The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1864-03-22
HILLsDALE. MICH, TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 1864.

out. Mrs. @, has a page aud therefore Mrs.
O., for no other earthly rea On, s.ust have one
too. Probo them Tor the reason Of this; try
to discover why they sacrifice real family Joy,
why they have sham establishments ofsery.
ants, why thev are willing to run the risk Of
so much annoyance through being always on
the wrong side Of their tradesmen's ledgers,
and in the depths Of their hearts they will
acknowledge the Inconvenience, but plead the
necessity Of conforming to the usagec of soci-
ETY., and OF keeping up appearances. They
forcibly remind us OF Hans Christian Ander.
sens Danish fable Of the little mermaid when
first che came to the surface Of the sea. Her
grandmother representative Of fashion,, that
stern old LADY, ordered eight largo oysters to
hang Themselves on her tail. "But they hurt
So" cried tho little mermaid. any child"
said grsndmamma, 'slittle inconveuicnces
must be endured ri the sake OF great appear
ances" eN' 2' 'niii -Qsapt'
Alas myriads vince every day because Of
the nipping by their social oysters; and this
must DO so long as fashion, that grandmamma,
is allowed to have control but they W no voluB-
tarily submit to the squeezing, voluntarily Dor.
row misery.
br, v. IMAGINING TROUBLE,
We have all had tue happiness of being
miserable 10 consequences of allowing ourselves
to imagine things that never happened, and
were never likely to happen. As though the
ills Of life do not crowd on US tbickly enough,
rs though this work a-day world does not
como ever laden with care and duty for US
how many times have we imagined ours, Ives
the inheritors OF sorrows that we never had
and made ourselves weep about dreamed OF
disasters that never come TO pass, We'll to-
do people destroying their happiness by i'm.
aginiug that they shall have 10 give up the
comfort Of their homes, and the ease and niil.
uence OF life, to spend their days and nights
in the poorhouse. Ay, many such there have
been, who had no ground 70, such fear, who
died in their nest, but who for years borrowed
misery.
This subject is somewhat amnsingly illus.
trated by one Of the best or living essayists
who tells us, "There were two very old
maids. sisters, who lived together. A run
ming stream passed under their parlor vipdow.
A friend came 10 visit them one day, and
founI them in agones Of grief. "What is
the matter my Dear ladesf" he exclaimed.
They bridled up, smiled amid their tears,
which still flowed pleulifully, and said they
were two ole fools, but declined to tell the
cause Of their misery. Their friend, who was
their doctor, il recollect rightly, iusisted up
on knowing what was the matter, and at last
one Of them confessed. "'Suppose,' Bridg-
ct aaid to me, we had both bte;i married !;
you know, my dear, il might have beeh. And
suppose had little boy, and you lit,ic
girl; and suppose that wa had both been dan
ding them at this very window 'And sup
lose, said /, some horrid boy coming by had
made great noise; you know how nervous
we are, sister, at noises. And suppose we
had both let the children tumble into the wa
ter. 'And suppose said she, 'they bad
both been drowned Then we began to cry,
for it would have been so dreadful you know"
Here tho two old ladies commenced crying
again, and the doctor had some difficulty in
comforting them. .a9. 'o
Well, we smile, and say that Bridget AMI
her sister were very foolish people; but have
we not ourselves often done similar thing !?
Do we not grieve over evils purely imagina
ry, aud go on supposiug, and supposing, and
with no more reason than those
two aged spins,ers whose Imagination outran
fact. 7os e =