404 MORE POT-POURRI 



This constitutes its utility for all mothers who have girls 

 growing up around them. 



A girl should bear in mind that it is quite possible she 

 is a cause of considerable disappointment to her mother, 

 and this possibility should be thought of humbly and 

 affectionately rather than with resentment. For though, 

 perhaps, it is due to no fault of her own, the disappoint- 

 ment is none the less real to her mother. She should do 

 her utmost to make herself as pleasant in her home as 

 she can. What elders expect from the young is a fair 

 amount of willingly given assistance and unselfish 

 cheerfulness. Few things, I think, contribute more to 

 happiness in the home than a certain power of conversa- 

 tion ; and, if it does not come naturally to them, girls 

 would do well to try and acquire it. Any moderately 

 intelligent woman can learn ' to talk ' ; and to be absolutely 

 silent in society is, not modesty, but a form of selfishness, 

 for it casts a gloom over everyone present. The true 

 greatness of individuals lies in their own hearts, and con- 

 versation is as much a question of kindness as of cleverness. 

 Mr. George Meredith, in ' Beauchamp's Career,' describes 

 delightfully the charm of conversation in a girl. Of course 

 all cannot have this, but all can try for it : ' Eenee's gift 

 of speech counted unnumbered strings, which she played on 

 with a grace that clothed the skill and was her natural en- 

 dowment an art perfected by the education of the world. 

 Who cannot talk ! But who can ? Discover the writers 

 in a day when all are writing. It is as rare an art as 

 poetry, and in the mouths of women as enrapturing 

 richer than their voices in music.' With young girls 

 silence often becomes a habit from not being trained to 

 join in the conversation of their elders a fault in many 

 English homes. But if a girl realises this is a mistake, 

 she can get over it after she is grown up if she chooses. 

 If, on the contrary, she is silent merely from being 



