The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1876-11-22
The dea Lady.

What should he our ideal oi a lady !
The ideal which they should eDdeayor 10
realize in their livesl Perhaps we can
best answer this question by first stating
what their ideal should not be.
In the first place. i; should not be one
of those painted butterflies that faiter
about in fashionable society. whose highest
ambition is to obtain the approving nod Of
Mrs. Grundy, 70 dress In the latest fashion,
and 10 have all the tops in town running
after her. 0f coGrse a lady should dress
neatly-she may even dress richly il her
circumstances allow. but there are higher
objects in life han dressing. IL Is more
imporian; to adorn the mind than the
body better TO b~eautily the soul with the
celestial gems OF truth. virtue, modesty,
and charity, than to deck the person with
the snowy ornaments that flash IN the
jewellers show case.
Neither should a lady's ideal be one Of
those lack a-daisical romantic creatures
who 20 through the world signing and
simpering, dreaming impossible dreams,
and making themselves wretched with all
sorts of sickly sentimental longings.
Their ideals OF lite are drawn not from
nature and society and pure literature, but
from the sensational stuff that floods the
country under the name of novels. Liy-
ing, 10 them, means Indulgence. III
humdrum affairs OF common life bore and
disgust them. and they long for some i'm
possible paradise where they can be prin-
cesses in some oriental palace, and receive
the homage of knights and courtiers such
as are found only in tales OF chivalry.
Love is to them a mad passion that
drives its victims through all sorts OF wild
and terrible adventures. and deiies religion
and law and common sense. A lover IS
TO their Imagination some dark mysterious
count or prince in disguise, and marriage
Is a clandestine meeting, a hurried flight,
and eternal felicity.
Should fate deny them what they seek,
and circumstances compel them TO accept
some plain Hodge for 3 husband, who
thinks more Of his farm and cattle than all
this sentimental nonsense, they imagine
themselves the most unhappy women
alive, and after a year or two OF selt-im=
posed misery Jump from 'the frying pan
IntO the fire, and seek rcliei by e!upo
ment or divorce. We do not wish to DO
understood as despistng Imagination and
sentiment, nor as passing q sweeping con
domination on all fiction. II is not the
proper use, but the abuse of such things
that We must guard against. Lite Is q very
serious thing and has weightY duties and
responsibilities, and the real herOism Of life
is TO do all its little duties faithfully. !
lady MAJ and should have her longings
and aspirations bat they should ever be
toward the pure, the spiritual. the periec-
tion and elevation Of character. Lastly !
would not take for an ideal one OF those
brawlers Tor imaginary rights and de-
nouncers OF imaginary wrongs, who are
ever going about trying 10 SOW discomfort
and diseord in our only Temnant OF para
dise-the family, the sacred circle OF home.
They have their public as well as their
private duties but whoever would take
them away from the %congenial pursuits Of
learning and literature, and from the quiet
but nom the less noble duties OF home and
society which none but women car per
farm, to drag the.n into political strife and
turmoil and pollution, Is an enemy 10 Wp=
men and TO the human race.
Our ideal lady should be : real lacy, a
wonanly woman, 4 who combines taste
with judgment, tenderness with strength.
heart With intellect, practical prudence
and industry with Hae culture aud spirit
Isl elevation and purity,