Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-03-30
FOR YOUNG LADIES.
Miss Rose Elizabeth Cleveland Writes
Paper an Originality nnd Imita-

49, - " 49,
thing that could happen to any one to
be called an lin lator." II the reputa-
ton for 'imitating" was once fixed upon
a girl she was looked upon MS not exactly
a iirst-class girl.
Further on in life began to hear a
great deal about originality" and
found an 'or ginal person was exactly
the opposite of an 'im tator' and that
if, by some good luck, one could get the
reputation of being original she would
be looked upon MS considerably above
the average iirst-class girl and treated
with a degree of consideration VIII ich
accompanies q %stinction, | perceived
that the role of the imitator was not
one calculated for popularity, while that
Of the original person was that of
fame and glory. These thing, were on
the surface and were matters of obser-
walton.
Another fact which | discovered was
THIS: That a person might have the re-
putat on of beng an imltalor without
in the least degree, desc rviug it; and
that Il person could acquire II reputa-
lion of being original without
IN the least degree deserving
it. BY the timo | had made
this discovery | had learned something
Of the Il ference tstween character and
reputation, and knew that. in some
things. the one did not involve the
other. / was somewhat mortified at
realizing the fact that am ong 'us girls
the reputation for Icing original was
quite the same thing as be- ~ SO; and
that tho reputation for "mtating'
was quite ~ bad rs doing it.
1t was about this time that | began to
learn The real value of both orig E,lity
and imitation. ! found ont that TO real
IL be- an imilator. whether one had the
name of it on not, was often gu re as
good a thing as To have the name and
fame of an original person.
And i'm tbs letter TO the Daughters Of
America | wish to say one or two
things. which | know 10 be true. about
the vice and the virtue of initiating.
We viii drop originate for the present
and coniine ourselves TO imitation.
Perhaps another me ! shall have some
thing TO say about originality.
1t i "A great mistake TO suppose that t
is a weakness to Initiate. 1t is some
times a very bad thing, and whether it
is good or bad depends entirely upon
the quality OF the thing which is inn tat
ed. 1t is ALWAYS a good thing to imi-
tate, or 10 try to initiate good TIA ngs;
and when one is afraid of not be NJ or
iginal because one initiates a good th'pg
that one is much weaker i'm not initial
ING. Plenty OF people do not do half
rs many and graceful things as they
might. Just because thew are afraid
they will be accused IF imitation.
1t j. mostly IN the line of goCl little
things that imitation is most worthy.
The great things, in lie and in char
.acter, one must learn and practice with
out reference to others; it is in the
lesser things, i'm manner and habits.
IN speech and carriage, where one can
copy with the greatest advantage. The
great things are the character itself, and
the little th ngs are the decorations, the
Lric-a-brac, Of character.
The great thing IS to know what to
initiate. There are some things which
it il good to initiate, aud there are some
things which it is bad to initiate, and
there are some things which is not
exactly good or exactly bad to initiate,
but only silly. For example there is
nowadays "A great deal of imitation in
America of English customs and man
ners. and there are some very good
little things in their costoms and
manners To initiate; and then, again.
there are some little things not so
good. In the speech of a well bred Eng
llsh woman. who is wholly without
aflectation, there Is apt 20 he more accu-
racy of articulation than in that of the
American woman. That is n good
TIA ne to initiate and a thing one can
initiate without mer ting, m the least,
the charge Of being very Englsh .
Careful habits of speech aud nice arti-
culation Of good English words are
not the monopoly Of Great Britain, and
should be as much the characteristic Of
Americans as Britons. If an American
Q RI is not as careful and uccurate in her
English rs is her transatlantic cousin
she should become so at one even at
the risk of losing a certain originality"
III rDtccU WHICH i NOT III TIC ltt,J II
desirable characteristic of some Amer
lean girls. The American girl al very
well afford to be called very English
on this account, for the thing which
she initiates is a thing very excellent
and worthy of imitation. But If this
same young American is so ambitious
TO be called English that she is eager to
copy the fault as well as the excell-
encies of British speech. she may take
pains i'm some directions VIII ch are not
in the least worth her while, "a for ex-
ample Gas | have known to happen) she
may carefully pronounce clerk as if
spelled clark. for no other reason than
that it is the habit of INSTRUMENTATION
among the British and so characteristic
Of them, that she calls her fathers
clerk a clark every one whose opinion
she prizes will be sure to think she hes
English friends or will tbink-oh. blissl
that perhaps she is English, also.
Here are bad sorts of imitation. The
first is good because the tn ne initial
ed is good. The second is neither
good nor bad. but, is simply extremely