The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1879-08-02

accepted rule of gallantry never to speal
of the ladies, and especially the young ones
except in their praise. 1 must not dwell
upon the girl of the period as she sits be-
fore her $500 piano, tied down with the
remorseless pin-back an abject slave of the
most fastidious and exacting tyrant
should be dishonest or ungallant if 1 went
into this topic, and it is hard to say which
is the greater crime.
What can you expect of her? How much
hns she cost, and what is she fit for? Can
she milk q COW? Can she bako a biscuit?
Can she sew on shirt button? Does she
sweep the house? Does she know how to
wash the dishes! In word, does she know
any practical thing whatever? These are
grave questions, ladies, and fear our
modern polished and accomplished girl
would not be able to answer them satisfac-
tiorily. Perhaps she is content not to
know any merely useful thing like these.
Perhaps she is willing for her mother to do
all this work to keep her hand in. But she
is great on the piano, Her fingers bounce
over the ivory keys like popcorn in a hot
frying pan, 1t is rare thing, however, for
her to make any real, orthodox or natural
music One of the very first things she learns
in music is to disguise the best tunes we have
by what she calls variations. An honest
old friend of mine from the country
brought to my house not long ago
two bushels of sweet potatoes to pay
his subscription to The COMET. He
was moral man and strict men,
Der of the Church, and, therefore,
invited him in. There was little girl at
the house aud he asked her to play tune
on the piano.
"What will you have ?'' the little miss
inquired, as she managed In spite of the
pineback to square herself befolo the
instrument.
"Sweot Home" he answered, 'that is
the best tune know of. -
The fingers began to fly. The hands
chased each other over the keys like panic
stricken rats in the cellar when the old cat
got after them. She "tweedlo leedledo
died -lee-oodled' heavily on the bass. BY
and by, she seemed to be letting herself
down to the work, and highly cultivated
ear might have detected one or two remote
and melancholy vibrations which sounded
misteriously like the suffocated notes of
Sweet Home. But it wasn't long before
she began to prance again into another jig.
When she stopped my old and respected |
with an air of intense disappoint-
ment, said
Now, let's have Sweet Home.n
''Why that 'ras Sweet Home have just
Played" replied the performer.
ooh, no !" said he, ''that was not
Sweet Home. If it was l do not want to
hear it any more"
She had played Sweet Home as the
new tangled and stilted variations have
it, but so thoroughly smothered in
shower of fantanstic jingles as to be beyond |
the recognition Of Baptist Elder.
The girl of tho period is too ornamental.
She is too highly educated in single spe-
,ialty. She has not only learned to be
practically useless, but she has ruined our
pest music and when she tackles one of
'ur good old Camp Meeting hymns, like
Did Hundred, a grand piece of common
say it in reverence-in which
III Christendom are joint stockholders, and
whose grand swells have made millions of
oious bosoms heave with religious ferver,-
he probabilities are that she will infuse
nto it an outlandish, operatic trill-lil>lilloo-
illoo-tilleda-ah -ahoop exploding the
asst note like the exhausted climax of a
ky-rocket cutting it off as suddenly as a
mapping turtle closes down on toad frog,
nd giving her head such n spasmodic jerk
S makes you think her neck is in danger |
# dislocation.
OF MERE COLLEGE RDU
CATION.
From thsse arguments and illustrations
on will perceive, ladies and gentlemen,
nat ''there is no rayal road to learning, !;
nd that education is not a thing to be
leasured by what it costs. 1t will be fur
ler apparent to you that a good deal of !;
raud and humbuggerry can be interjected
ito college education. l do not look
pon the young gentleman or young lady !.
ho has Just emerged from the walls of a
should say, the ''classic walls. -
you refer to the walls of q col :,
ge it is proper to couple with them the
escriptive adjective "cassic"-any other
yle of speech is ungrammatical. u do
ot look upon the young lady or the young =,
then, who has just emerged
ON the "classic walls of q college as 4.
aragon of erudition, If he or she has
ade good use of the time-a point about
hich, in a large majority Of cases, must
, permitted to entertain sorioua doubts :,
sn he or she has only read the preface to .
% great Thosaurus Of science and li!era-
re. The immense book of true and
actical and comprehensive education Is
t to be opened and studied.
,oD SCHOOLS AND COMPETENT TECHERs =
THE PILLARS on LEARNING. vi
But my hopes for the country and for ha
lid and enduring education are in the p
nools-not the colleges. And no man m
ws with more sincere homage to the faith
and competent school teacher than I
. Men are prone to under estimate the fr
,mendous importance Of good schools ne
ley are apt to place too small a value up ID
the good teacher A man would lie M