The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-12-28

american girl is without 1auits. rnyslc-
ally and mentally, she may stand on
her merits with any woman in the
world; morally, she has the short
coinin1s that are the shadows of her
excellencies. Principally she is accused
OF a want of reverence, and. setting
aside for the present her faults as a
daughter, itmay be admitted that in
general she has little of this quality.
But it is largely the consequence of her
environments Reverence is the virtue
of ignorance; and the American girl
has no liberation for ignorance. She
is inquisitive, speculative and inclined
to rely on her own investigations;
while the spirit of reverence demands.
es its very atmosphere, trust and obedi.
ence. 1t is therefore more just to say,
that she is reverent in great things
but not respectful in small ones. And
there is much excuse for this attitude,
for she is so alert and eager herself.
that when she meets old men and
women, who have learned nothing
from their last fifty years OF life, and
who therefore can teach her nothing,
she does not feel any impulse to offer
reverence to mere years. But il gray
hairs be honorab BILE, either for matured
wisdom extensive information, or
practical piety, she is generally in
clined to give that best of all homage
the reverence which springs from
knowledge and affection; and which is
a much better thing than the mere
forms of respect, additionally offered
to old age.
1t is also said that the American girl
is very vain girl, fond Of parading her
beauty, freedom and influence. But
vanity is not bad quality if it does
not run to excess. 1t is the ounce of
leaven in girls character, and does a
deal of good work for which it seldom
gets any credit. For a great deed a
great motive is necessary; but how
numberless are the small social and
domestic kindnesses. for which vanity
is sufficient force; and which would
be neglected or ill-done without its influ.
ence! AS long as girls vanity does not
derive its inspiration from self-love,
there is no necessity for her to wear
sackcloth to humiliate it. We have all
known women without vanity, and
found them unpleasant people to know.
1t is however, doubtless. this vanity
or self-appreciation which leads the
of fine dress. She likes to make pic
lures of herself, and if she has the
means to do so without injuring others
she has the right to accentuate all her
best points, and wear the garments
that are most becoming to her. The
wonder is, that with all her self-suf-
ficiency, her originality, and her strong
one style for dark and fair, big and
little, lean and stout, plain and hand.
some women, is destructive Of all that
individuality which in other respects
she prizes so much. If this fact ever
should appeal to her sense Of the fitness
of things,i she has the will and the
power to curtail in gigantic proper.
tions, our present cxtravagant kaleido-
scopic system of dressing.
There is pne fault of the American
girl which is especially her fault, and
which ought not to be encouraged OF
palliated, although it is essentially the
shadow OF some of her greatest excel.
lence-the fault of being in too great
hurry, at oil the turning points of he,
life. When she is in the nursery, she
aches to go to school. When she is
schoolgirl, she is impatient to put on
long dresses, and become young lady.
As soon as this fact is accomplished,
she feels there Is not moment to lose
IN choosing either career. or hus.
band. She is always in hurry about
the future. and so frequently takes the
wrong turn, at the great events of life.
She leaves school too soon; she leaves
home too soon; she does everything at
a rush; and does not do it as we'll, as if
she made haste slowly"
But what a future lies before these
charmingly brilliant American girls, il
they are able to take the fullest pos
session of it! The great obstacle in
this achievement is the apparently
wholesome opinion that education is
sufficient. But the very best education
will fall short of its privileges, if it be
not accompanied with that moral train.
ing, which we call discipline. Disci-
pline is self-denial in all its highest
forms: it teaches the excellent means
between license and repression; with
out 1t girl may have plenitude of
knowledge, and lamentab BILE want Of
sweetness; SO that one, only second
rate on her intellectual side, may be
thousand fold more lovable than one
who Is frst-rate on her intellectual
side, but lacks that Sne flavor of char.
acter, which comes from the expansion
of noble inward forces, disciplined and
directed to good ends.
Every one understands that no char.
acter, however intellectual, is worth
that is not morally healthy;
but morality in a woman is not in
itself sufficient. She must have in ad-
dition al those charming virtues in
cluded In that word of many lights
and shades and subtle meanings
womaniiness; that word, which signi.
fes such variety of things. but never
but what is sweet, and ten
Ger and gracious, and beautiful
AMELIA E BARR