Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1863-07-31
THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN.

THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN.
How Great Men are Ruled by their Wives.
lL The August number of Blackwood, has al
amusing article on the Rights of Women.
the writer meets the argument Of the reform
ers fairly, ont while be admits the power o.
the female sex, and fortifes their claims to its
exercise by some humorous examples, never
theless contends that 'the true happiness and
welbeing of women is to be found in theiI
performance of domestic duties" and that any
attempt to make them wholly independent
implies an inversion of the laws of nature
which is simply impossible aud absurd.
The writer, however, acknowledges the fact
that great many male beings of the human
species derive their chief felicity from being
entirely subject to the control and guidance
Of their wives, and makes candid admission
that. men of talent and genius have benefited
from domestic bondage. The case of this lat
ter class is put in this pleasant way:
HENPEcKED.
The patriot, who has just made the Senate
house ring with his vehement denunciations Of
tyranny, uses the latch key for admission to
his own domiciIe with the nervous tremor of
an experienced house-breaker, and steals on
tiptoe up stairs, his heart palpitating in his
bosom, lest the creakiBg of treacherous board
should awaken from her early slumber and un-
loose the tongue of that sweet saint who nigh
Iy reposes by his side. The poet, whose strains
have entranced the world, dares not fordihe
life Of him dine out without permission asked
and obtained; aud woe be to him if, in mo-
ment of unthinkiDg hiarity, he has persuaded
to uuaff but one cup of spurious nectar than
is his lust and reasonable allowance! Retri-
button cometh in the morning, aud the favor
ed of Pbobus, in order to obtain the assuage-
ment ofan additional basin of bohea, is lain to
plav the penitent, and submit to q lecture in
which his intemperance and disgusting beha-
vior is unfavorably contrasted with the habits
of the beasts that perish.
Even the veteran Of hundred fights, whose
valiant spirit quelled not in the midst of mas
sacre ana death-who has led forlorn hope
plunged through the ditch, and scaled the wall
by the scattered and vibrating ladder when
the hostile bastations were belching ire
ard the ramparts bristling with steel-eyen
be covers like a helpless lamb before the
wrath of his dulcet Amaryllis, and meekly i'm
plores her for that mercy and forbearaLce
which he would disdain to ask by word or
sipp from the most truculent Goliath of a foe
man. even we're his weapon struck from his
grasp, or his sWord-arm disabled by sword.
JOHN KNOX AND HIS coNJUGAL RELATIONS
John Knox, who fancied himself very In
dependent parsonage, and of whom it is tra-
ditionally reported that he never tremb ed be-
fore the face of man, made, somewhat late in
life, the discovery that the face of woman, af-
ter she had been put in full possession of con-
iugaI rights. Is something infinitely more ter
rible. The austere reIormer who Illuminated
his anathema against the 'Monstrous Regi-
ne1t OF W omen, !, and who showed himself, to
use the mildest possible term, the reverse Of
polite in his demeanor towards his annotated
queen. was tempted in his old age to WOO a
noble damsel. and conducted her to his home
in the Canongate of Edinburg with such grim
reioicings as were deemed admissible and not
savoring of idolatry on the occasion of Cal
edonian marriage. But John soon discovered
that, in departing from the precepts Of Saint
Paul, who he'd little liking for matrimony, he
had made serious biunder. She of the house
of Oebiltree could not forget that the renown-
ed preacher was originally vassal of the
Hepburns; and, being lady Of extraordinary
energy and no small amount of selfWill, she
fairly succeeded in establishing within that
s queer little mansion, the bow-window whereof
is still. regarded as curiosity, that very same
monstrous female rule against which her spouse
had, in earlier years, most vehemently prOtes-
ted.
Yet, on the whole, though somewhat addic-
ted to gew-gaws and fallals, we doubt not
she made an excellent wife to the veteran Re
former, and perhaps improved the tone of his
manners and conversation by teaching him the
practical lesson that somewhere or other, there
always does exist power to which the most
wilful and imperious must submit. Therefore
all these Instances considered, we heartily join
in the cry zOf"Place a,r Danes :" It is not
a mere empty courtesy that allows them to
take the precedence. They go before their
husbands because they are the natural leaders;
and when domestic strife arises, it is usually,
the male and not the female who is the party
chargeable with rebellion.
Upon the whole, let US admire
and assent 10 that exquisite provision OF nature
gives the predominance to the stronger intel
lect and will; and let those who are conscious
of being heppecked lay this hattering JUNCTION
to tLeir souls, that they are no worse of than
Marlborough and Marshal Ney, and reconcile
themselves to their fate accordingly.
The writer then passes 10 a discussion Of
the influence Of women in scientific circles
with special reference to the social delights
which form so prominent feature Of the year
meetings of the British Scientific Congress
"a feature, By the way, which is quite as
marked at the conventions Of the American
body of the same name. Here is the picture
of the
sAvANs AT EVENING PARTIES:
We must acknowledge that the dinners aud
conuersasions were by far the most agreeable
portion of the transactions The sectional
work was undeniably slow, and provocative
of a vast deal of yawning; but the banquels
were peculiarly delightful, and it was pleas
ant 10 note that, among other useful sciences,
that of gastronomy had been carefully cultiva-
ted. Instructive it was to hear the chemists
commenting upon the ingredients of sauces;
nor did the geOlogists who had pierced the