The Brookhaven leader., 1886-02-04
THE AMERICAN GIRL.
Few Sensible Remarks In support Of Our
MIsFepresented Daughters.

MfsFepresentou DaushteEs'
The American girl that is being inn
mortalized in serial and novelette, for
future generations to admire or censure
does not represent the model of the ma
jority. Fifty years hence the girl of the
present period will live in the pages of
literature as witty, vivacious, dressy.
self-possessed, extravagint being, whom
the under current of conversation will
then lower to the descriptive terms of
pert, saucy, VAN, rude and wastcful.
Children will look with distrust upon
their grandmothers and great aunt5 as
the girls who once snubbed younger
brothers aud sisters, and condemned
their mothers as being behind the times,
while they took the lead in household
customs and society affairs. Our En-
glish cousins now look upon our good
girls as Fair Barbarians," bold, over
dressed, prcsumptuous creatures, yet
marvelously sweet and attractive. Such
individual descriptions do injustice to
the average, for throughout our rural
districts and country towns hundreds OF
girls may be pointed out, who are nod
est and intel ligent, industrious and cco-
nomical. Many of them are self-sup-
porting and put more energy in a
weeks work than some of our critics
use in whole year. Let me give you
a pen picture of one of my acquant-
ances. She is a well-edUcltei, sweet
tempered girl of nineteen years; is very
domestic, and hfts quite burden from
her mothers shoulders by her assistance
in housework and entertaining company.
She teaches eight months in the year in
a public school of their little village, and
having learned drcssmaking, employs
the vacation in doing the family sewing.
She is bright example OF ssteriy dayO-
ton and lilal affection. In all matters
of society she shows a daugGLeliy defer
ence to her mothers opinions. She
teaches in the Sabbath school and is an
enthusiastic member of society for
literary culture. She can not pay, but
considers it no disgrace; and her course
of general reading and natural conver-
sational powers quite Over5hadow the
lack of this Accomplishment.
This brief sketch is not orerdrawn in
any particular, and | might give scores
of similar examples of selfSacriiiclng
girls, who by teaching, clerkng, book
Keeping dressmaling, telegraphy, and
like employments, are earning enough
to take them through college, pay OF
mortgages on fathers farm, or suD-
port a widowed mother, and yet if
these girls were suddenly to acquire
wealth, their characters would still re-
tain the sweet pearl of humility, and
the ornament of meek and quiet
spirit.
There is a great deal Of unius railery
in regard to the idleness of the girls of
the present day. Their grandmothers
and great-grandmothers are pictured rs
patterns of industry, and of course
they did excel our young ladies' in
the execution of hard, physical labor.
But in comparing this with the
vast amount of social demands
and mental discipline, which our bright,
ambitious girls are expected to meet, we
find that their vim and spirit is equal to
that of their ancestors, though manifest
ed in different direction: and when we
contemplate the overwhelming burden
of advice that is poured upon them
through the channel Of books and maga-
zines, it seems that they olght to be
models of physical strength and beauty;
perfectly familiar with rules of society
etiquette, and we'll acquainted with all
modern feminine accomplishments. We
are glad that they are willing to accept
all the counsel they can proiitably use.
and that they are keeping step with the
march of progress and improvement
RuraL NeW Yorker.