The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1872-1881, 1873-02-28
Prececious Mnislem,-

I
: When q girl leaves school she gcncr
ally doe. one of two things. She eithel
lays herself out sr . life Of luxurious
idleness, o, she set. up ~ philosophsl
J on small scale. II she adopts the tor
mer course, her greatest anxiety is how
shc shall exc ou, tt. very liberal allow.
snce made by an indulgcnt papa, and
her greatest ambition Il 10 shine at balls,
hower-shows, and bszaars; finally end.
ing her career Of maidenhood by bccom-
ing the wife Of a man who possesses q
superahundance Of this worlds goods,
and combines within himself all the viz
tues and eScelleuccs tha, could be found
in one OF The species. II. on the other
hand, she goes in for the philosophical
line Of business. she lays herself out for
a career which, to mos. Of her fellows,
appears the reverse Of pleasant.
She procures the dryest books ON
the most sbstruse subjects A volume
such as "Hallam's Constitutional History
Of England" Ia. IN her eyes, absolutely
light reading, while Macsulay seems
only fit to be read in moments Of relsxs-
tion. These dry books she devotes her
self to with an srdor worthy Of better
cause. We will not hatter her under
standing BY saying that she fully com
prehends all she reads. Still she imagines
she does so, aud perhaps this amounts to
the same thing-certainly. In many in
stances'it is the most satisfactory result
that could be attained. If she peruses
what is called light literature, she does
so only to condemn it; if she affects
poetry, she processes to enjoy only that
of sternly metaphysical type. Tenny-
son, being easily understood, and not at
all deep, il, in her opinion. milk and
water; but Browning, being at times so
deep that il is almost impossible for ordi- !
nary mortals to arrive at his meaning, |
is considerably more to her taste. of
the curreat magazines, she procures from |
the circulating library those which con-
tain nothing but dull, heavy. philosophi-
cal reading. She attends as many learn.
ed lectures as she can, and bravely
endesvors thereat to preserve an aspect
of the deepest interest, and this, when
the majority of those by whom she is
surrounded are desperately struggling to
shake of the influences of Morpheus and
avoid snoring! When talking she care
fully eschews frivolous topics frowning
when the shape of Mrs. Smiths bonnet
or the ill-chosen trimmings of Mrs.
Browns dress come under consideration.
If she can capture and hold possession
for stray halfhour Of an individual
who has acquired the reputation of being
learned, she is indeed pleased. The un-
fortunate man is questioned and cross,
questioned in a manner that he relishes
but little; often, indeed, he is completely
posed. II he makes a mistake-oh!
bliss-shc is at once down upon him,
citing authority upon authority to prove
that he is wrong, until, fairly bewildcrcd
and greatly irritated, the luckless fellow
seeks refuge in an admission that his
had most unaccountsbly failed
him. But this is not enough. She Is
shortly at him again, until, adopting an
ignominious mode Of escape. he fees
from her-that is to say, he walks away ,
and denters into converse with some one
who he imagines will not be quite 80
hard upon him. She is perfectly salts
fed. She had trounced him for a mis- !,
Iake-she, q miss of twenty summers, ,
has corrected philosopher Of sixty ,
,h, high honor. She boasts Of the great
to those in whom she con .
ides. To hear that she has been de- =
'cribed as most remarkable girl-clever :
rough ecoentric--pleases her vastly,
nd urge hercrs- % fresh Efforts. Her l
emean9r is generally ny shrsnknul .
at there is that abort her which shows : :
hat she places considerable value upon g. q
er own power-that is to say. her ~, ~
over of reiteratiug tho arguments and
eneral ideas of the hvorite authors she :"
as read, and passing them OF as her r
wn. Every one not being acquainted ~ ~
18th the productions of these particular :. -
riters, she earns the reputation of be- ;. -
lg a great deal cleverer, more original, -
nd more remarkable than she really Is. ~ y,
10 one is better pleased than herself at =, :,
lis happy consummation. --Li5erai ne ~
ep. "
IN