Page:Advice to young ladies on their duties and conduct in life - Arthur - 1849.djvu/104

96 unwise and unnecessary exposure of themselves, thinly clad, in cold and damp weather. The warnings of physicians and friends seem alike unavailing; and their earnest representation of the real danger that threatens them is treated as a chimera, conjured up by over-anxiety, to frighten them. Even the fearfully rapid encroachments of a deadly disease do not, in too many instances, give the requisite prudence; and the unhappy victim sinks speedily into the grave, with little less than the crime of self-murder upon her head. These things are sad to think about; and their frequency and familiarity make them none the less painful subjects of reflection. But, as the only hope of reformation here lies in continued precept, we deem it a solemn duty, whenever an opportunity offers, to add our voice to the general voice of warning heard every where on this subject.

The doing of any thing that requires self-denial, or more than ordinary care, is dependent upon an adequate motive. One would think that there were motives strong enough to prompt every young lady to be careful of her health; and so there are; the difficulty is, that she cannot be made to feel that what she does, or omits to do, really injures her, because the ill effects do not become immediately apparent. She is told that