School-girls-Ignorance of parents-The confidence of children must be gained-The way to do it-Drawbacks of nurseries and schoolrooms- Over-education-Show - training-Delicate girls-A woman's vocation-Superficial teaching-Children's tempers-Modern girls-Herbert Spencer and education-J. P. Richter-Liberty and independence-Serious studies-What young girls should read-Parents and children-Friendships-Girls'allowances-Dress-Professions-Strong feelings - Management of house and family-Early rising-Life in society.

Much that I have said with regard to boys applies to girls too, but I would only recommend sending girls to school in very peculiar and exceptional circumstances. I used to think that, for town girls, the high-schools afforded the best method of education. I now think that the pupils there are worked much too hard. What is really wanted for women is a mental training, the creation of a habit of mind, rather than technical knowledge of any kind. Eemember, such experience as I have of girls is entirely limited to the leisured classes-those who, by an unwritten law, are virtually brought up to amuse themselves first, and to marry afterwards. I know nothing of the wants and requirements of those girls who are aware, from the beginning, that they will actually have to earn their bread and decide on a walk in life, as a boy does. One merit of school is that if the father and mother have neglected the health of their children, as is too frequently the case, from idleness, ignorance, or prejudice, abnormal bad health is probably revealed by the school-life; and if a boy cannot do as others do, some one has to discover the reason why. Hundreds of mothers will own how much healthier, for some cause or another, their boys are at school than they were at home. This limelight of criticism-which, I think, is thrown on the facts of the case at school-is, alas ! never turned upon the unfortunate schoolroom girl. She is inclined to think that others suffer as much as she does; or, at any rate, she would far rather endure almost anything in silence than make complaints which often cause the mother and the governess to accuse her of being fanciful, idle, or self-indulgent. It is a problem, never solved through a woman's life, when it is best to disregard her ailments or to attend to them.

One of the most startling things I know is the ignorance of parents as to what is going on in the lives and minds of their children. I am thankful to say that in all my long experience I have only known one or two really bad, indifferent, selfish mothers; but even the kindest mothers, and those who devote most time and thought to the welfare of their children, are sometimes quite blind to the discomforts, the sorrows, and even the tragedies that are being endured in silence under their very eyes. I refer rather to the childhood of girls than of boys, for these last are almost always sent to school when quite young, and from that moment their independence and consequent outspokenness when at home are generally assured. But numbers of women have mentioned to me the troubles of their childhood, which never were suspected by their mothers, and which they themselves never dreamt of revealing till they were quite grown up, sometimes not till they were married and out of the home altogether. Every young mother says and thinks, 'This sort of thing shall never happen with my children;'but it does happen, again and again. The cause lies, not in the want of kindness, but in a want of intelligence-the intelligence to put one's self on the level of a child and to see its life from its point of view. This faculty is so rarely displayed that it is safe to conclude it rarely exists. It is a gift of no mean order, for, however generous our intentions may be, it is an exceedingly difficult task to deal out justice. I do not deny that there is a tendency in most people to exaggerate the troubles of their childhood, which must be taken into account; but how many a mother thinks that her darlings are all right, and so bright and happy, with every reason to be so, when, in fact, they are eating their little hearts out in misery and sorrow ! The capability for suffering in some children is quite extraordinary, and trivial things assume colossal proportions in their small lives.

When girls are brought up under teachers and governesses, as is generally the case in the houses of the wealthy, the difficulty is increased. To complain of these authorities to the still higher but more distant authority of a parent is a very doubtful means of redress, and, in case of failure, the risk of punishment or of an aggravation of the evil-real or imagined-which gave rise to the complaint, is too terrible to be faced. Almost all girls, under such circumstances, are afraid to speak the truth. In my own case I was not afraid of my mother, but this made the keeping of governesses very difficult. I had eight of them before I was fifteen, and I disliked all but one. I expect, though doubtless I was a 'horrid child,'that, as regards the governesses, I was pretty clear-judging. Of course, the governesses of to-day have a very different idea of their duties from what was usual fifty years ago. Special training is given to those who undertake to teach the young, and this is now recognised as an art in itself, independently of having knowledge and information to impart. Such a change has greatly helped to raise the vocation of a governess to a far more competent standard.

How to gain the confidence of children-that is the eternal problem. Broadly speaking, I believe no one ever helps human nature, except by assuming it to be higher and nobler than it is. It is humiliating to be deceived, but it is better to be so a thousand times than once to underrate a good quality or a good impulse, or to give up hope and trust. It is difficult to see and to be with our children enough, and the difficulty is not solved even by the mother teaching the children their lessons herself. Anybody, I am inclined to believe, does this better than she can. No morning occupation or afternoon class together does away with the necessity for devoting to the children the all-important interval between five o'clock and bed-time, which it is hard for some mothers to give to them. In my opinion a wise mother should give up her friends rather than her children at that hour. If the father can be at home then, too, so much the better. At that time children are a little tired and want amusing. I think this is far better done by talking to them, and by playing the piano and singing to them, or by teaching them how to play by themselves some kind of semi-active game, than by obliging them to employ themselves quietly, or by reading to them. If they attend and listen, it is too tiring for them; and if they do not, it is a thorough waste of time. A great many children, if encouraged to speak openly, will tell you that they do not care about being read to, unless it is some child's story which they almost know by heart, and which is read to them over and over again, as the nurses do. Of course, I am now only speaking of children under eleven or twelve years old.