The Elbert County tribune., 1907-12-19

weapon is in the hands of women.
weapon forged by centuries Of subordi
nation-the faculty of meeting condi
tions. In the hands of a really cleye,
woman this is tact; in those of the in
ept and ignorant. deceit and subter
iuge- 1t is only ostentatious clever
ness, not cleverness at all in fact
which Is "a deterrent to the exercise OF
any charm or talent. There is never
an hour In the life of a woman wher
the best education her powers will
permit OF is not an advantage. In the
heyday OF youth control OF emotioni
ana ciearness of insight have directed
many ship pennanted with beauty
and vitality which would have beer
uriven on the rocks. And what shall
oe SAID OF the years which follow
crowded with opportunities-nay, ne
cessities-for a reasonable dealing
with the questions of life? No woman
can be her husbands friend and help
er without logic to which he may ap
peal and an intelligence which com.
pletes and supplements his own. And
this education of character, as of mind,
is not taught in a school which gradu.
ates girls in white muslin at II and
sends them out without either mental
resource or control.
Geometry teaches the logic of life
and over blackboard problems Rosy
Cheek learns to be the mother, wife
and citizen, which every advanced
civilization demands. This is the ed
ucation which is developed by seri-
Gus, adequate curriculum and by
none other. The special training is
another matter, equally important, as
IL prepares a woman to meet the re-
sistless law which links happy useful
ness with occupation. The choice of
study should of course be adapted to
the individual learning of the STU
dent, and If indeed there is a mental
constitution differing from that of
man, this fact should be recognized in
fitting her for her probable duties and
her possible use of talent or ability.
The increasing number of eclectic
courses of study gives an added free
dom and breadth of opportunity most
desirable and necessary and II right
fully understood should entirely re-
move the popular prejudice that col
iS6Aoto SuuSdtiou, per Sc, HIS q WO-
mans mind with useless knowledge.
college education should mean the
best education possible, and its vari-
ETY. should only be equaled by its
thoroughness. The ordinary finishing
school for girls cannot train the mind
adequately because of the briefness of
Its curriculum and its lack of system.
Parent and teacher are alike respon-
sible for this, neither demanding, as
a rule, anything approaching rigor-
GUS standard of education.
1t is sometimes fairly astonishing
to note with what shallow and care
less consideration the whole subject
of girls education is dismissed One
wonders what results can be expect
ed from such lax attention to a su-
premely important matter. Can a few
weeks of SCIENCE" a skimming of
philosophy, dig the channels of train
ed and habitual thought? Can germ
of talent, literary. mathematical or
plastic, be taught to grow by a brief
planting and a briefer tending? Can
an occasional Composition" even a
certain fiuency in the attractive and
harmless" literature of the modern
languages, give correct and elegant
forms of expression or teach the his
tory of the words we use? The un-
differentiated adjective of sweet 16
may pass amid it's ripping laughter
and its maiden grace, but how about
the woman whose vocabulary is still
confined to exclamation points pune
tuating the eternal reiteration of
awful" wonderful" fascinating"
and the like?
A young girl may, indeed, run a
fairer chance of getting a husband If
her charm is not endangered by an
awkward reputation CT cleverness, but
the married woman needs every bit
Of intelligence she possesses.
The women of America are enfran.
chised by the customs of the country,
If not by the prejudices of the So
called upper and better classes. Lib
erty and responsibility are ours and
sooner or later we shall be called
upon to fit ourselves for them. The
working women know this and are
rising to The demands of both necessity
and opportunity. But, first and fore
most. If our daughters are to be given
the dangerous draught of knowledge,
they must learn to subordinate it to
charm. There is no impossibility
about this-only the most vague and
prejudice against it. Every
woman should be taught, first and
foremost, that in all social relations
must be subordinate to |
sympathy, merged into the charm
which listens first and then expresses. /
All greatness is simple and, above .
all, unostentatious, as all strength,
If balanced and serene. is sweet. True |
education teaches this, as 1t develops |