It was not intellect, it was not
pride, it was not position; but it was the womanhood perfected in them
that enabled them to do their work, and enables us to love and follow
them.
We are under the strongest obligations, girls, to our sex, ourselves,
and the world.
X.
GIRLS AND THEIR FRIENDS.
My dear girls, do not fancy that I am going to preach on friendship:
so wide a theme is beyond the scope of these little talks with you.
I simply wish to express a few old-fashioned opinions about girls and
their friends.
Though now and then I may seem to be talking about that which is less
than friendship, or that which means more, please understand I fully
recognize the fact that, though acquaintance, friendship, love, often
merge into one another by advancing steps of familiarity, they are
really three distinct qualities.--One's acquaintances are many, one's
friends comparatively few, one's lovers fewer yet,--or they ought to
be. Do you know, girls, you do suggest the most delightful subjects
for a talk! There is no such thing as resisting your attractive traits!
But I am going to say a few very plain things about what may not be
charming in you.
Girls feel very quickly. They are not in the least slow to comprehend
with the heart; in fact, it often seems as though that organ were
constructed with as much delicacy as is the Aeolian harp, which quivers
and utters sounds when the air just stirs about it.
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