The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1861-10-26
Woman's Trials.

Auu p@UenCe, lneTe u HO COnpATlSOU W Oe
made between w0uIan's duties and q
mans. As I sit hear the click Of
shOemaker's hammer. From morning till
night, Il seems never to rest The shoe
maker leads . labOrious life, but how
steadEaat and calm. lie drives the peg.
and he knows It will 20 In. He made SO
many shoes yesterday, and will make so
many to-day. At just such time he will
30 home TO dinner, with Just such an
amount Of work accomplished. But his
wife, busy in her kitchen, has u baby,
who III governed by no laws, and upset all
her calculations. 1.-The sleep through the
morning, she will spring through her
washing, and ironing, and boiling, and bo-
king; but IL he awake, as he probably
will, at the most critical moment, every
thing has TO give way. II is Of no use to
plan, for . chubby fist knocks down all
her arrangements. Her baby is the most
despOlic Of eli tyrants; he has not the
slightest regard for public opinion. 1t is
ONO manner OfiInpOrtance TO him, whcth.
CT the fire goes out or the rooms gets
swept or not. IL he wishes to BE- rocked,
he must be, regardless Of consequences.
Then, very likely, there are three or four
other little ones, who must be washed and
dressed, and fed, besides having food pre-
pared for them. II they are all in the
soundest health, they need constant watch
fulness; for children are unlike pegs, they
won't 60 where they belong. They are
constantly making little dives right and
Ieft, and getting into mischief. Pull them
out of the sugar bowl, and they tumble
straightway into the molasses jug. lf
there be ciStean on the premises, they
will be sure to pitch into il, head. foremost,
sooner or later; and IL there DO no ciStern,
1t will go hard but they will find tub of
water somewhere big enough to sit down
in. Scissors and knives-everyt thing that
has an edge to it, draw them as if they
were made of steel. A perverse prompt
ing moves them to pound everything that
can be injured by pounding, and scratch,
and cut, and tear, according to the respec.
tive materials Of the object So it goes,
even when they are well but when, be-
sides this, we think Of the great army Of
diSeases-the measles, scarlet fever, chick.
en-pox, mumps, collie, cOlcra infantum
and teething-that lie in wait for the lit
tie mortal and his mother the prospect is
appalling; for the brunt Of all falls upon
the devoted mother. What is true Of the
shoemaker and his wife,iS true Of the black
smith and his wife, and the tailor and ms
wife. know that there nre occupations
that are more complex, and demand the
exercise OF all the powers. But the mer
chant and the lawyer, however absorbing
and Pcrplexing may be their avOcations,
have to DO with grown up people. The
merchants clerks arc often quite as gen.
tlemanIy and as we'll educated as himself
His brother merchants arc acute and self
involved, but reasonable. The LAWYERS
client may be ignorant and stubborn, but
he Is an accountable being, and swayed
by hOmely and powerful logic; but the
vile Is the mistress Of servants incredibly
raw" and inexperienced, even when well
disposed, and the mother Of terrible in.
fants. Let man try to work with such
tools and membranes, and zee how he
succeeds. It IL true that mans respon.
sibilities arc in one sense greater. II he
make . mis.step. he brings down with
him partner, clerks, wife and children,
sometimes shaking even the church and
society; while the gOOd-wife may let
this, that and the other duty slip without
the aky falling. But, on the other hand,
1t Is the greatness Of the matter at stake
which supports the man, and the littleness
that disheaTtens the woman. She has the
same round perpetually changing, yet al.
ways the same, Of D.1e cares and duties,
which cannot By dispensed with, yet
which never sepfn to amount to anything.
Il n al very we'll to caiOle her with Flash
ioWing the Young mind" and 'training
the hand that is 10 guide the world, " and
modelling the greatness of the next age"
and all that sort Of thing, but 1t is long
way to the next age, and when the future
statesman comes crying to his mother,
with Spaulding's prepared glue stuck all
over his face and hair and clean apron, or
his finger bleeding from the cut Of bro.
ken bottle, it is difficult to perceive
the spirit
Which shall rule mems minds, and make them bow
AZ TO god thrODed amid his peers,
Now, II capital punishment is ever jus.
tifiable, it is when . man comes home
from his Office, or shop, or field, to his ner.
vous, hurried, anxious, care. worn wife,
and harshly or coldly asks Why dinner is
not ready, or why in the world she per.
mits those children to make such noise.
see great deal Of advice given to wO
men about meeting their husbands with a
smile; but what value has smile on the
lips, II there be not q smile at the heart
ana what manner Of man is he who wants
his wife to crush back oil her tears into
her own bosom, aDd put on mask for
himr Is narriagEto be keeping up of
appearances Gan love be retained only
by = masquerade Is husband some.
thing that must be daintiy fed, and gin.
gerly managed, from whom the thorns
must be hidden. and for whom the roses
must blow, and il they won't blow, wax.
Howers must be manufactured? Non
sense! At the basis OF true marriage is
truth. II is life, and not dillettanteism,
that CLOVIS on the household hearth. If
the husband have manhood, he wants his
wife just us she is. Her vhims, sorrowS,
vexatlOns and all. He does not wish to
be whsrdfed by pdptcF Rdche image
gotten up for the occasion. If things
nave gone smoothly, and she meets him
with smile, he strikes an attitude, and is,
as the English say, "jOlly." But il John.
ny 10 cFouPy, and tho baby is cross, and
br1ogct has given notice Of leaving the
next day, he ia not dOlt enough to expect
her TO forget oil this, or rascal enough TO
wish her to gloss It over, aud receive him
with Pretence Of being happy when she
is not. There are many times when it
would be better for him and better for her
that he should open his arms and let her
have . "gOOd cry" there and even if he |
cODdescend to be little sentimental and
tender, Il can do no harm. This would
sQOthe and calm her irritated nerves, and
they would talk Il over, and so love would
bridge the ehssm, and tunnel the noun
taina, and chll6 the lions; for the heart
tAae less1h & not only willing but able
An4 he Witty tenderness viii be made 30
s1sang I'D grateful, that when the hus.
bad cones home next day, in his turn,
tFSz4nkod, VeXud and KANMRe. Hs only good I