of the same age, for the formation of a
society, or for the admission of their sons
and daughters into societies already formed.
This, where a family is large, is extremely
embarrassing, and we have heard of parents
complaining that it was more difficult to
form eligible societies for their infant
daughters, than to get them married and
established in life. There are separate
societies for each sex ; they consist of
twelve or fifteen children, of nearly the
same age, a difference of two or three years
only being allowed. Thus it often happens,
that two sisters belong to separate societies.
As the parents are desirous that
their children should associate with the
children o f parents in the same station of
life, or a little higher than themselves, the
difficulty of forming these societies becomes
greater among the higher and less
numerous class of citizens. These societies
meet at the houses of the parents in
rotation, on Sunday evenings. While the
children are very young, they are attended
by the bonne or nursery-maid of the house,
but when they are nine or ten years old
they are left entirely to themselves, and
the parents are never present. They partake
o f tea, cakes, and sweetmeats, and
pass the evening with music, dancing, or
amusing games, according to their taste or
ages. When any one of the young ladies
is married, she is allowed to invite the
young men of her husband’s acquaintance,
and the society is afterwards composed of
both sexes. Persons united in the same
society, generally preserve a friendship for
each other through life, and contribute to
VOL. II. G