The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-07-09

26th, IS6z-aaar.-
Gods laws, though deep hidden, are
linexorable. They yield not to cover
human infirmity or human error. Obe-
dlence is success, disobedience is fail
ure, sorrow, and ultimate death. They
exact the penalty of every violation to
the uttermost. The Innocent and the
perverse must pay it alike. BE that
| mistakenly takes poison, or falls from
precipice, suffers equally with him
ciples that substautiate n universe, can
not oscillate to the ever shifting percep-
tions OF man. They must remain like
their author, immutable, eternal.
Whose finds them, finds the pillars OF
unchanging truth; whose falls beneath
them, will be ground to powder.
To our short, human comprehension
| 1t may seem almost severe, If not in@
deed almost unjust, that none, not even
the innocent and unsuspecting, should
be spared II they have transgressed.
The unlettered miner may not know
that momentary lifting of the safety
cap of his lamp, must pay an instant
penalty Of death to him and all his fell
lows. The engineer may not know,
| perhaps he can not know, that the pent
up forces of his boiler have been for an
hour within an ounce of the utmost
tension of their iron fetters, and that
another shovel fun of coal Will rend
him and his noble craft into million
fragments. 1t is not for us to say that
\ this is uni ust or severe. 1t must suffice
| us to know that such are the conditions
| under which man holds his being. We
are held in place by the same laws that
hold universe; and we might as we'll
| seek to lift a planet, as to move one jot
or title of the boundaries that hem us
in. s-...-L
But man is not left helpless in these
environments, nor ignorant in these
,fsNIN F4HV m
his being, is within the scope of his in
telligence. We are so empowered as to
touch back with our thoughts every
law that touches US, If not indeed to the
fullest comprehension, 10 at least sufh-
cient tor protection. And these laws
are as multiplied and as diverse as all
the infinite hosts of earth and heaven.
The clear full moon bespreads the earth
with frost-the spots upon the sun de-
fleet the needle from the pole-Jupiter
and Saturn fix the limits of our oceans
and SO every star becomes a guide
every breeze fans with health or fever
every leaf may be u balm, and every
insect distil a poison. Thus is man re-
lated, more or less directly, to every
object within the cognlZant universe;
and these relations all teach the same
grand lesson, that Gods laws are i'm
mutable and inexorab BILE, and must be
obeyed in the least as in the greatest.
Happy he that finds them and makes
them his guide, but wO betide him,
that, from any cause, steps athwart
their course.
So diversified are their aspects, so
multifHrious their modes of sequence,
that while some unfold themselves to
the most careless observer, others at
tach themselves TO our human affairs
with SO slender Il thread, and lie SO
deep hidden, as long TO elude the keen
est and most patient research. But re-
mote, concealed, or tunimportant, If
trampled upon, in due time, they turn
like the trampled viper and fasten their
fangs upon us. These considerations
lead us to the conclusion that the most
important of all knowledges, is that of
the laws of our own being.
Let us then, in the light of these
truths, examine the development OF
woman in this country during the last
half century.
Placing the women of to-day beside
those OF fifty years ago, the character
istic differences are, an increase
of Intellectual culture, general re-
finement OF taste, greater delicacy
ical force, and a deprecated physical
frame-i. e. to reduce 1t to n simple pro-
position, greater force of mind and less
OF body. 1t may, however, be said that
this is but new phase of the old plant
| of the deterioration ofthe race, of which
We dTe Ollen DJ bOlhO AloSOA-
solate reformer. 1t is not, however, to
vague and general surmises that our
attention Is now called.
Facts of so grave and serious ma
ture confront us, that, as the guardians
of youth, we may not longer blameless-
ly neglect or ignore them-facts that
| permit no father or mother longer to
| trust unchallenged a daughter to the
customary and approved modes OF
| early life and training.
Some evils are SO positive and prompt
as to leave no doubt concerning
their nature, but others are so slow OF
maturity, so insidious in their ap-
proach, or perhaps SO glazed over with
seeming good. that 1t is long before
even our suspicion is aroused. Con-
sumption Is no less to be dreaded be-
cause it steals unaware into the life
blood, nor any less fatal because Its
first touch tints loyelier blush upon
the cheek, gives brighter luster to the
eye, and a keener edge to thought.
The evils of intemperance do not
startle us, as, in the festive hall, wine
mingles with mirth, nor, perhaps at all
for months and years. We must await
the long, slow years of its growth and
maturity before we visit our pauper
houses and insane asylums.
There has been for many years con-
stantly increasing conviction that
something was amiss in the early train
| ing of American womeni out TO Wnat
extent, II indeed to any extent sutti-
cient to demand public attention, was a
matter of doubt. We are at last
brought face to face to unquestioned
and solemn truths.
In ali civilized and well-regulated
communities, the sexes bear close
numerical relation. There is usually a
slight preponderance of males, perhaps
to compensate for the greater liability
to casualty resulting from his more ac-
tive and exposed lite.
4 Thus in England, Scotland, Ireland,
Belgium, Norway and Sweden, with
entire uniformity, the number of males
under 10 years of age slightly exceeds
that of the females. At 20, from the
emigration oil young men, the number
of females becomes a little in excess
and thus continues through life; i. e,
in all these countries woman has at 30
40. so and 60 as firm a hold of life as
man. 1t can hardly be, that any but q
general law of human nature should
prevail through all these widely sepa.
rated and differing nationaiues; and
hence any departure which may exist
amongst ourselves, must be due tc
causes peculiarly our own In making
any comparison between those coun'
tries and this it Is evident that some
regard should be paid to the fact thai
whilst they are old and well-establlsh'
ed dcommunities, much of our country Is
new and In many respects uniformed
| OF our country longest settled, and
which has enjoyed preeminently the
advantages OF religious and literary
culture, and which has directed public
attention more than any other section
of our entire country to the care o