PRECOCIOUS MAIDENS. (LIBERAL REVIEW.)

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 158, 13 May 1873, Page 2

PRECOCIOUS MAIDENS. (LIBERAL REVIEW.)

When a girl leaves school she generally does one of two/ things : she either lays herself oat for * life of luxurious idleness, or the sets up as a philosopher on. a small real*. If •he adopts the former course, her greatest anxiety is^sW the will eke out the refy liberal allowauce made by an indulgent papa, and her greatest ambition to shine at balls, flowershow, and bazaan ; finally ending, her career of maidenhood by becoming tha wife of a man. who possesses a superabundance of this world's goods, and combines within herself all the Tirtues and excellencies that could be found in one of the species. If, on the other hand, she goes in for the philosophical lino of business, she lays herself out for a career which, to most of her fellows, appears the reverse of pleasant. She procures the dryest books upon the most abstruse ques- , tions. A volume such a» " Hailain's Constitutional Hiatory of England," is, in her eyes, absolutely light reading, while Macaulay seems only fit to be read in moments of relaxation. These dry books-she- devotes herself to w*th*n ardour worthy of a. better cause-. We will not flatter her understanding by saymg that she fully comprehends all that which she reach. Still she imagines that; she does so, and, perhaps, this amounts to the same thing — certainly, in man; instances it is the most satisfactory result that cooldibe attained. If she peruses what she calls light literature, she does so only to condemn it , if she affects poetry, she professes toenjoy only that of a sternly metaphysical type. Tennyson, being easily understood, and not all deep, is, in her opinion, milk-and-water ; but Browning, being at tunes so deep* that it isalmost impossible for ordinary mortals to arrive at his meanng, is considerably more to her taste. Of the current' magaiines, she procures from the circulating library thosewhich contain nothing but dull, heavy, philosophical reading. She attends as many learned lectures as she can, and. bravely endeavours thereat to preserve an aspect, of the deepest interest, and this, when the majority of those by whom.sho is- surrounded are desperately struggling to shake off the influence of Morpheus and avoid snoring ! When talking she carefully eschews frivolous topics-: frowning, when the shape of Mrs Smith's bonnet or the il£ohosen. trimmings of Mrs Brown's dress come under discussion. If she can capture and. Hold possession of for a stray half-hour,, an individual who has acquired the reputation, of being learned she is indeed pleased. The unfortunate man is qnestu>ned. and cross-questioned in a manner that he relishes but little ; often, indeed, he is completely posed. If he makes a mistake — oh ! bliss — she is at once down upon him, citing authority upon authority to prove that he is wrong, until,, fairly, bewildered and greatly irritated, tho luckless fellow seeks refuge in an admission that his memory had most unaccountably failed him. But this- is not enough. She isshortly at him again, until adopting an ingenious mod c of escape he flees from her — that is to say, he walks away and enters into conversation with some one whom he imagines will not be quite so hard upon him. She is perfectly satisfied. She has trounced him for a mistake — she, a miss of twenty summers, has corrected a philosopher of sixty — oh ! high honour. She boasts of the great achievement to those ia whom she confides. To- hear that she has been described, as a most remarkable girl. — clever though eccentrio — pleasesf her vastly and urges her on. to fresh eflorts. Her demeanoris generally shy and awkward ;, but there is that about her which shons that she places considerable value upon hero« iii power — that is to say, her power of reiterating tho arguments and general ideas of tht favourite authors she hug read, and passing them off as her own. Everyone nob berag acquainted withi the productions of these particular writers, she earns the reputation of being a great deal cleverer,, more original, and more remarkable thar she really is. No one is better pleased than herself at this, for her, happy consummation. Aftei a time she feels strong enough to take bolder flights. She endeavours to inculcate the principles which, ■he is pleased to call her own, and, perhaps, really imaginesare the fruit of her own brain, into the minds of others. ( She is certain to arrive at the conclusion that the education, of the day, particularly that which it given to women, is* faulty in every respect. Girls are taught that which is unnecessary, and that which should be deemed essential,in their education is totally neglected. Supposing for thetake of argument, that she had been, like most girls, content with the education imparted to her at a fashionable, boarding-school — content even to simply follow that education up when she became her own mistress — what a poor ignoramus she would have turned out. The dead languages and metaphysical treatises would have been so many inextricablejpuzzle* to her. And so, whenever the «ssay s teaching, she proceeds upon a very different method than that generally adopted. She explains to little pupils the state of Borne in the time of Nero, ere she thinks of telling them the names of the English kings or the salient points| of English history ; she proceeds to teach them Latin almost before they can spell words of three letters, and introduces them to the Greek alphabet' before they can decipher Roman numerals — to the complete neglect of the multiplication table. Of course, she and her poor scholars do not get I on very well together. They are very dull of comprehension,.! and fail to appreciate the stores of knowledge which she J lays bare before them. She is impatient. The result is violentß antagonism between scholars and teacher, The end of the I matter is that she relinquishes her task, alleging that she is -I not adapted to instruct others, owing to the fact that she is I too much above them in aspiration and grasp of comprchen- I sion — in short, that she is much too clever. I By-and-by she rests on her laurels. She ceases to be a I 'student and sets up as an example and general critic. People talk of her as an awfully — the word is- not one of our choosing — clever woman. But the fact is that her creative powers are not great ; if she produces anything in the shapeof intellectual work she produces to little purpose. Did she* possess a really powerful character she would never misdirect her talents in the manner she does. Still she is called a clever woman, and is so considered to the end of the chapter. If she marries, her very cleverness stands in the way of he* J happiness. She possesses too great a soul to think of meddlibjfl with domestic concerns. The result is that in her household I there may be found mismanagement, confusion, extravagance,.! waste ; and if she has children they are allowed to grow up I to a great extent uncared for ; and, while crammed with I knowledge of a certain kind, are- kept in ignorance of the- 1 living realities of life. Is her career a success ? I