The herald., 1893-07-24
INVITING OLD AGE.
GONE OF THE WAYS IN WHICH woM-
EN- LOSE THEIR YOUTH.

Nothsrs Neglect rAesr Own Needs In FIX
Aegerated Devotion TO the Children.
Those Who Claim tho rmnmities of Age
When Only In the midday Of Life.
The oldest woman I ever knew was cs.
Atmarriage the graccs of girlhood passed
forever from her life Economy became
The god enthpned ON every altar of her
home. Rufies and ribbons were the
insignia of levitygn nnd extravaganza
Dresses robbed Of ynrd OF two grew
ungracefully short and narrow. Books
and papers were regarded as luxuries--
not necessities. An hour spent In read
ing left feeling of guilt for wasted time
Devotion to "Will and the children"
came to mean self assumed slavery.
Luster left the eye, elasticity the frame
Through mistaken sense of duty she
grew unkempt, narrow souled, repulsive.
1t has been said that the true age is what
we look and feel. have known sweet,
fresh faced women of 10 who were
younger than she.
In the great middle class of America
the wife too often invites age by concen-
trating all ambition in money getting.
To save the wages of servants she de-
stroys the Joy of life, the buoyancy Of
health. Pushing the growing daughter
to the front, she sees less and less Of
society, dresses with increasing plain
ness and sinks to household drudge,
self made and valued at her own esti-
mate.
Thirty-five has no more right to the
styles and tone Of 10 than to those of II.
The appropriation of the one is scarcely
less ridiculous than the assumption Of
the other. Far better than the expen-
sive boarding school is the example of
the mother in imparting to the daughter
the faultless taste Of dress, the gentle
repose Of manner, the gracious spirit so
admirable in woman. A part of the
money devoted to tho education of the
daughter would be well spent in procur-
ing to the mother the time for self cul-
ture. As tho fair, snowy page Is not SO
useful or beautiful as the one written
with pure, uplifting thought, SO the i'm
mature maiden is less valuable to home
and society than the ripe, cultured wom-
an.
People of 40 and so should not shelve
themselves and claim the immunities of
age. They are in the midday of life; the
time for the exercise Of knowledge,
power, grace and beauty, for the up
lifting of humanity. These gifts may
be enhanced by dress and manner. The
influence of the attractive, self respect
ing wife, mother, sister or friend is more
potent for good than that of the one with
person and unlovely mind.
Discomfort invites age. Indulging the
unrest of the dissatisfied is destructive
to looks and temper. In his "Story of
Country Town" Mr.. E. w. Howe says,
"Be contented if it kills YOU" The ad-
vice is not SO bad as it looks. Content
ment and stagnation are not necessarily
One may be free from
worry while striving for higher planes
or work. Woman should have the cour-
age Of repose. 1t is infinitely better than
the morbid conscientiousness that goads
to endless toll. Effective work requires
effective rest.
Judicious mental work may help to
lift one out of the ruts of premature old
age. Read and think of what you read.
Don't use your mind as if it were a
sieve and You were trying to see how
much you could pour through it. There
is belief extant that knowlege, if
gained at all, must be acquired in youth.
Fallacious theory! Behold Galilei at
threescore and ten pursuing his studies
with unfagging zeal, Cato beginning
Greek when advanced in years, Ogilby
classical studies when past
Sol Gladstone is as much the student
today as when the bloom of youth man.
tied his cheek.
Be kind to the feelings and fancies Of
youth. If they prove perennial, so much
the better. Don't forbid yourself glad.
thought and action. Don't be
to make yourself as pretty as
you can. A sensible woman may feel
thrill Of pleasure innocent as a maiden's
when receiving q glance of respectful
admiration from manly man. Smile
without affectation, be pleasant without
being silly-in short, bo young as long as
you can.-Alva Rosso in Kate Fields
Washington.
Nro sJIac IN, - = ,,.y. =.