Women Of The Same Class
In London Are Humble Enough, And Therefore Rarely Offend Us Who Are
Squeamish.
They show by their gestures that they hardly think
themselves good enough to sit by us; they apologize for their
presence; they conceive it to be their duty to be lowly in their
gesture.
The question is which is best, the crouching and
crawling, or the impudent, unattractive self-composure. Not, my
reader, which action on her part may the better conduce to my
comfort or to yours. That is by no means the question. Which is
the better for the woman herself? That, I take it, is the point to
be decided. That there is something better than either, we shall
all agree - but to my thinking the crouching and crawling is the
lowest type of all.
At that school I saw some five or six hundred girls collected in
one room, and heard them sing. The singing was very pretty, and it
was all very nice; but I own that I was rather startled, and to
tell the truth somewhat abashed, when I was invited to "say a few
words to them." No idea of such a suggestion had dawned upon me,
and I felt myself quite at a loss. To be called up before five
hundred men is bad enough, but how much worse before that number of
girls! What could I say but that they were all very pretty? As
far as I can remember, I did say that and nothing else.
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