all it--provincial
being one of his severest adjectives for the Philistines whom his soul
abhors,--by which he means that their talk is limited to their
narrow-minded local gossip, so that when a stranger comes from a larger
world, they have nothing in common. I think his use of that word marks his
French turn of mind;--parochial would be the better expression in England,
where the talk is very often literally parochial,--besides deserving the
word in its wider meaning, as describing talk which is full of
unimportant, local, and personal facts, instead of belonging to the larger
world of ideas.

English girls, as a whole, are supposed to be bad at talking--to giggle
among themselves, and to have nothing to say on general subjects. But,
besides this, there is a certain love of silly mysteries and secrets in
some girls, which is apt to be too much for their common sense.

Some girls are so keen to chatter, and make themselves interesting at any
cost, that they tell their family's private affairs or discuss the faults
of their nearest relations. I am sure you would all remember that any one,
with a grain of decent family pride, washes every bit of dirty linen at
home, and holds their tongue about family news till they are sure it is
public property, and to the family credit! If you ever want to talk about
such things for real reasons, always go to an older friend and not to one
of your own age; for an older friend would know enough of the world to
take it up by the right handle and to hold her tongue.

Again, some girls fancy that a little theatre gossip marks them out as
women of the world. To talk about a play and about the good and bad
strokes of acting is one thing:--the petty personal gossip about the
actors and actresses is on the same level, to my mind, as the talking
about dukes and duchesses by those who read of them in a society paper,
without ever expecting to meet them.

Again, there is some school talk which is undesirable, though not wrong. I
mean talk about the things which belong to your future life, but which
are just the sides of it that you want your education to help you to keep
in proper proportion. There are interests, such as hunting and dancing,
which are all right in their own time and place, but which make a silly,
empty mind when they are your chief mental food. You come to school to
take an interest in work, and in bookish things generally. It is not so
easy to do this when you are in the ful