The noblest women I have personally known, were "regular tom-boys"
in their girlhood. I have made many inquiries about the women who
figured conspicuously in the "Sanitary Commission," the "Christian
Commission," and in the hospitals, and so far as I have been able to
learn from them, and their friends, not one began with being a
"_proper_" _young lady!_ I venture the opinion that not one of the
women who has risen to literary distinction in America, was a
"_proper_" _young lady!_
In brief, I don't believe proper young ladies amount to much. As
with a colt and a boy, neither of which, if quiet and staid, is
likely to accomplish anything very grand in this world; so if a girl
is prim and nice and proper, it is easy to write out the story of
her life in five lines; and without waiting for her to live it.
But, if a young woman, of fair mental capacity, breaks through the
trammels of propriety, rides the saddle astride, climbs fences and
trees, joins a base-ball club, or acquires distinction in any
roystering game which demands pluck and endurance, you may expect
something; she possesses the elements of a strong womanhood. I would
prefer one such woman, either in the hospitals at Gettysburg, or at
the head of a family of children, to a dozen women who were chiefly
distinguished in girlhood for immaculate collars and bows.