River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1877-08-09
Few Words TO Girls.

A well-bred girl will not laugh and talk
so loudly that she will attract attention
and cause annoyance. Conversation,
when carried on in public cOnyeyances,
should not, as a rule be keyed so hga
that different strangers can hear the whole
of it. Nor will you let yourselves talk
about your friends or associates, mention
ing their names, and talking of their en-
gagements, their foibles ortheir eccentric
tiles. Family affairs should not be dis
cussed in a loud and animated way where
all the world is privileged to take notes.
Let me illustrate my meaning. One day
not long ago I sat in G car and heard,
quite against my will, the details of a
domestic quarrel. related with evident
zest and satisfaction by two good-looking
young women Finally one said, with
an air almost of triumph: You know
what pretty girl Harriet was and how
nicely she used to dTessl Well, she'sper-
fectly horrid now; you never would know
her! And she's growing so old and plan
Nv mother says it's no wonder her hus-
band is ashamed to be seen with hel."
You see what disagreeable impress
sion was made upon my mind, not con-
corning the absent Harriet, for whom /
felt sincerely sorry, but with regard to
the young people who were coOlly telling
over her troubles, rolling them like sweet
morsels under their tongues, and quite
regardless all the while as to whether or
not anybody heard them.
Nothing Is coarser, more Tepulsive, and
a surer sign of vulgaTity in the grain than
bold, indicate, forward conduct of this
kind in public places. Yet l know
young girls who are not vulgar, not coarse,
not unreiined, who, through mere giddi-
ness and thoughtlessness, offend in this
way and bring harsh criticism upon
themselves. They are regarded as far
worse than they really are. and they lose
what is girlhood's most attractive charm,
the grace of modesty, by their unfortu-
nate and hoydenish manner.
Exquisite manners, let me tell you, are
worth several other polite accomplish
ments put together. When see a school
girl who remembers to offer her seat to
an old lady or an elderly gentleman; who
remembers to give the newspaper to her
father when nc comes down 10 breakfast
and has only a few moments TO read its
world-sheaf of news; who remembers
that il is not kind 10 hurry her eldest
sisters reading Of some attractive book,
nor polite to begin the book till the other
has finished il; who remembers to shut
the door softly, and TO find places in the
Bible for aged eyes, to be good TO the lit
tie hindering ones who are always cray
ing something from sister, and who re-
members always to be lady eyeryw here,
| am sure that / have found one who will
be 4 queen Of home, if not Of society. A
graceful, gracious, tender, cOnsiderate
girl will inevitably make a glorious Won
an by and by. From the sweet, half
opened bud there viii be evolved the
rich perfection of the lovely flower. You
must think it troublesome sometimes to
be so particular as to the way you speak
70 the people in your own house. " 1t is
only Brother Dan or Cousin Matilda, you
say; " why should modulate my voice,
and soften my tones, and be so gentle in
my bearing Just to themf" Because it is
the being lovely and courteous and win
some every day and all day, to the broth
er and cousin, 10 the companion and friend,
to the child and the servant, which will
mold you into a gentlewoman, whose
manners will be as much part of her
self as the inner fiber of her character.
To such & one il viii be as impossible TO
commit an act Of rudeness as TO tell a lie,
and as natural to say and do agreeable
things as to put on her gloves before 60
ing TO church.