The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-10-27

|
hcrsolr, arc her loves, for whom she has an
| enthusiastic admiration, and whose future she
believes in as something specially brilliant and
successful. If only slightly older or younger
with the sentiment of her superiority, and pat
| ronizes them-klndly enough, but she makes
them feel tho ineffablc supremacy of her BOX,
and how that she by virtue Of her womanhood o'ti
! to their Caliban. Now, too, she begins 10
speak to her mother on moro equal terms; to
criticlse her dress, and to make her under,
stand that she considers her old-fashioncd and
| inclined to bc dowdy. She ties her bonnet
strings for her, arranges her cap, smartens up
her old dress and compcls her to buy new
| In her own way beautiful. Sometimes she op-
poses and quarrels with her, If the mother
has less tact than arbitrarincss. But
OF the characteristics Of Sweet Seven
teen is her love for her mother, and
the need she feels to have Of her better
into opposition with her it Is only through eY-
| treme pain, and the bitter teaching OF tyranny
and Injustice. This isjust the ago, indeed, when
the mother's influence is everything to girl,
woman is the very ruin Of her life. But with
low or evil-naturcd mother VIC seldom see
Sweet Seventeen worth the trouble OF writing
Importance of the womanly influence at such
time, and how perhaps so much that we
blame In our modern girls lies to the account
of their mothers.
Great tact is required with Sweet Seventeen
| in such society as Is allowed her; care to bring
her out without obtruding her on the world, or
making her forward and consequential, and
without attracting too much attention to her.
nursery, but she Is not yet entitled to the place
and consideration ofa member of society And
yet 1t would be cruel to debar her wholly from
oil that is going on In the house. To be sure
look after her manners, and to give her rope
enough and not too much; but by the time q
girl Is seventeen .goycrness W ceased to be
not according to their I've strengths.
Still, the .governcss or Is for the most
part ut her elbow; an 1t Seventeen, If
well brought up little n,, 70 ohsg her
through half:opcnod d66rE Girls OF this age
are often wonderfully sad, and full Of kind Of
wondering despair at the sin and misery they
views in religion, and, talk largely, on the
| nothingncss of pleasure and the emptiness of
the world and many fair young creatures whom
their elders,e laden with sorrowful experience,
think full ofhopc and JOY, are ready 10 give up
| all the pleasure Of life, and to lay down life
itself, for very disgust of that of which they
know nothing. They delight in sorrowfi,l Ia
mcntations and sentimental regrets put into
rhyme, and one Of the funniest things in the
world is to see GIRL dancing with the mcr-
riest in the evening, and to hear her talking
|
merely an example. Of tho old proyerb about
the meeting of extremes; vacuity leading to
the same results rs experience. But, however,
she takes this unknown life, 1t Is always III an
robust mind delight In the boldcr stories of
Greece ard Rome, and wish they had played u
part In the sensational. heorism ofthose grand
old times; while others go to Venice, and make
dolas and the mysterious Council of Ten,
the lovely ladies with grim old fathers
and grim brothers acting ns insufficient gaol-
sEs, and nd tn the handsome cavaliers sercnading
love. They have no perception OF anything
warmer. 1t is oil romance, and poetry, and
tender glances from alar, and long and patient
wooing under difficulties and little danger
with scarce word spoken, and nothing more
expressive than flower furtively given, or O
heedng pressure of the finger tips. They
Their cherry is without stone, their bird: with
out bone, their orange without rind, as In the
old song and they imagine love ns unreal rs
all the rest. When thrown into actualtics
elaest glri OF perhaps q large family with O
iathcr to comfort and young brood to sec
after--Swcet Seventeen ia often very beautiful
~ I'm her 9egree, and M rises g..rdy to her posi-
bllities is too much for hertender shorldcrs
and she is oyerweighted, and fs4s:: Some
times t3S she y tyspncal and suct
times ish is careless anq,co rood ,humored
when they I'LL scraiuLlr, uR ,i5S3ner, IiirUurl
: confusion. dirt and disorder, ~ the close tim,
! is over and they, scatter ifhS8seIyes abroad
! Sometimes she is a martyr, and makes hersel
and every one else uhcomfortabfe ,hu. he per
, petual demonstrationiof her matyrd6m, ant
how she considers herself sacrificed and;pu
upon. Indeed, she Is not unfrcduently mar
; tyr from other causes than heavy duties, bein,
, fond Of adopting sunworkable views whicl
cannot be got to run in the family groove any
how. If she fllls upon this rock she is In he
glory; youth being maryellously proud Of thi
kind OF voluntary cruci6xion, and thinking
itself especially ill-used because It must b.
made conformable, and Is prevented from
: making Itself Ridiculous. But Sweet Seventeen
is intolefnnt! 'of.all moral. differences. Wha
{ ahe holds to be right is the absolute, the on
sole and only just law; and she thinks It tam
I | perlng with sin to allow that any one else ha
an equal right with herself to q contrar
opinion. But on the whole she is a pleasant
. loveable, interesting creature; and ones great
! est regret absnt her is that she is 30 ofIen ii
: the hands OF unsuitable guides, and that he
! powers and noble impulses get so stunted AM
ehadowed by the commonplace training whic
7 is her. general lot, sand the low aims. OF liz
which are the only ones held out to her. y
rts;;i3 3; ,.CoMMFRCIALT VIEWS. :,
. +"ls - Hcynorfs.