Then see if you do not remark the same in Raphael's
St. Cecilia, and in the Venus de Milo, Wherever masters have succeeded
in painting the Virgin, notice, aside from the holy look,--if any thing
can be aside from that,--the womanly look. What is it which makes us
love some women's faces the moment we see them? Sometimes it is because
the loveliness of their character beautifies most ordinary features.
Sometimes it is because we expect them to do some very womanly deed,--to
heal us of diseases, to right wrongs, to defend causes, to uplift the
fallen. Girls are not all weak and uncertain, because they are girls.
No; they are strong and brave, and reliable in danger. The boiler of
a steam-yacht exploded; several girls were on board; the crew were
busy saving themselves; the girls, with an electric shock of
mother-care, jumped to save one another. They neither fainted nor
screamed, with one exception, which was a somewhat feeble serving-girl,
who was stoutly shaken and told to faint if she dared.
Perhaps you think that refinement and good education produce greater
womanliness than ignorance and low surroundings. So they do; but the
worst of circumstances, as we have already shown, cannot crush it.
There is much to be feared from over-refinement, or, rather, superficial
cultivation, which breeds selfishness, vitiates strength, encourages
false pride, enervates the whole life of a girl.
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