The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1896-12-04
For the Jasper COURIER.
TO YOUNG WOMEN.


man is period of prolaise, of hope,
and anxiety. If she has no def
mite occupation, she is altogether un-
certain of her future, and may be
driven by Unforeseen circumstances
in any direction. Her character
and person may be all that could be
desired, and Hope may flutter
round her heart and fan her day
dreams, nevertheless she cannot es-
cape the anxiety that besets unccr-
tainty. But one thing she may do,
and her duty to herself demands it
of her: she can prepare herself for
certain given eventualities; she can
study, with the interest that a keen
chess player feels in his game, the
probabilities of the moves on life S
chequered board, and so avoid a
checkmate.
If from the carelessness of her
parents, or from any other cause,
her education has been neglected or
not worked on the most useful lines,
she must study to make good the
deficiency. Every person arrived
at age of reflection can do this,
and many of those most distin-
guished for intellectual abilities
have taught themselves. 1t only
requires good sense and moral res
olution. Books and other means
are cheap and accessible to all, and
two or three hours day of steady
work would effect valuable results,
and bring pleasure as well as pro-
fit. If one-third of the time devot-
ed to useless and pernicious novels
were spent in serious reading, the
sex would lose the charge of flippan-
cy and vacuity that is now made
against it. Serious reading, too,
Dffers a charming variety: poetry,
history, biography, travel, philoso-
ply, and all the sciences. There
are golden mines in English litera-
tuie which have rarely been explor-
ed, and many of our best works lie
ourie | in dust on their shelves.
The race of the maudlin "Yellow-
back" meanwhile, goes on merrily.
1t is not from such rabulum as these
afford that the minds of sensible
women can be nourished. They fos-
ter false emotion, and spread the
seeds of many falsehoods, but rare
ly quicken higher sentiment or
lofty thought. Intellectual taste
was developed for a better purpose
than to become the slave of the
trashy three volume novel.
The girl emerging into woman
hood may be satisfied with her mod
crate personal attractions, or may
be lowered with the fatal gift Of
beauty" but something more is
required before she is fit to become
A wife and mother, or even a use
ful member of society. Physical
'oveliness is fascinating while it
lasts, bat its reign is brief, and no
mount of artificial substitution can
supply its place. Intelligence and
amiibility, however, never grow
old, and pretty woman without
these, even in the glory of her
youth, is only a plaything for an
hour. She whose soul is illumina-
led and beautifed can afford to dis
pense with cosmetic powders and
paint and other deceits. Engaging
in mind and natural in BODY, she
leaves lures to harlots, and wins
esteem by her candor and virtues.
Her charms never decay, and in the
evening of life she is as dear to her
husband as on the morning of their
Wedding day. 1t is the strongest
reproach to young women that they
rate the ornamentation of their
bodies so much higher than that of
their minds; that they spend near
Iy all the time and money they
possess in personal decoration, and
yive so little to self-cultivation.
Yet we know they do this because
the majority of men prefer it so,
and therefore the reproach lies still
heavier on these. They ask for
dolls and they get them; for empty
headed women who pail upon them
before the honeymoon is over, and
the matrimonial market is conse-
quently flooded with such.
We live in world of beauty
beauty above and around us.
Wonders beset us at every step,
but every marvel is solvable pro-
blem. A flower is a delight, leaf
a miracle Of power. And if we can
not yet penetrate the mystery OF
life itself, we may understand its
organism, and gradually unfold the
processes of nature. BY doing
this we understand her, we appre-
ciate, love, and reverence her. We
see that she is very good. We rec
)gnize that we are part OF her,