Telegram-herald., 1891-11-29

make the osss Of wiyss aftsrwsra, sla
rexfet her early indiscreslons ss long
- sns lIses, bat taere are hundreds
aaa tnoasAnds OF Amerlc2a gHis wao
90 nos take unwise Advantage Of the
liberty accorded them. aud wno are
quite ~ innocent through not as x
noranti - your convent aaa governess-
trained girls"
But the foreigner shook his head.
"Women-young women, are not 10 Be
trusted with freedom. he said. Any
nlzn 10 fool who believes giri per-
fscty vlrtuous reared Ia tnat way"
Able To Protect hsrssif
As this foreigner soon afterward went
nearly mad Al the 'eleeuoa OF his sais
By al American girl. nss criticisms do
not amount 10 much. stlll they show
the influence Of lns forelgn mind upon
our own Our American men are De-
coming inocu ated with the same prelu-
dices. Next 10 this comes our farce OF
chaperonlng system.
Itis curious fac. that the manners
OF men toward women and their ideas
Of honor degenerate as woman sur
rounds herself with outside projections
TO her virtue. Before ehaperores were
thought o.. the freedom OF acton OF
the American girl WAS considered
matter OF course oy men and admired.
Now that We make . prstenco OF chap
eroning giris. men seize upon the least
open depaI ture from this preeonce 70
ACCUSE giIl of lax morals.
Tnv forelgn-born girl Gomez into the
world expecting 70 be protected oy con-
veationaiity. The American girl 10 born
feeling herself able 10 protect herself,
and she eludes her easily eluded cha
peron without much effort. The cha
peron, who Was girl herself before
chaperones were thought Of, shuts her
eyes ana smiles at the whole thing a. .
huge joke; but the pretense is made,
and this exposes the girls who do not
assist in \ similar pretence to suspi-
cions which would not have existed
twenty years ago. when girls were ex-
pected to protect themselves from IN
suit.
As Good n Their Grandmothsrs.
Il is the system which has changed,
not the girls.
Girls are not moro lax in morals; far
from II, but the conventionalities are
more strict, making small digresslons
from good behavior seem larger. Men
are by nature strictly conventional.
They adore an outward pretence of OBJ
serving the conventions, yet il Is q
curious fact that the most carefully
ehsperoned girl, perh lps, America ever
produced has become the most motor
iously lawless wife. There is an innate,
inbred re- lion against unnecessary
restraints and prot, cuon born in the
American girl.
When q middle-aged man tells me
girls are not as modest and pure as
they were IN his day. long for the
power TO turn back the pages OF his
youth and compel him 10 reperuse
some long-forgottsn escapades with
girls who are now respectable matrons.
When 4 young man makes the state
ment, wish he could read some OF
the turned-down leaves in the life Ut
his mother or the mother of his friends.
There were just as many indiscreet actl
and lapses from virtue committed by
our grandmothers as are committed by
the girls of today.
Every generation produces it few al
venturesses and cOurtesans and IT
many sweet and noble women. The
great balance 10 always on the side OF
the latter.
Her Knowledge OF Herself.
Another phase of the modern girl
which the modern man finds 1t difficult
to understand is her knowledge of her
self.
Our grandmothers and mothers never
confessed 10 the possession of bodies,
and knew absolutely nothing about
themselves physically.
But progress, common-sense and
physical culture have done away with
the inanimate girl. and the growing
freedom OF thought renders the mod.
ein maiden fearless in speaking of her.
self as q harmonious human being, en-
| dowed with physical AS we'll as mental
and spiritual attributes.
1t seems difficult matter for men tS
realize that ignorance is not . Necessary
| attribute 10 innocence.
A man likes \ woman to be ignoran
| of herself. that he may instruct her
vet after she has become his pupil h
quite frequently loses interes. In her
| The girl VINO understands herself TOT
we'll TO become q pupil readily pique
| hrs interest, but arouses his suspicious
He cannot comprehend how she Cal
| understand herself 80 well and be n
innocent girl. All, my dear younl
man, you may yet realize tsat the en-
light.ned virtue of the modern girl is
! far better art Gle tnan the blind in
no ceuce OF Dc, aie or two ago! AM
did il ever occur to you that, be he
faults what they may, she is quite goo'
enough for you?