"Of course they are. Why not?" she very innocently answered.
I ventured no further remark or inquiry, but retired with my own quiet cogitations into a silent corner. Presently a sprightly young lady of whom I am very fond, and who is foolish enough to cherish a great fancy for me, came tripping up to my retreat, her face all shining with gayety and goodness. "Tell me, my dear," said I, "why you young ladies wear your pockets outside your dress, and in such an inconvenient place, and why you wear your skirts pinned up at a party, just as we used to wear them when about our housework?"
"Oh! those are not our pockets; they are paniers; and it is the present style to loop up the skirts this way."
"But, my child, can you tell me how many superfluous yards of silk are required to make skirts in this way, and to furnish these festoons?"
"We do not count by yards," said she, laughing; "but this is not an expensive dress. It cost only eighty dollars, the making and all!" And she glided away to join her young companions. So much for the philosophy of a young girl in a simple country village!
"No wonder," thought I, "that Harry does not dare to marry!"
Now here was this dear girl—lovely, accomplished, beautiful, intelligent, and fascinating—a perfect charm in society, after her fashion; but a wife? Why a man might as well marry a butterfly!
There is certainly something sadly "out of joint" in the times. The jarring and jolting of domestic machinery betrays loose screws, if not more fatal defects, somewhere in its construction. The subject is attracting general attention, eliciting general complaint, and calling forth the best energies of many minds in its discussion. Much talent has been engaged in the consideration of evils and defects, which it is asserted pervade every branch of domestic economy and every part of society. Remedial measures which have recently been proposed are also attracting much notice.
Not long ago a learned judge, lamenting the modern defects in female education, concluded with the consoling remark, "Yes, our girls are badly educated; but our boys will never find it out!"
Ah my learned friend! you see our young Henrys, though they may not detect the cause, are fully alive to the consequences.