IDLE LADIES.

Thames Advertiser, Volume IX, Issue 2248, 12 January 1876, Page 3

IDLE LADIES.

Theee are people wlio_ endorse logo's speech and say that women are born into • the world to " suckle fools and chronicle small beer." The statement is naturally tho reverse of pleasing to the feminine mind, and more than ono attempt has been made to controvert it. Certain ladies have gone bo far as to givo it the lie direct, while others have shown that in one most important respect it can have no application to them. These latter, though they have condescended to bring children into tho world, have most flatly declined to bear the .odium which the suckling of the brats would entail upon them, so it may honestly bo said that , they havo in this direction at least set the obnoxious axiom at defiance- That these mighty croatures, however, and a number of their sisterhood, have yet brought themselves to discontinue tho chronicling of small beer, is by no means certain. Still, though this is so, it must be admitted, that many ladies have shown ail earnest' desire to demonstrate tho fact that if they . do chronicle small beer they only do so because they find it utterly impossible to. live without doini? something, even though their whole inclination is to do nothing. Besides, tlioy gossip becausc it. is a pleasure, not because it is a duty. )f it were a duty, they would no doubt scorn to have anything to do with it, for .they soem inclined to think that only common people ought to do disagreeable or irksorno thiugs in order that they may, live. They themselves, they imagine, aro elevated far above the sphere of degrading labor. As a matter of fact, provided that they keep themselves in good health' and spirits, they are more than satisfied. I'nfortunately, however, are often unsuccessful in their attempts to do this. The poor things possess such sensitive \ and delicato- organisations that, notwithstanding that they live on the richest food and lie on the softest down, they are frequently—too frequently—in a state of ; complete exhaustion. In their fits of debility, which often last become almost chronic, the misery which the performance of tho most trifling offices entails upon thom is painful to witness. Now and, then an expedition into, their own kitchens willutterly'prostrate them, while -when they are compelled to rise from their couches : or chairs and ring a bell, the effort often proves too much for them.' If you are in their confidence they will 'perhaps tell you how miserably weak they are, and they will expatiate upon the theino of how, carefully they, havo to take care of themselves. Perhaps you may, fail to see ; that anything is the. matter with them, and may go so far as to hint if they stirred ,< themselves up a little they would feel a great better than they do. But if you speak thus you must expect to bp set down as an ignoramus ana an ill-feeling • wretch. That you • have been provedguilty of making such a horrible BUggeß- * tion will be regarded as proof positive that you have but a scanty knowledge- of the higher orders of human beings. The lower order consists of those persons who live in a hand-to-mouth fashion and sleep on;hard mattresses; who ! rise from their beds at: untimely . hours in the morning, . work energetically all day, and never ride when they are able to walk; and who are never supposed to be, or expected to bo, ill. 'J his order, of.,course, includes all coarse, common creatures, whose lack of fine sentiments and. fine feelings, is com-; v pensated 'for by,their ability, to endure sustained and arduous labor. The higher : order is made up of quite a different sort, of human beings, it consisting of people who eat good meat and dridk good wine; of people who sleep buried amidst feathers and never think of rising early; of people who are perfectly assured that hard work would bill them; of people who seldom - : use their legs when they 1 cad ride; and of, people who are constantly 1 troubled withheadaches and are never persuaded that they require chango. of air, and scene. . Yet these people, probably appreciating ,: the plausibleness of the theory that if one. person, declines or is unable to work an', hour another person must work" two, feel that it is quite right that an ill-fed milli- - ner or factory operative should labour ■ unceasingly. At the same time, if you venture to hint to thorn that they, who. aro well fed, ought to be ablo to do as much . as the ill-fed milliner or factory operative', - they will regard you with surprised horror,and you will;learn that-you do., not understand them, Many a lady would regard the that she ought to be ablo to do as much as hot: ' housemaid as preposterous, while she • would consider it something more than ridiculous if it were suggested that she should be able, to stand the buffetings of wind and rain as> well as, can an ill-clad < charwoman, Indeed, if slio were a>wellregulated lady, ; Bhe would consider it--.-very hard.that she should be brought into ■ comparison With common people, who are 1 hardy and strong because' from the day of their birth .they have been privileged to enjoy privation and toil. • _ t ". ~ It is just possible that ladies who aro . pleased to dose'away their existence, will not like to be told that they will do'well to rouse themselves from their "present, state,, in which their bodies become en-.-feebled and their minds cankered. They may not,.also, be gratified learning inon people are in tho respect of being able to .: endure fatigue. But it is time they were stripped of their "ridiculous notion, that their flesh and blood differs, so mucli .from other flesh and blood, and it_ is precious, and delicato,.that; they require an extraordinary amount of coddling.;, Let them make an effort, and. throw, off j that weight of sloth which oppresses . them, and they will discover that they ! are not half so tender as they are at [ present pleased to think. Tho woman • ! who, having children of her own, deputes ; ■ ' them to .the care of others while sho lolls on. a sofa and reads a novel, or talks scandal with her acquaintances, isnot only, ... shirking herrosporisibilitios', arid therefore '. degrading herself, but she is also laying the seeds of, future suffering, Yet, thero ; are a largo number of: ladies who never ; meddle much with their- children bxcept . at stated times, and whose lives aro siinply !one round of : lolling, novel-reading, shopping, calling on acquaintances whom it would be an abuse of terms to designate as friends, and eating that which, as they take little exercise, and do no honest: < ■ work, does them moro harm than good. .- Ennui, of course,' is one of their most formidable foes when \ they are not • battling with- complaints • whioli their ' : peculiar- habits have ; Yet vi ; they might do what- : -would dispel \ ennui ' as a sumhiiirV sun'/dispels a 'morning mist. They might take an active interest in their fellows; they might use their needles to advantage; they might haVe'the;management of theii?.' children! t and households in ,their own hands;. they might walk when theiy nowridoj-in a word, there are a' hundred things which .., they might do, and 1 so prevent themselves. from bccomiug puffy and bloated, carica-.. tu'resof hum&nity.—Liiei'dSeview, ....