The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1857-03-18
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A truer article was never penned, than
the following, which we take from the
Springfield Republican. We commendit
to the serious consideration of fathers,
husbands and brothers, and ask them to
remedy the evil complained Of, just as far
as in them lies. The evil is radical. So
long as farmers consent to be iliterate and
iguora mt, they and their families will be
mere beasts Of burden. Give US ASTf-
cultural schools, and give farmers sense
enough to appreciate and 1'atronize them.
and farming will not be all drudgery.-
Their hearts and brains will be of use, as
we'll as mere animal muscle
s.The life of the farmer is so often
made the subject of complimentary re-
mark, SO often praised for.its peacefulness
and independence, that the farmers wife
might, very nationally, be supposed to be
the happiest woman in the world. From
her relation to the "lords of the sol" she
should be the lady of the soil, peaceful,
healthy, independents woman. That the
reverse of this is the general fact, will be
universally conceded by the wives of the
farmers.
A young farmer arrives at the age
when be thinks it time for him to get
married, and s'settle down.. He has
had respectable education, and wantsa a
woman who is his equal. lie looks
around him, and makes his choice. She
is girl beside him in the country, has
been we'll educated, reared by careful pa
rents, and is, in the truest sense, lady.
She loves books, possesses skill and taste
| in music, and is, in all points, lifted to
reign the queen of happy home. She
| become the wife of farmer, is ambitious
| to do as much as her neighbors, and her
husband is soon avaricious enough to al
low the woman of his love to become his
most devoted drudge. From thenceforth,
her life is one of the most unremitting
toll. 1t is nothing but mend and patch,
cook and bake, wash and iron, churn and
make cheese, pick up chips and draw wa
ter, bear children and nurse 'therD.s The
family enlarges, the husband grows veal
thy, becomes important IN community,
rides to town every day, takes his case
when he chooses; but the cares of his ia
ded and broken down wife, know no re-
taxation. She may -oRtiize. her husband.
| but rarely does and, not unfre 1uently,
| second wife comes In to share IN tho mon
ey that should have been enjoyed by her
| predecessor, through quiet old age OF
rest.
This is no fancy sketch it is drawn
| from life; and; in every country town
and neighborhood, its truthfuluess will be
recognized. Now we despise the good for
nothings of fashionable life, as much as
any one, and have no affection for drones
in any hive. We are aware that circum-
stances sometimes demand extreme labor
of the farmers wife, but in Amerca,
these circumstances do not prevail. And
while we weuld leave no woman to eat the
bread of idleness, we would see the class
of which we are speaking, released from
that circle of everlasting dTudgery, which
deprives them of the privilege of relaza-
ton for day, and the time which they
would gladly devote to the maternal edn-
cation of her children.
From this life, the girls of our day are
learning to shrink; not because they are
lazy, but because they know they are to be
sacrificed. Not because the calling of the
farmer is not respectable, but because
they do not wish to become his mistress
maid d-of all-work, nurse and boot5jack.-
| Now the foundation of all this wrong, is
in that avaricious spirit, handed down
from father to son. which makes the dol
lar the standard Of respectability, and
llnd the only fountain of happiness. We
hope to see the day when the farmers
wife shall share in the peacefulness and
Independence of the farmers lot; and
when we call upon the ladies to engage in
the reform themselves, and to teach the
lords of the soil, that there is something
to live for besides potatoes; and that life
can be enjoyed more truly, by proper
preservation of health, beauty, accom-
plishments and good spirits of their com
panions.-O Ohio E5ynler.