The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1873-11-05
Oar Girls.


per's Magazine for October, on "Our
Girls we make the following es-
tracts:
TO women transplantpd from the Old
World I" the Npw, our American girls.
growing up in the free atmosphere of
America, present type peculiarly their
io"h. While Elro ,uran nations shut
their girls up in conventional privacy
lest they should be- SnIlird by contact
with tn" world, our girls walk abroad:
nor do they lose the purity of their own
fresh hearts by the knowledge which
tley gain nj actual life. We trust them
TO '"rn their "Xn arlulimtamceS, aud To
entertain them, and tnrr.. Is nowhere
else to he fouui tile young girl who,
| while she Is tree tn receive attention, Is
well able TO rrprl with dignity any pre-
sum .'tion. She marks out her o w II
Hunts. she is left To decide her lie for
herself, and is not considered as g, piece
of property To he retained or a!irliatcu
by hrr parents.
With a charming freedom she COM
binrs a certain womanly reserve which
Is not any outside mannrriSm, but the
result 0t the iiIWari conviction, which
Am riram iii forces Oh her, that she is
considered an independently ami rrSpom-
sible agent. Ii she he unbalanced, the
excess is on the side OF liberty, showing
I" the educator The tendency which his
preventive measures ought to take
Such yirlS we must rule through win.
ming their own conviction on tie side
of right. They will not bindly obey
what seems to them arbitrary rules, or
! If they do, the natural eStIberance of
life checked in one direction will spread
itself out in anotlle. in Il lawlessnrsS
an, foolish iravadO which we shall fluid
ii impossible to control. Any set, for
nal rules, any regulations as to uni
form dress are directly opposed to the
spirit of our institutions, and can ut
best secure but formal compliance for
the time, Il result which can not be con-
siiere'i as amy part OF the real edura-
ton. The work OF the teacher must al
ways look beyond the present, aiming
rs ii does ut permanent and not tempo
rary results, aud must, in America, ap-
peal directly and indirectly to seli-con
troll. The educator has in bis bands,
as The result of our climate, govern
ment and society, an exlui>itively sen-
sitive AMI nerronSly developed orgall-
ism, Il spirit which knows its rights,
ana will assert AMI maintain them, an
eiitrveSrent girl-lifr which is TO be re-
uucrd to gracious wOmanhuOd, but
without impairing its Individuality
Is it not manifest thar no system based
on European life can be adequate to
the skilliul solution OF such a problem ?
iOur American girls, if treated in school
as it is perfectly correct TO treat Frencl,
and German girls, are thwarted and
perverted into something which has all
the faults OF the German and French
girl without her excrllrnrips. Our
work Is for peculiar class, under pc
IruliHr circumstances, an d We m ms
model it anew for our necessities. We
have the finest material the world has
ever produced, and the best chances for
its develop ment. Our girls schools
ought to send forth the finest women
that have ever Blessed anu beautiir'i
the world, The strongest and 1rueSt
wives, tue wi>eSt and leutlerest moth
erS, the most intelligent and worthy
lciliZrnS. aud there ought to be III
places as pure, heaitlItul and inspiring
as the homes resided over by Ameri-
lean women. 1t we do not find these
results, the fault must be that of their
etlucatiOn.
The matter of physical education does
not lie Within the predetermined scope
OF the present articie. What anI how
shall our girls be- taught in the sphere
OF intellect? In accordance with the
general i,lea of what constitutes an ed.
uraiion, we have to say that intellecttl-
ally it consists, after giving the mere
tools of thought the ability to read, tc
write and to calculate-in so training
the mind that it will be able afterwarJ
intelIigently to direct its own work
ami any school life which leaves its pll.
pills with IL di>taSte for books has in il
something radically wrong. For til,
work OF cultivation must follow that o
education. No one, during her SchoO
life, can have time to read enough his
tory to give her any really valuable
knowledge thereof. At the best she
will have gained merely Il well-con
|. strucieh skrl ton, is it wer", which i:
afltrward 10 he clothed with the form
of life by years OF reading. And thu
vast domain of literature must be care
lully aul leiSmrrly explored, i f sh ,
would know the treasures there waitiu.
tor her enjoyment. Ii, therefore, ouI
girls leave school with IL dislike fo
stan lard books ami with no power o
! S.If-leacling We certainly have LII
inevitably failed. and must expect t.
iiad them seeking enjoyment in othe
!. ways, driven about by q restless desir.