Note.—Map of New York city asphalted streets in No. 809. Map of route from New York to Tarrytown in No. 810. New York to Stamford, Connecticut in No. 811. New York to Staten Island in No. 812. New Jersey from Hoboken to Pine Brook in No. 813. Brooklyn in No. 814. Brooklyn to Babylon in No. 815. Brooklyn to Northport in No. 816. Tarrytown to Poughkeepsie in No. 817. Poughkeepsie to Hudson in No. 818. Hudson to Albany in No. 819. Tottenville to Trenton in No. 820. Trenton to Philadelphia in No. 821. Philadelphia in No. 822. Philadelphia-Wissahickon Route in No. 823. Philadelphia to West Chester in No. 824. Philadelphia to Atlantic City—First Stage in No. 825; Second Stage in No. 826. Philadelphia to Vineland—First Stage in No. 627; Second Stage in No. 828. New York to Boston—Second Stage in No. 829; Third Stage in No. 830; Fourth Stage in No. 831; Fifth Stage in No. 832; Sixth Stage in No. 833. Boston to Concord in No. 834. Boston in No. 835. Boston to Gloucester in No. 836. Boston to Newburyport in No. 837. Boston to New Bedford in No. 838. Boston to South Framingham in No. 839. Boston to Nahant in No. 840. Boston to Lowell in No. 841. Boston to Nantasket Beach in No. 842. Boston Circuit Ride in No. 843. Philadelphia to Washington—First Stage in No. 844; Second Stage in No. 845; Third Stage in No. 846; Fourth Stage in No. 847; Fifth Stage in No. 848. City of Washington in No. 849.
This Department is conducted in the interest of Girls and Young Women, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject so far as possible. Correspondents should address Editor.
Did you ever think of the flowers, how different they are one from another? And yet each is a flower, each belongs to its own family, each has its own place in nature, its own little mission to the world, its time to bloom, its hour to be sweet and to live in the sunshine.
I wonder which is your favorite flower? I used to think the mignonette was mine; but then when daisies whiten the fields I like them best, and when lilies shine in the garden I prefer them, and, on the whole, there are none of the dear things I would like to do without. How nice it is that there are so many kinds, and how tiresome it would be if they were all exactly alike!
The flowers have what each of us should have, individuality. We do not wish the girls in a school to be alike in everything. One day last October I sat on the platform of a woman's college during the opening exercises, and in the bright morning watched the long lines of girls march into the chapel to the sound of the piano. Two by two they came, dark girls and fair girls, plump girls and thin girls, tall girls and short girls, as sweet a band as I ever saw, all alert and alive and eager, and looking as if they never had an ache or a pain, as girls ought to look who have learned that health and vigor help to make successful students. They were not like coins stamped in a mint and precisely alike, though their college was giving each of them its own stamp of culture and refinement. One may carry this stamp, as the flower its perfume, and not lose the particular quality of mind and heart which is her own special distinction. Keeping one's own individuality, one may yet gain what is best in her school life and hold it.
This is a thoughtful talk for my older girls, and I am going now to give them three rather long words, which they may use as pegs on which to hang reflections of their own, or points round which ideas may cluster. One is development. If you cut an apple through the circumference, as you cut an orange, you will see in clear outline around the starlike centre made by the seeds the shape of the blossom. The fruit has grown from the flower, and the flower's shape is in the heart of the fruit. The fruit developed little by little through summer days and winter days, but the flower gave it the start. Take the little thought and use it, and if you have a gift or grace—a taste for housekeeping, cooking, sewing, painting, or reading—develop it by use and study and taking pains.