The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-01-01
WOMEN AT molIn;
HoRR TfifRsUa REAUrY.

I . -afitiitf
WOMEN Ar 1TOHIE; .s-ia
woRK TSERs1s BEAgrY.u
i Thereis much matter for Thought in
the fact that the literary exponent OF
aesthetic Boston.-the .AtLaatio Monthly
FOR January-should have. pushed the
doctrine of:work so far that neither time
nor room is left, for those who admit its
CONCLUSIONS, to cultivate the perfect
flower Of human life, which is beauty:
What CARLYLE timpressively designated
as the perennial nobleness of work has
been reiterated and illustrated by every
| just and serious thinker; and the coll
l;umns of the LEUenin0 Post have been
made a mosaic of ffhcts to shame indo-
lence and expose the pretensions of a
class that sought Eand still seek to esI
cape, through imposition and fraud,
obedience to the universal law. But
without detracting in the least from any
utterance setting forth the dignity and
necessity of labor, we mustqu the
somewhat extrayagant application of
the theory of work 70 life, as found In
! Mrs. Stowe's talk on Social facts in the
! current number ofthe AtLdiltic Monthly.
Mrs, Stoves Chimney Corner" is not
occupied by foolish takers. Theliving
l
the most aggraYating good sense, and II
| is sbntseldomI conside derinS thoee address,
! ed, that we can object to the spirit, or
! the point of view, or the conclusions OF
| a mind so practical and well acquainted
! with the home life of the New England
people MS is that of Mrs. Stowe. But
| when Mrs. Stowe characterizes women
of elegance and refinement as "beauti=
full, fascinating ldszdrotii of the parlor
and Eboudoir, who make their.Roas OF
l'elegant help1essness and utter incom-
petence for any of woman's duties, =. We
4 would like to know what she under
4 stands by the term aw0man's duhesInr Z
Elegance and refinement in q woman
are the best results of culture and In
herent gentleness of nature, and that
feleganee and that refinement is a cl1iel
part of the charm of home. To what
\ end are the costly means Of culture
i books, pictures, .statuaryt musio4butt n
4 protect as from the deterforation OF 1or-
i did occupations |? 1t Is not, every woi
i man who oan..be Hbeautiful, fascina-
ting - and the boasted '.elegant help:
| lessneSSY of fascinating and beautifui
1 women certainly does not extend to
| their chief function and their most pow
erfIll charm. III, M we infer, Mrs Stowe
means, by the phrase, womnn's dnties2
/ tho daily drudRery of honsehold cares,
|, we certainly must protest against doc
itrine of work that disfgures our. moth
ers, makes our wives old before. their
time and the hands of American wo-
| men the surprise andregret ofevery lover
| of the beautiful. And this Is no trif1e.
| An ill-shaped, red-looking hand istwtt-
ness that beauty has been sacrificed to
utility, for every physical imperfection
| is the result of disease, accident, or ex-
cessiVe work, and these imperfectonl
show that 'things are in the saddle and
ride mankind"
a. true understanding efsocial econ
emy will not permit woman to be sub
] jected to any, work that robs her OF
| physical charm and moral serenity.
| That thousands ofwomon are compelled
checks the symme metrical growth of their
bodies and the harmonious develop
| ment eff their natures-iS to them the
fatal necessity of an imperfect and pro-
\ gressive society But the whole effort
ofthinkers and workers is to emanei-
pate the laboring classes, or to protect
| them from the wretched consequences
of over-work. The emancipation OF
men from the, injustice of other than
self imposed work is prior to that oi
woman, simply because woman can
not be emancipated before man enjoys
X Cohsidsrine the fact that the end of
living is not work, but perfection, or
beauty, and believing that women, ina
| society as fully organized as our own,
| help best when they are most engaging
| and beautiful, we must write that Mrs.
Stowe has made false application of
| the theory of work. 1t is wrong not
only from the esthetic point of view;
but also from the moral point of view;
1 women need love; men need beauty
| The passion of love in woman and
mans passion for beauty are the two
| great and irresistible antagonists of
| duty in the social world. MEMS desire
/ g.. t,s.o,,tIy -ou T1I,r I1Ia md Eaue
1 ficent as woman's need of love, and the
4 prime cause of unfaithfulnesS of men
Is disgust for the disfgured and over
t-woTked, the ungrncetul and unattrac-
\ tive jmatrons whom they call wiyes.-
Y When afwife ceases to be that charm-
| ing, sympathetic and beautiful being to
whom her husband gave the first ca
ress of his eyes and the homage of his
heart, she ceases to excite admiration,
j and she ceases to be that intoxication
and delight which keep men, exposed
j to the sirens of life. faithful to their first
beautiful in the eyes of her husband
| that she cease to exert an influence
| other than.the torpid influence of habits,
| and it is then that q mans eyes wander
Il and his thoughts linger about other
women, to gratify his God-implanted
l need [of the beautiful. Whatever de-
stroys beauty induces coarse If not lax
morals, makes a domestic servant or at
best house, keeper of wife, and {robs
the wife Of her happiness.
The drudgery- of household cares, a
false domestic economy, which day af-
| ter day takes Vitality from the wife,
makes her hands muscular instead OF
soft and flexible, and when evening
comes leaves her too wearied to COM
/ municate any yiyacity and variety to
4 her conversation; and her jaded hus-
band sits facing her, inert and yet rest
less. 1t Is then that an elegant and
mings7woman-a fascinating wo-
! man-wotfld arouse that man, renew
his life, retfouble hisstrength, and give
zest TO his hours of rest; andit is then
that the wife, sacrificed to fwoman's
1 dutles''-that is to say. TO household
cares-is incapable of refreshing her
husband, and, with ever multiply wing
lines on her face, with ever=yanishing
cred and honored only. because she is a
mother.
]. The instinct of woman 70 seek a life
| of repose, their eageFness to attain the
i life of elegance, does not mean con-
\ tempt rlabor, but it is a confession
of unfitnesS for labor. Women were
not intended to work. not because work
is ignobley but because 1t IS as disas-
trons to the beauty of a woman as Is
friction to the bloom and softness OF a
4 flower. Woman is 70 be kept IN the
Ito praise she Is TO be- kept from the
a JEork hop world where innocence =
snafched with rude hands and soffness
Z IS blistered into unsightltness or har-
1 dened into adnmant- No social truth
Is more in. need of exposition ind Illus
tration than this one and, above all