opes its
powers, in fair proportions, fresh strength and full beauty. All the
cosmetics of trade, all the labors of mantuamakers, milliners, makers of
corsets, shoemakers, and hairdressers, could never confer so clear and
pure a skin, so fresh a color, so finely moulded a form, and such
cheerful health and spirits, as would be secured by training a child to
obey the laws of the benevolent Creator, in the appropriate employment
of body and mind in useful domestic exercise. And the present habits of
the wealthy, and even of those without wealth, which condemn young girls
so exclusively to books or sedentary pursuits, are as destructive to
beauty and grace, as they are to health and happiness.

Every allowance should be made for the mistakes of mothers and teachers,
to whom the knowledge which would have saved them from the evils of such
a course has never been furnished; but as information, on these matters,
is every year becoming more abundant, it is to be hoped, that the next
generation, at least, may be saved from the evils which afflict those
now on the stage. What a change would be made in the happiness of this
Country, if all the pale and delicate young girls should become
blooming, healthful, and active, and all the enfeebled and care-worn
mothers should be transformed into such fresh, active, healthful, and
energetic matrons, as are so frequently found in our mother land!

It has been stated, that the excessive use of the muscles, as much as
their inactivity, tends to weaken them. Nothing is more painful, than
the keeping a muscle constantly on the stretch, without any relaxation
or change. This can be realized, by holding out an arm, perpendicularly
to the body, for ten or fifteen minutes, if any one can so long bear the
pain. Of course, confinement to one position, for a great length of
time, tends to weaken the muscles thus strained.

This shows the evil of confining young children to their seats, in the
schoolroom, so much and so long as is often done. Having no backs to
their seats, as is generally the case, the muscles, which are employed
in holding up the body, are kept in a state of constant tension, till
they grow feeble from overworking. Then, the child begins to grow
crooked, and the parents, to remedy the evil, sometimes put on bracers
or corsets. These, instead of doing any good, serve to prevent the use
of those muscles, which, if properly exercised, would hold the body
straight; and thus they grow