Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1851-07-02
enEAT NEWS w1vEs.--NO l.

ned I'M in his books, and the wife does no'
brook divided affection. He lives IN tne
past or the future, and his mind can with
difficulty be brought to condescend TO tne
carkine cares of the present-perhaps not
even to its quiet daily life. His lofty med
itations are disturbed by the pulling infant
or it may be, by call for house-renl'
or the amount of the chambers bill. or,
take the leader of some great political OF
social movement or the commander OF ar
mics, at whose nod ten thousand SWORDS
are unsheathed, and the air made blatant
with the discharge of artillery ; can you ex-
pect such person to subside into the quiet,
| husband-life, like any common, ordinary
man. and condescend to inquire into the
state of the children's teething, Johnnys
progress at school, and the thousand nttie
domestic attentions which constitute wlfe's
happiness -, ,ros
ton of whether happiness in marriage De
compatible with genius, or not, but proceed
to set forth few traits of the wives OF great
men. :, e
We shall not dwell on XantiPpe, the wlie
of Socrates, whose name has become famil-
lar to us almost as proverb. But she was
not without her uses, for she taught her
great husband at least the virtue OF pau
ence. Many of the great Greeks and no
mans, like Socrates, were unhappy IN their
wives. Possibly, however, we have heard
only of the bad ones among them; for the
life of good wives is rarely made matter OF
comment by the biographer, either in an
cient or modern times. 80
The advent of Christianity placed woman
in greatly improved position, as regarded
marriage. Reputation, as amongthe Greeks
and Romans, was no longer permitted the
new religion enforced the unity and indlsso-
lubility Of marriage; it became sacrament,
dispensed at the altar, where woman had
formerly been victim, but was now be-
come an idol. The conjugal union was
made religious contract the family was
constituted by the priest the wife was eie-
waited to the function of Educator OF the
Family-the alma mater; and thus, through
her fundamentally, was the regeneration OF
the world secured.
But it did not follow that all women were
good, or that all were happy. Life is but a
tangled yarn at the best there are blanks
and prizes drawn by women still, and not
unfreauently sgreat men" have proved the
greatest of blanks to them. Henry the
Eighth was not, perhaps, entitled to the ap-
pellation. of great man though ne was an
author. for which the Pope conferred on
him the title, still retained by our monarchs,
of Defender of the Faith" The history
of his six wives is well known. Nor was
the married life of Peter the Great and his
three wives, of more creditabfe complex
ion. us
Luther married Catharine de Bora, an
escaped nun-a remarkably handsome wo-
man. In his letters to his friends, he spoke
of her as "My rib Kitty, my loved Kitty,
nv Empress Kitty" A year after his mar
rage, when struggling with poverty, ne
said, in one of these letters, "Cathanne' my
dear rib, salutes you. She is quite Well
thank God; gentle, obedient, and kind, IN
all things quite beyond my hopes. l would
not exchange my poverty with her, for all
the riches Of Cresus without her." A doz-
en- years after,he said, "Catharine. thou hast
pious man, who loves thee; thou art a
very empress!" Yet Luther had his troub-
les in connection with his married life. Cath
arine was fond of small-talk, and, when Lu-
ther was busily engaged in solving the diff
ficulties of the Bible, she would interrupt
him with such questions as-whether the
king of France was richer than his cousin
the emperor of Germany If the Italian
women were more beautiful than the Ger
man? If Rome was as large as Wittemberg!
s. so on. To escape these little inquiries, Lu.
ther saw no other way than to lock himself
up in his study, with a quantity OF bread
and cheese, and there hold to his work.
But Catharine still pursued him. One day,
when he was thus locked up, laborlng at
his translation of the twenty-second Psalm,
the door was assailed by the wife. No an
swer was given. More knocking followed,
accompanied by Catharine's voice, shouting
eff you don't open the door, I will go and
fetch the locksmith." The Doctor entreat-
ed his wife not to interrupt his labors.-
"Open! open p repeated Catharine. The
Doctor obeyed. 81 was afraid" said she,
on entering, that something had vexed you,
locked up in this room alone" To which
Luther replied, the only thing that vexes me
now is yourself" But Luther, doubtless,
entertained steady, though sober affection
for his wife and in his will, in which ne
left her sole executrix, bequeathing to her
III H. ,,-~y --ty-,-- -L---r -l--~f-hor as ''al-
ways gentle, pious, and faithful wife to
me, that has loved me tenderly. Whatever"
he adds, "may happen to hel after my death,
have, say, full confidence that she will
ever conduct herself as good mother to-
wards her children, and will concientiously
share with them whatever she possesses. !"
The great Genevese Reforrner, Calvin,
proceeded in his search for a wife in a mat
ter-of-fact way. He wrote to his friends,
describing to them what sort of an article
he wanted, and they looked up proper
person for him. Writing to Farel, one of
his correspondents, on this subject, he said,
-"I beseech you ever to bear in mind
what seek for in wife. [ am not one of
your mad lovers, who dote even upon faults,
when once they are taken by beauty ofper-
son. The only beauty that entices me is,
that she he chaste, obedient, humble, ,econo-
mical, patient and that there be hopes
that she will be solicitous about my health.
If, therefore, you think it expedient that l
should marry, bestir yourself, lest somebody
else anticipate you. But, if you think 9TH
erwise, let us drop the subject altogether"
A rich young German LADY, of noble birth,
was proposed but Calvin objected on the
Ground of the hioh birth. Another was