Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1869-06-11
AaERIcAN GIRLs.

/ 1e s1s9 us ooh know low he got ont Of
the erape
AaERIcAN GIRLS.
| Ammic1n gjrs have certain something
which Is net iBaptiy called dainty; dainty
features, dainty forms, dainty feet.
With what taste they dress Il is true
they dress e@pensirelg5 not because Alneri
can ladis are extravagant, bat because art
c'es for the fair sex are dear.
We have 10 home manufactures. but
must import our silks, velyets, laces, linens,
gloves and almost everything that goes to
make M tao toilet; the very same dres,
wonl5 cost an American treble wbatit would
q Ftnehw5maH 10 her native land. No
wonder Che latter can dress better than the
farmer on less money.
Americans do not invent fashions. but
.hsy ss.zs upon them at once, and wear
them as gracefully as those who do invent
them
! Ilis saying as true, alas as it is old,
that American women fade early; still when
their day of positive beauty is past they
are good wives aud mothers, afIectionate,
cheerful companions; in their homes the,
are excellent housewives, even as much 50
as EagIi,hwemen, who in this respect arr
patterns.
Ii is time 90 credit our countrywomen
with something beyond mere beauty; though
not in the world crowded boulevards of the
luxurious French capital, nor in the princi
pal streets Of the sturdy metropolis ofGreat
Britain, can one meet in an afternoon
stroll such throDgs oflovely girls and womer
as aock down Broadway on sunny day.
The ASlerican women are the most intel
Hgeot among civilized nations The French
only equal them in quickness Of perception
and in wit, but not in face, for the latter
are notoriou-ly ugly, as a general thing-a
pretty face in France being almost as rare
rs an ugly one here. Americans are better
/ educated too, than most women; so, what
with learning. wit, cbeerluluess grace and
beauty, they may be pronounced as nearly
/ perfect as il is possible for mortal women to
be- Forunstely, they are sufficiently de.
fsctiva to answer Coleridge's oft quoted
lines; they are rot
Too bright and good
Eol human nature's daily food"
In addition 20 possessing all the charms
| and virtues OF tne women of other nations
/ theg have self-rcEant manner and self
sustaining, invincibIe virtue, which non,
others are conceded to have at so early an
age; for cur custom Of entrusting mere girh
in the society of gentlemen alone is the sub
| iect Of wonder and outcry among foreigners.
To the eternal honor Of American men be
il said tley have in general the most sacred
respect for the purity Of young girls, and
that VITA the high sense Of propriety which
/ prevails among the latter, causes ouf
country to be almost altogether free from
that hile}us crime which brings in its Grim
son ;raia tie iuiantieide Of illegitimate off
spring
Can tht system be entirely wrong which
avarts The betrayal Of young girls ? This,
in Great Britain, has almost become a ma
| tional criac.
! S9GHl, is inantieide thought of in Eng
land uov. that the wretched unwedled
mother seldom hanged, or even transpor
| ted but is condemned to imprisonment for
from six to eighteen months.
The Hester Faughaus of England do not
suffer long; It Is simply because the sup
posed or actual crime of the unfortunate
creature now llngujshiag in Philadelphia
Jail is SO rare here that it awakens unusual
horror
/ While We have considerably less of the
gimes Of seduction and child murder than
England, we have not more depravity
nan exists there 10 wedlocb, and much less
aan in France; though as married happi-
Rss 10 the latter country is based upon the
yoIatiou Of the first principles Of matrimony,
! a comparison is possible.
| Let rs admire the bewitching beauty of
Aaerican women-their sirIish freshness
thir enchanting grace, as they develop into
wmeu; let US do homage to their sprightli-
nea Of speech-which, if not actual wit,
+ ct0,ly approaches it--and their strong in
telbance. And as, with all their gifts,
theatre not exempt from suffering, let US
rcmce the prejudice against their laboring
to winiread for themselves and little ones;
thjs wald be a greater boon than the suf-
f-age; 5r voting is not an absolute necessity