We take our telescopic glass To reconnoitre as we pass The dim wreck-covered shore ; What dismal rocks line all our wake! Yet, oh, what bright and boundless lake Its waters shine like crystal, clear, While Faith and Hope discover Sweet fields with flowers surpassing fair, Where we may dwell forever. But, wife, what thought sits on thy brow, Why start those blinding tears? But hush thy sad misgivings, dear; That Hand which taught our bark to steer, The dangers that have thronged our way, Conduct our children too. Then trust thou Him, and rest secure, Nor let thy faltering faith forget This fear-averting amulet, "A GOD TO THEE AND THINE COURTESY. COURTESY is a distinctive feature of civilized and intelligent society. It is the most beautiful illustration of the refining power which a higher development of humanity always exerts upon our race. By courtesy, we mean that behavior of man toward man which he would ask for himself. It is but another and instinctive mode on the part of intelligent society of carrying out this great Christian motto, which lies at the base of good order and harmony among men, "Do unto others as ye would that others should do unto you." an offended God. Hence, it is said, "He hath bent his bow and made it ready." The arrow of divine justice was laid upon the string, and, with unerring aim, it seemed pointed at the offender's palpitating heart. But hold! Mercy prevails. Love triumphs. Grace superabounds. The arrow, which seemed ready to cut the air and draw the life-blood, falls harmlessly from its position. The bow is unstrung and turned upwards. It spans the heavens, becoming a beautiful emblem of reconciliation. It seems to begirt and embrace the world, a sweet symbol of mercy and peace. In fact, it is redolent with all the divine perfections. As the diversified shades of the brilliant bow meet and mingle, harmonize and glow together, so, in the dispensation of grace, mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have embraced each other. Hence the appropriateness of Ezekiel's vision, when he saw Jehovah on his sapphire throne. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. To this the representation of the revelator corresponds: "And behold a throne was set in heaven, and he that sat on it was like a jasper and a sardine stone. And there was rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. As, in the natural heavens, the thicker the cloud the brighter the bow, so, under the reign of grace, where the most fearful calamities threaten, there the most encouraging consolations abound. But it should never be forgotten that Christ will ere long lay down his mediatorial office. Then the reign of grace will be ended, and the bow of promise, being removed from its present position, will be re-strung, and no hand of mercy will be extended to turn aside the arrow in its deadly flight. Even under the covenant of grace we may as well attempt to draw out the streak of crimson from the rainbow, as to detach the fearful attributes from their place in the character of God. LADIES' MODE OF DRESS A CAUSE OF DISEASE. BY ALFRED C. GARRETT, M. D. PRACTITIONERS of medicine are often speaking and writing of the unaccountable and alarming increase of nervous, dyspeptic and other diseases, which blast the hopes of many, very many, young ladies, and which, twenty years ago, were rarely seen. But, alas! these excellent thoughts and wise suggestions are heard only by medical men, or le locked up in medical books, little known and less regarded. I have long observed the influence of dress on health, and, by repeated trials, am fully convinced of the importance of a rational change at once. Now, if my theory of the cause of such untold suffering on the part of this class of patients be correct, as a medical man, it is my inclination, if not my duty, to speak and tell mothers what that theory is. the skirts. Much Permit me, then, mothers of American daughters, to call your most serious attention to the real aspect of this important, though delicate, subject. The laws of Physiology, which I presume you comprehend more or less, show plainly that the present mode of adjusting and fashioning the whole attire of an American lady must seriously influence her health, indeed, hazard her very life. Lownecked dresses, constrained and tight waists, heavy skirts, and thin, light shoes, are the results of a series of unhealthy fashions, the cause of more deformity than beauty, more misery than happiness, and more sickness than medicine can cure. But I refer more par ticularly to the adjusting of the under-dress, has been said of tight-lacing and its direct consequences. also, of exposing the chest, and its tendency to disease the lungs. You have been told again and again that damp cold feet destroy thousands. But the usual mode of suspending the greater part of a woman's attire about the loins, has been too long practised, and its consequences too much overlooked. Until about twenty years ago, though the dress was at times worn very low on the chest, yet it was always hung by broad straps coming over the shoulders. A reference to the pictures illustrating the fashions of the century prior to the time mentioned, or the costumes of France and England in the past century, will prove this. But as a ball dress, the shoulder Much, straps were first dispensed with, so that the upper line of the dress. was quite horizontal. This was often low enough to be indelicate. In this style, there was danger of the dress slipping down; and it would have done so, but for the contrivance of suspending it from uprights of whalebone, the lower ends of which pressed upon the waist. This, from being a ball-dress style, became more and more common. Hence, the custom of suspending the skirts around the waist. But the injurious effect was not so apparent at first while the clothes were light, few and short. With a view of improving their form, the lower part of the dress of ladies, now very long, consists of several skirts, sometimes six or seven. These are made of materials such as cotton goods, corded, bulky and heavy, and supported severally by a string and binding, drawn around the body, and then rendered still more ligating by motion or exercise. We have seen the marks of these bindings and strings for days after those long ponderous skirts have been removed; we have seen them even after death! But of the displacement and other work within I cannot speak. Here, then, is a great predisposing cause for evil. The continued and increasing constraint, which is thus kept up, must evidently embarrass greatly the internal organs. When to this, however, we add the weight of the profuse and lengthy clothes, we cannot but perceive how great an additional force we set at work, particularly if its operation, as exerted upon organs having among themselves a mobility almost equal to fluid, be properly estimated. Here, then, we have an explanation full, and we trust convincing, of the frequency of a large class of diseases, affecting all ages, not excepting the young of the tender sex, the sufferings from which she bears patiently and in silence, until absolute sickness calls the family physican to her relief, perhaps too late. The symptoms commence so gradually, and point so indirectly to the first cause, as to excite no alarm in the victim. Exercise, which ought to invigorate, soon fatigues, and finally becomes distasteful. Lassitude takes the place of vivacity, and now the race of disease is begun. Consumption may take the lead; spinal affection, liver engorgement, or organic disease of the heart, may become ultimately the killing disorder. Though obscurity may mark the intermediate steps, be assured the cause is very often the same. The symptoms eventually begin to point to the real seat of trouble more directly. Frequent embarrassment occurs of some or nearly all the internal organs. |