Page:Mexico of the Mexicans.djvu/47

Rh Family life in Mexico is planned upon patriarchal lines. The Mexicans are most united in their family ties and affections; and parents and children, brothers and sisters are, as a rule, deeply attached to each other, and display much warmer sentiments in their relations than is the case in colder England. In Mexico, woman has not yet lost her natural charm and influence, which in the home she exercises to the full. The male members of the family are, as a rule, most amenable to the influence of the mother, the wife, the sister; and the Mexican woman exerts herself to retain the affection of her male relations in a manner that would astound a daughter of Britain. It has even been said that Mexican men are subject to a great deal of feminine "coddling" —a stupid term bestowed upon delicate attention and affectionate regard, the nature of which the Anglo-Saxon wholly fails to comprehend.

Mexican family life is patriarchal in that the young Mexican man does not leave his parents' house when he comes to years of discretion, and even upon marriage he frequently remains with them. Often a son-in-law is adopted into the family, and it is quite common to find the parents of either husband or wife in a Mexican home.

Courtesy is the rule and not the exception in Mexico. Even in the poorest circles the day-labourer will address his neighbour as "Don” and expects to be so entitled in return. Roughness and asperity are conspicuous by their absence in the relationships of everyday life. No matter into what grade of society one may penetrate, he will find himself the object of the most respectful, nay, even solicitous, politeness. This courtesy is the natural endowment of the race. The peon, scion of the grave and punctilious Aztec folk, is not to be outdone even by the descendant of the proud yet courtly Castilian. Indeed, the uniform respect with which the peasant class treat those whom chance has placed above them