She is believing, cultured, intelligent, tender, and gay. She hides her care to gladden those around her

•

I was invited to a party that gathered a number of holders of high office and men of the press; but I stood apart from everyone, being unknown to them, and I felt lost in that atmosphere.

Then there entered a lady of elegant appearance and cheerful countenance. My host presented me to her; she had heard my name before, and she quickly made a place for me among the company and let them know who I was. The lady was not a friend of mine; rather she was of that kind who make you feel that you are everything — you the center of her attention — and who forget to utter a single word about themselves while sitting with you.

This incident rises before me whenever I think about women, their habits and their inclinations, and then compare those small things which make of them two opposites. The lady's conduct, in the matter we are discussing, is clear proof of her maturity and her appreciation. For I love people, with no distinction between the great and the small among them, or their beliefs; I love all that is in them and all that is theirs — and this is one of the causes of every individual's success, and the foundation of the bond that joins human beings alike. But there is one particular class toward whom I feel a firmer tie: the class that loves music, art, and books — for in music is my life. And among all of these, I prefer the mature woman.

Here I do not want the reader to confuse maturity with age; for I have met girls of sixteen whose maturity surpassed that of women of sixty. Age is a measure of the sun's risings and settings, not of a woman's qualifications and capacities.

The maturity of women has influenced the course of my life in its various stages. The first influence

was my mother; then my teacher, who understood my capacities and did her utmost to develop them, and who afterwards helped me to enter working life. The mature woman deals with her surround-ings with ease: she is neither conceited nor igno-rant, but faces life with intelligence, awareness, and courage; and she believes in herself and in others — a faith which can shape the direction of a life, lifting it from failure to success. I shall tell the story of one woman's faith, by way of illustration:

I was very restless during my school years, and I often did rash things. Once I drove a nail into my wrist and paid no attention to it at first; but it aroused my mother's concern when the flesh around it began to swell, and she forbade me to move my hand. She took me to the doctor, who told her that my hand had gangrene, then made her understand that there was no way to drain off the poison, and that if it spread through my body I would die without fail. Here he gave her the choice between my life and

the amputation of