Wichita eagle., 1888-08-29
LEARNING 70 THINK.
"PiAlN LIVING AND HIGH THINsdNGn
FOR The FAIR SEX

"PlAIN LIVING AND HIGH THINKING"
FOR The FAIR SEX
a woman's Ideas Concerning tho De
velopmens Of Mind and Chalacte-A
Whole Sermon I'm Bricf-When, the MIL
lennfuu May Be Expected.
"Plain living and high thinking" That
was Emerson's motto, wasn't Its How many
women realize thas they exactly reverse this
motto: or. worse vet, ucakeit, high living
and no thinkingYS OF course, mean by
"thinkingn real thought upon,the serious af-
fairs of the day, the duties OF women as
women, the development Of eafid and char
acter, both La themselves and thsA- children.
As society ia composed Of men and women,
womens thought and character arc valuable
to st.: and they are valuable to 1t, IN any
broad sense, in exact proportion as they are
distinctively wonaniy. Let women train
themselves, then, to grow up into the full
stature OF womauhood- Tho exigenctes o.
life demand that she DO trciIed to stand, Oh
all vital questions and lessons OF humanity,
firm. self poised and self supporting. How
shall woman do this X her whole force OF
mind 10 given to getting herself up in the
latest approved mode, if lace hats arctic her
thinking OF far greater interest than the
tariff question, if the matter OF American
public schools and the issues deriving from
them stand second to the question whether
bustles are really going out OF style, If new
books and healthful reading must be dis
pensed with in order to get something to
wear, which very likely Is not needed and
whose only raison d'etro is-that they" are
ell wearing it, if keeping the hands white
and soft and doing them up III allsozts OF
pastes and lotions for hours every day Is Of
more consequence than employing them in
somo form of honest labor which shall help
somebody or something and tend to brighton
up some corner of the world generally.
Now, O woman need not be q guy. a
woman who thinks and reads and talks in
diligently need not, of necessity, transform
herseif-by negligence, perhops-into that
lightly esteemed parsonage commonly desig-
mated as trump" She may consider what
is becoming to her style of beauty-or lack
of it, and keeping within the bounds Of fash
ion-not way behind it-dress within her
means, and still have time to read and think.
More than that, size may plan end make her
own wardrobe without having her mind en-
tirely absorbed in it; or do he: own house
work, IL need be, and not be entinely given
over to the cares Of the world or tho dust OF
housekeeping.
So many women are straiuing for q plane
of high living which they cannot afford l
have known women who would deny them
selves the comforts Of life In order to havo
the snowy Injuries There is a home not ten
miles from Boston which is over 80 years
old 1t is filed with old furniture, quaint
devices, and the air of old associations. A
Commonwealth avenue Lady visited it re-
Gently and went into raptures over it. On
coming away she said: "Now, come and see
me soon. have an elegant house and guam
titles Of expensive things But can't show
you anything like yollr own house. Mine is
display Of the most elegant upholsterers
wares in the city, but that is ALL"
There was a whoaa sermon in the lady's
modest disclaimer And II the woman who
cannot afford rich furniture,would remember
that her house, with its plain, unpretentious
furnishings, but bright, social, "homey" air,
is infinitely moro preferable to her neigh
boris costly stiff plush chairs, velvet carpets
and lack of refinement, she would be much
udppieT, anu sop COutIiFiuS uOW BIZ 10y
secure those things And if she would he
content with becoming, lady like, inexpensive
clothes, when she can't afford better, and
spend an occasional dollar On some book that
is really worth ones while, she would be not
only happier but wiser.
1t is important, 50 long as women continue
to be, as is everywhere conceded, the finer
portion Of humanity" that they make
themselves attractive, but that is a term and
q quality that pertains to the mind rs well
as to the body. Women should remember
that; and ''w it'll oil their getting, get wis
dom" When the average woman comes TO
believe that an uniformed mind is as much
blemish as muddy complexion; that lack
Of taste In good literature is as much de-
fciency as the absence of half dozen even
ing dresses in the wardrobe; that Ignorance
OF the worlds progress Is more depiorabis
than freckles, or figure which is not an ex-
act model OF dressInaker's "form;" that the
attitude she takes on the topics Of the time
and the training of her children is of infin-
itely more consequence than 'parior sets
and lace bed hangings, then she viii know
what to do with the ballot when she gets it.
And then the millennium may be expected.
Helen N. Winslow in Boston Globe.
A Train Worth Riding On.