Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-08-29

that the faIliugs II cur American gir-s
are simply what the Preach eall "the
faults u their virtues shat Is. the
somewhat troublesome excess Of uneu-
pioyed strength.
Daisy Miller has passed INTO provero.
But Is she a type. l never nave forgiven
3lr james for some traits 10 has por-
Iraiture, and vet there Is a great deal OF
truth Ia the innocent audacify, the fear
less criticism and the simple careless
uess u public opinion that stamp his
heroine. ami one cannot bat feel Ger
tain tenderness for the poor child, al
though one IS - provoked Al her, or
rather az her author.
But fascinating as every one allows
the American girl 10 be- her English
cousins are dangerous rivals. The state
81 growth and clear complexion, the
calm eyes and baby mouths, the well
developed figures AID honest simplicity
OF manner are IA the ewes OF many men
more attractive than the independent
viyacity OF the American. Two types OK
maideuhood are NOT unlike the natural
scenery amid which they have been per-
fected: the fragrant breath Of western
prairies, the graceful freedom OF viz
Kin forests, the sparkling rush Of mighty
rivers and the fearless beauty OF airy
waterfalls seem 70 have tempered the
clay and infused the blood of the Amer
lean girl, while her passive English
cousin reminds one Of stately parks and
well ordered gardens, lawns of velvet
and meads knee deep in clover where
placid kline browse a. if they were posing
for Sir Edwin Landseer's brush.
Ia sauntering around England-and
one can see neither q country nor its
people except IN sauntering-the pre-
dominant idea one receives Is of long
and patient culture. Every foot of ara
be ground has been turned over and
over throu IA a thousand years of hus-
bandry; the grass is not so much grass
as the elaboration OF mans energies and
the chemists skill; the trees that shaded
Elizabeth and the second Charles have
been preserved and cared for 10 the last
days of Victoria; everything, in fact,
bears the mark of mans Jealous i'm
provelnent of natural advantages, and
the girls are no exception to the rule.
Those OF the upper class-that is TO
say. those Of the landed gentry-whose
fathers and mothers and ancestors for
hundreds of years have been cultivated
a. assiduously a. the grass, and the corn
lands, and the trees, and show the effect
of cultivation just as blood horses and
Devon COWS show il; the clear skins,
the bright ewes and clean cut features
and shapely limbs show breeding long
and careful; and the conventional ideas,
the narrow range of thought. the value
OF precedent and the Importance of
precedence. all show breeding too. They
show the training of the mind in long
established formulas and the molding
Of manners 70 long established tradi-
tions. so that the English baby is born
artificial, and rs a rule grows up in the
same condition.
OF course there are exceptions TO this
rule, even among young girls. but these
variants as rule are neither under
stood nor admired in their own me
ridian; what is spontaneous independ-
ence of thought in an American girl is
set down as suspicious eccentricity in
an English girl. and in fact the latter
never can possess that charm of uncOn-
seriousness which marks the yagaries of
our own lassies; there are too many
warning voices appraised, there is too
much Saturday Reviewing for the Eng
lish girl 20 step one foot outside the
beaten track without knowing it, while
our own girls follow their impulses very
much as the wind does and generally
come 10 rs little harm.
But each type of girl has her charm.
and we would not if we could change
either for the other. There is charm in
diversity and harmony in contrast.
Crossing the channel or the narrow
seas, we come upon more girls and
thoroughly new types, and yet are not
prepared to set them in place Of inferi-
ority.
The French girl is in a condition of
slow transition; hejetme fLe Of the last
century spent her infancy in the house
of her foster mother, and her girlhood
in a convent, whence she was summoned
az sixteen or seventeen years old TO be
presented % her affanced husband.
Perhaps she liked him and perhaps she
did not: nobody inquired and nobody
cared: the alliance was arranged by the
parents on both sides, and the je,'ne JVle
at least acquiesced without choice or
opinion.
In those days there was no such thing
as a French girl. for she was depressed
almost out Of existence, and only began
to live, and generally not very wisely,
after her marriage. But the slow. sure
tooth If Time hasesten away very much
Il tradition 10 France and done more
than the many revolutions In setting the
young women free. Liberty. that Is 70
say the French idea ~ liberty, Is IN the
arr. and the women breathe IL. as well as
fathers and brothers. Women. even
young girls. begin % realize that they
are individuals and possess souls AMI
minds as we'll as bodies. and the knowl
edge emh0lalens them TO think. 20 speak
and - acbas once they never would have
dreamed - doing.
Converts are a good deal ont If fashion
nowadays. and Adele ventures % form
the oplnion that Gustsve is more % her
than Adolphe. even though the former
be a bon porti aud the latter not. The
js'0ae fsls has looked over the fence Al
least. and the look is often preparatory
g. leapmg. but the process of emancip}
tion IL sometimes a tiInad and hesitauna
Gre. and the Fvsnch girl ~ our own day
vii never acquire tine freedom u the
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