Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1883-10-03
YOUR DAUGHTERS.
What Kind OF Novels DO the In
nOcent Dear Ones Read?


1t is very unusual to find mother
who is indifferent to her daughter 5
clothes. Even when that daughter is
but a wee tot the petty details Of COS.
tune are scrupulously looked after and
the maternal mind allows itself to be
painfully disturbed over incongruous.
ness Of tint between the ribbons sery-
ing as tllet and necktie, and By mea.
gerness Of garniture on irock and
apron, Practical minded women will
even, in spite Of girlish remonstrance,
insist on low heels, loose clothes and
warm wraps, and with wise saws and
hygienic maxims crush the fashion.
able yearnings of budding woman.
hood for French heels, a genteel waist
and sleeveless jackets.
But what can be said about the
endeayor to provide for our daughters
mental nourishment and intellectual
adOrnments? To develop in them a
taste Tor great and noble thoughts and
the capacity to enjoy companionship
with pure aud elevating writer's, and
association in ideal worlds flled with
honest men and pure women? To
arouse that instinct for pure knowl.
edge which is indeed the main purpose
OF education, certainly of that kind
Of education which is "the leading q
human souls to what is best. anC
making what is best outof them2"
There is no more amazing phase O
nineteenth century feminine develop
ment than its passionate aud enner
waiting indulgence in nauseus menta
pabulum, and the appalling extent Il
which an unlimited supply Of sucl
stuff is furnished to the young. TIL
same woman who is conscientiousl
careful OF the school companionship o
her daughter Of twelve or fourteen
years, is apparently criminally indif
ferent to the character of her associ
ates in books. She will watch wha
boy carries her girls books home frou
school, but forgets to look below tn
cover OF the new novel that sam
daughter .as brought back from tn
circulating library, stopping there 70
| it on her way home.
Now this apathy or ignorance in re
gard to what young girls read is re
sponsible for the destruction Of tn
finer tone Of character Of many 9
our children developing into woman
!, hood, and explains good deal of tn
| frivolity, demoralizing ooquetry an
unfortunate affairs" which from tim
to time startle the community an,
bring sorrow and disgrace on highl
respectable families. ..a
\ During the formative period Of life
when both mind and body are chang
ing and unfolding from the chrysali
state Of the odild into the complete
ness OF the woman, the future stamin
moral powers Of resistance and phy
steal capacity Of endurance, the pure
mental tone and healthy bodily mus
cles-are dependent upon the name
in which both body and mind al
exercised, fed and trained, and to III
quality and quantity Of the nutrition
PARTICLES oil matter, material and il
telloctual, which go to make the sui
stance OF the one and the spirit Of II
other. hrr .Lr.o- n,
Feed your child on pickles an
sweetmeats, allow her to wear pap,
soled shoes and an insufficieney
flannel, aud we all know what Il
consequences will be dyspepsia an
hectic cough. Does it never occur
you that the analogy applies to h,
mental sustenance and equipment
that if we feed her uniformed az
emotional nature with high spice
morbid, unreal fiction she will becon
incapable fdigesting better hteratur
and that by the time she is a woma
anything selid will be rejected by Il
pampered appetiteY Have YOU ney,
seen this, You mothersG ,sss
Good fiction is truly q legitimat
healthful and improving means
pleasure and profit. By the perusal
clevet novels, OF real and idealizC
pictures Of human life. our ment
range Of vision is extended, the foel
Of our intellectual glasses is truly a,
justed, our sympathies enlarged, OF
prejudices driven away, our knowledl
OF and due regard for the Just value
life increased and verified; we al
amused, improved, touched, warme,
helped aud urged 10 help other
There is no better means of impress
ing on our minds the facts of histol
or the qualities and values Of huns
nature than by the historical or crit
cal novel. But such are not the n
suits which usually follow from a D,
rusal Of the light literature Of Ii
day" which library statistics prov
young girls devour yearly 10 unliu
tied quantities.