Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1869-07-16

human 0utterHleS are preparing 10 dlS-
appear from the cities. After a short
chrysatis period of spring dressmaking
they will re-appcar at their summer
haunts more beautiful than ever.
Poor human butterflies! They have
hard time of it. Not only the labor of
keeping their plumage bright, but the
discomfort of being abused by every
body. from the Saturday Review down
ward.
Alas for the rarity
OF Christian charityl"
I am afraid we show as little of it
toward the spoiled children of fashion as
toward the poor outcasts of the field
Yet surely there may be truth and ten.
derness and womanhood in them all.
The cause of the outcasts is often elo-
quenty pleaded. Let me say word for
tho butterflies.
] am one of those who hol1 the hap
by faith that young people are not easily
spoiled. As far as | can see, the chill
dren are apt to be better than parents
Who was it who saw the school boys
playing at Eaton, and went away sad to
think those bright, ingenious boys were
to grow up members of parliament!
For the sins of youth one learns more
charity in growing older. But alas for
the crops of wild oats that have been
growing for fo.t years!
Look at that party Of college boys;
what generous set they are, after all
how imtuIsively ready to applaud a
manly action how Needless of fine
clothes and money, and the social posi-
ton of mans grandfather WHO cares
for the income of the prize crew, or the
ancestry of the base ball payers? Do
you know that when "hazing" was at its
height in Cambridge, the only fresh
man who escaped IT one year was the
only colored boy in the class Every
sophomore, by an unwritten compact of
generosity let him alone. Think, that
on the whole, if l wished to arouse ch'v
alrous emotions, l would rather risk the
attempt among sophomores than among
professors.
And as for the maidens, | aver that
in spite of the sins of the dancing schools,
girls are not easily broken to harness of
worldliness, even by the most resolute
mammas. Strong is the love of dress,
but many things are stronger. Impulse
is the stronger; S. is sentiment; so is
passion; SO is the love of adventure. We
hear of those who sell themselves for an
establishment; we do not hear of the
young belle who slips out Of Fifth ave-
nue. TO be the queen of some small
country parsonage, or who elopes with
some penniless lieutenant to Fort Lara
ME. Yet such things happen quite as
often, and the scheming mater fanaiIias
knows it to her cost.
1t is one thing to be accustomed to
luxury: it is another to depend on it
The very novelty of poverty has charm
to many spirited girl who has never
tried it. She likes the thought of being
thrown on her own resources. She en-
encounters it with sort of zest, as
young men bred in luxury, encounters
the privations of the camp. Every
strong nature, in early youth, has rel
ish for privations. II grow so weary"
said lady to me, the other day, "of
this comfortable Iife."
Yes. injustice is done TO the butterflies.
1t is my belief-and have also empan-
nelled jury of matrons from good soci
ETY., and consulted them upon the subject
that fashionable life harms the brains
of young girls much more thoroughly
than their hearts. Taken from school,
at seventeen, and told that henceforward
they need only look beautiful, of course
their intellects are untarnished; kept On
diet of gossip and compliments, of
course they grow emptier day by day !.
But when you have said that, you
have said the worst of it Fortunately
the better impulses of womanhood die
hard. / here is too much freshness and
sweetness in the most frivolous girlhood
that muItitudes of girls grow up in the
midst of society and remain as frank, as
rs affectionate and as dutiful as if they
had never seen a ball room. See them
in their own houses and you will fiud
that their brains are undeveloped but
their souls are uucorrupted. Test them
by the illness of father or mother, and
you will find devoted nurses: test them
by sudden poverty, and you will find
courageous self-devotion. Their moral
strength is not enough to enable them to
strike out path for themselves, but it
suffices for the performances of many
hard duties, perhaps, which the world
does not see. Their life is unsatisfactory
to the moralst; but it is the life they are
expected to lead. There is little too
much dancing, no doubt-the German
till 4, A. M. for girl who ca mot walk
a mile without exaustion. There is too
much Tor too Ittle) dressing; but they
have worn low necked dresses since they
were babies. and their hearts may be in
the right place if their shoulders are not
They are satirized because they are fool
ish and week; but now doubly would
they be satirized if they dared to be
strong.
Let us then have some charity for the
butterflies They fiutter in their place
for time, and "its their nature to-" but
why should you and l, in our wisdom,
look on and grumble2 When the war
rolled over the land and tested the but
terfles, did they not answer the test
Go with me to the Ocean House some