Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1889-10-31
Our Daughters.

INV f''''''l''f'& fE'';"i''''.iSS y t'So
dormant in the coming generation Of
boys. We have heard it until we
come to look upon each boy we
meet as walking "possiblity"--onc
who may some day save or ruin his
country. But what of the daugh.
tcrs who are to rock The cradles and,
in large measure, form the character
of these "possibiIitics"? The prob
lem may be thus stated: Givcn~-a
boy to be trained. During the for
native period of his life, the moth
cr's influence surrounds and controls
him two-thirds of the time. The
other third is divided between the
father and teacher. Who is most
responsible for his future good or
evil? There may be modifying i'll
t|ucnceS, yet it is grave question.
That great men have good mothers
is not new thought, only IN ig-
norcd one, but suggests the answer
to the given problem; a Sclf-cvidcnt
answer, since the influence of father
and mother is in the proportion of
one to three.
The question of how to train a
boy has been well answered by DIR.
O. w. Holmes, "Bcgin hundred
years before he is born.' Doubtless
the good doctor will allow us to add,
Sand begin with the daughters" :"
But training up Il daughter in the
way she should 90 is serious uucs-
ton, since it involves the going that
way yourself and taking her with
you. Oi the time and method of
this training MosrS--S" long ago that
many have forgotten, and many
others have never lcarnch--gave the
exact rule: ".And thou shalt teach
them the commandments 'lliycnt-
ly unto thy children, and shalt talk
of them when thou sitlrst in thy
house, and when thou walkcSt bv
the way, and when thou licst down,
and when thou riScst up" Evident
ly Moses expected the mother to do
this; he took no account of the
French maids, the German govern
css, or the Italian Master. Years
after we find so practical Il mau as
st. Paul literally interpreting these
commands of Moses, and counsel
ling the mothers to be "kecpcrs at
homc," in order, we suppose, to do
this training.
Yet one often secs the most de-
voted mothers, these Keepers at
home, fail in the matter Of training.
In fulfilling the letter OF the law,
they have failed to catch the spirit
Of its teachings. When a mothers
devotion spends itself in adorning
the child'S body, she has no time or
energy left to join in its studies or
pleasures, or to mould it's character,
and lcars, to her sad rcproach, a
willful, unloving creature, unhappy
at home and abroad; one Of those
intensely, hypcrbolically gushing
girls, who manifest Il morbid desire
for stale compliments; so stale that
none but crcdulous girl could swal-
low their dry crusts Of nothingncsS,
sandwichcd though they were be-
tween faint punS and sly thrusts a,
some rival. This love of ilattrry
takes possession OF her; she worShipS
the flattcrcr until he teaches her that
all men are liars"
Thence forward she becomes q de-
voice Of fashion, Il young woman
such as we sometimes see on our
streets in dress Of most "pronounccG'
style, written, we might say, in great
primer and italics. The wcarcr
meant there should be no mistake :;
she was viSibIy and beyond question
a leader Of style, always in the van.
The bcholdcrs arc not responsible if
she exhibits something else, written
also in great primer and italics, vani-
ty, mcdiocrity, brain lacking in iudg-
mcnt, and standard OF morality
not the highest. Challenging adm-
ration for her apparel, she fails to
rccOrniZc the harmonious blcndinu