California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



Excitement and Sbort Life. — The dead- 

 liest foe to mau's longevity is an unnatural 

 excitement. Every ujan is born with a cer- 

 tain stock of vitality, which cannot be in- 

 creased, but which may be exjiended rapidly 

 or husbanded, as he deems best. Within 

 certain limits he has his choice, to move fast 

 or slow, to live abstemiously or intensely, to 

 draw his little amount of life over a large 

 space or condense it into a narrow one; but 

 when his stock is exhausted he has no more. 

 He who lives abstemiously, who avoids all 

 stimulants, takes light exercise, never over- 

 tasks himself, indulges no exhausting pas- 

 sions, feeds his mind and heart on no exciting 

 material, has no debilitating pleasure, lets 

 nothing ruffle his temper, keeps his "accounts 

 with God and man duly squared up," is sure, 

 barring accidents, to spin out his life to the 

 longest limit which it is possible to attain; 

 while he who intensely feeds on high-seasoned 

 food, whether material or mental, fatigues his 

 body or braiu by hard labor, exposes himself 

 to inflammatory disease, seeks continual ex- 

 citement, gives loose rein to his passions, 

 frets at every trouble, and enjoys little repose, 

 is burning the candle at both ends, and is sure 

 to shorten his days. 



^t^0mett. 



Baby Drunkards. 



'.N his recent lecture on temperance to the 

 ladies of New York, Dr. James Edmunds, 

 of London, mide a horrible, and, we 

 suspect, a perfectly truthful statement, 

 respecting the manner in which the teachings 

 and prescriptions of medical men are filling 

 the nations of the earth with imbeciles and 

 drunkards. We fear the statements of Dr. 

 Edmunds are as applicable to many American 

 cities as to London : 



A very large majority of the ladies of my 

 own acquaintance on the other side,, who are 

 a fair example, perhaps, of the ladies living 

 in London society, have acquired the habit of 

 using wine, table-beer, stout, and frequently 

 whisky and brandy to a large extent, I think, 

 owing to the mistakes on the part of my own 

 profession in the advice which they have 

 given. The result is that the babies of the 

 present generation are never sober from the 

 earliest period of their existence until they 

 have been weaned. This is a shocking state- 

 ment for me to make, but I should not be do- 

 ing my duty here unless I were to make it as 

 broadly and strongly as that. It is a simple 

 fact. The mother's blood, practically, is en- 

 tirely in common with that of the child. You 

 know perfectly that if a mother takes even an 

 ordinary dose of such medicine as caster oil, 

 it will very often affect the baby more than it 

 aftVcts the mother; that one has to be exceed- 

 ingly careful in prescribing formothers simply 

 on that ground. Now, what does that simple 

 fact, with which all you mothers are familiar, 

 showy W)iy, it shows this: that the soothed 

 condition of the baby after the mother has 

 taken half a pint of beer, is really the first 

 stage of drunkenness in that child. When I 

 hear a mi>ther telling me that whenever she 

 takes a little whisky and water or brandy and 

 water, because the child is fractious, and she 

 finds that her milk agrees with it better, I am 

 obliged to ask her if she knows what shi' is 

 doing — if she knows that she is simjily mak- 

 ing herself the medium for distilling into her 

 babe's system almost the whole of that sjiirit 

 which she takes into her own, and whether 

 she is aware that that sootlied condition of 

 the child is really the first stage of druuken- 

 ness. The fact is, the Ijaby is only the inliii- 

 itely more sensitive extension of tlie mother's 

 system; and it is more likely than any other 

 part of the mother's systi'in to receive the 

 things that are injurious that are taken 



through the medium of the mother's diet. 

 Well, now, ladies, bear that in mind when 

 you are told to take wine, or beer, or brandy; 

 understand that you are merely distilling that 

 wine, spirit and beer into your child's frame; 

 that the very mould which that child is to 

 preserve for the rest of its life is being con- 

 structed out of blood that is alcoholized— out 

 of a condition of the system in which intoxi- 

 cation is the real substantial element for the 

 first twelve months of its growth. I ask 

 those of you who may have thought it your 

 duty to recommend young women who do not 

 know better than to take those things, wheth- 

 er that is not a grave and important fact for 

 you to think of? And who is there among us 

 whose duty is less than that of a woman? It 

 is said that the man is the head of the house- 

 hold ; but all women who are worth anything 

 practically, stand at the helm and guide their 

 husbands by a silent influence which always 

 asserts its sway, if she is a wise and good 

 woman. Look at the iutluence which a woman 

 can exert over her husband, who is often 

 weaker than herself in those matters, for he 

 has to come in contact with men of the gross- 

 est and lowest natures in trade and out in the 

 world. Just ask yourselves if it is not the 

 duty of women always to refine and ethereal- 

 ize man, and she does so if she be a good, true 

 and noble woman. Look, again, at the in- 

 fluence which woman is to have upon the next 

 generation. Who is it that is to make the 

 next generation? Is it the men?- No; it is 

 the women. It is the everyday life of the 

 mother that forms the mind of her son, and 

 that forms the very instincts of her daughter, 

 up from eight, nine, yes, to almost any age, 

 while she has unalloyed influence for the first 

 ten years in framing the constitutions and in 

 moulding the minds of those children, though, 

 perhaps, we do not always realize this truth 

 so fully as we might. — Hciena; of Ihallh. 



The Gentle Dignity of Woman. — There 

 is in particular, says the Saturdai/ Heview,th'it 

 soft dignity which belongs to women who are 

 affectionate by nature and timid by tempera- 

 ment, but who have a reserve of self-respect 

 that defends them against themselves as well 

 as against others. These have a quiet dig- 

 nity, tempered by much fweetness of speech 

 and manner, that is the lovliest kind of all, 

 and the most subtle as well as the most beau- 

 tiful. They are like the lady in Comus, and 

 seem to cast the spell of respect on all with 

 whom they are associated. No man, save of 

 the coarsest fibre, and such as only physical 

 strength can control, could be rude to them 

 in word or brutal in deed; for there is some- 

 thing about them very indefinite, but very 

 strong withal, which seems to give them 

 special protection from insolence; and a loving 

 woman of soft manners, whose mind is pure, 

 and who respects herself, is armed with a 

 power that none but the vilest can despise. 

 This is the -vomau who gets a precise obedi- 

 ence from her servants without ex.acting it, 

 and whose children do not dream of disputing 

 her wishes; who, though so gentle and afi'able, 

 stops short of that kind of familiarity which 

 breeds contempt, and with whom no one 

 takes a liberty. For this, one can scarcely 

 give a reason. She would not romp or rave 

 if she were displeased, she would not scold, 

 she would not strike; but there is a certain 

 quality in which we may not be able to fa- 

 miliarize, yet which would make us ashamed 

 to pass beyond the boundaries of the strictest 

 respect, and which restrains others less criti- 

 cal than ourselves as certainly as fear. 



WoM.tN's Spending Money. — Do men ever 

 consider the business relation which man and 

 wife sustain toward each other? Do they 

 ever look at marriage as a partnership, in 

 which the wife is all e(|ual member, entitled 

 to her just share of the net profits? I kiiow 

 they do not. And yet, the true, loyal wife 

 has her full share of the duties to perform, 

 ainl sometimes more tliaii her share. 



There is nothing which a wife, and more 



especially a young wife, hates to do more than 

 to ask her husband for money, even though 

 it be but a dollar or two. It is humiliating 

 to be compelled to beg for pin money, or four 

 bits to buy a ribbon for her hair, or a few but- 

 tons, or a few yards of muslin. A woman 

 sees many little things in the store which she 

 would like to have, and which would not cost 

 as much as a man's cigars for a single day, 

 but she sighs, and resolves to do without, 

 rather than ask for the money. Perhaps she 

 secretly resolves to take in washing, or sew- 

 ing, or do some kind of fancy work in order 

 to earn a little money of her own, to do with 

 just as she pleases. 



This is not always owing to the man's 

 stinginess, or to his lack of means, but of- 

 tener to his forgetfulness and want of care. It 

 is true some women are extravagant, and 

 would spend the money foolishly. But no 

 true wife would go beyond her husband's 

 means, and I may, I think, assert that as a 

 rule, women are more economical than men. 

 If we see a mechanic's wife with a new, fine 

 bonnet, we open our eyes and say what ex- 

 travagance! But do we consider that proba- 

 bly the man who professes such astonishment 

 smokes that amount away in a week or two, 

 and no remark is made of that? A woman 

 jiays three dollars for a pair of shoes, while 

 her husband has a bill in his pocket for a ten 

 dollar pair of boots. A woman pays twenty 

 dollars for a very nice suit, and makes it up 

 herself. Her husband pays thirty or forty for 

 a fine suit, and thinks he got it very cheap. 

 So that after all, a woman can dress well, and 

 yet not spend as much money as a man. 



But what I was going to say is, that men 

 should remember the partnership existing, and 

 after the company expenses are paid, call in 

 the other partner and declare a dividend. 

 Give the wife her share of the profits, and I 

 will guarantee that she not only clothes her- 

 self and her children in good style, but will 

 lay by something for a rainy day. — JUiimie 

 Carrol. 



The Society of Women. — No society is 

 more profitable, because none more refining 

 and provocative of virtue, than that of refined 

 and sensible woman. Her beauty will win, 

 her gentle voice invite, and the desire of her 

 favor persuade men's sterner souls to leave the 

 path of sinful strife for the ways of pleasant- 

 ness and peace. But when woman falls from 

 this blest eminence, and sinks the guardian 

 and cherisherof jjure and rational enjoyments 

 into the vain coquette and flattered idol of 

 fashion, she is unworthy of an honorable 

 mau's admiration. 



We honor the chivalrous deference which is 

 paid in our land to woman. It proves that 

 our men know how to respect virtue and pure 

 affection; and that our women are worthy of 

 such respect. Yet woman should be some- 

 thing more than mere woman to win lis to 

 their society. To be our companions, they 

 should be fitted to be our friends; to rule our 

 hearts, they should be deserving the approba- 

 tion of our minds. There are many such, 

 and that there are no more is rather the fault 

 of our own sex than their own; and despite all 

 the unmanly scandals that have been thrown 

 upon them in prose and verse, they would 

 rather share in the rational conversation of 

 men of sense than listen to the silly compli- 

 ments of fools, and a man dishonors them, as 

 well as disgraces himself, when he seeks their 

 circle for idle pastime, and not for the im- 

 provement of his mind and the elevation of 

 his heart. 



The fences of the United states aie said to 

 be valued at upwards of $1,800,000,000, and 

 it costs every year more than $98,000,000 to 

 keep them in repair. 



The (pialities that make the ladies and gen- 

 tlenu'u are qualities of the soul, and there is 

 no monopoly or exclusive right to these. 



