The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1856-03-06
NEW SERIES ---VOL. 2, NO. 81.
Misffualleulrs.
women at Home.

1T may be only a fancy Of ours,' says
Mrs. kirkland, in one of her admirable es.
says, shat Providence has SO decidedly it-
ted woman for household cares, that she is
never truly and healthy happy without
them; but il it be fancy, it is one which
much observation had confirmed
We command these words to serious con-
sideration. The general bad health of fe-
males, in what are called the respectable
classes, is q subject that we have often re.
ferred to; for it is one that affects not the
happiness Of families merely, but the veal
of the whole community; not future one al
so. Physicians tell us that not one lady in
ten, in a great city, enjoys robust health.-
Mr.. kirkland, we suspect, has explained the
cause. II is certain that women generally,
who are not compelled to labor for liveli-
hood directly, neglect exercise almost en-
tirely, and hence bring on themselves dys-
pepsia, nervous disorders, and other disea-
ses. To perform house-work is too fire.
quently considerered degrading. Even
where the mother, in obedience to the tradi
tions of her youth, condescends occasional
ly to labor, the daughters are brought up in
perfect idleness, take no bodily exercise ex-
cept that of walking in fine weather, or
riding in cushioned carriages, or dancing at
party. Those, in short, who can afford
servants, cannot demean themselves, as
they think, by domestic labors. To make
up bed is regarded often as exhausting be-
yond description; to sweep carpet is view
ed as worse than field work in cane field;
while to scrub-alas! modern feminine Ian.
guage, copious as it's, has no words to char
acterize this inhuman and cruel task. The
result is, that all such lose what little health
they started life with, becoming feeble in
exact proportion as they become fashionable.
In this neglect of household cares Ameri-
can females stand alone. A German lady
no matter how lofty her rank never forgets
tnat domestic labors conduce to the health
Of body and mind alike. An English lady,
whether she be gentleman's wife or q
dukes does not despise her household, and
even though she has house keeper, de-
votes,a portion Of her time to this, her true,
her happiest sphere. 1t is reserved for our
republican fine ladies to be more choice than
even their monarchial and aristocratic Sis
ters. The result is lassitude of mind Of
ten as fatal to health as the neglect of bodi-
ly exercise. The wife who leaves her
household cares to her servants pays the
penalty which has been affixed to ideness
since the foundation of the world, and Ell
ther willis away from sheer ennui, or is driv-
en- into all sorts of fashionable follies to
find employment for her mind. If she does
not lounge on the sofa. reading novels all
day, and growing paler and more nervous
every year; if she does not weaken her
chest, and injure her eyes by STOPPING over
crotchet work, or embroidery; she drives
about shopping, or visits for the purpose OF.
gossip, or sleeps till noon to recover from
the fatigues Of the last nights ball; in q
word, in one way or another she Injuries her
health OFT fatally, ,,,, .
Menfnd occupation in business, in litera-
ture, or in profession; and an idle man is
proverbially considered in peril of soul
and body. How is it that women act SO
universally as if they were exempted from
tho evils of Indolencel Want of occupa-
ton rarely leads them into great vices. and
therefore they fancyeit. does not injure them
at all. But alas! there are small vices in
to which too many fine ladies' fall, such as
backbiting. enviousness, and gossiping gen.
orally. which, if they are not as gross as
the sins, of idle men, are bad enough. If
household cares were more generally at
tended to, we should see but little of these
evils, and women in good society would be
much happier, and much more truly lovea
BILE. This is plain speaking, but the truth
must out It is not the fashionable gada-
bout, who lives on false excitement, that
wins or retains the love of man of real
worth. A thousand times dearer is she,
who, like the wife Wordsworth has immor-
talized, does not consider domestic cares
beneath her;
81 saw her, on nearer view,
Aspirit, yet woman too;
Her household motions light and free,
And steps Of Virgin liberty"
We fear, however, that it will take more
than this or all the journals of the nation,
to remove this cancer of social life. But