In this
subject especially, the satisfaction of producing good work, well done,
without help, is a result which justifies all the trouble that may be
spent upon it. When girls have, by themselves, brought to a happy
conclusion the preparation of a complete meal, their very faces bear
witness to the educational value of the success. They are not elated nor
excited, but wear the look of quiet contentment which seems to come from
contact with primitive things. This look alone on a girl's face gives a
beauty of its own, something becoming, and fitting, and full of promise.
No expression is equal to it in the truest charm, for quiet contentment
is the atmosphere which in the future, whatever may be her lot, ought to
be diffused by her presence, an atmosphere of security and rest.
Perhaps at first sight it seems an exaggeration to link so closely
together the highest natural graces of a woman with those lowliest
occupations, but let the effects be compared by those who have examined
other systems of instruction. If they have considered the outcome of an
exclusively intellectual education for girls, especially one loaded with
subjects in sections to be "got up" for purposes of examination, and
compared it with one into which the practical has largely entered, they
can hardly fail to agree that the latter is the best preparation for
life, not only physically and morally but mentally.
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