The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1868-11-20
VOL. 6l.--WHOLE No. 5,469.
AMERICAN = CHRIS.


color was thing Of climate, and that
should find plenty Of rosy cheeks
am0ngstthe m0untainsof Main, where
there is more moisture in the ar. II
may be so: never got to the Maine
mountains to see. Butas far as my OBJ
serVation went, never saw any either
on mountain or valley in any part OF
! New England, My private impression
Is, making all allowance for the infiu-
cnce ofdry air, that the peculiar pale
! ness Of the New England girls connects
Itself with too much metaphysics, hot
bread and pie, | have strong convic-
tions onthissuhject Of pie. MOTTO spp; k
OF mere paIeness, / don't see how the
Americans can reconcile it with their
notions of what is due to the laws of
nature, to live to the age they do, con-
sidering the amount Of pie they eat.
/ don't remember that | ever sat daWr TO
adinner in America, even in a poor
mans house. without finding pie of
( som kind-Often of several kinds-on
! the table, and without finding that
/ everybody partook Of it, down to the
microscopic lady or gentleman whom
we shall call the baby. Pie is indispen-
sable. Take anything away, but leave
/ pie, Americans can stand the prohibi-
ton Of all Intoxicating drinks; but at
tempt to prohibit pie, and you would
plunge America into revolution in a
day.
Then metaphysics! In one family
which | visited in the onnecticut Val
ley, two Of the girls were deep in the
study Of Algebra and Metaphysics. as a
voluntary exercise, and shut themselves
up for three hours 4 day with Coenso,
Sir William Hamilton, ard Kent. This
was, perhaps, exceptional, but the New
England brain is very busy. 1t deyel-
ops very soon and very fast, and begins
at very early age to exercise Itself
with the abstruser studies. Parents and
teachers frequently told me that their
difficulty, with the girls especially, was
not to get them urged on, but to get
them held back. IL one young ladies'
seminary which | visited, they were
held back with the following light stu
dies, in addition to all the ordinary
branches; Virgil and Horace, Latin
prose composition, Anatomy and Hy-
giene, Moral Philosophy, Mental Phil
osophy and Quadratic Equations. To
this add pie and hot bread, and what
could you expect but paleness, even
among the mountains of Maine
Paleness and pie Notwithstanding,
the American girls are very delightful.
And in one point they fairly surpass the
majority of English girls-they are al
educated and we'll informed. 1t is a
painful, but | feara too incOntrOvertible
feet that most of the mirlS "n this sida
are very ignorant on general subjects.
don't blame them; blame the sys-
TEN Of education. Some girls are fas-
cinating whether they are educated or
not, but To be left alone as one some
times is, with girl who knows nOth-
ing, in Il room with no piano, is exceed
ingly embarrassing after the weather
has been exhausted. There is never
the same difficulty with American
girls. The admirable educational sys-
tenn of New England, covering the
whole area of society, has given them
education, whether they bepOOr or rich;
has furnished them with a great deal Of
general information, and has quicken
ed their desire for more. An American
girl will talk TO you about anything,
and feel lor what has the same effect,
seem to feel interest in it. Their ten
dency is perhaps to talk too much, and
to talk beyond their knowledge. With
the cleverer lor as they would say
themselves, he ''smarter'l of them, it
seemed to me sometimes to make no
perceptible difference whether they
know anything Of the object they talk
ed about or not.
Mentioning this feature Of American
character to a Boston gentleman, he
slid: "Itis true, was struck in Eng
land with the silence of the people
when they had nothing to say. One
time, travelling in the same carriage
with nobleman, asked him his oPin-
ion of the ballot. lie replied, "have
not considered that subject yet" "You
might travel all over America" said
my friend, "and never hear man say
that" But the American girls gener-
ally know q little of everything, and
their general intelligence and vivacity
make them very delightful compar-
ions.
| had an idea before going out that
the New England ladies spent time
over intellectual pursuits to the neg
lect of household duties. | did not
fiud it so. Comparing class with class,
they are quite as good hOusekeepers as
| have seen anywhere. They had need
be, for service al present is in very
wretched condition in America-so
much so that middle-"lass families in
the country often dispense with ser
wants altogether. The young ladies
can make bread as well as demonstrate
proposition, and their mental philoso~
phy; whatever it amounts To, never
interfcres with the perfection Of the
pics Samuel johnson used to say that
"A man would rather that his wife
should be able to cook good dim
ner than read Greek. ,.ut he does not
seem to have anticipated time when
a woman could learn to do BOTH
From Daniel 1fdcraS'S Notes on AmeTt-
ca.
SPOONSi d, Spoons
IT SannoS the great SnOOn- fancier is