Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-02-02
THE ENGLISH GIRL.
A VERY CRITICAL CORRESPONDENT
INDUCES IN NFAULT-FiNoING.
The Girl os the "Uppsr Middle Glass
Intellectual siuEgishn ness-Sarrying On
Conversation = Trained In the
Elements Of Housekeeping.

AuseueNsuAA osuBB On
. Conversation II Trained in the
Elements of Housekeeping.
London Cor. Ponce Press
OF course in England. as elsew here. thers
there are girls and girls contine my re
marks TO tue average girl. the girl Of ths
m .ddle classes. or let US say. the uppel
middle classes For in this very con
servaii,e country, where the caste di
visions are as strongly defined as in
India or China. there are an upper mid
die class. lower middle class, and Il
suppose middle middle ass though
Of this latter am not quite decided Al
any rate they don't call it by that name
exactly. The most predominant trait OF
this English girl, the one characteristic
common 10 all Of them without exception
is the determination to marry. Othei
girls In all lands marry. other girls think
Of ~beaux" aud ~sweetnearts as soon q
they get into long dresses-many of them
before; other girls are ambitious TO writ.
Mrs before their Names but in no land
that have ever visited do the young
women make such dead sets" at all mar
riageable young or old men who comt
within the focus Of their attractions.
Another Characteristic of the middle
class English girl. is that Of intellectual
slugg ishness. In comparison with the
American girl of like social position. sim
liar advantages. similar opportunities for
education and mental improvement, sim
liar condition of fortune, tt. nglish girl
is poor talker and feel lie reader ty
~feeble reader" mean q girl who has in
her school days read only those works
which were given her as tasks. aud who.
since leaving school, has confined her
reading to The newspapers and works OF
fiction The great majority Of English
girls. al least those whom l meet have
never read any prominent English poet
save Shakespeare. Tennyson and Mrs
browning. know very little Of any French
authors save , ictor Hugo and the horde
of sensational novelisis headed BY
iols. Gaboriau and Boisgobey. and
as for American writers they are abso-
luteiy ignorant Of them.
know of few things more ennuyante,
more boresome, than the attempt 10 carry
on conversation during an hour with an
average middle class" English girl. l
mean II girl who is fairly well educated
gifted with average intelligence. a grad
uate Of any good English seminary or
women college A half hour of such
conversation uses me up completely. ten
minutes is quite sufficient for any one.
know several nj e" girls who, when
conversing nationally with man, that is
when the sub Jet Of dress, the theatre and
field sports are tsbooed. rarely rise above
simple "ies" NO" or Indeed, -
though they do. il is true. occasionally in
ierpolste an -Aw. or How funny"
like their races | admire their good tig
ures, their robust strength, their
fresh bloom OF youth. mot M; nu-
fsctured by Mrs AllenD am enthu
siastic over their lawn tennis playing ard
their tr.cyc,e riding. like their gait,
the way they "siep out, 40 girl walks SO
well as the fnglish girl. can never
cease 10 lrxise their economy. in and
simplicity Of dress. with certain excep
tons, of course, but do not like their
talk and am Eored constantly by their
con. ersation.
English middle class" girls are very
religious Al least they seem 10 be.
nter any church in London, 50 e only
those in -the city. which are neccssaril.
almost deserted. except the Temple
church. because scarcely any body save a
few pOrters, housekeepers, care takers. .
and The like, live in -ihe city, enter any
church in ondon on sunday morning
or aI the afternoon servi e. and YOU ind
Tho sesls crowded with ladies, the greatest
.ses!llssle91lIo19l1
part being young wsmen or misses They
are derout; they 90 through the service
" Ith decorum and all the outward evi
dences of respect and religious devotion
No staring about the edince here. - 10 an
Italian cathedral, where the worshlpef
counts her oeads ana al 'ne same ume
studies the coun,enances VI =" ,nose
within range OF hef Sision' no ctitcA
examination OF tne ne" oonnet oI nef
nelgnoor .! s'uoy .! 'ne .i'nmius on ue
msntie oi tne Aay IN 'he next pew. Is IN
New iorh Ut n'csSo mouse Vi "of
snip
Enshsn giris OF the ni'ooie Class usu-
Aiiy make goo1 housewives ihey are
usineu III .he elements OF housekeeping.
ana ottentimes nave mucn more tnan an
eiementaiy Know,eogo oi nousehoio
ouuea lney usually make tneir own
dTesses-'p tha' Is he rea'
son that tney are so APT 70 De ia.
made. OF. Al ieast, not tas'eiuiliIthey
Know now 70 Trim tneir own nals ana oon-
nets, tney can COOK oeeistesA anA make
oikshire puuuing ihsy can usu
ally Tell You now many pounos OF sugar
go 10 pound Oh run 10 tne compound
ing OF an A straw0efry .Am Asny OF
them can even handle . smootning ron
!hough IN Lonaon nearly All lsundry WORK
Is done ny professional iaunoresses, most
OF II Out of the house Ihey 90 mol drink
ice wafer, and That Is ore respect IN which
they disp ay a superiority over tneir
merican cousins, male ana iemsie aike
middle classes, lack expression Their
are too stOlid In fact l
have good reason for believing that the
English girl is not very emot.onal-that
she lacks sentiment. IS sentiment" is
BY us Americans This Is