Morning journal and courier., 1885-08-31
COMMUNICATIONS.
Our Girls.

The above title of an article recently pub
 lished in a religious paper attracted my at tention and I read it with interest.
 For many years have been looking in the homes and in the schools for our girls-those bright and true in head and heart as we'll as
 beautiful in physique-normal specimens, such as nature, under cultured Christian training, might be expected to develop. I see sweet, unsophisticated childhood; the germ of all that is lovely; but it's develop ment disappoints the promise of it's growth. What is the cause and where rests the re- sponsibility? Where are the Christian girls, conscious of their capabilities and recogniZ- ing higher power calling them to noble
 duty and self-sacrifce2 Where are the girls enthusiastic in study and anxious to fit them selves for the broadest usefulnesss Where is
 the young lady who makes duty first and pleasure secondary?
 Is there demoralizing agency at work in the home and in :Ssociety?'' We talk of the requirements of society" as of some infiu-
 ence over which we have no control, but by
 which we are led whither we "would not"
 May the time soon cone when "society" will
 be composed of true womenl
 I often query, do mothers realize the i'm possibility of early youth and the ineffacea- bility of those impressions? Do they not too
  ness of their little ones, instead of studiously guarding them from every word and smile
 that will pervert their sweet simplicitys We see them by the mothers side in the hour of chit-chat with the fashionable 'caller"-even in the opera, theater, ballroom and circus, where visions of life and character are mak- ing impressions on ths young mind that will sbliterate the freshness and beauty of the character as we'll as of the cheek.
 Look around upon the young women of your "circle!" Whence comes that restless ness of routine ill duty, that love of excite ment that makes the drill of the school room tedious the quiet of home irksome and the silent, solitary book dreary companion? As womanhood develops there also devel- ops the enjoyment of gossip and chit-chat, the desire to see and be seen. impatience of the restraints of distasteful duties The ! brightest vision of the future is of 8 bridal trouseau and an era of matrimonial ''inde- ! pendence," when, as ones own mistress, tastes and habits thus formed may be indulg- ed ad ibitum.
 We ask again, where are the true girls those who love home duties, who study "with will'' and are resolved patiently to acquire all the learning of the schools within balanced character and disciplined intellect for the duties of any spherea
 In this day of telephone and telegraph, the old methods of slow acquisition and stern discipline are being superseded by \ easy and more rapid processes of education. l The lightning process must be brought to bear upon the intellect. The child must not be made to climb the ladder of learning, step by step-stumbling, yet perseveringly pressing onward no, it must be lifted up- ward on the shoulders of instructors. Plod- ding is wearisome, therefore injures the health. Learning must be gained by ab- sorption or in some way easiest for the child. A late physicians report complains of the l physical growth of our girls being stunted l by too close application to study. Where are these studious girls? Is it owing to "study," or to the manner in which their 1 time is spent when out of school? It is we'll to inquire more deeply into the matter. Too delicate for the routine of school du- ties year after year, our girls must be allowed only few years of such hum-drum drudgery. Their half trained powers must be released from this methodical toll and allowed to fol- low their bent. Too late it is seen that these crude characters have not sufficient strength to carry their possessor long against ! the current of mere popular tastes and the | frivolous fascinations of socieIy-too weak to lead, they will be led.
 l What more sure preventive of nervous dis orders than the healthy discipline of mental | culture? One daughter complains of head ! ache and the physician orders her to quit school-its duties being the only probable y, and in most cases the regular duties of the ! school, faithfully attended to, with only sim pie, healthful recreation when out of school, ! will prove the remedy rather than the cause of the ailments. They are surely more con- I ducive to health than the desultory occupa- ! tions of ordinary home aud society life. Custom seems now to require our daugh ! ters to leave school at eighteen, an age when | our sons usually enter college. Are four ! more years of study required for the young ! man than for the young woman. who is to be | the mother, the nurse and educator of the I race?
 | A school education of the right sort means | something more than mere intellectual acqui- l sition. The usual curriculum of study em- | braces the training of each mental faculty | and the Christian teacher will direct and stimulate thought and impulse, aad thus | mature those beautiful graces of character ! that in harmony with the -broadest culture | will alone develop true womanhood.
 Girls, "be not weary in we'll doing, fo1 you shall reap, if you fainS not"