Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1841-09-08
BOWS Sermon.
At the request of Henrietta" | will preacf
upon this occasion from the following text:

n WIG, like echo, SlOuIu D6 uuSt
To speak when she is spoken 10;
But not echo. still be heard
Contending for the final word
My hearers-a wife is not only choice piece
Of furniture, but useful article for domestic
purposes. She can darn stockings, mend breech-
es, keep all the apartments of mans hearth in
order, and twne for him garlands of tenderness
to bedeck his connubial bower. She is the
very marrow of comfort-the principle tributa-
ry to the silvery stream of happiness-the foun-
dalion of joy-a lump of the pure gold of love,
refined in the crucble of Hymen. I would
earnestly advise all my young male friends, who
wander along the dark avenues of celibacy with
no such bright star as woman to guide their er-
ring steps, to enter Immediately upon the bloom
ing lawns of matrimony, and bask in the sun
shine of fond wife's afections-even as
snakes quit their tenebr0us dens, and lie out to
warm beneath the congenial rays of vernal
sun. But, my friends, you mustn't let your bet
ter judgement be kidnapped by the allurements
of beauty; for beauty is flower that fades in
the noontide of life, and blossoms no more
The bright jewel pertaining TO woman is not
worn upon her fnger-neither does it glitter
upon her bracelet No; it lies buried in the
casket of her mind 1t is there that you shall
seek for those precious gems which adorn the
female character, and give to woman all the
attributes that belong to an angel-minus the
wings and diadem of perfect holiness.
My dear young friends | hope you will
not be misguided in your search after those
qualifications and natural disposition which
wife ought 10 possess. She should, of course,
bo tbo b,,ch D1
husband ought 10 be as mild towards her as the
balmy breath of May to the rose Her bosom
should be a peaceful lake of love, surrounded
by the hign hill of forbearance, over which the
gales of passion may never ruffie its placid sur
face She should, like an echo, always be
ready TO speak when spoken 10 by her bigger
and more substantial half, and yet she should
not like an echo be ever conlending for the last
word, for she ought TO know that perverseness
IN wife always presents worse appearance
than it does in the husband, even as fly speck
marreth the beauty of white cambric more
than doth an ink spot the comeliness of black
broad-cloak. She ought also to be aware that
the obsnacy of the man genus is likened unto
the bristle of hogs back which being stroked
from the head towards the tail, appear smooth
and decate but when manipulated from the
tail towards the head are found TO be as rough
and obrusive as the prickets that surround the
prison house of endless torment.
o. my beloved hearers | hope and trust
that all you masculines who bear the coniugal
yoke have made good selections from the fe-
male creation, to help you drag the plough of
care over the stubbles of such barren exis-
tence as is allotted to man. | know some
wives whose incorrigbeness is enough TO wor-
ry the patience of milestone, whose ndefat-
lgable eyertlons in the case of mischief are
worthy of a scholastic monkey-with fearful
conclusion when touched by the last spark of
reproof. They draw their social talk alIogeth-
er too strong for weak constitutions, and throw
too much salt in their husbands porridge
They want to wear the breeches, whether they
will fit or MOI. They set their lords TO peelng
potatoes while they go out and chop wood,
which the God of nature never intended should
be subjected TO the control of women. Oh, this
doesn't any more accord with my ideas of what
female worth should consist than does the toll
ing of funeral knell with the merry notes of
Yankee DOodlei a wife who assumes too
much, who will have her own notions gratlfed
always--who will raise flames of dispute upon
trlfling occasions, and persist III heaping on fu-
ell to the las--is worse than no wife at IN.
When Heaven first saw fit 10 work up sow,e of
It's choicest materials into the delicate fqure of
woman, and placed her in the hermitage of
lonely man, it was intended that she should be
10 him heIpmate-a cheerful companion---a
turtle dove that he should press TO his bosom in
the fondness of affection, and shelter from the
cold storms OF want: that be should dress the
garden of his heart with the perennial flowers
of peGce---water them with tenderness, and
strew his bed with roses of reciprocal love
For all which she should be, in a degree of
submission, and never let the tongue do damage
to those fine spun qualities which should ever
be her pride and her boast.
My irlends--'o find a good wife in these days
OF ioolery and fashion is like seeking pearls in
an ocean of oyster shells; but if you are lucky
enough to find one, hang on TO her like hemp,
ior she Is rich treasure as ever existed III The
Imagination oc an enthusiast. Cherish her, pro-
tect and love her; and you will find but few
barren spots between the altar and the grave