The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-08-24

they could send Mary, and chose one of
those magnificent institutions for girls
IN the western part Of the Common
wealth. At first Mary x was sadly out
of place and rued with all her heart
the removal to Virginia; but gradually
she came under the influence of the
noble-spirited woman who was princi-
pal of the school, Little by little she
lost the silly ideals which she had
brought with her; step by step she was
led into the land of the spirit. Ere
three years had passed. Mary x had
changed SO completely that her mother
was positively alarmed lest the child
should become foreign missionary!
The Ideal of Southern Womanhood.
The second ideal which our girls
schools set for themselves in making
the most of their splendid opportunity
is that of noble Southern womanhood.
And Of this we may be permitted to
speak plainly. We Virginians would
not disparage the splendid women of
the North, and would not make unpleas-
ant comparisons; yet we feel that in this
blessed land the inherited ideal of our
womanhood is our noblest possession
We believe other women are fair and
generous and true, but we know that
the women of the South have breathed
IN with our soft atmosphere the noblest
spirit of the day. To preserve this, our
men have fought and died; to keep this
spirit intact the chivalry of the day
would gladly sacrifice itself. Our
women are our greatest blessing.
Knowing this, our teachers of
Southern girls seek to mould the young
spirits committed to them into the
same magnificent type of womanhood
They aim to make them gentle, refined
truly cultured and truly kind. They
aim to make them realize that they are
the heirs of beautiful civilization
which they are in honor bound to pre-
serve. If the cynic doubts this purpose
or questions whether it is fulfilled, let
him visit one of the schools advertised
in this section Of The Times Dispatch.
A single inspection will show him that
the children in these schools will
tomorrow be women worthy of their
State and worthy of their blood. Whv
the man familiar with these great
schools can identify their pupils in any
assembly by their manner and their
grace!
Useful, Rounded Lives.
But let it not be thought that our
schools for girls are making either
nuns or social great danes. They are
making useful, prudent women, for
their third ideal is certainly that of
service. These schools wish to make
girls spiritual, and they strive to make
them worthy Of their name, but they
seek withal to make them useful to
their families and their State. In every
school the ideal does not dwarf the
practical; in every schoolroom the
dream and the act are blended into one.
10 appreciate this, one need only
examine the books given the girls to
read or to review the topics assigned
for their essays. Life is always given
purpose; opportunity is preached only
with responsibility.
How These Ideals Are Attained.
Aiming thus to develop the spiritual
lives of the girls, to make them typical
Southern women and to render them
useful, while giving them all that the
schools Of other sections teach, our
schools for girls have reached these
ideals through development which is
interesting in the extreme. Space
forbids the narration of their history.
or even the outline of their evolution:
but few words must be said of their
adjustment to the need of the day.
Those old "home Schools" to which we
referred in previous article, gave
place, our readers will recall, to the
seminary that most unique of Vir-
ginia educational institutions. But
while the seminary system was develop