The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1878-07-18
LADIES COLUMN.
HARoLINE HAROLD, EDITOR.

The following is an extract from
an address delivered by Mrs. j. @.
Roach, former pupil, at the grad
uatIng exercises of the Louisville
Female High School:
Emerson has said, "There is
nothing still in nature but
death" Bud, blossom, fruit and
harvest pass in turn. Childhood,
youth, maturity, age-ever chang
ing, till the feeble feet refuse to
walk and the trembling hands lie
still. AS In the natural and the
physical, so in the mental life.
From grade to grade we pass the
school-room, the mind growing and
expanding, until the last lesson has
been SAID and the schoolgirl finds
herself a woman, the path before
her bright and beautiful, radiant
with womanly aspirations. But,
alas how often the books closed
are not re-opened; the avenue of
knowledge only entered, not trav-
eled; talents only reused to be
lulled to repose. Growth has
ceased, decay must begin, and in
stead of the brilliant future of
which the maiden dreamed, the
matron finds only a barren, beaten
track over which she travels weari-
ly, mourning that such is woman s
lot. TO exist, our bodies must be
nourished. Denied healthful food,
we must have stimulants. In time
the natural appetite will be gone,
the stimulant will have lost its pow
er, and wherewith shall we be sus
tanned? knowledge is to the mind
what food is to the body, else why
is this eternal craving for some
thing new? Men, in their constant
contact with the world, in the every
day study which their business or
profession may require, have this
appetite appeased, if not gratIfied.
The life of woman is different. Day
follows day, and the duties and in
cidents of one but repeat the du-
ties and incidents Of another. When
shall her mind be renewed, strength
ened and invigorated if not in the
pursuit of some favOrite studyS
Refusing this, behold the conse-
quence. Why this constant food
of sensational literature but to sat
isfy the constant demand for stimu-
lants? 1t is eagerly, greedily seized
and devouIed, until the excited
mind is only fit for visionary life,
and the woman that should take a
place that is noble and exalted in
the eyes of God and man, fritters
away the hours that are SO precious,
turning aside from the wholesome
truths of life, until even excitement
has lost its charm, and yields to Ian
guor or morbid brooding over lot
that gives no golden opportunities.
If our bodies are worth preserving,
surely are not our minds? Nay,
more; if the body, frail and perish
able, be worthy and capable oil
adornment, would not such time and
care spent upon the mind, so faI
nobler in its nature, doubly repay
4 ourselves and those around usi
Said Marie Antoinette, that beauti-
full and unhappy Queen Of France
when in her prison cell: "What 9
resource, amid the calamities of life
10 a cultivated mind!" Aye! for ii
| brings treasures of which none can
rob us, friends from whom none can
part us, and sunshine which
clouds can not obscure.
But there is yet another argu
ment which appeals to woman's
higher and nobler nature. In
glancing backward over the history
of nations, if we would find the
golden secret that has led to gran
deur and to fame, we shall see thai
it was not wealth, however vast
neither was it commerce, however
extensive, nor the strength and MAJ
esty of armies, however imposing
But back of these, and concealed by
their pomp and glitter, lies the
magic secret in the nations litera
ture and her laws. Very many o
us, meeting now to review oul
school days, are wives; many of III
are mothers, and some may know
better than we the great voice {
woman may have in controlling thi
secret of her country's success. L
is the wife that guides her husband
even as the compass guides tn,
ship. 1t is the wife that elevatei
and refines. When clouds are dark
est, and storms are most severe IL
the outer world, it is the wife, SAT,
and secure in the home life, who
sustains and upholds, who counsel
and directs. 1t is the influence o
the wife, gentle, silent and unseen
that impels the husband on; hi;
honor and success are hers, and tn,
counsel he may give the nation she
has given too. 1t is the mother
that guides through the intricate
maze of childish literature, choosing
what is both wholesome and at
tractive, separating the good from
} the bad, and forming the taste tina
, shall decide for, maturer years
. Time may bring its changes; tn,
f child goes from her and is subjec
to other influence; but the touch o
. her hand is never efaced and thu
sound of her voice is never hushed
When the pratSling boy has grow
j To he a man, and takes his place
however humble, in the affairs o
the nation, then the mothers worl
must tell. Her taste is reflected il
every sentence, her principle in ev
/ cry vote. The violet and snow
drop may blossom Ger the grave
she, "being dead, yet speaketh," an,
yields as great an influence over tn
nations literature and laws as d.
they over the natior's prosperity.
Fruit drying should be extensive
ly gone into this summer by al
having anything like an orchard
| The annlns the nnnnhes the nnnrs