The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-07

| advice to avoid entangling alliances.
|
An Independent Girl.
In a recent interview Miss Isola Ham
ilton the young English girl for whom
the English Ambassador has been
searching in behalf of her relatives
gives her reasons for not wishing to re-
turn To England. If what she says is
true-and it sounds quite as if il
were-most Americans viii sympathize
with her in her desire for independence.
Although she is a cousin of the Duke
Of Hamilton she seems to be entirely
| unimpressed by that fact. and unin-
luenced by any conventional considera
tions. She frankly says that there is
little love wasted in English high life,
| that she prefers independence to any
| thing else. and that if there is any no.
bility in the world it is matter of in
dividual character and not of class.
| Moreover, she states that she has been
away from home three years. and that
| Mrs. Hamilton has not before evineed
any burning desire to have her back.
| She concludes:
No. sir: I'm not going back to it. I've no
desire to struggle to get in the set where we be-
! long. I'd rather struggle here for my bread
| and butter. 1t isn't any more effort and the
| bread and buffers real. and the set isn't"
| Together with these candidly stated
sentiments are various bits of informa-
| ton about the young Iady's early life.
She declares that there has been no love
| in her home, that she has always been
| obliged to contribute somehow to the
support of the family and never had
anyone to take care of her Another
trenchant observation is here inserted:
THE neutrality-suspicious. fever is a disease
| never caught by girls whose homes are happy
and wholesome"
If all this is true of her-and there
have been and are a good many such
cases-nobody can blame Miss Hamil-
ton very much for striking out for her
self. In fact, she is only doing what
many American girls have done with
out causing a hundredth part as much
commotion. Anyone familiar with Eng
lish novels knows the atmosphere of the
poor high-class family, in which
the young people, forbidden by an I'M
written law to do anything to support
themselves, are driven to adopt IN
worthy ideals of all kinds. We have
not yet the tradition in this country
that it is better and nobler. for a girl
to scheme for rich husband than to
support herself. or if We have. it is
confined to a limited circle. English
novels are full of it. The influence of
such a system is demoralizing all
makes is that she prefers independence
to any such uncertain and insincere ex-
istence, and her argument sounds I'M
commonly like that which would be
made by any honest and brave-souled
young girl in such circumstances.
The other point which she makes
that girls do not have the runaway
all rights also a good one TO note
The girl with good mother and father
and wholesome training. which allows
her all the freedom she needs, will find
enough food for her active magma
ton and awakening affections in her
home and school life. 1t Is not nat
ural fer young girl to seek the in
dependence and experience of a woman
before she reaches the age when it is
proper for her to do so, and unless
she has been wrongly trained, re-
pressed. and mistreated. she is not
likely to do anything of the kind. 1t
is not enough for her to have parents;
the mere fact of owning children is not
a guarantee that the father and mother
are wise. So much has been said about
the ineffable beauty ofrthe parental re-
lation, especially about motherhood,
that people do not always admit the
fact that that relation, when selfish
ness instead of love is the mothers
ruling power, can become a means of
torture and decentralization. The ex-
perience OF motherhood is not enough |
to make woman all-wise and unseIfish. |
If she regards her motherhood merely |
as a dignity. to which others must bow, |
a source of power which cannot be |
gainsaid; if her mother-love is nothing |
but an extended egotism, her influence |
over her children is not likely to be |
very great. and in that case the neigh |
borhood viii hear things about the in |
gratitude of the children. But If there |
is real love and unselfishness in the |
home, it is not a very common thing for |
the children to want 70 run away.