Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, 1857-01-17
HONOLULU, H L., JANUARY II, 1857

tantlle beaux and bellies would be as much put ou,
as were the Vicar of Wakefelds daughters al
Farmer Flamborough's when pounced in upon BY
Lady Blarney and Miss Caroline Wnhelmina
Amelia Skeggs. When witnessing such fashiona.
bic denominations as children's balls, we lopU 10
utter old BurcLell's emphatic, Fudge. The uneasy
Posturlng and spasmodc movements of infants pol
kelng and watzing in hot, crowdt rooms, and long
after bedtime, are about natural as, and no more
favorable TO health than, the JIG of a showman's
monkey, going through its dancing lesson on red
hot plate Of iron. Let your young children tumble
and toss and run at their bent in the free open air
and IN the strengthening light Of the day. and send
them to bed at an early hour tired with natural ex-
erclse, not exhausted by excitement, and they will
sleep soundly, grow vigorously, and strengthen and
oeautlfy with the glow and soundness of health
All forced development ends in abortion, and is
CONTRARY TO the laws of nature. No one with 4
wholesome taste will prefer the insipid green pease
OF winter to the well-favored vegetable in its prop
er season. There are, however, diseased appetites
which, impatient of Providence, can not await its
good time, and only to be satisfied with morbid
growths. Society is one of these unhealthy gour-
mands, and forces its products against nature Its
offspring are so many girls and boys immaturely
developed into manhood and womanhood, who like
untmely fruits, have neither Il strong growth nor
good flavor. They are, moreover, to use an ex-
pressrOn of Lord Bacon easy to corrupt and can
not last.
Young America is man before he is fairly in
his teens, and as unconscious Of boyhood rs his
sister. He has recollection of Jacket and pin-
afure, but has long since been down on the books
of his tailor. my tailor" says that precocious
young gentleman, as he comp placenty casts his eyes
down upon his fashiOnably cut trowsers, Is the
most stylish artist in Broadway; he's expensive.
but hang the expense his credit is longer than his
bills" Leech's sketches in Punch of prccocious
Z II 1 -
realities here. Young America is 4 score Of years
ahead of his age. He never trundled hoop nor
spun top, but he can handle the cue with the
skill of master, and can beat hght-fngered Bill
at billiards and give him twenty, any night, when
he is in hand, and hasn't smoked too many rega-
lias or taken too much brandy and water. Before
the taste OF pap is well out of his mouth, Young
America has become 4 connOisseur ut the bar, and
can stand more drinks than would stagger Il coal
HEAVIER He is a flyorite of fashion, Of course, and
his is high on the list of all the ball givers
of the season. He is always welcomed by mammas
who have daughters training for the market, and
who as they know that Young Americas father is
rich show IA remarkable motherly (in-law) interest
in the promising youth, and seem very innocently
unconscious that his affections have been already
engaged-to the brandy-bottle. That Young Ameri-
ca under such training becomes pale and pasty in
the Gce. like badiy-baked pie-crust, weak in the
back, dwarfsh in stature and shaky in the limbs,
is no more then the natural result OF his unwhOle
some life of youth, where excitement an dissipa-
ton take the place Of healthful activity and natu
raj Development
The transition Of our daughters from babyhoOd,
with hardly Consciousness Of youth, to maturity
of life is no less rapid than that OF sons, and
with no better effect. Girls are no sooner out vi
their swaddlingcothes than they are carefully re-
minded that they belong to what the world calls
and is responsible for making-the weaker sex.
There is no precept more often in the mouth Ut
mamma than ''Be little lady now-dOnt run
and make a noise like boy;' and none, we will
venture to add, is more foolish and fatal. Nature
never made woman weak, but fashion, with Il false
idea of delicacy, has Mothers so eager to
teach their daughters the propretes Of their sex,
that they forget that girls, like boys, have bones,
muscles, and nerves, which can only be developed
into strength by vigorous exercise. II health Is
the object, we know of no means OF obtaining II
but by obedience to its laws. II our sons and
daughters are to be as the polished corner stones
of the temple they must first acquire the hardness
Of physical vigof before they be capable of the
desired polish. Parents make distinction be-
tween the sex Of their children, as regards their
physical education, at too early period. Air and
exercise are essential to BOTH and the physical
habits of the girl should be robust until twelve
wears of age at least, as those Of the boy. Any
sentimental alarm about the romping Of little miss
may be quiete1 by the thought that she is but fol-
lowing the instincts Of nature, which sets IN mo-
ton every limb and organ Of the young, that they
may acquire by exercise that development and
strength which are necessary for wholesome growth.
So let miss halloo, run, and tumble with Tom, her
brother, to her young hearts content. This will
secure streagth Of body, which is certainly more
favorable t. moral health, and necessarily, to del
icacy of sentiment than physical weakness.
Peter the Great having learned ship-buldlnS
and taught his countrymen to build fleet, was IN
a hurry TO man it, As the Russians were not a
ea-faring people, and sailors were accordingly
scarce, the Emperor bethought himself of an expe-
dient to obtain an immediate supply. lie accord
ingly gathered together at ST. Petersburg, from all
parts of his wide dominions, large number Of
( youth and ordered that they should have nothing
else but salt water to drink, that they might at
once be Injured to the sea. They, however, all
1 died in the experiment. This imperial procedure
/ is Just wholesome and very much IKE the pro-
cess which prevails with US in the education oil
youth. We are in such haste to prepare them
/ for life that we kill them in the operation. The
whole system with us is too last-whether at home,
in the school, or the cOllege-and if we succeed IN
mi king smart youth. we cannot boast OF weIi-de-
yeloped men and women. % There be some have
an r-early rpeness in their years, winch iadeth
/ betimes: there are such as have brittle wits, the
edGes whereof are soon turned says Lord Bacon.
I CDODett Is Reported HOG " H''C SisN :"
lesson to any of his children until they had reach
ed sixteen wears Of age. He himself, we believe,
did not learn to read until he was man grown,
and with what effect he PURSUED his studies alter
ward may be learned from the fact, that he became
such writer Of English that no modern author
has surpassed him in the correctness and simple
vigur of his style. The brain and nerves are the
last portions Of the human system to receive their
full strength of development, and accordingly
shorM nayer ha task.d TO their utmost capacity In
early age. Those infant phenomena, the little
philosophers and encyclopedias III pettcoats' who
show off their learning so much to the pride OF the
IL III Tie cnnr1Sinn of visitors are apt to be