The star of Pascagoula. [volume] (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1873-1878, 1877-05-18

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and es-rafial Hiauflfty If wh.eh { have
already commented
- h. another attributsd superiority
.oi ths Yankee woman ! must sepeu.
my surprised Dissent have nat miy
read bnt heard their intelligence aad ~
eiai qualities mtnl much higher than
that " their sistefs IN Engiand Fair
cOuntywJmen heed noe iris hattefy
N j. not tur. The typical English
womed ~ the upper and upper middle
class has In strength " mind and
w infgr nation no type counterpart
IN America. ~ho may not know
Latin, and she may. and ret little pg1d
by IL she may not b. brilliant. Or quick
" selfadaptive and she generally Is not
but she Is we'll informed both ~ 10 the
past and the present she shows the effect
rather Of education than NJ school cram
ming, Of culture inherited and slowly
acquired, and Of intercourse with able,
and highly educated and cultivated men.
She generally has some accomplishments
which she has acquired in no mere snowy
boarding-schOOl fashion, but With q re.
spectacle t~horoughness. England il full
of ladies' who paint well in water color,
or who are musicians, not mere piano.
players, or who are %botanists, or who
write well, and who add one or more Of
such requirements to a solid general ed
ucatiOn, a considerable knowledge Of
affairs, and the ability TO manage n
large household. she really man
ages all hou-ehould affairs, troubling
her husband with no details, but
being careful to manage in such
a way as to please him. For, as | have
said before, the wish Of the master of an
English household is the law of that
household. Notwithstanding all this, |
have been led to the firm belief that hen
pecking il far more common in England
than it is with us, and that curtain lee
lures arc much oftener delivered here
than there, Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lee
would hardly have suggested
themselves to an American humOrist, al
though the thing itself-if not in its per-
lection, in its GERMS sufficiently known
here to make the humor and the satire
of that series perfectly appreciated. And
to say, the average English
husband seems to be a less Independent
creature than the American. English
wives more generally insist upon their
prerogative of sitting solemnly up for
their husbands at night; and latch keys
are regarded as a personal grievance.
What American wife would think OF
making a fuss about a mans having a
latch KEY? Not a few of them, indeed,
have one themselves. And yet / have
seen an English oma of the lower
class, flush, and choke and whim-
per when the subject of the inalienable
of a mar to a latch-key to his W
house was preached, and begin to talk
about the worm turning when it is
trampled upon.
The devotion of English women to
families, and particularly to their
children, cannot be surpassed. | believe
that they are the best, the most self
sacrificing daughters, wives and mothers
in the world except the good daughters
and wives and mothers in America, and
even them | believe they generally sur
in submissiveness and thoughtful
consideration. But this is the result of
the general subordination which in all
things pervades English society.
1t is generally believed in England, |
cannot tell why, that women in America
take part in public affairs, and are much
more in the eye of the world than Eng
fish women are. OF this belief ] met
with an amusing instance. One day at
dinner in a great house | had on one side
Of me a gentleman who had come in
alone for lack of ladies enough to go
it was a small family party.
He was the brother Of my hostess, a fine,
intelligent fellow about twenty-five years
old, who had Just taken his bachelors
degree at Oxford. As | turned from his
to him in a pause of conversation,
he asked me with great earnestness, al
most with solemnity: "Is-it--true-
hat-in--America- the-womeu-sit--
on-iuries?" | answered instantly, and
with perfect gravity; " Yes; all of them
who are not on duty as %sergeants of
Dragons" For n appreciable delight
full moment doubt and bewilderment
flashed through his bright, handsome
eyes, and then he, as well as Others with
in earshot, appreciated the situation, and
there was a hearty laugh; an Ingenious
blush mantled his cheeks-for young men
can blushin England.
The soft charm of the English woman's
manner is greatly helped and heightened
by her voice and her manner OF speaking.
In these she is not only without an equa,
but beyond comparison with the women
of any other people, except the few OF
her own blood and tongue in this country,
who have like voices and the same utter
The voices and speech Of English
of all classes are, with few ex-
ceptions, pleasant to the ear-sott and
clear: their words are well articulated,
but not precisely rDnounced. They
speak without much emphasis, yet not
mo~notonously, but with gentle modula-
ton. Their speech is therefore easily
understood--much more so than that of
persons who speak louder and with
stronger emphasis. You rarely or never
are obliged to ask an English woman TO
repeat what she has said because YOU
have failed to catch her words. This
soft, yet crisp and clear and easily flow
ing speech, is, as | have said, common TO
the whole sex there.
One reason of this beauty of the speech
of English women is doubtless in the
voice itself. An English woman's voice
is soft, but it is not weak. 1t is notably
firm, clear and vibrating. 1t is neither
cultural nor nasal. While it soothes
the ear it compels attention. Like the
tone of a fine old Cremona violin, its
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