Page:Books and men.djvu/35

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
CHILDREN, PAST AND PRESENT.
25

"Those were days," says a writer in Blackwood, "when superficial teaching was thought the proper teaching for girls; when every science had its feminine language, as Hindu ladies talk with a difference and with softer terminations than their lords: as The Young Ladies' Geography, which is to be read instead of novels; A Young Ladies' Guide to Astronomy; The Use of the Globes for Girls' Schools; and the Ladies' Polite Letter-Writer." What was really necessary for a girl was to learn how to knit, to dance, to curtsy, and to carve; the last-named accomplishment being one of her exclusive privileges. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu received lessons from a professional carving-master, who taught her the art scientifically; and during her father's grand dinners her labors were often so exhausting that translating the Enchiridion must have seemed by comparison a light and easy task. Indeed, after that brilliant baby entrance into the Kitcat Club, very little that was pleasant fell to Lady Mary's share; and years later she recalls the dreary memories of her youth in a letter written to her sister, Lady Mar. "Don't you remember," she asks,