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166 THE GOVERNESS QUESTION.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
^«»» " Governesses Again? We Really Thou...
to beat us in cheapness ! In fact these disgraceful offers arise from a beggarly ostentation . It is thought genteel to have a governess
whereas such people should place their children in some charity . The " Times" thus began a leader last year apropos to Lin qualified
clerks in public offices : " Cheapness is one thing , and talent another . " Dr . Johnson said , what was to be had for nothing , was generally good
for nothing . Governesses are considered differently : the cheaper the governess the better ; and if she can be had for nothing , her
price , or at least her value , is above rubies . Make a becoming cap , or bonnet for a ladyshe will cheerfully pay any price ; but adorn
, the mind of that lady ' s daughter , and you will hear of the income tax . As dress and amusements must be paid , talent is considered a
mere drug ! Another phase in governess life has also arisen within a few years , by way of climax to the previous advantages .
Perennial fifteen in the houris is to reward Mahomet ' s faithful followers , perennial twenty-five to thirty at most is the fashionable
age for a governess . A lady told an agent she wanted a governess , not under twenty-eiht nor over thirty-two : we suppose her
apg prenticeship was to have" been served elsewhere , and this lady wished for the quintessence of her powers . It may be presumed
that ladies entertain the old superstitious idea , that our faces grow like those we live with , or this new absurdity would scarcely have
become so rife . An elegant modern writer says truly , ' * Minds are not to be measured by years , —years are the falsest of all
calculations . " And we believe every one may have known some persons older at twentthan others at forty . Where intellect and activity
are unimpaired y , mere wanton caprice must dictate the objection . Dandolo , the Doge of Venice , was eighty-three when he took
Constantinople ; Michael Angelo was still engaged in some of his immortal works at seventy odd ; and Dr . Johnson wrote " The Lives of
the Poets " at seventy one or two . But as beforesaid , it is not to combat prejudice and inhumanity
that this paper is written ; it is to entreat parents to pause , ere they thrust their daughters into this wretched career : let them
remember , that a governess has no chance of improving her fortune eventually like professional men , who endure early struggles . But
the medical man , the lawyer , the engineer , even the poor curate , ( ill h paidHeaven knows !) may hope for a moderate
indep enoug endence in , middle life : the governess on the contrary , must view each advancing year with horror ; at thirty-five or thirty-six
she is cast aside like a blunt tool , young enough to see long years of penury before heryet too old to learn a fresh employment . If
every a girl chanc were e broug , allowing ht up , for to human some tr casualties ade , even , a th humble at with perseverance one , there is
and good conduct , she would realise a fair independence , and by the time she reaches the advanced _ag-e of thirty-five or six , be positively
easy . We ask impartial judges what a governess has to expect ?
Neither talent nor good conduct will _prevenjb her being cast aside
166 The Governess Question.
166 THE GOVERNESS QUESTION .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Nov. 1, 1859, page 166, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01111859/page/22/
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