ned." That is to say, on
all formal social occasions she appears under the watch and ward of an
older woman of character and standing--her mother, or the mother's
representative. The young woman's calls are made, and her visits
received, in the company of this guardian of the proprieties; and she
attends the theatre or other places of amusement, only under the same
safe conduct.

Society to the young girl is May-fair. With the happy future veiled
just beyond, she goes to meet a possible romance, and to traverse a
circle of events that may haply round up in a wedding-ring. It is of
the utmost importance that she shall not be left at the mercy of
accidental meetings, indiscreet judgments, and the heedless impulses of
inexperienced youth, which may effectually blight her future in its
bud. A parent or guardian does a girl incalculable injury in allowing
her to enter upon society life without chaperonage, and the unremitting
watch-care and control which only a discreet, motherly woman can give
to girlhood. Men respect the chaperoned girl. Honorable men respect
her as something that is worth taking care of; men who are not
honorable respect her as something with which they dare not be unduly
familiar--though they account it "smart" to be "hail fellow well met"
with the girl who ignorantly goes about unattended, or with other
unchaperoned girls, on social occasions. A girl must have an unusual
measure of native dignity, as well as native innocence, always to
escape the disagreeable infliction of either "fresh" or _blase_
impertinence, if she has no mother's wing to flutter under.

This absolute condition of chaperonage exists during the novitiate of
the young society woman. The requirement grows less and less rigid as
the young woman grows more and more experienced, and learns to meet
social emergencies for herself. That delicate ignoring of a woman's
age which is shown in calling her a "girl" until she is married also
permits her to be a chaperoned member of society until that event. But
when obviously past her youth, it is no longer required that she shall
wear the demeanor of a _debutante_. Nor does propriety demand her
mother's constant presence, when years of training have taught the
daughter her mother's discretion, and when the mother's own serene
dignity looks out of the daughter's eyes.

We are proud of the ideal American girl. I mean the one _who is
essentially a lady_, whether rich or poor, the one