The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1870-10-07

such senseless, such a diabolical
pastlme, if We may be allowed mild
term, as the children g parties at pres
en- so much In vogue. These must
be the latest device of Satan for win
ming to himself the souls and bodies
of our population before they are old
and wise enough to resist him. Con-
| sidering how they weary and weaken
| the body, pervert the mind from It's
proper work, and fill it with vanity.
and how they stimulate and corrupt
the heart,We wonder that any thought
full being can countenance them,
much more that of any towing mother
car devise and support them for her
own best beloved. IF nothing else
could reveal the ignorance and folly
Of our fashionable leaders and the ser
Witty of those who copy them, this
would te sufficient. At an hour when
children ought to be singing Pat me
in my little bed, "they are delivered in
to the bands of the household Abigail,
to be arrayed in frocks Of tarletan
aad slippers of bronze, with a halo of
golden, crisped locks" set free from
the crlmplng pins that have begirt
their tired heads. Thus are they pre-
pared for the festivities of the German
where they are to dispense favors to
incipient beaux, and receive tiny bou-
quets, rendered with lisping compli-
ments, under the blaze of chandeliers.
In the late pauses of the dance they
refresh themselves with sherbets and
cake, and then return for one more
fevered whiFl before they are taken
home to bed.
As they are pursuing their educa-
ton meanwhile, they must rise be-
times the next morning aad start with
their primers for school, where they
have just time to discuss dancing
partners and the striking toilettes of
last nights carousal, before they nod
In unbi6den sleep over their states.
With physical powers exhausted, and
minds filled with pretty triumphs aud
remembered batteries, what wonder
| that the abstraction of mixed fractions
aud relative pronouns seem dull TO
fix their thoughts. IF an ambitious
desire to shine in their class still sur
wives these social engagements, then
health must go in the effort to carry
on with credit the two diverse roles
of the student aud belle.
What a contrast is this to the life
| led by the children of other nations,
who are considered to have no duties
to society till their school days ere
over. Clothed in plain attire and
kept to early hours and simple food,
they regard parties as the diversion of
older people, and pursue their studies
/ in freedom and seclusion. When
these are completed, aformal coming
out" marks their entrance upon the
social gaieties of which thus far they
have only heard. Our American
girls of fashionable families are always
"Out, and their faces are known in
every assembly, and worn aud thin
and pale by youthful dissipation, long
| before they have received their diplo-
mas at school. They acquire the art
| of hirtations in their nursery bibs,
and are experienced coquettes before
| they have mastered the rule of three.
Boys, in their early years, suffer In
the same way as girls from these per-
nicious customs of our domestic. life
but they escape from them sooner,
and their subsequent diversions are
mostly such as lead them into the
opeu air and the sunshine. Playing
ball, fishing, boating, hunting, driv-
ing, all tend TO physical growth and
we'll doing. In place of these, what
4 is the girl taught to seek in leisure
hours? Worsted work, crocheting,
piano playing-pIetty and fascinating
employments. but serving TO develope
| neither the body nor the mind. They
eonfine her to the close air aud the
dim light of our houses, when she
should be sleeping herselfin the sun
light, and expanding her lungs In the
breeze; they keep her motionless in
easy chairs when she should be
strengthening her frame by quick,
varied motions and the fullest exer-
else of growing muscles and 6bres.
We cross the Common on Fast day
afternoon, and pause on the hill to
survey the base ball players, who are
welding their bats on the plain below
and running their bases, as though
their lives depended on making a
home run. Further on we encounter
!, a surging mass of small urchins toss
ing foot ball with wild shouts and
/ frantic rushes. It is the nations
{ holiday, and we see that this leaping
, and screaming is good for the little
fellows, and that thus they will best
grow into men. But where are the
girls meanwhile? In what spirited
, games are they strengthening their
young limbs. throwing back their
, shoulders and filing the deepest ali
f cells of their lungs with fresh oxygen
| There glide few of them along the
' trim paths, arrayed In their finest
? most burdensome attire, with arms
pinned to their sides like the wings o.
| a trussed fowl, and turning neither Il
) the right hand nor the left, a. they
: move demurely past. They maj
, glance aside to behold the wild spor
: of their brothers, but a proper senst
r of the lady-like and the becoming
Q keeps them from moving at q taste
pace or discussing the scene beforr
e them in more animated tones. 81
Q they balance along on their high heels
T holding parasols carefully In thei
5 glove. .cramped hands lest drop O
g sunshine should touch their pallit
It cheeks. The greater number Of thei
8 sisters are housed at home, hemminl
e superhuous rufnes, or knitting tide
!. on which to lean their feeble heads.
IS Girls formerly had some out doc
d fun and jollity, but nearly all the act
e i've sports In which they were won
e to indulge seem abandoned. VigoT
b Gus exercise In running was one
it gained by rolling a hoop, but now VI
i seldom see. upon the uncrowde'
n pavement, the pretty sight of a littl
t, fresh-cheeked maiden pursuing he
IF flying circlet of wood. And. II spy
g and tag will this generation eve
le know such wild hazardous pieasur
IS as they gave? Whoever hears no
d the mystic rune of "Eeny, meen,
s. mony. mi, recited before a row
Of anxions damsels. all braeed for
Ell swift start when the last decisive sy
al liable shall strike? Even the breatI
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