Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1866-04-13
ELLSWORTH, MAINE, FRIDAY, APRIL l3, 1866.

Va uiC' oSHuAheahSS' "hu l'ub siCidHs NAou
we hear speaking of the subject not seldom
loose their patience in setting forth the
miseries of feminine invali.'-i sm, with its
shattered nerves and morbid circulations
If half Of what is said is true, it is one half
too much; and il our mothers had not been
better gifted with maternal faculties than
the candidates now ready for the bridal
ring, the present number of the native
American population could be accounted
for only by miracle. not by natural descent.
If the i'll were confined to the over-uxurl-
Gus and the affiuent, the marvel would be
less; but it is tue that the daughters of
the farmer aud the mechanic, who are not
exposed to such excesses of indulgence,
are not exempt from the same lot.
For own part. VIC could rejoice in the
rise of new order of missionaries, whose
mission it should be to preach the law and
gospel of health, as part of the doctrine of
salvation by the water of baptism. and the
bread of life. The water and the bread
that signify spiritual publication and nur-
ture have also their physical significance,
and the time may be near for bringing
health of soul and body into nearer than
tho usual connection. Certainly,if the two
are ever so near as to be identical, it is in
the education Of those who arc to be moth
ers and whose health or sickness may be
the blessing or bane to the mind and body
of their offspring.
Very likely the climate Of America gives
to our womcn something OF the delicacy of
their constitutions, yet our habits of living
and our stimulating social system contrib
ute quite as much toward the result Our
social system in one respect is more stimu-
lating to the nerves of women than the so
cial system of The Old World with its he
reditary rank and fixed conventions Here
all the paths Of fame and fortune are non-
inally open to all aspirans and our young
people, in most communities. are brought
up in schools ami churches whore a feeling
of social equality prevails. Our sous be-
gin life quite ready to contest the highest
rewards Of business and politics with their
richer school fellows, and our daughters
have very nearly the same tastes and ex-
pcctations. whatever may be the dih'rrcnrts
ofran'l and fortune. The hoy is trained
to rough it in the fight, and if he cannot
reach his first aim, he persists till he finds
some work or place worth possessing. But
the girl, far more sensitive, with tastes
more exacting and gifts less obtrusive, is
lett far more at the mercy Of circumstance,
ana may find herself at once set wholly
apart from the society of the schoolmate
who was next her in the class, perhaps her
confident in play hours without being her
equal in study.
a limited purse, all uncomgenial home,
Objectionable relatives, or one of thous-
aud causes may separate the sensitive and
aspiring school girl from her cherished as
sociates, ana may make her whole life
seem n disappointment hccanse it falls be-
low the standard Of girlish aspiration. So
true is it that our American society gives
t. most of our we'll educated gills tie same
ideal of what is desirable, and makes them
very sensitive TO the charms of that ideal
without by any means equalizing proper
tinually the means Of attaiaing the mark.
Very soon that albtcr of social distinction
that is nowhere more powerful than here
wealth its heraldry of dress hcsins to
show its sccptre and proclaim its sway,
and the girls who before played together
merrily in the plain gowns Of the school
room find themselves parted widely asund-
er by the costumes of the drawing room
and pretty Mary, in her muslin and ribbon,
may seem even to herself creature OF
coarser mould than stately Mabel with her
hrocade and diamonds.
We may call this sensitiveness to exter-
nails in the Young women Of America ludi
crous or contemptiblc yet it Is great and
melancholy fact--l fact to he cstimat d
not only by the tears and heart burnings
which it causes, but by the petulant tenn
pcrs, the pretentious and unjustifable ex
travagance, the i'll assorted marriages.
which are the frequent result. There are
probably few parents in moderate circum-
stances in our cities and towns Who ere not
troubled hy the p iinfll dep nlence of their
daughters upon ezternals, nd the morti-
flying comparisons which are apt to be in
stitutcd by the prevalent scale of external
distinctions
The simple cost Of dressing moderately
within the requirements of what is called
good society in our cities and large towns,
is a very formidable item in the calculation
Of families of moderate means, and to
Young woman Of refined tastes, who is de-
pendent on her own exertion for support,
the sum is often qrite disheartening. A
girl of superior gifts aud education may,
indeed, by teaching, maintain herself hand,
somely, and even assist her infirm rela-
tivcs; hut the usual compcnsatiou of a
teacher, is generally a meagre support; for
what will three or four hundred dollars a
year in these timeso high prices do toward
boarding and clothing young lady
Certainly the great tragedyoi American
life is writing itself now in the fortunes Of
the hosts of women dependent upOn pre.