Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1876-08-30
An Elegantly Useless Young Lad,

Or this class of young ladies we find
the following specimen in work cali, ALI
ed Family Secrets:'' "Isabel Cd
vanced along the path of life viii
feeble and uncertain steps; for in ad
dition to her constitutional delic.ca
she had to contend with will unS;s'
ciplined, and with endless lono;n",
after personal qualification uncbeckad
unregulated, and consequently incana'
bic of being gratified to their fnll eS-
tent. INDUCED as favorite child tbo
greater part Of her life was spent IN
kind of dreamy idleness. from which
she was seldom reused. except by some
awakening desire for personal gratiaI
cation, some complaint of mental or
bodily uneaslness, or some scheme for
momentary amusement, which She
was generally too languid or too in
dolent to carry into effect. The con.
sequence of all this was that Isabe,
arrived at the age of eighteen a victim
to dyspepsia, an amateur in medicine
a martyr to nervous maladies. and as
elegantly discontinued with life. and
| all it had to offer, as any other vonno
lady of her age could think becomino
her character and station. The worst
OF all was, that, by this system of
lnJudlclous treatment, false tastes
had been created, unnatural cray.
ings excited for bodily as well as
mental stimulants, which, under the
names OF cOrdials, tonicS and restora.
tives, were but too plentifully sun
piled. Isabel had not, like her sisters
been permitted to 60 to school, though
hers was case III which school disci
pine might have been highly etfica-
clous; she had not even been consid-
cred capable of enduring the usual
processes of mental instruction at
home Thus, her education, even that
inferior part which relates to the nm
derstanding and the memory, was as
vague and irregular as could well be
imagined. She was however an ey
tensive though superficial reader: and
those who cOnversed with her only for
a short time, believed her to be much
better informed person than she really
was. We have said that, with all her
disadvantages, Isabel was not absolute
~ dlSagreeable. So far from this. she
generally attracted attention in COM
pany by her easy and lady-like man.
ners, and by a countenance which,
perhaps, was less beautiful than inter-
estlng and expressive. Unassaied by
any of those severe trials which put
to the test the real principles upon
which we act, she had not made the dis
coyery herself, nor had any of her
friends made 1T for her, that she was in
reality selfish and una niable; for
while every one ministered to her
qualification, she had only to express
her gratitude, affect a little willingness
to deny herself, and expatiate on her
regret at being the cause of so much
trouble, and all went on exactly as she
wished-the trouble was incurred, the
attempted self-denial was frustrated,
and the kindness for which she ex-
pressed her gratitude was repeated and
increased.
"What a lesson do we learn by
sudden reverse of this order of things!
"a lesson, perhaps, the most severe
that experience ever teaches; while, at
the same time, our dependence upon
animal and selfish qualification, our ir-
ritability, impatience and wounded
feeling when these are denied, show us
but too faithfully the living picture of
those passions of which we believed
ourselves incapable, simply because in
diligence had hitherto lulled them to
rest"
This listless and spoiled child, the
story goes on to say, is married, but
having no mental resources to fall
back upon, and no taste for the active
duties of life, she seeks artificial ex-
element; the result is such as might
have been eXpected-she loses caste
and sinks into obscurity.