a fine accountant before the mass, a fine lady in the
wilderness, are out of their places, and have lost their opportunity.
And so educational accomplishments which would bring wealth and honor
in a great city may be detrimental to happiness and a drag on duty in
an isolated position.

Hence the importance of a girl finding out first of all what she wants
to do with her education. For in this day she is by no means cramped
in her choice; the most desirable occupations are open to her; she may
select from the whole world her arena, and from the fullness thereof
her reward. But if her object be a more narrow and conventional one,
if all she wishes is to be loved and popular in her own small
community, then--if she is wise--she will cultivate only such a happy
arrangement of graceful, usual accomplishments as prevail among her
class and friends. For a very clever woman cannot be at home with very
many people. She is too large for the regular grooves of society; she
does not fit into any of its small aims and enjoyments; and though
she may have the kindest heart, it is her singularities only that will
be taken notice of. If, then, popularity be a girl's desire, she must
not obviously cultivate herself, must not lift herself above her
surroundings, nor lift her aspirations higher than the aims which all
humanity have in common. And it is a very good thing for humanity that
so many nice girls are content and happy with such a life object; for
the social and domestic graces are those which touch existence the
closest, which sweeten its bitter griefs and brighten its dreariest
hours.

It would be foolish to assert that the American girl is without
faults. Physically and mentally, she may stand on her merits with any
women in the world; morally, she has the shortcomings that are the
shadows of her excellences. Principally she is accused of a want of
reverence, and setting aside for the present her faults as a daughter,
it may be admitted that in general she has little of this quality. But
it is largely the consequence of her environments. Reverence is the
virtue of ignorance; and the American girl has no toleration for
ignorance. She is inquisitive, speculative, and inclined to rely on
her own investigations; while the spirit of reverence demands, as its
very atmosphere, trust and obedience. It is therefore more just to say
that she is so alert and eager herself that when she meets old men and
women who have learned nothing fr