agile, broken-down body. If there was
any other way to use the forces of a good character than through the
medium of a physical engine, health would not be a matter of so much
importance; but as there is not, it is clear that for all the active,
benevolent, and useful purposes of this life, health is about as
important as character. Neither is of much utility alone. A boiler
pressed full of steam would be useless without an engine to use and
apply its forces, and the engine would be as useless without the boiler.
Why, then, is Girlhood so prodigal of its health and strength? Why does
it imprison itself in close, hot rooms? Why live on a diet that no brute
could bear? Why confine every limb and muscle of its body? Why engirdle
its waist in warmth and cordage, and expose its feet to every storm and
frost, to mud and snow? It is useless to talk, and preach, and write
about the value of a good character unless we couple it with an equally
earnest lesson about the value of health. It is useless for Girlhood to
be anxious about its moral character unless it is equally anxious about
its physical character. If we have no right to cultivate a bad
character, we have no right to abuse the only means by which a good
character can be of use to the world. If we have no moral right to set
a bad example before our fellow-men, we have no right to weaken and
disease a good physical organization. And it would be difficult to show
the reasoning at fault, should we conclude that we have no more moral
right to be sick than we have to sin. But we hope to say more on this
subject before our work is done.

Still another duty presses upon Girlhood. It relates to a livelihood, to
the practical work of pushing its way through life. Woman must eat,
wear, be sheltered, educated, protected, warmed, and amused, as much as
any other human being. She can not be thus supplied except by charity or
her own labor. It is degrading to accept of all life's necessities at
the hand of charity. No woman possessed of a genuine womanly character
will do it. The character would forbid that she should do it. She must
then be independent, or as much so as any are. She must have some
livelihood. She must not only have a good character and good health, but
an ability to do something for herself and others. Both character and
health would be of little avail if she was a shiftless, homeless,
useless know-nothing in relation to all the great activities of life, by
which we