"MY BRILLIANT DAUGHTER."

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1651, 18 January 1913, Page 11

"MY BRILLIANT DAUGHTER."

•"HAVE I SPOItT HER CAREERfi

Did I make a-mistake?' AH of a sudden out of peace- and complacency roso a /veritable fitorm.' I was assailed, not only ' by an injured-daughter but by an but- , raged schoolmistress, yet I had only aseerted my right as a mother. What-1 1 did I did from the purest motives of affection: Yet it would seem as though I had made a sword-thrust at my girl,:and ia the .effort had/maimed tho keeper ot her intellect. :: u ■■:'",: '■'•■"''■■"•. ; ' ' The cause 1 of the trouble may bo ex'"plained in-a.very few words.; My daugh- ■•■ is -my only girl, by the way-is an extremely clover littlo woman. :lrom her earliest schoolroom days she has been ':■' conspiououslv bright, much brighter than her brothers, and as a consequence tho ' delight of dl her.governesses. ; .. ; ■ '■.-..'.' Because 6ho was thus iclever, and because the : schoolmistress. ,who> had, tho teaching of her last perceived this, and worked'har up to win a scholarship, arose all the upset of which I am told I was tho cause. '' : '--- ■"■ I' ri -''-, T ".' ; The 'scholarship -was won.,; I was a proud'mother indeed.- Ruth's father was '-a little dampening'to my spirits whenhe smiled tolerantly and:said; ho would 'rather she could make puddings ; than read Greek, .but I saw-that, ho topMvas proud,: though' I could also .detect; a jealous note in his. \oicplfcv-v~ V ;,.'■.

the Lonely; Mother.' -..-£>■' :':"-,; .''■■'V'-'-He' -would give" have : often him say, if," Ruthfwere Anthony and Anthony Ruth'. , -It-rjiistbe a littlo galling' to such a: clever inan as himself to have sons of quito ordinary capacity., (This'-' is : their'.-'headmaster's .'verdict, , though I always point out that the tiniomay come, suddenly when they will, become brilliant. .-That is,; so.other, mothers .tell me, not an nncommon.;occurrence '. and .very,'charming.).. ,' j:, -■; .'.'. ': .But-to continue, : ;. ';::;;'. •'-.-:•. ; "When Ruth had : held,; her scholarship ■ for a year,-1 : thought:' to' myself .sudden-; ■]y,: What ami. going to'get out. of-.her: life?-1, scarcely see her'now,-and if, in,' a few; yeaw-sho should; marry I snail see less of her...:-1 must .put-an. end; to all this learning:and- secure her-society. • • ! Life becomes lonely to/'a -woman-. ..of. forty-whose hsuband-is always at , wo ? i ?'-' ond'.whose-boys'are ' at and this position is aggravated; if-there, happens to bo-o»e.:-ve,ryr dear ..and ti entertaining;! daughter, who is making books and ..a. career h'er-first.interest,; and her/mother j a long • way, second. ;.' "..'. :'■ '■. -. ', ;■' ■■ -',-■ ■'"•■ I putanend to the learning, -therefore, ; but I reaped the whirlwind. And _ now that'thestorm is subsiding and my girl is smiling again, a little wanly and quite conventionally'- though .dutifully, - -I: am taking myself to task'for tampering with her future.'■''■ ' ~ ; ' . ■'"'.. .'.:' ; •'. ■',- '■ -', "Never satisfied," says my, husband. "You wanted/Ruth' to JbVsuccessful, in her scholarship exam.; you were as proud as a peahen when she won it, and,then ' ■ you began to agitate to overthrow all her aimsi .and having done-:, so,- are, dissatisThis in effect is also what the' would-be mistress of-Ruth's destiny-said-tho head of her • college', "I mean .v She said it in more'-acadomio terms':than those. emnloy- , ed by my husband, and always modulated: her voice to a nicety of:effect.; ■■ ~-. i All tho ;time "she -looked infinitely grapdo dame, and- a little -awesome. But 'sho-.Kave'm'e to'.understand;'that I .was meddling Svith 'another-person's business , (that-is to say,-Ruth's), and that in,her opinion (nneSpTessed to< Ruth, i-am glad ' to' say) Ruth .h'ad'every rightfto.-nfuse to accede to my direction, and might.nuite ' ;dutifully 'go'her with a crystal ;oonscience. ';.--, '..'■[ ''.I'\ r . '.'■. .. ;,;',-;, A Plaything of Chance.x \ :.:■■_.. : \ "ThorVis just ona future with'-'.which.l never seekVto interfere,",, said this great -light-inithis,worldof.scholasticism, >nd '"- that is.a girl's-marriage.; I am quite cor- .' taihlthat mariiage'is a woman's .first.pre';:eminently- important in Jifo and ; the -crown of :her, devolopmeht:; ■:■■; " ; , V ■ good*regson-for a -girls withdrawal C;om .. a career: .that .she-entered-..upon, in' .the . sanest moment of her. lifo,:and which-she ■regards as;the'^beginning..of-a.still widerscope, of/industry and'.helpfulness to the? ' world's expahsibn.; '■■'::'■'>',,'.'•. i 7,- ';-.;-'■■ V .. : "yTith-the'-motherly excuse .'l.'.want my :dau'ghter'-I have every, sympathy. But do not ,yo.u -think-that phase,of the matter ought to havo been faced when Ruth, was taking ; steps to,-form, : her • life - after her oivn programme P Don't you think, you ought-to have -realised then that sho. was not -a 'chattelvto -be disposed -of., at -the dictates of caprice; that she Was riot to say itp—ono more'Vexample of the,way in which.women havo been the playthings of chance ever ;since the world. began?v; ■;-; J.. •'' ,These iwords,;'displeasing, .in' my:-ears, '. madp,'meiat tho'time ;0n1y,..t00 obstinately ;. determined ;to, conquer. i; And;'as.;l .have - hinted,,i did,conquer.-../,'.■',' -\'v..',-;{.-. :. Y,et..tho,.:afterwath '.was.;bitter.,-Ruth Bet.'aside her. books and her career!'whichwas, I-learned, to '-be th'at; ; of,a doctor, and oame home.' Whereupon I basked in : her -presence and- in ,'ray heart'- brooded, over/plans,'which would:culminate in' a- ' happy? marriage. for her. .'..-;;.-:■■'. ~,,,. Marriaije, Plans. .That \FaJled.' .Oddly enough those plans were'unsuccessful. Ruth did hot liko her brothers' friends nor ■ tho young, men sho met at .'.- our houss and in other people's.: She said; very- wearily once,: that they were not • upon ': her' platform, mdaning, I sup- •- pos'o, that;'her tastes and theirs differed. ■ -That-expression;-."her platform,".made me thy mistake, and .I,saw that, since-I had.let her develop after.her own /methods,; guided :by tho. learned women 1 ■ with .'whom.- /associated - for: so •' long,;l ought .to havo let her hew her own wny'out'to the end. •'• ;-i

A 'friend of mine,-with whom I talked OD3 more than, usually' burdened day upon tho subject,- asked 'mo gently why. I: had not dealt with Ruth as I would have done .with'niy sons uhuV like circumstances, : "Would' you drag them - away r from a university if they had scholarship's; (or if-they hadn't,', for,that matter) in order that^they.might]bo companions for you \or' their father?.'. ■} Of course you' would .Hot. ■:■■ - ■..■■. ' - ~•"'■:■

"Ought you not to have seen And understood' that '. the modern girl demands her own individuality and that she will be thexaptain of her soul?-I.'think so.. My advice to you now is to repair tho error you 'have made by lettinjj • your'daughter know that you consider it an.error and by asking her: to let you help - her to pickup.the threads',of her spoilt tapestry -and Ho' try to • make her lifo what BhO|desiro3'it to be; •,-*:%-:•'; ..,,•'■•*■-.,;.■. .•■■■• • i

I am going- to''.do ao. 'And' I have writ- . ten- these \ words;' to -arouse- in other mothers'' minds a question as to whether ■'• thoy' should hinder their daughiers>whon thoy have acciniesccd in tho first foot.eteps.being taken along the road of independence, and to point, out to them that that'way disappointment lies. It is then too lato to insist upon their so-called .-lights.':',:.;- /,-,,■':'■'::'..•. ,-..'.-: ■:'■'• —H.,.in'the "Daily Mail."