Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1859-02-09


living soul.
Alas, for womanl She can never do
thing except gregaricusly. She has
no solitude except in the house, which
is no solitude at all. She is always at
the mercy of others whims, caprices.
tastes, business engagements, or head
aches. II she travels, she must partial
accommodate herself to somebody's
convenience. She must go in the beaten
track. Her eyes must look right on,
and her eye-lids straight before her.
There are no wild wanderings at her own
sweet will. no experimental devistions
from the prescribed route, no hazardous
but delightful flying off in tangent on
the spur of the moment. She cannot
separate herself from the past, slough
off her indentity, and become a new be-
ing in new scenes. She must take her
old associations with her, and they are q
robe of oiled silk, efectuslly excluding
the new atmosphere which should pere-
trate 10 the very sources of life. She
cannot enjoy in quietness and silence
She is one of party, and must 60 into
rapture here and an ecstacy there, and
give a definite reason for both. She
must be wakened from trance of de-
light by lisped show beautiful or a
quotation from Byron, by some one
whose knowledge of Byron is derived
from a gilt volume of Elegant Ex
tracts" or the American FIRST Glass
Book" 1t is very exasperating.
Men are strong. They do things. and
don't mind it. They can open doors in
the dsmpest weather. They can un-
strap trunks without breaking blood
vessel, turn keys in moment which wo-
men have lost their temper and famed
their fingers over for halt an hour, look
down precipices and not be dizzy, knock
each other PROSTATE and not be stunned.
You may strike them with all your nigh t
on the chest, and it dosen't hurt them
in the least, | mean, il you are a wo-
man They never grow nervous and
cry. They go up stairs three at a time
Tney put one hand on a feus-rsiI fence.
and leap it without touching. In short,
they do everything easily which women
try to do and cannot.
Moreover. men are so "easy to get
along with" They are good natured,
and conveniently blind and benevolent.
Women criticize you. not unjustly. per-
haps, but relentlessly. They Judge you
in detail. men only in the whole. II
your dress is neat, well-ftting, and we'll
toned. men will not notice it. except a
few man milliners, and few others who
ought to be, and to whose opinion we
pay no regard. lfyou will only sit still,
hold up your head. and speak when
you are spoken to, you can be very
comfortable co not mean that men
cannot and do not appreciate female
brilliancy; but if you are good listener,
and in the right receptive mood, you can
spend an hour very pleasantly without
it. But a woman finds out in the first
three minutes that the fringe on your
dress is not a match. In four, she has
discovered hat the silk of your sleeves
is frayed at the edge. In FIVE, that the
binding of the heel Of your boot is
worn out By the sixth, she has salts
factorily ascertained, what she suspect
ed the first moment she "set her eyes
on you." that you trimmed your bonnet
yourself. The seventh assures her that
your collar is only imitation" and
when you part, at the end of ten minu
ties, she has calculated with tolerable
accuracy the cost of your dress, has lev
elled her mental eye glass at all your
innocent little subterfuges, and knows 10
a dead certainty your past history. pre-
sent circumstances, and future prospects.
Well, what harm if she does? Why,
none in particular. II is only being
stretched on the rack little while
You have no reason to be ashamed, and
you are not ashamed. Your boots are
only beginning to be shabby. and we all
know the transitory nature Of galloon.
Your fringe is too dark, but You ran
sacked the city, and did your best; IAN
gels could no more" You trimmed
your bonnet yourself, and saved two
dollars. which was just what you intend
nd to do. 1.-The means were worthy
and the end was won." Your lace is
net real, according TO the cart of the
shopkeepers; but it is real-real cotton,
real linen, real silk, or whatever the
material may be. aud you never pretend
ed it was Honiton or point; and if lace
is soft, and white, and fine, and sets of
the throat and wrists pretlily, l don't
see why it may not just as well be made
in America for two cents yard, as in
Paris for two dollars. or two hundred
| In fact, this whole matter OF lace is some.
thing entirely beyond my comprehen-
sion. Why, / have seen women, who
in the ordinary affairs of life were neal
to fault, just fall down and worship
a bit of dingy. old. yellow lace. thai
looked fit for nothing but the wash-tub
and when demonstrated with, excuse
j themselves by saying; "Why. it is fifty