Delaware State journal and statesman., 1861-06-11
WASHINGTON AT HOME.

WASHINGTON AT HOME.
once saw painting representing the mother
Of Alfred the Great, engaged in reading to her
son Saxon poem. The queen, stately woman,
crowned and royalty attired, sat with the manu-.
script spread out on her lap-one hand on the
page the other uprlised in an earnest and grace
fu gesture The little Alfred kneeling at her
feet; with flushed cheek, fixed eyes, and lips
apart-seened drinking in her words as one
who listened TO the recital Of noble deeds, and
resolved that he too would, one day, perform
them
He became Alfred the Great
And is it not reasonable supposition, that
the companionshp of that noble mother kiudled
those sparks of wisdOm aud virtue in the bosom
of the boy prince, which, in his manhood, burned
with so pure and steadfast lire, that iAe radi-
ance Of it still streams upward from the hill Of
fame, beacon light for ages yet to come!
When Palissy, the Potter, had spent in unsuc-
cessiul experiments the last coin he possessed.
VIII II cold, land something that bites sharper
than cold," had wrung the yitals Of his family,
he exclaimed. ,Oh for one small bit of gold,
to try once more" His brave and trusting wife
drew from her finger her wedding ring, and
placed it in his hand. The next experiment
succeeded.
That sacrifice of the wedding ring is fine
point for poem or apicture-but what patience,
what faith, what sympathy with hope, what per-
severence under encouragement does the action
imply. Aud Palissy's discovery would have
remained unmade, but for the devotion of
woman.
A worthless woman lost Mark Anthony his
honor and his life
The brave Duke of Marlborough was said to
be meanly avarioous. He was iondly attached
to his wife; had that wife been generous
hearted, high.thoughtsd woman, instead of the
beautiful vixen she was, his memory might not
have borne thar dishonored blot
No hero of early or latter times, of sacred or
profanc history, shows in his mental or moral
character so large surface of unspotted excel
lence, as does Washington. II has been said
that men Of perfect physical proportions never
look tall. 1t may be that the symetrical de-
velopment Of our hero's character makes him
appear, on cursory inspection, less wonder
fully great than he really was. patriot, with
out personal ambition-a hero, without any
selfish desire for conquest-a man who, while
most fitted to enjoy and adorn society," never
oyerstepped the limits of rational mirth, one
Who might have been King,
But that he fully understood
How much It meanef thing
To be ignObly great than honoraby good.
And who can tell how much of the influences
which urged him up to his unmatched excellence,
flowed from the heart and mind of his wife p
"Politics, says Bnwer, "require that the heart
should be free, and at peace from all the more
absorbing private anxieties." The character of
Martha Washington seems to have been almost
as poeiically perfect that of her illustrious
husband From the anxieties Of the Senate and
the tumult of the camp, his thoughts could al
ways turn to his home, as the place where he
might rest. Brave with woman's peculiar cour-
age, the heroism of endurance-she accompanied
him whenever il was possible and proper, to
cheer by her presence, sooihe with her sympathy,
animate by her energy, and refine by her ele-
gance. Whatever woman fears throbbed at her
heart, they were silently represaed; whatever
discomforts encountered her way, they were
smilingy overstepped. The language of her
action was
My love should be garland for thy brow
And not peevish hindrance in thy path.
But Martha Washington was encouraged to do
this. Her husband not only possessed her love,
but merited her esteem. Washington's private
life was as irreproAchable as his public career
was gOrious-his happy wife rested securely
under the shelter Of her husbands virtues. Hers
was what God intended to be the position Of
woman-the only one in which q true woman
can be really happy; graceful dependence on
one whom she can trust as we'll as love. He
the granite pillar which upholds the home-ehe,
the blooming vine which twines round and
ldorns it., Let man be virtuous and woman
will be happy Let the sacred rights of the
domestic affections be secured to our sex, aud
we shall hear no more clamor about woman's
rights, for women will no longer suffer wrong.
American women the exertions you have
made to redeem the place of our hero's grave,
prove that the spirit Of Martha Washington still
lives among you. American mothers will you
not strive so TO train your children, that should
new political emergencies occur, new Washing
tons may arise to meet them iu your sons; and
that your daughters may grow into women such
as she was, who blessed and illuminated Wash
iugton's home